Sharon Pian Chan: “The Mikado is the same shtick, different race. A black wig and white face powder stand in for shoeshine. Bowing and shuffling replaces tap dancing. Fans flutter where banjos would be strummed. … This is the wrong show – wrong for Seattle, wrong for this country and wrong for this century. And I don’t mean wong.”
China’s Museum Boom: What It’s Achieved And What It Still Needs
“Last year one museum was built every day on average, though the rush has since ‘slowed’ to about one every three days” Author Cathy Giangrande talks about the various kinds of museums being opened, what they are and aren’t doing well, and how the government is and isn’t involved in the museums’ content.
Even 70 Years Ago, The Corcoran Sensed That The National Gallery Might Swallow It Up
A 1945 memo to the Corcoran’s trustees lays out the difficulties that the museum would face due to competition from the taxpayer-subsidized National Gallery, then only four years old.
Orchestral Concerts At An Atlantic City Casino
“Symphonic music in gambling resorts isn’t unknown (the Philadelphia Orchestra plays the casino mecca Macau on its Far East tours). Still, with Atlantic City’s economy faltering … you might expect entertainment to trend a little lower rather than aim at a classical niche.” But not at the upscale Borgata, which just hosted Yuja Wang playing a Shostakovich piano concerto.
Atlantic City Ballet (Yes, It Has One) Passes “Go” And Moves To Boardwalk
“Long headquartered outside of the city, the company has settled into its new home at Boardwalk Hall, with all the dancers living close by in two big houses. The company will dance regularly at the Claridge, on the Boardwalk at Kennedy Plaza, and in a series of ‘Up Close and Personal’ performances inside its new ballet studio.” Company founder/director Phyllis Papa talks about the company’s past and future.
Actors Union Approves New TV Contract (And Announces Big Budget Surplus)
“SAG-AFTRA reported a year-end surplus of $8 million “due to expense management efforts and increased revenue from dues and initiation fees.”
Yes Of Course You Can Self-Publish. But The Reality Is…
“While it is possible to create a do-it-yourself e-book, even those who have self-published their work do not recommend going it alone.”
The Unlikely Sculpture Park That Went From Blight To Museum Of The Year
Founder Peter Murray explains how the park once accused of desecrating the countryside is now 2014 UK museum of the year.
The Pristine Ruins Of Online Past Cities – And Lives
“I imagine all of the strings of text that have come before or after mine that similarly disappeared into the void. But what happens when those spaces stick around, as in a virtual world—when they can’t physically decay?”
Keeping Beaux Arts Museums In Shape Is Super Hard, And Here’s Why
“Every time a fluted column or pedimented doorway gets in the way of a future gallery, the same problem crops up: how to make a grand old building more rational and efficient without neutralizing its idiosyncrasies—how, in other words, to make it better without ruining it completely.”
There’s So Much Good Television Out There, Even The TV Academy Doesn’t Know How To Deal With It
“We need to be responsive to the way the industry is evolving and reflective of the kind of shows being produced … So much production is being done around town, and they don’t all fit into nicely, cleanly defined boxes.”
What Lorin Maazel Did For Washington, D.C.
“In the obituaries and tributes that will flood the media in the coming hours and days and weeks, Castleton will not play as large as the major international ensembles Maazel shaped and led … But for the Washington region, Castleton offered a closer and more personal look at Maazel’s life and work, and even family.”
Why So Many Dead Moms In Children’s Movies And Books?
“The void left by a dead mother used to be filled by an evil stepmother, but in recent years another figure has stepped in to take her place: the ‘perfect father.'”
Classical Music Auditions Are Terrifying. Is This A Good Thing?
“If you didn’t have a good day — after putting your whole life into getting to this moment — it could be over in a flash. It’s heart-breaking. It’s human beings doing this.”
Top AJBlogs For 07.13.14
Charlie Haden, anchoring free play
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz | Published 2014-07-12
Justina Crawford-Williams & Christina Oi Ying Nip: A Conversation
AJBlog: Field Notes | Published 2014-07-14
The Most Common Expansion Mistake Hits The Perez
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-07-14
Survey Of Writer Income Is Possibly More Depressing Than You’d Even Imagine
“Figures from the Author’s Licensing and Collecting Society show the median income of a working author last year was only £11,000, lower than the amount needed to live on, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and down 29% since the last survey in 2005.”
Lorin Maazel, Child Prodigy And Prodigious Conductor, Dead At 84
“He was revered for the precision of his baton technique, and for his prodigious memory — he rarely used a score in performances — but when he was at his most interpretively idiosyncratic, he used his powers to distend phrases and reconfigure familiar balances in the service of an unusual inner vision.”