“When it is the star who is the draw and being reviewed, it often means the production lacks daring and ambition. The star alone is the reason for the revival, not a director’s urgent need to stage a particular play at a particular time.”
When Directors Go Too Far (Just How Much Can You Change In A Script?)
“The script of a play is not a finished product: It’s a set of instructions. A play is not a play until it’s performed, and unless it’s a one-person play that is acted, directed and designed by the author, many other people will be deeply involved in the complicated process that leads to its performance.”
How Big Data Is Finding Meaning In Meaningless Data
“While traditional data analysis tends to focus on data that has intrinsic, meaningful value, Big Data allows us to aggregate otherwise meaningless data and find insight in the group. By way of analogy, it probably won’t tell us much to observe the individual meanderings of an ant, but when observing the colony together, patterns emerge.”
President Obama Uses Art History As A Punchline For A Joke
So called “high culture” hasn’t fared well under this president who, like so many politicians, seems reflexively afraid of being associated with anything that might be seen as elitist.
Report: Visual Art Professionals Are Confused About Fair Use And Copyright Laws
“In addition to a lack of clarity of about what is fair use — the section of copyright law allowing for non-licensed use of copyrighted material for commentary and other “transformative” purposes — arts professionals fear the costs, in time and dollars, of seeking out permission for licensed use, the report says.”
As Hollywood Goes All-Digital Some Neighborhood Movie Theatres Fade To Black
“The National Association of Theatre Owners says of the nation’s 40,000 screens about 37,000 have gone digital, but it seems likely that at least a few may end up going dark instead.”
Actor Fired From Geffen Playhouse’s ‘Birthday Party’, Production Postponed
Just two weeks before opening, director William Friedkin decided to replace Steven Berkoff and says he can’t engage a suitable replacement on such short notice.
Is This the World’s Oldest Landscape Painting?
“Scientists have linked the eruption of Turkey’s Mount Hassan with a Neolithic painting found in the nearby proto-city of Çatalhöyük.”
Harlem’s Apollo Theater Is Going Global
“Looking to expand its brand to international proportions, the Apollo Theater is kicking off its 80th anniversary with a series of global initiatives – including a first-ever international tour of its original production about the Godfather of Soul.”
Playwright Sues to Get His ‘Three’s Company’ Deconstruction Out of Copyright Limbo
After David Adjmi’s 3C had an Off-Broadway run, attorneys for the producers of the old ABC sitcom sent a cease-and-desist letter alleging copyright infringement, and the play has not been staged since. Now Adjmi has gone to U.S. Federal court, arguing that fair-use laws regarding parody proyect him and his script.
Why Conspiracy Theories Make Some People Go Postal
Jared Loughner in Tucson. Aaron Alexis at the Washington Navy Yard. Raulie Wayne Casteel in Michigan. Timothy McVeigh. Lots of people believe in strange conspiracy theories; why are some people driven to serial murder because of them?
What Makes a Book a ‘Classic’ – And When That Question Matters
Laura Miller: “That’s one of the most acrimonious, endless and irresolvable discussions in the literary world. … But there are a few places where deciding whether a book is a classic or not has real consequences. One is, obviously, classrooms, but the other is bookstores.” How do, or should, they make that decision?
Top Posts From AJBlogs 01.30.14
The Cost of Poor Care: Multi-millions
Source: Real Clear Arts | Published on 2014-01-31
Looking Back, Dancing Now
Source: Dancebeat | Published on 2014-01-31
“Passion” and a Life in the Arts
Source: CultureCrash | Published on 2014-01-30
From John Steinmetz: A life-changer
Source: Sandow | Published on 2014-01-30
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People, People, People – Why Waste Time Arguing Over An Ill-Informed Article On Classical Music?
“Classical music isn’t dying. I also say to all of you: some people will write bad articles, and that doesn’t signal the death of journalism, either. But for those of us who love the field, let’s think of more productive ways to marshall our intellectual resources than shooting fish in a barrel and congratulating each other about it afterwards.”
Hear The Music That Never Gets Played On Spotify
Twenty percent of the music on Spotify has never, ever been streamed — perhaps the most striking illustration of exactly how vast and unknowable the online music catalogue gets. Here’s a site that streams it…
What Kind Of Idiot Steals A Strad?
“The nature of the crime suggests that the thieves knew what they were after, which is a downer on one hand and encouraging on the other. If they know what they have, they’re less likely to damage it. But if they know what they have, they might be more likely to have a buyer lined up, and the violin could be on its way out of the country on a private jet.”
Are You Fat, Sedentary, And Depressed? Study Suggests It Might Be In The Way Your City Was Designed
“Comparing rates of physical activity, childhood obesity and diabetes in England’s nine most populous cities, RIBA have found a clear correlation between the amount of green space, density of housing in urban areas, and the overall health of the local population.”
You Are What You Read? (Uh, Oh – Americans Are In Trouble)
“If we are what we read, then Americans are wimpy, religious, ambitious, self-improving, and patriotic. The specific possibility that the only book any adult read last year was one of the best-selling books on the Nielsen or Amazon list is perhaps more disheartening than the shapeless fact that three-quarters of the American population read only one book. “
Rethinking The Role Of Men In Ballet
The “Men in Motion concept has attracted an impressive range of male dancers from major companies in Britain and elsewhere.”
Artists Attack Disney Princess Stereotypes By Reinterpreting Them (As Porn Stars?)
“Artists on the web are reimagining Disney princesses – those surreal creatures of so-called human perfection – from casting them as porn stars to portraying them with disabilities.”
A Dance Festival (On Film) That Expands Your View
“It reflects changing forms of camerawork and editing, wraps in history and documentary, and ranges in subject from tap, ice, flamenco and Asian idioms to ballet stars and modern-dance choreography, established and experimental.”
Sound (And Music) That You Can Focus On A Single Person
“Being able to direct sound in such a focused way has only recently become possible thanks to smarter audio processing algorithms, directional loudspeakers and gesture-recognition technology.”
Independent Canadian TV Production Fell In 2013
“In total, there were 629 Canadian TV series produced last year, at a cost of $2.32-billion. That’s down from $2.57-billion spent on 693 series in 2011-12. There were 93 Canadian feature films produced, at a cost of $351-million.”
Why Is Pop Music Stuck In Such Conservative Song Forms?
“Why is that? Possibly because it’s so lucrative, and so there is no pressure on it to change; I don’t know, possibly because it is easy and pleasurable and so its followers aren’t the kind of people to demand challenges. They are happy with one fixed form for all music, called the song.”