The Obamas’ Top Eight Broadway Moments (Yes, You Know What Number One Is)

THEATRE Posted: January 16, 2017 6:00 am

One of the non-Hamilton-related moments: When the president presented Audra McDonald with the National Medal of the Arts. (And that’s just number six.)

Joseph Conyers on Being an Artist Entrepreneur

Check out this week’s episode of my show Arts Engines with Joseph Conyers, The Philadelphia Orchestra bassist and entrepreneur, as he shares the passions that have fueled his success!... Read more

Source: Aaron Dworkin Published on: 2021-01-23
Looking for a Fugitive Rainbow—a Very Transient “Gift” to the Bidens

Laura Baptiste, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s (SAAM’s) always helpful chief of communications and public affairs, found herself fielding misinformation disseminated in a number of news reports after Wednesday’s Presidential Inauguration festivities. She scrambled to set the record straight about Robert Duncanson‘s suddenly famous “Landscape with Rainbow,” after several published... Read more

Source: CultureGrrl Published on: 2021-01-22
Verbal virtuosity

In today’s Wall Street Journal drama column, I review Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s Shaw! Shaw! Shaw!. Here’s an excerpt. * * * Webcasts of the plays of George Bernard Shaw have been scarce during the pandemic. It’s a shame, for Shaw’s plays are for the most part comedies of ideas, political and... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-22
Jump-starting an arts revival

In today’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column, I talk about how to jump-start a post-pandemic revival of the arts in America. Here’s an excerpt. * * * As everybody with even the slightest interest in the arts knows, the coming of Covid-19 has had a catastrophic effect on creative institutions in every... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-22
Replay: Alfred Hitchcock talks to Dick Cavett

Alfred Hitchcock is interviewed by Dick Cavett on TV in 1972: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Replay: Alfred Hitchcock talks to Dick Cavett at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-22
Almanac: Tolstoy on happiness

“Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.” Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace (trans. Louise and Aylmer Maude) Continue reading Almanac: Tolstoy on happiness at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-22
Almanac: Ambrose Bierce on the President of the United States

“PRESIDENT, n. The leading figure in a small group of men of whom—and of whom only—it is positively known that immense numbers of their countrymen did not want any of them for President.” Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary Continue reading Almanac: Ambrose Bierce on the President of the United States at... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-21
Ominous Juxtaposition? Biden Flanked by Duncanson’s “Rainbow” & Statue of a Murdered President

In a jolting inauguration installation, marred by unintentionally dark symbolism that, hopefully, wasn’t discerned by the Bidens, this afternoon’s celebration after the joyful swearing-in of the new President and Vice President included a brief walk through the Capitol rotunda led by Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, chairman of the Senate Republican... Read more

Source: CultureGrrl Published on: 2021-01-20
Snapshot: FDR’s 1933 inauguration

Sound footage of the presidential inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Snapshot: FDR’s 1933 inauguration at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-20
Almanac: Ralph Ellison on power

“Power doesn’t have to show off. Power is confident, self-assuring, self-starting and self-stopping, self-warming and self-justifying. When you have it, you know it.” Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man Continue reading Almanac: Ralph Ellison on power at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-20
Lookback: “Call me Bartleby”

From 2006: I woke up this morning at nine-thirty, an hour later than my normal get-up-and-go time. As I descended from the loft in which I spend my nights, it struck me that I had nothing whatsoever to do today: no deadlines, no shows to see, no meals with friends,... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-19
Almanac: Thomas Fuller on memory

“We have all forgot more than we remember.” Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia Continue reading Almanac: Thomas Fuller on memory at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-19
Just because: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli plays Ravel

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli plays the slow movement of Ravel’s G Major Piano Concerto, accompanied by Sergiu Celidibache and the London Symphony: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Just because: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-18
Trey Devey share his passion for Arts Education

“If we are empowered with creativity, with collaboration, with all of the skills that come from practicing the arts… that will lead to the breakthrough ideas.” Trey Devey, President of the Interlochen Center for the Arts, speaks to the power of arts education.... Read more

Source: Aaron Dworkin Published on: 2021-01-16
Matthew Loden discusses the mission of orchestras

“There’s a fundamental mission drive and, in many instances, I think a moral imperative to actually do what we’re doing for as many people as possible and to do it intelligently and in a way that is actually going to bring some kind of either musical relief or solace.” Matthew... Read more

Source: Aaron Dworkin Published on: 2021-01-14
Let’s Talk About Literary Exposure

Some would call it visibility. If you’re talking books, how about millions upon millions of Youtube views for a reading from Supervert’s "Necrophilia Variations.' A dozen years ago when that video had two million views, I called it “viral reading.” Three years later, on Dec. 30, 2015, the video had... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2021-01-14