Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Joan Baez named Guthrie recipient
Singer, songwriter, activist and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member
Joan Baez is this year’s recipient of the Woody Guthrie Prize, an award that recognizes artists who speak out for the less fortunate.
Baez will be honored with a virtual ceremony on Aug. 16 during this year’s virtual edition of the Philadelphia Folk Festival. She was inducted into the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
Woody Guthrie Center Director Deana McCloud noted Baez’s activism that included marching for civil rights and opposing the Vietnam War.
“A staunch activist, Ms. Baez has consistently been on the front lines in the fight for social justice, peace and equality,” McCloud said in a statement.
Baez said in the statement that she has followed in the footsteps of Guthrie.
“It has been my mission to use my music as a voice for those who cannot be heard or have been silenced by fear and powerlessness,” Baez said.
Past recipients of the award include Chuck D, John Mellencamp, Norman Lear, Kris Kristofferson, Mavis Staples and Pete Seeger.
Spike Lee documentary of David Byrne’s Broadway show to open TIFF:
The 45th Toronto International Film Festival will be a much-diminished event this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it has an opening-night film. Spike Lee’s filmed version of David Byrne’s Broadway theatrical concert “American Utopia” will kick off the largely virtual fall festival.
Festival organizers said Tuesday that “American Utopia” will premiere on Sept. 10 in Toronto, even if it remains unclear if it will be a physical screening. That, the festival noted, will be contingent on the dictates of Ontario health officials. TIFF’s Toronto headquarters currently remain closed.
Much of the film industry won’t be able to attend, regardless. The festival said Monday that all screenings for press and industry members will be held on a digital platform.
Organizers have announced about 50 movies for this year’s edition, though the lineup has little similarity to the usual barrage of starry awards contenders and major Hollywood fall films that typically launch in Toronto.
The former Talking Heads frontman’s “American Utopia” played at New York’s Hudson Theatre from October through February. A fall return was planned before the pandemic shuttered Broadway through the end of the year.
The show features Byrne and 11 musical artists from around the world performing songs from the 2018 album of the same title, as well as Talking Heads hits.
HBO will premiere “American Utopia” this fall.
July 22 birthdays: Actress Louise Fletcher is 86. Host Alex Trebek is 80. Singer George Clinton is
79. Actor Danny Glover is 74. Singer Don Henley is
73. Composer Alan Menken is 71. Actor Willem Dafoe is 65. Actor John Leguizamo is 56. Actor David Spade is 56. Singer Rufus Wainwright is 47. Singer Selena Gomez is 28.