Names and faces
Judi Dench says she doesn’t condone any inappropriate conduct by actor Kevin Spacey, but says scrubbing him from a film sets a questionable precedent. The celebrated British actress said “I can’t approve in any way the fact that, whatever he has done, that you then start to cut him out of films.” Spacey was erased from All the Money in the World last year and replaced with Christopher Plummer after allegations of sexual harassment against him. Dench, speaking in Spain at the San Sebastian film festival, said that Spacey “is and was a most wonderful actor.” She added: “Are we to go back through history now and anyone who has misbehaved in any way or has broken the law or has committed some kind of offense, are they always going to be cut out?”
Opera star Placido Domingo took the stage for the gala reopening of a Houston venue that suffered about $100 million in Hurricane Harvey flood damage last year. The Wortham Theater Center reopened Wednesday night with a sold-out crowd of about 2,300 at the Houston Grand
Opera. Domingo also performed 30 years ago at the center’s original opening. Parts of the city-owned structure flooded after Harvey hit in August 2017 and rain swamped areas of Houston. Officials estimate 270 million gallons of water filled underground garages and a tunnel. The opera moved to the George R. Brown Convention Center. Opera managing director Perryn Leech said Thursday that the opera is thrilled to be back in the theater and ready to take on the next 30 years “hopefully without any more hurricanes.”
Comedian and former Daily Show host Jon Stewart surprised construction workers at a New Jersey performing arts theater with a free lunch. Stewart appeared behind the window of the Shore Good Eats food truck Wednesday afternoon outside the Count Basie Center of the Arts in Red Bank, N.J., handing out sandwiches and cookies. The theater is in the midst of a $26 million expansion project. The project includes adding an arts and education building, a second performance space and updated heating systems. Stewart performed at the theater in June and helped raise $50,000. He said schools are having a hard time exposing children to the arts, so having the expanded center available is “really important.” Construction on the project is expected to be completed by next year.