The First Woman To Direct A Pixar Short Persisted With A ‘Whimsical Love Letter’ To Mothers And Food
"Directed by Domee Shi, 'Bao' centers on a Chinese mother with a case of empty nest syndrome. She gets a second chance at motherhood when one of the dumplings she made comes to life as a tiny, giggly baby." … Read More
Clemens Kalischer, Refugee And Photographer Of Refugees, Dies At 97
He fled Nazi Germany, and then "in 1947 and 1948, still in his 20s, Mr. Kalischer managed to embed himself with refugees uprooted by World War II as they arrived in New York by ship from Bremerhaven. He was able to do so because he had been one of them only six years before." … Read More
How Frida Kahlo Is Becoming A Global Icon
After Kahlo died in 1954, her estate was sealed until her caretaker died in 2002 - and now the estate is going global, with items with historical and artistic significance being shown in Britain. … Read More
At Monticello, It Is – At Long Last – Time To Center The Life Of Sally Hemings
This has been 25 years - and two centuries - in the making. "The 'Life of Sally Hemings' exhibit is perhaps the most striking example of the sea change that has taken place at Monticello, as the foundation has increasingly focused on highlighting the stories of Monticello’s slaves. ... It rebuilt a slave cabin and workshops where slaves labored, and has hosted reunions there for the descendants of the enslaved population, including sleepovers. It removed a public bathroom installed in 1940s atop slave quarters." … Read More
How Did The Grande Dame Of Russian Ballet Dance Principal Roles Into Her 50s?
Irina Gensler: "You see, it is not only your grace, flexible limbs, or your ability to lift your leg to 180 degrees that makes you a good ballet dancer. ... It is very much your stoicism, your resilience." … Read More
One Man’s Quest To Get Black Theatre Going In The Middle Of California
Tommie Muhammad, a 72-year-old actor and director, has been trying to find a home for African American theatre in Stockton since 1983. He "still wants to produce black plays, but it’s proving more and more difficult as time passes. Every so often, he gets the opportunity to put on a production, but not with the consistency he had hoped for." … Read More
Oprah And Apple Have Signed Some Kind Of Big Deal, But What Does That Mean For The Media Landscape?
Apple, Netflix, and Amazon are in a "talent arms race," with Netflix signing deals with the likes of Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy (er, and the Obamas), and Amazon locking down Jordan Peele and Nicole Kidman - and Apple snagging everyone from Kristen Wiig to M. Night Shyamalan to, well, Oprah. … Read More
Arundhati Roy Sounds A Clarion Call For Writers
The novelist and essayist says it's not the job of a writer to be an activist - but that writers are always political, and now that is deeply necessary. "Individuals are being turned into micro-fascists by so many means. It is the mobs and vigilantes going and lynching people. So more than ever, the point of the writer is to be unpopular. The point of the writer is to say: 'I denounce you even if I’m not in the majority.'" … Read More
A Guy Walked Into An Exhibit In Toronto, Lifted A Banksy Off The Wall, And Just Walked Out
OK, it wasn't quite that easy - he had to sneak in at 5 am - but still: "The man padded across the concrete floor, lifted a print of 'Trolley Hunters' off the wall, and breezily walked out the door he came in." … Read More
Southern Baptists Say They’re Calling Off The Culture War, But Can Artists Trust That Claim?
There's a newly elected Gen-X leader, and he has no time for the culture wars of the past. "Greear has promised to lead the denomination down a different path, which, he has said, must include efforts both to repent of a 'failure to listen to and honor women and racial minorities' and 'to include them in proportionate measures in top leadership roles.' If the meeting in Dallas is any indication, his vision is resonating with a large number of the next wave of Baptist leaders." But many artists and, indeed, the arts in the U.S., have been burned. What's that path again? … Read More
Royalties Lawsuit Against Blue Man Group Ends With A 3 Million Dollar Payout
Ian Pai "was closely associated with members of Blue Man Group in its early days. He said that he helped compose many of the show’s wordless songs and came to view the original members as friends, joining them on vacations and attending one of their weddings." But he figured out in 2014 that he wasn't being paid industry standard for royalties - and he sued. … Read More
No Thank You: Hanif Kurieshi Isn’t Having Any Of Lionel Shriver’s Whining About Diversity In Publishing
Novelist Kurieshi is not holding back: "It is not coincidental that at this Brexit moment, with its xenophobic, oafish and narrow perspective, the ruling class and its gatekeepers fear a multitude of democratic voices from elsewhere and wish to keep us silent. They can’t wait to tell us how undeserving of being heard we really are. But they should remember this: they might have tried to shut the door on Europe, refugees and people of colour, but it will be impossible for them to shut the door on British innovation. We are very insistent, noisy and talented." … Read More
Yvette Horner, Star Accordionist Of France, Has Died At 95
Before Horner played in countless nightclubs and was made over by fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier, "her considerable legend was rooted in the years she spent as a distinctive part of the grand caravan that accompanies the Tour de France, the sprawling French bicycle race. For more than a decade in the 1950s and ’60s she played for the crowds from atop one vehicle or another as the caravan made its way along the tour route ahead of the cyclists." … Read More
A Director Who’s Finding Her Family Even As She Branches Out In The Theatre World
May Adrales, who has been a director and collaborator with Qui Nguyen and his play Vietgone for several years, is just finishing up a season as an associate artistic director at the Milwaukee Rep. What has she learned? "It’s hard to initiate change, and it’s hard to start to reframe things differently." … Read More
So Is ‘Interview Magazine’ Dead Or Alive Or A Piece Of Performance Art?
This is a perfect time for "Wait, what?" because ... wait. Is Interview dead or resurrected or what the heck? It's a family business that, a member of the family recently said, will rise from its ashes and still be a family business - ignoring, of course, all of the back pay owed to freelancers, the editorial director, and more. … Read More
Premium Classifieds
Director of Development, Arts Everywhere at UNC-Chapel Hill
UNC’s Arts Everywhere Initiative seeks Dir. of Development to lead efforts to secure external funding from individual & institutional donors to advance Arts Everywhere’s campus-wide mission – to … [Read More]
Executive Director, Dance Heginbotham
Dance Heginbotham seeks an Executive Director to provide vision, leadership, motivation and direction to the Board, staff, and supporters of this growing contemporary dance company. DANCE … [Read More]
Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Who Made His Conducting Debut At Age 20 At The Bolshoi, Has Died At 87
Rozhdestvensky "made his name by popularising music by composers who were all but banned by the Communist authorities in the USSR, including Poulenc and Hindemith." … [Read More]
Glasgow School Of Art’s Mackintosh Building Is At Least Half Destroyed By Fire
Every part of the building was affected, and there was a partial roof collapse - and the fire spread to nearby buildings as well. "It was the second time in four years that a blaze has hit the world-famous building, which was under restoration and was set to reopen after a fire badly damaged it in May 2014." … [Read More]
A Los Angeles Pop Group Finds Out It’s Getting Paid One-Tenth Of An Equivalent – But Male – Group
The pay gap in music wages is all too real. One member of the group Haim: "It’s scary out there and [messed] up not even to be paid half the same amount. But to be paid a tenth of that amount of money? It was insane." … [Read More]
Surprising Everyone (Again), Beyoncé And Jay-Z Suddenly Drop A Finished Album
It's at once a surprise and an utterly familiar ritual for fans of the couple, who are on tour together. "The sudden release immediately sent fans and the industry into a tizzy" - and sent non-TIDAL streaming services into a funk. "Spotify declined to comment and Apple Music did not immediately respond to requests for comment about its plans for the album." … [Read More]
Is Walmart Selling Knockoff Mid-Century Classics?
If some of the deals seem too good to be true, well—they may just be. Among other offerings with an uncanny resemblance to midcentury design icons (like Hans Wegner’s Wishbone chair, or the Eames Office molded plastic chair), the Poly and Bark Sculpture Coffee Table for $309.99 has raised a few discerning eyebrows. … [Read More]
New Edmonton Ballet, New Partnership, And A New Artistic Director
As the former Citie Ballet – now Ballet Edmonton – takes a name change the company will also start a new partnership with the Fine Arts & Communications Faculty at MacEwan University involving a performance space and other possible collaborations. Finally, Ballet Edmonton has announced that one of Canada’s most acclaimed choreographers Wen Wei Wang will take over as its new artistic director for the 2018-2019 season. … [Read More]
Study: Worldwide, 95 Percent Of Concerts Feature Only Male Composers
The figures, compiled by the Donne – Women in Music project and Drama Musica, show that a total of 3,524 musical works will be performed at those concerts, and, of those, 3,442 (97.6%) were written by men and only 82 (2.3%) were written by women. … [Read More]
MoviePass Soars Past Three Million Subscribers
But. Those in distribution and exhibition continue to bet against MoviePass’ survival; since CinemaCon they’ve whispered whether the monthly ticket service would make it to the end of summer. Parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc. (HMNY) stock has been in free fall, plunging from a high this year of $9.77 on Jan. 23 to a current $0.38. … [Read More]
Has Broadway Become Just A Cynical Theme Park?
What happened? Only a few seasons ago, Broadway was celebrating powerful and urgent new US plays on Broadway such as Eclipsed, Sweat, Clybourne Park and August/Osage County. It had been the same with a renaissance of powerful, groundbreaking, original and diverse US musicals such as Hamilton and Dear Evan Hanson. In contrast, all of this year’s best musical nominations were adapted from films – Mean Girls, SpongeBob Square Pants, The Band’s Visit and Frozen – with The Band’s Visit the closest to reflecting past developments and achievements in the art form. … [Read More]
Strategizing To Be “Authentic”? It’s A Turn-Off
All of the strategizing and positioning that goes on behind the scenes to create an authentic image makes many companies come off as, well, inauthentic. Working hard to find a niche or an angle that makes a specific company appear both appealing and honest simply makes the company look like it’s trying too hard — and that’s a big turnoff for consumers. In fact, a lack of authenticity has been deemed the “fastest way to kill your brand.” … [Read More]