Charles Bradley, The ‘Screaming Eagle Of Soul’ Who Found Fame Late In Life, Has Died At 68
Bradley's first album, on the '60s sound revival label Daptone, was released when he was 62, and his James-Brown-evoking performances became legendary. Daptone's Gabriel Roth: "Charles was somehow one of the meekest and strongest people I've ever known. His pain was a cry for universal love and humanity." … [Read More]
How Weird – And How Abusive – Do Celebrities Have To Be Before We Stop Watching Their Movies?
Apparently, audiences will accept almost anything as long as it has to do with controlling women. See: Tom Cruise and Jim Carrey. … [Read More]
What A New Science Fiction Series Reveals About Our Planet (It’s Rather Grim)
Traditionally, science fiction with spaceships has been about exploration and escaping Earth. But that escape is a pipe dream. "We experience our actual earthbound future as an incomprehensible betrayal. For humanity to flicker and die on Earth alone — and to leave no trace of itself save its garbage and the geological echo of incomprehensibly vast mass extinction — seems to us like a crime against the specialness of our species (not to mention all the other species we’ve made extinct just to get this far)." … [Read More]
Are Artists About To Get Kicked Out Of Bushwick By A Wave Of Development?
Many people see the artists as the first wave of development and gentrification, of course. "Tensions have simmered for much of the past decade between Bushwick’s longtime Latino and African American residents and artists who moved into the area. But as more people discover the neighborhood’s charms, investors pour money into projects that increase property values and eventually force long-time residents and artists to leave for good." … [Read More]
Ritha Devi, A ‘Consummate Actress’ Who Brought Indian Classical Dance To The U.S., Has Died At 92
She specialized in Odissi, a form of temple dance from the eastern Indian state of Odisha. "By the 1940s and ’50s, Odissi had fallen out of favor in India. But Ms. Devi, who began studying it in 1964, helped revive it through worldwide tours in the 1970s and as a professor in New York University’s dance department from 1972 to 1982." … [Read More]
Jean Michel Basquiat Made His Entire Life Art, And Essentially Predicted Our Identity-Obsessed Digital Age
Think about this when you see artists on Instagram: "Artists always make spectacular choices in terms of what they are going to wear - it’s part of the gallery game, a game of seduction with the collectors. They are buying you as much as they are buying the work. It’s one of the rare occasions where the class system is subverted. Nobody is going to remember you because you died with a billion dollars, but they will remember your collection. Jean Michel was acutely aware of that. His whole life as a black man in the art world was a performance." … [Read More]
Where Are All Of The Rural Gay Poets?
Obviously they've all moved to cities, right? But for real: Does "the omission of gay voices in [the] rural canon gesture toward a more pointed claim, that the 'moral glory' of the American countryside somehow prevented, or at least denied, the existence of gay men and women"? … [Read More]
José Carreras, The Third Tenor In The Three Tenors’ Juggernaut, Exits The Stage
Carreras was on his way to the heights of opera stardom when he was struck by leukemia - but a comeback concert with friends and fellow tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo turned him into a massive crossover star. Now he's preparing to sing his final concert at Carnegie Hall. … [Read More]
This ‘Star Trek’ Goes, Digitally, Where No CBS Show Has Gone Before
After the opening episode arrives over the usual airwaves, the show is only going to be available on CBS All Access - something that executives hope will get more people to sign up for the streaming service. … [Read More]
Inside The Massive, Two-Year Effort To Save, And Restore, Gainsborough’s ‘Blue Boy’
The Huntington's senior paintings conservator, Christina O’Connell, has a plan. "The Blue Boy will be reframed and returned to the portrait gallery on November 1. It will remain there for 10 months while O’Connell processes reams of data and formulates her treatment plan. Then the painting will come down for another several months of treatment. Part of this work will be done in the lab, but as much as possible will be completed in a cordoned-off area of the portrait gallery, in full view of the visiting public." … [Read More]
Cressida Pollock, Who Steered The English National Opera Through Its Troubles, Will Step Down
That righting came at a cost - cutting the number of operas, losing a music director, dealing with a threatened strike by the chorus - but the young executive director leaves the ENO on a much more stable financial footing, with new artistic leadership coming in. … [Read More]
A Backroom Deal With Weinstein Productions About ‘Finding Neverland’ Raises Questions For A High-Profile AIDS Fundraiser
Well: "Mr. Weinstein said that when arranging the charitable contributions that flowed to the theater he told some donors that the funds were to support the 'Finding Neverland' production. But, he said, it wasn’t his responsibility to further disclose that the money would be used to reimburse him and the other investors or otherwise cover their business obligations. If people wanted to learn more, he said, they could have done internet research." … [Read More]
Viola Davis Says Hollywood’s Lack Of Diversity Can Only Be Changed From The Inside
Davis and her husband, Julian Tennon, set up a production company in 2011 to do just that - but, Tennon says, "When I go to meetings, it’s generally not African Americans that I’m talking to about getting something greenlit. Folks at the top are going to have to make decisions about trying to make systemic change. That’s the only way it’s going to happen." … [Read More]
Transforming Teenagers Into Readers With An Intimate Love Of Books
A high school teacher who does surveys and knows only 15 percent of any class ever reads the entire book thinks that "if reading were less of a spectator sport maybe we’d inhabit a world better informed, more critical—and critical in a reflective rather than a reactive sense—a world shaped more collectively by thoughtfulness, by magnanimity." … [Read More]
Can The Zeitz Museum Become The Tate Modern Of South Africa?
Sure, if by that you mean where the world's wealthy come to play. "At its media preview last Friday, two of the first questions from South African journalists raised awkward points about Cape Town's reputation as an unequal and inaccessible playground for the wealthy. The city is arguably one of the least African cities on the continent. And its apartheid geography has persisted, with blacks and whites still largely in their separate and unequal enclaves." … [Read More]
Premium Classifieds
Artistic Director – Phoenix Chorale, Phoenix AZ
The GRAMMY® Award-winning Phoenix Chorale is seeking a dynamic, consummately skilled, and inspirational conductor to serve as the Chorale’s next Artistic Director. This individual will exhibit … [Read More]
Director of Marketing and Communications, American Shakespeare Center
The American Shakespeare Center (ASC), a $3.7 million destination theatre and educational center seeks experienced candidates for the position of Director of Marketing and Communications. Reporting to … [Read More]
Director, Communications – Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts seeks a full-time Director, Communications for the development and implementation of strategies and content that advance Wolf Trap Foundation’s mission, … [Read More]
Marian Horosko, Dancer And Historian Of Dance, Has Died At 92…
The former editor of Dance Magazine, Horosko "was the only dancer who carried an old-fashioned typewriter with her on tour." … [Read More]
Finally, We’re In The Golden Age Of Slutty Cinema…
Now (just look at Girls' Trip and Daphne) is the time for women who "are neither the victims of, nor inertly, Sleeping-Beauty-wise, waiting to be enlivened by, male desire." … [Read More]
Tarell Alvin McCraney Wrote The Play That Later Became ‘Moonlight’ – Has His Life Changed?…
Not really, but he's OK with that. "I come to make room for the ones coming after. Because these people coming after are going to deliver us something. We just need to watch out. Just look at the luscious, juicy deliciousness that is black art right now. I just feel like we’re only scratching the surface." … [Read More]
Soaring Above The City, Where The Tutus Get Cut, Sewn, And Fitted…
Even when fashion designers get outrageous for the Fall Gala, New York City Ballet's costume shop knows what it's doing. "They know how every fabric moves, they know what a seam does, what a hem does, what stretches, what doesn't, what absorbs, what doesn't, what can be lifted, what can move." … [Read More]
Does Art Lose Its Meaning When It’s In 1000 Selfies A Minute?…
One curator: "It’s as if taking a photo of a work in a museum means ‘seeing’ it to a viewer, even though someone like me worries that taking the photo replaces seeing it in the slow and thoughtful way I would ideally wish. ... And the problem with all the photo-takers is that they make it impossible for someone who wants to do that kind of looking to do so." … [Read More]
Industry Report Says Exodus From Pay TV Services Is Accelerating…
While “virtual multichannel video programming distributors” like Hulu, YouTube TV and Sling TV are poised to grow, they’ll significantly cannibalize the existing base of traditional pay-TV customers, according to RBC’s analysis. About 15% of the addressable market for “vMVPDs” will come from legacy cable and satellite subs, with 10% from “cord-never” broadband-only households. … [Read More]
EU Ranks Creative Cities. Edinburgh Tops List…
"Selected cities in 28 European Union (EU) countries plus Norway and Switzerland have been ranked in a new report and online tool called the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor. It uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative studies to give a comparative assessment of the cities’ levels of engagement with culture and creativity." … [Read More]
A Year Later, Washington’s African American Museum Is Still An Audience Hit…
"It remains one of the hottest tickets in town, it is an essential stop for out-of-town tourists, and it has succeeded in attracting a diverse, engaged, multicultural and international audience. It has also changed the center of gravity on the Mall, drawing crowds to its symbolic nodal point, where the Washington Monument connects the White House and Jefferson Memorial to the Capitol and Lincoln Memorial. There is an energy along 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW that feels new, and welcome, in the city." … [Read More]
Opera Takes Over Philadelphia – And It’s A Hit…
"Opera Philadelphia has been planning this for a couple of years: Now, the O17 festival has begun, turning the city into a giant opera stage for 12 days. The company is striking a huge blow for the idea that arts organizations do better to add new, exciting things than to tread with financial caution. The festival is one of the most enjoyable additions to the fall calendar in years; it’s attracting opera fans from all over; and so far, it looks like a success." … [Read More]
What London’s Philharmonia Orchestra Learned With Its Virtual Reality Project…
"Creatively, VR felt like a natural progression for us, and I believe it’s a fantastic medium for orchestral music. 2D video and stereo audio can struggle to convey the complex dynamics and visceral energy of a live symphony orchestra. This could be why livestreaming orchestral performances to cinemas has not had the widespread success enjoyed by theatre and opera companies. An orchestra just comes across as too flat, with the players at risk of looking detached and remote from the viewer." … [Read More]