Category Archives: New Utopia

The Tony Awards, long delayed by the pandemic, announced on Tuesday the first recipients, honoring the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, an organization started five years ago by a group of actors and others as a tool to work toward dismantling racism through theater and storytelling.

The other recipients were David Byrnes American Utopia, an intricately choreographed concert by the Talking Heads singer, and Freestyle Love Supreme, a mostly improvised hip-hop musical that was created, in part, by Lin-Manuel Miranda. These honors, called special Tony Awards, were presented to three recipients that the Tony administration committee thought deserving of recognition even though they did not fall into any of the competition categories, according to a news release.

The recipients were announced more than one year after the ceremony had originally been expected to take place. During the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony was put on indefinite hold. The awards show a starry broadcast that will celebrate Broadways comeback is now set to air on CBS in September, when Broadway shows are scheduled to return to theaters in almost full force. Most of the awards, however, will be given out just beforehand, during a ceremony that will be shown only on Paramount+, the ViacomCBS subscription streaming service.

The award for the Broadway Advocacy Coalition is indicative of how deeply the American theater industry was affected by the mass movement for racial justice set off by the police killing of George Floyd last year.

In a statement, Charlotte St. Martin, the president of the Broadway League, and Heather A. Hitchens, the chief executive of the American Theater Wing the two organizations that present the awards said that the coalition has provided an unparalleled platform for marginalized members of our theater community and tools to help us all do better as we strive for equity.

Among the organizations projects is Theater of Change, a social justice methodology developed with Columbia Law School that brings together Broadway artists, legal and policy experts and people whose lives have been shaped by forces such as the criminal justice, immigration and educational systems to collaborate on storytelling as a means to advocate just policies.

This years ceremony for the Tonys, formally known as the Antoinette Perry Awards, will be the 74th such event and will recognize work performed on Broadway between April 26, 2019, and Feb. 19, 2020.

Broadways 41 theaters have been closed since March 12, 2020; right now, the first planned performances are for Springsteen on Broadway, the rock legends autobiographical show, which is set to open this Saturday at the St. James Theater. As of now, the next show scheduled to open is Pass Over, a play about two Black men trapped on a street corner, on Aug. 4 at the August Wilson Theater.

American Utopia, which opened on Broadway in October of 2019, is planning to restart performances on Sept. 17. Freestyle Love Supreme, which opened that same month, is scheduled to play again for a live audience on Oct. 7.

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Special Tony Awards Go to 'American Utopia,' 'Freestyle Love Supreme' - The New York Times

Appleseed, by Matt Bell (Custom House, July 13)

Bells novel equal parts techno-thriller and science fiction is an ambitious, time-bending take on climate change that leaps from an orchard-planting faun in the 1700s to an ecological vigilante in the near future to a cyborg 1,000 years from now, scouring the glaciers near what was once Las Vegas for signs of life.

Kapur and his wife, Auralice, grew up in Auroville a small community in southern India built on utopian ideals but the sudden and mysterious deaths of Auralices parents there has long haunted them both. Years later, they discover letters that spur them to dig deeper into the lives of Auralices parents; here Kapur combines their investigation with a history of Auroville itself.

Thomas Neill Cream poisoned as many as 10 people in North America and Britain before his 1892 murder trial. Jobb recounts Creams life and evokes the societal attitudes that allowed him to kill: the blind faith placed in doctors, the power imbalances between Cream and the people who sought his care.

In this novel set in The Hague, a woman works as an interpreter at the International Court, where she hears the testimonies of people accused of orchestrating terrible atrocities and their victims. As she juggles her personal and professional connections (her relationship with a married man, her work interpreting for an accused war criminal), she considers her own morality.

This collection, edited by Jacksons son, brings together one of Jacksons other great literary loves apart from short stories: the letter. Written in a distinctive lowercase typewriter font on yellow paper, the correspondence offers another view of the wit that permeated Jacksons fiction. As her son writes of the letters in the introduction, They are constructed like marvelous miniature magazines, full of news and gossip, recipes, sports updates, jokes, child rearing concerns, tips and recommendations, with tantalizing glimpses of herself, the artist at work.

In her first novel, Jeffers, longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award in poetry, traces the history of one family from the arrival of its first enslaved ancestors. At its heart is Ailey, growing up in the 1980s, who returns each year to her familys ancestral home in Georgia. As she gets older, she uncovers secrets about her history that challenge her sense of self and belonging.

From the time she was young, Elle has returned each summer to the same house on Cape Cod. Now in her 50s, married and with a family of her own, she considers upending her steady life after a tryst with an old love. Though this debut novel is anchored on that encounter and the ensuing fallout, the story leaps back in time to visit her early life and almost takes on the feel of a memoir.

Browns reporting for The Miami Herald helped uncover the extent of Epsteins crimes and revealed the secret deal that allowed him to evade federal charges. Here, building on her previously published investigations, she recounts how Epstein was finally brought to justice.

In the 15 years since he was released from prison, Ike Randolph has made an effort to lead a straight life. But when his son Isiah and his sons husband, Derek, are murdered, he joins forces with Dereks father to uncover what happened to their children.

Once Asha, who is studying coding at Harvard, re-encounters her high school crush, Cyrus, they kindle a fast-moving romance: Asha quits her program and they join a tech company, Utopia, which prescribes personalized rituals to its users. But as the company takes off, Cyrus is branded as a messiah, eclipsing Asha, and their marriage is put to the test.

Remy and Alicia, a youngish couple working dead-end service jobs, are both enthralled with Jen, a former co-worker of Remys. Jen seeps into virtually all corners of their lives they obsessively track her social media accounts and devise elaborate role-playing scenarios about her during sex but when they bump into her in an Apple store, life goes haywire. Purloined Scotch, a concussion, an ill-timed parrot: Morgan drops plenty of zany twists into readers laps, and the latter part of the novel takes on a speculative dimension.

Facebook has been implicated in everything from election interference to the spread of dangerous hate speech, all while tracking user behavior and using data for its own ends. Frenkel and Kang, both The New York Times journalists, draw on hundreds of interviews to show how Facebooks failings over the past few years were all but inevitable. Their sources, they write, provide a rare look inside a company whose stated mission is to create a connected world of open expression, but whose corporate culture demands secrecy and unqualified loyalty.

Spiottas characters are often drawn to the promise of self-reinvention: a Vietnam-era fugitive in Eat the Document, a down-on-his-luck musician who concocts a fantasy of being a successful rock star in Stone Arabia. In this, her fifth novel, she follows Samantha, a middle-aged mother undone by the results of the 2016 election, who flees her family and buys a fixer-upper in Syracuse.

In his debut novel, American War, Akkad imagined a civil war and its dystopian fallout. Now he tells the story of Amir, a Syrian boy fleeing home who is the only survivor after a harrowing journey to an unnamed island. There, amid catastrophe and heartbreak, he meets a local teenager who decides to help him.

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14 New Books Coming in July - The New York Times

Ahead of this years Tony Awards ceremony, the Tony Awards Administration Committee has announced three special awards will be given, honoring outstanding productions, artists and organizations. The Broadway Advocacy Coalition (BAC) will receive an award, as well as David Byrnes American Utopia and freestyle love supreme, with both shows returning to Broadway this fall.

In what has been such an unusual year in theatre, we are thrilled to be presenting these Special Tony Awards to three such deserving recipients. said Heather Hitchens, CEO and President of the American Theatre Wing and Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League.

Formed in 2016, BAC aims to dismantle the systemic racism within the Broadway and wider theatre community through the power of storytelling. Earlier this year, BAC hosted their inaugural Fellowship Hall festival, and has also been named in Varietys Broadway To Watch list.

David Byrnes American Utopia ran at the Hudson Theatre for a limited engagement in 2019, championing live music and the power of communities. In a review of American Utopia, Broadway has long been a showcase for the best in popular theatre, but it has also become a valuable experimental space for challenging different expectations of what it can be -- and American Utopia offers dazzling new possibilities.

David Byrnes American Utopia returns to Broadway in 2021, with performances at St. James Theatre from September 17 - Jan. 16, 2022. Find out more about American Utopia on Broadway here.

17 years since freestyle love supreme was founded, the hip-hop improvisational show made its Broadway premiere in 2019 at the Booth Theatre. Created by Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda alongside Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale, freestyle love supremesees performers spinning stories and songs out of audience suggestions. In a review of freestyle love supreme, the show takes the crown for the most ambitious yes-and in town here to spread love and positivity and, packed into a healthy 80 minutes, they are a supremely entertaining avenue for it.

freestyle love supreme returns to the Booth Theatre in 2021 from October 7 - Jan. 2, 2022. Find out more about freestyle love supreme on Broadway here.

The 74th Tony Awards will take place on September 26, with shows nominated including Slave Play, Jagged Little Pill and Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

Photo credit: David Byrnes American Utopia and Freestyle Love Supreme (Photos by Matthew Murphy and Joan Marcus respectively)

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David Byrnes American Utopia, Freestyle Love Supreme and Broadway Advocacy Coalition to receive special Tonys - New York Theatre Guide

Weather: Sunny and dry, with a high in the mid-70s.

Alternate-side parking: In effect until July 4 (Independence Day).

Even as gloomy weather descended on New York, hundreds of thousands of voters cast their ballots on Primary Day.

The election offered the first major test of a new voting system and capped off months of campaigning in several city races. But winners will not immediately be called in many major contests, including the Democratic primary for mayor and the city comptroller race, with no single candidate getting more than 50 percent of the vote and ranked-choice selections yet to be processed.

Heres a look at where the races stand (and you can follow all the results here):

In initial tallies after Tuesdays voting, Mr. Adams was in front among the Democratic candidates for mayor with nearly 32 percent of first-choice votes. He was trailed by Maya Wiley, with about 22 percent, and Kathryn Garcia, with more than 19 percent.

The three remained firmly optimistic on Tuesday night. But Andrew Yang, who was in fourth place at less than 12 percent, conceded. We still believe we can help, but not as mayor and first lady, he said with his wife, Evelyn, at his side.

As ranked-choice votes are tabulated, those standings could change, and absentee ballots also must be counted. It may be weeks before an official winner is named.

The eventual victor will face off in the Nov. 2 general election against Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, who handily won the Republican primary over Fernando Mateo.

[Read about the major takeaways from Primary Day, and check out neighborhood-level results.]

Mr. Bragg, a former federal prosecutor and deputy attorney general, was ahead in the Democratic primary for Manhattan district attorney, leading Tali Farhadian Weinstein by about three and a half percentage points. His platform was focused on police accountability and racial justice.

If his lead holds, Mr. Bragg would become the first Black person to lead the office. If Ms. Farhadian Weinstein pulled ahead, she would become the first woman.

The Manhattan district attorneys race, which did not use the ranked-choice system, included eight candidates total.

[Looking for more information on the race? Heres our full story.]

In the contest for comptroller, a position that will play a significant role in the citys economic recovery, Brad Lander, who was endorsed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was ahead in first-choice votes. He was leading Corey Johnson, the City Council speaker, by about nine percentage points.

The winners of many City Council races were also still undeclared. Several incumbents coasted to easy victories, but in most districts the current officeholder was not running, guaranteeing at least 32 different faces.

Understand the N.Y.C. Mayoral Race

The Timess Julia Jacobs writes:

The Tony Awards, long delayed by the pandemic, announced on Tuesday the first recipients, including the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, an organization started five years ago by a group of actors and others as a tool to work toward dismantling racism through theater and storytelling.

The other recipients were David Byrnes American Utopia, an intricately choreographed concert by the former Talking Heads singer, and Freestyle Love Supreme, a mostly improvised hip-hop musical that was created, in part, by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

These honors, called Special Tony Awards, were presented to three recipients that the Tony administration committee thought deserving of recognition even though they did not fall into any of the competition categories, according to a news release.

The recipients were announced more than one year after the ceremony had originally been scheduled to take place. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony was put on hold.

The awards show a starry broadcast that will celebrate Broadways comeback is now scheduled to air on CBS in September, when Broadway shows are scheduled to return to theaters in almost full force. Most of the awards, however, will be given out just beforehand, during a ceremony that will be shown only on Paramount+, the ViacomCBS subscription streaming service.

Its Wednesday show your appreciation.

Dear Diary:

I was on an uptown No. 1 train. Across the aisle was a young man who looked to be in his early 20s. He had long, thick, curly red hair. There was a guitar case on the floor next to him.

We looked at each other and smiled. I got off at the next stop.

Around two months later, I got on another uptown 1. I sat down, looked up and saw the young red-haired man with his guitar case across the aisle and two seats away.

We looked at each other. His eyes widened in surprise and his face broke into a grin.

Im sure I looked surprised, too, and I grinned, too.

In two stops, he got off the train. We were both smiling.

Deametrice Eyster

New York Today is published weekdays around 6 a.m. Sign up here to get it by email. You can also find it at nytoday.com.

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Primary Day in N.Y.C.: Where the Races Stand - The New York Times

WEST HAVEN West Haven leaders are weighing the possibility of teaming with an outside firm to bring a broadband network to the city.

No decisions have been made, but City Manager Matt Jensen said the city will seek proposals from outside operators about building a network in West Haven to augment internet offerings. Its a discussion many Weber County cities have been having, but West Haven, at least at this stage, is pushing the discussion further than some of the other locales.

Were just kind of trying to get a feel if this is something that would take off and do well in the community, said West Haven City Councilperson Nina Morse. A solid majority of respondents to a survey of West Haven residents, 93.4% of them, said they would back building a fiber network in the city, if paid for by those who get service from it.

Reps from UTOPIA Fiber discussed possible expansion into West Haven with leaders from the city earlier this year, according to Morse. The company has also met with leaders from North Ogden, South Ogden and Washington Terrace, similarly interested in augmented access to high-speed internet. Citizens have complained of limited internet service offerings, spurring the discussion.

The residents have given feedback to the city that theyd like a fiber option thats reliable and affordable, said Washington Terrace City Manager Tom Hanson. UTOPIA reps met with leaders there to discuss the matter at a June 1 Washington Terrace City Council meeting and officials, at this stage, are weighing their options.

Morse said that though West Haven is growing, its location west of Weber Countys main population cluster has hampered expansion of internet options. Xfinity, part of Comcast Corp., and CenturyLink are among the incumbent operators in Weber County. Were still considered a rural community and we just dont have the options that bigger cities have, Morse said.

Though UTOPIA Fiber has been the most vocal entity on the matter in Northern Utah, its not the only company that can install and manage broadband systems. UTOPIA, based in Murray, is a community-owned fiber-optic network operator serving numerous communities across Utah. It covers Layton and is expanding into West Point and Clearfield in Davis County and Morgan in Morgan County, among many other locales.

There are four or five firms that can install and operate systems, Jensen said. Its letting everybody have a chance, weighing out whats best for our community, he said.

Broadly, West Haven will seek a proposal from a company interested in installing and managing a fiber network in the city. Internet service providers would use the network to provide actual service to individual customers. Were not looking to get into the broadband business, Jensen said. Hes hoping for proposals by the end of July, when leaders would debate possible next steps.

Per the UTOPIA model, the entity will bond for the funds necessary for a fiber system and oversee its installation. Then, customers will contract with private providers that tap into the network for internet service. A portion of the fees subscribers pay are used to cover bond costs, freeing the city of financial liability. Cities getting systems will typically back the bonds if there arent enough subscribers, but UTOPIA officials say subscriber revenue has been sufficient to cover bond costs on all systems its built since 2009.

Typically, the basic bill for a client using the UTOPIA system will total around $60 or $65, with $30 of that going to UTOPIA to help cover bond payments for the system installation and the rest going to the internet service provider.

UTOPIA Fiber has been approached to further expand our open access network in an additional 15 cities throughout Utah. With the highest customer satisfaction scores and the nations fastest speeds, we look forward to responding to RFPs issued by interested cities, UTOPIA spokesman Bob Knight said in an email.

South Ogden City Manager Matt Dixon said the city is still interested in investigating its internet options, but no progress or decisions have been made since UTOPIA reps addressed South Ogden leaders last November. North Ogden leaders heard from UTOPIA reps late last year as well, and though city officials havent made any decisions, the city would like to circle back to that discussion at some point, said North Ogden City Manager Jon Call.

Hanson in Washington City said the next step there would be surveying residents on possible interest in building a broadband network.

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West Haven to seek proposals for new broadband network to bolster internet options - Standard-Examiner

David Byrnes American Utopia, the theatrical concert performance that played a limited engagement on Broadway to great acclaim and full houses for five months in 2019 and 2020, and months ago announced a 2021 return, has found its venue: Utopia will begin performances at Jujamcyns St. James Theatre on the previously announced Friday, Sept. 17.

Byrne will return to Broadway with his original American Utopia band fully intact: Jacquelene Acevedo, Gustavo Di Dalva, Daniel Freedman, Chris Giarmo, Tim Keiper, Tendayi Kuumba, Karl Mansfield, Mauro Refosco, Stphane San Juan, Angie Swan and Bobby Wooten III.

It is with great pleasure that finally, after a year+ like no other, I can announce that our show is coming back to Broadway, Byrne said. You who kept the faith, who held on to your tickets, well, you knew this would happen eventually! September 17 remount previews begin.

Related StoryBroadway Returns: A Complete Roster Of Opening Dates, Venues And How To Buy Tickets

Were moving to the St. James Theatre just down 44th Street from the Hudson, where we were before, continued the former Talking Heads frontman. The stage is a little wider and the capacity is a little bigger I guess we did alright! Seriously, New York is back, and given all weve witnessed, felt and experienced, it is obvious to me that no one wants to go back to a world with EVERYTHING the way it was we have an opportunity for a new world here. See you there.

The move from the Hudson to the St. James would also seem to reinforce Bruce Springsteens insistence regarding the strictly limited run of his own show, Springsteen on Broadway: The Boss has said that his return to Broadway will run from June 26 to Sept. 4, and the Fall booking of the St. James by Byrne signals that Springsteen is serious this time about leaving on time.

The Hudson, meanwhile, has long been planned as the venue for the revival of Neil Simons Plaza Suite starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker. That production, postponed from 2020 due to the pandemic shutdown, has not yet announced performance dates.

American Utopia tickets are on sale now, and all ticketholders with valid prior bookings have been emailed with their performance information. Ticketholders may contact their point of booking with any questions or requests.

In the gorgeously staged performance, Byrne and his 11 culturally diverse musicians present new takes on old Talking Heads classics and selections from Byrnes solo albums including his most recent American Utopia. With Moulin Rouge! director Alex Timbers serving as production consultant, Utopia also features choreography and musical staging iby Annie-B Parson that pays tribute to Byrnes distinctive moves in fresh ways.

The Broadway production at the Hudson was filmed by director Spike Lee for a 2020 HBO adaptation (currently on HBO Max).

The production is the latest in more than 30 Broadway productions, new or returning, to set Fall dates as the industry reopens from the Covid pandemic shutdown of 15 months and counting.

David Byrnes American Utopia is produced by Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Patrick Catullo and Todomundo with Hal Luftig, Jonathan Reinis, Shira Friedman, Annapurna Theatre, Elizabeth Armstrong, Thomas Laub, Steven Rosenthal, Erica Lynn Schwartz, Matt Picheny, Steve Traxler, Len Blavatnik, Nonesuch Records, Warner Chappell Music and Ambassador Theatre Group Productions. Allan Williams serves as Executive Producer.

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David Byrnes American Utopia Finds Home On Broadway For September Return - Deadline

Looking for a design and coding tool for React? A new effort, Utopia, was released in alpha this week.

Facebook-sponsored React is the most popular JavaScript framework for building user interfaces the StackOverflow 2020 survey reported usage by 35.9 per cent of developers, ahead of Angular at 25.1 per cent and is also used by other projects such as React Native, for desktop and mobile applications, and as the basis for other frameworks such as the Next.js server-side rendering framework and the Gatsby static site generator.

The usual way to design with JavaScript and HTML/CSS is to write some code and then run it to see what it looks like. There are also visual designers but it is hard to get the flexibility and control of pure code combined with the speed of a graphical design tool. Utopia, just released in Alpha, claims "full two-way synchronisation," meaning that the design and the code update each other instantly.

Utopia: a new two-way code editor and designer for React.js

Developers with long memories will recall that Delphi did this (with great effect) for Windows applications, unlike the other rapid development tools at the time. There were also efforts to bring something similar to web development with tools like Macromedia's Dreamweaver, acquired by Adobe, or even Microsoft's FrontPage, easy to use but notorious for generating bad code and/or requiring server-side extensions.

"Utopia founder here. Yep, I loved the idea of FrontPage, and learnt so much, and yet - it sucked so much in practice," said Malte Nuhn in a discussion on Hacker News.

The idea of the project is that "it works with real code, in real projects", which enables prototypes built with actual React components rather than mocked up in Figma, and rapid visual design without compromising the code. "Whatever Utopia doesn't (yet) understand, it leaves as-is," claim the docs.

Another claim is that Utopia does not force developers or designers into any specific way of working. "Since Utopia is an editor - not a library, not a framework - you can use (and learn!) vanilla JavaScript and React," the team said.

The editor is based on Visual Studio Code and includes ESLint (static analysis for JavaScript) and Prettier (code formatter). The tool also includes a debug console, and presuming use of the Utopia web application, the ability to share a preview with external users. A canvas section updates as you type, or can be switched into edit mode whereupon it becomes a graphical editing tool. This is synchronised, so that selecting a visual element also moves the cursor to that point in the code editor.

Other features include the ability to work with dynamic data, dynamic CSS layouts, and user interfaces that change according to variables set by code. One of the factors that makes visual JavaScript and CSS design challenging is that it typically adapts itself to different screen sizes and form factors (responsive design) as well as morphing according to dynamically generated content. There is also a storyboard feature, letting developers set up designs with multiple scenes.

Utopia is open source and hosted on GitHub, under the MIT license. "The design tool is still quite early," according to the team. What about trying it out on your own PC? This is a matter of cloning the project and building it locally.

Your intrepid correspondent attempted to follow the somewhat incomplete instructions using Windows Subsystem for Linux 2, with partial success after some messing around with Webpack (JavaScript build tool) and NixOS (shell and package manager), and a couple of tweaks to TypeScript code that did not compile.

That said, the VS Code part of the resulting local web application is broken on our build. Our hunch is that some developers will be keen to get this working rather than coding entirely in the cloud.

The intention of the team, however, is that developers will use the hosted version and not have to worry about self-build.

What is the business model? "The idea is to keep this free for single player mode ("earn your time, trust, and usage, not lock you in") and charge for features that align with financial value creation. Initially those will very likely be team focused - but our priority for the remainder of the year is squarely on single-player mode," Nuhn told me on Discord.

Other common questions are whether it will work with React Native "Not at the moment, sadly" and whether it might work for HTML 5 web components and/or non-React JavaScript frameworks.

"Web standards are close to our heart it's something we'll start to seriously look into once the product is a bit more mature," said Nuhn. "The same is true for other JS frameworks like Vue."

The rest is here:

Utopia? Echoes of Delphi and Dreamweaver in new visual editor for React - The Register

Coventry is the UK City of Culture in 2021. There will be no finer tribute to the city this year than John Wyvers superb documentary, Coventry Cathedral: Building for a New Britain (shown on BBC4 last week and still available on BBCiPlayer).

For more than thirty years Wyver has been one of the best writers on television and one of the most interesting arts TV producers. His journey from Channel 4s golden age in the 1980s to producing documentaries on Kenneth Clark and Peter Brook for BBC2 in the 1990s and now BBC4, collaboration with the RSC and researchers based at the University of Warwicks Centre for Television Histories to make this film is almost a perfect metaphor for whats happened to arts TV in this country. If I could make a wish for the future of BBC4 it would be to put John Wyver in charge of it and make it a truly creative channel for using archive and TV history.

Wyvers documentary on the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral, beautifully shot by Todd MacDonald, and produced together with Wyvers long-time collaborator, Linda Zuck, told the fascinating story of how the only Anglican cathedral to have been destroyed in the Blitz rose again from the ashes.

A number of things stand out from the film. First, the idea of architect Basil Spence to leave the ruins of the old cathedral beside the new cathedral, like the great Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedchtniskirche in central Berlin, also largely destroyed by enemy bombs. It wasnt just the juxtaposition of old and new. Spence was making a much bolder assertion: that we need to acknowledge the destruction caused by the war, at the same time as rebuilding for the future.

Sixty-five years ago, the Queen laid the foundation stone on 23 March 1956 and the building was consecrated on 25 May 1962, in her presence. The ruins remain hallowed ground and together the two create one living cathedral.

This vision was about faith. But the vision which fascinates Wyver more was clear from the programmes subtitle: Building for a New Britain. Much of the newsreel was infused with a kind of utopian faith in the future, not one about religious faith, but about Modernism. People love the old buildings, said Spence, but he wanted something new, which reflected the spirit of the Festival of Britain (for which he had designed the Sea and Ships Pavilions in 1951) and the optimism of post-war Britain. This was more than just about architecture. It was also about a new vision of urban planning.

It was not entirely clear how such major figures as Jacob Epstein, Graham Sutherland and John Piper became involved in the project or how Benjamin Britten came to compose his War Requiem for the consecration of the cathedral in 1962. What matters, though, is that today it is simply inconceivable that such major cultural figures would lend their genius to an equivalent project. Or, rather, it is inconceivable that such a project would take place in Coventry or in contemporary Britain at all. These are huge issues about the state of architecture and thinking about cities in present-day Britain. There is talk of a monument to the victims of coronavirus and of a hideous Holocaust Memorial near the Houses of Parliament. Neither remotely match the creative genius of the stained glass windows, Sutherlands tapestry or Epsteins sculpture, St Michael Overcoming the Devil.

Its also worth noting that some of the best parts of the documentary were taken from a programme presented by Kenneth Clark for ATV in 1962. Who, today, would be the equivalent of Kenneth Clark sixty years ago? The answer is there is no one on British television with Clarks authority or erudition, just as there is no one in British art comparable to Epstein or Sutherland.

These are not points on which Wyver wished to dwell. He was too infused with the optimism of the newsreels and interviews from the 1950s. They spoke of a new vision of Britain. Clark was not exaggerating when he thanked Basil Spence for the greatest and most imaginative act of patronage for at least a century.

Spences cathedral was part of a new vision of culture in Coventry. In 1958 there was a new theatre, the Belgrade (early company members included Trevor Nunn, Ian McKellen, Joan Plowright, Frank Finlay and Leonard Rossiter). Then there was the Herbert Art Gallery (1960) and the new cathedral (1962), named after a local industrialist who had donated 100,000 to the city of Coventry to pay for the construction of an art gallery and museum.

The town of the future is how Coventry was described in Our Land in the Making, a popular Ladybird book from 1966. Not now it isnt. Wyver was less interested in the contrast between Coventry then and what became of Coventry over the past fifty years. The cathedral is beautiful, but the honeymoon was short-lived and the utopian vision of the newsreel commentaries rings terribly hollow. That pedestrianised shopping centre looks uncannily like scenes from Stephen Poliakoffs dystopian TV drama, Bloody Kids, filmed in 1979, less than twenty years after the new cathedral was consecrated. Two years later, in 1981, The Specials, a band from Coventry, released their hit single, Ghost Town, which brilliantly caught the mood of early Thatcher years.

There are plans to tear down the shopping centre. It cant compete with out-of-town retail parks or Amazon. And later this year, forty years after Ghost Town, The Specials will be going on a UK Tour, including Coventry on 11 September.

My only regret about Wyvers superb documentary is that he didnt play Ghost Town over what the shopping centre looks like now:

This town, is coming like a ghost town

All the clubs have been closed down

This place, is coming like a ghost town

Bands wont play no more

Too much fighting on the dance floor.

There are many reasons why Labour in the past ten years has ceased to speak for Middle Britain. Coventry, despite the beauty and boldness of Basil Spences cathedral, is one of them.

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Coventry and its cathedral: the rise and fall of an urban utopia - TheArticle

Saya Woolfalks Encyclopedia of Cloud Divination (Plates 1-3) at Kimball Art Center. (Photo by Luke Jackson | The Daily Utah Chronicle)

Utopia in and of itself is an interesting concept. First written by Sir Thomas More, the word is essentially a combination of the Greek words for good place and no place. A utopia presents itself as a place of perfection and peace and, contradictorily, as a place that cant really exist.

But if a utopia is unachievable, what then is the point of describing and exploring it? The Kimball Art Center in Park City has dedicated their new exhibition When Evening Has Passed and Tomorrow Comes to not only answering this question, but further exploring the concept of utopia.

The exhibit brings together works from four artists Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze, Nicola Lpez, Cauleen Smithand Saya Woolfalk each of whom bring their own unique views on utopia. Their work explores their own personal utopian spaces and further inspires us to picture a more luminous future.

I made the drive up to Park City by myself on Sunday to explore the exhibition. As expected, Park City was bustling with couples and families taking in the sunshine and beauty afforded by the location. As I entered the Kimball Art Center, I was met with an unexpected silence. Afraid the exhibit was closed, I cautiously stepped forward. A very kind worker invited me in and encouraged me to take my time with each piece of art.

Being the only patron in the gallery allowed me to have an interesting and uniquely introspective experience with the pieces present. I moved slowly, trying to focus my energy on the art and what emotions it was evoking. I found myself touched and in awe by each artists individual take on utopia.

Amanze, with her wonderful use of blank space, caused me to consider finding utopia within the mundane.

Smith prompted me to reflect on my literary heroes and the authors who shaped my worldview, bringing my childhood inspirations to the forefront.

Lpez moved me to consider natures role in our societys future. Can utopia be reached only if we learn to move with the rapid changing of nature? Perhaps true joy comes from embracing natures whims instead of constantly trying to stay one step ahead.

While all the pieces brought beauty and inspiration, it was Woolfalks immersive piece Empathic Cloud Divination Room which touched me the most. It brought a silence to my overall experience which moved me to contemplate the role of religion and spirituality in utopia.

It transported me to a place of love, tolerance and learning where what mattered most was not my theology, but an environment of discussion and learning. No picture or description can do this room justice it is something that simply needs to be experienced.

As I concluded my time at the Kimball Art Center, I reflected again on the purpose of utopia. Regardless of the reality of a perfectly peaceful society, I was able to find inspiration in the notion. Who cares if we will never achieve literal perfection as a society? If we put aside our egos and come together with love and tolerance, wont the effort be worth it?

I know it sounds like a Hallmark card, but in a world full of division and hatred, When Evening Has Passed and Tomorrow Comes offers a reflective and rejuvenating safe haven where a better world doesnt seem so far away.

The exhibit is free of charge and running at the Kimball Art Center until June 13, 2021.

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'When Evening Has Passed and Tomorrow Comes' Exhibition Inspires and Reflects Utopia - Daily Utah Chronicle

When Ebony Turner was growing up, her favorite activity was baking.

"I was always in the kitchen with my grandmother," she said. "I've always been the baker in the family, and I've always loved it."

When Turner got to college, her initial studies focused on nursing, but those academic pursuits didn't last long.

"I had a change of heart," she said. "Instead, I thought, 'It seems like I would be happier if I went into the culinary arts.'"

She was especially after her coursework turned to baking and cake decorating and a cherished pastime evolved into a career. Turner started with a custom-cake operation out of her home kitchen, but by 2019 she had ramped up to a much roomier facility in a south Minneapolis church.

The connections she made there led to a catering job for a housing shelter. That 14-month gig, which ended a few weeks ago, kept her busy during the pandemic and allowed her to earn enough capital to jump-start her dream: a retail sweets shop that she's dubbed Dessertopia (20 W. 66th St., Richfield, dessertopia2021.com).

Leasing a storefront in the venerable Hub shopping center seemed preordained. Last year, Turner was running errands at the 67-year-old Richfield landmark when she spied a sign in a window that said, "This space is yours."

"And I thought, 'You're right, it's all mine,'" she said. "I'm really determined. There was a phone number on the sign, and I saved it in my phone under 'My New Store.'"

She eventually made it happen, signing a lease in March and devoting the next nine weeks to converting a grimy former Little Caesars franchise ("It was a complete horror story," she said) into her sparkling new brick-and-mortar enterprise.

The first customers walked through the doors on May 22, and Turner has already developed an enthusiastic clientele, proof once again that good bakeries make good neighbors.

"The response from the community has been overwhelming and humbling, to say the least," she said. "The enormous positive response has been just amazing. We've been ramping up production, and hiring more hands, to try to keep up with the demand."

The ever-expanding menu is anchored by cupcakes: chocolate cupcakes filled with caramel sauce and topped with whipped cream frosting and crushed Heath bars, vanilla cupcakes filled with cream cheese and strawberries and finished with vanilla buttercream icing, carrot cake filled with cream cheese and candied carrots and topped with cream cheese frosting and a drizzle of honey.

There are cinnamon rolls infused with maple and bacon, sticky pecan-caramel rolls, mini Bundt cakes and pretty single-serving cakes served in cups; think cake jars, minus the glass containers. Cannolis, too: peaches-and-cream, bananas Foster, caramel apple.

"They put you in mind of peach cobbler, banana pudding and apple pie," said Turner. "I'm doing different items that you won't see elsewhere."

Next up is ice cream, and Turner is continuing to produce the custom-order cakes that started her business.

The Dessertopia name is a nod to "The Giver," a favorite book.

"It's about a utopia, a perfect world," said Turner. "I like to play with words, and make them fun and whimsical. Pairing 'utopia' with 'dessert' seems perfect for a one-stop shop for your perfect dessert."

Dessertopia is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

More:

Cupcakes and cannoli at Richfield's newest bakery at the Hub - Minneapolis Star Tribune