“Plays exist on stage, in the present moment – so should the heirs of major dramatists promote timewarp productions or embrace experiment? What would Arthur do? At the centenary of Miller’s birth (he died in 2005), it seems timely to explore how literary estates meet the challenge of saving plays from history.”
Do Videogames Help Keep The Modern Symphony Alive?
“Having begun its first season three years ago, the videogame oriented content continues to make waves among the more, erm, ‘reserved’ concertgoer crowd. While many programmers and conductors appear to roll their eyes at such a debasement of their art, they still gladly take the money that’s off-setting the orchestra’s annual 2.8% decline in sales. “
Technology And The Museum Of The Future
“The forces rocking the technology world—cheaper screens, miniaturized mechanics and increased computing power—are prompting a rich period of experimentation in exhibit design. For museums, such advancements could attract diverse visitors, lure young people and change the way audiences learn about art, science and nature.”
Actually, Why Don’t Film Sets Have Child Care?
“‘Sets never have childcare. I think it doesn’t happen because it hasn’t occurred to anyone,’ added Garai, among the stars of the new film Suffragette. ‘It’s stymying women’s careers.'”
We Are All Paparazzi Now
“Little more than a decade ago, stars like Paris Hilton would ‘inadvertently’ leak their plans to the paparazzi — part of the wink-wink symbiotic relationship that fueled their tabloid fame. But what once took an army of clamoring paparazzi can now be tweeted, Instagrammed, Snapchatted, and Vined.”
Historical Fiction Versus History
“I suggested that the demands of history and fiction are slightly different – that since a novel is a story, it must be complete, and since a history must be accepted by the reader as accurate, it must be incomplete. He was not convinced.”
Prediction: Pandora’s Entry to Concert Ticketing Business Won’t Reduce Service Fees
“It’s always easy to vilify Ticketmaster, and I think it’s much more complex than that. It’s really the whole system, the whole concert industry collectively — including the artists, by the way — sometimes because they’re getting some of those ticketing fees as well.”
Is Hollywood Ready To Get Serious About Diversity?
The president of Hollywood’s movie academy says criticism of the lack of diversity among Oscar nominees has helped spark a vital global discussion about how to make the entertainment industry more inclusive.
Why Does The Dance World Treat Choreographers As Second Class?
“We have received far less public profiling, far less opportunity to show our work outside the small scale and far fewer offers to upscale our work and be commissioned.”
Was Steve Jobs An Artist?
“Art” is a capacious term. We typically imagine artists to be solitary people creating art by hand. But many artists work in more expansive, disembodied ways.
Study: Prejudice Can Be Altered By Brain Manipulation
“Our usual ideological responses to reminders of death—to cling more tightly to the comforting components of religion, and to “double down on your group values” by denigrating a critical outsider—were far less pronounced when one specific region of the brain was largely de-activated.”
Planning To See A Movie Based On User Ratings? Think Again…
Fandango.com’s rounding methodology, even if it was just an innocent bug, is a good example of why you should be skeptical of online movie ratings, especially from companies selling you tickets.
Cleveland Orchestra’s Retiring CEO Looks Back
“Indeed, on the eve of his retirement Nov. 30, longtime executive director Gary Hanson likens his departure to jumping off a moving train. For all their enormous impact, he says, his accomplishments weren’t his alone. Neither will the organization fall apart without him. … ‘I’m proud to have had a role,’ [he says]. ‘But I didn’t start it, and no one’s ever going to finish it.'”
That Pay-Us-To-Review-Your-Play Website In L.A.? It’s Not Working Out
“Since an initial burst of summer activity from shows in the Hollywood Fringe Festival abated (festival reviews were discounted [by half] to $75), Bitter Lemons has posted just 12 paid reviews over the past 11½ weeks. … Colin Mitchell, Bitter Lemons’ founder, said Wednesday that there were no additional reviews in the pipeline.”
The Street Artist Who Punked ‘Homeland’ Tells How She Pulled It Off (And Why)
Heba Amin: “This is not necessarily a specific attack on Homeland, but on the inaccuracies in the visual depictions of the region, not just the storylines. And that has consequences on real-world situations. …Obama said this was his favorite show. So when you have a show where Iran and al-Qaida are friends all of a sudden …”
A Building You Want To Fondle: Burntwood School Wins Stirling Prize
“It’s not very often you want to rush up and stroke a school, but it’s hard to resist fondling the sharply chamfered concrete facade of Burntwood school in south London, winner of this year’s Riba Stirling prize for the UK’s best building. A 1950s timewarp in the best possible sense, the £41m comprehensive girls’ school recalls the values of another, more generous era.”
Playboy’s Abandonment of Nudity Was A Historical Necessity
“The disappearance of nudity from Playboy says more about the persistence of ticklish attitudes about nudity than it does about Playboy. Insofar as Hugh Hefner was somewhat correct to view himself as an agent of sexual liberation, this development resembles a kind of planned obsolescence. The Playboy nude was a stage to be passed through, like puberty or, in Marx’s theory of history, capitalism.”
‘My Soul’s Sweet Editor’: Leon Wieseltier’s Eulogy For Carol Brown Janeway
“I sent her everything I wrote, not so much because I wanted to be published by her, though I resolved almost immediately that I never wanted to be published by anyone else, but because I wanted her to know the contents of my mind and my heart, and I wanted her to admire them. Carol’s admiration was a very high attainment.”
The Psychological Case Against Tipping
“The basic idea behind tipping, of course, is that service workers are getting rewarded for doing a good job, but the science simply doesn’t back this up. There’s decades’ worth of consumer-psychology research demonstrating that tipping hardly improves service at all.”
One In Four Performing Arts Careers Are Halted By Parenthood, Says Survey
“The claim is made in a major new report into the impact that being a parent can have on people working in the sector, which also found that around three quarters of survey respondents – 74% – had to turn down work because of having a child.”
How Shows Graduate From Smash Hit To Revolutionary Phenomenon
“Hamilton has managed to grab the greater culture by the lapels and give it a good shake unlike any show since The Book of Mormon. It’s been called historic and game-changing … How does a show make that leap from a simple piece of boffo box office – which only means the show is popular and selling tickets – to the kind of attraction that becomes part of the cultural conversation?”
Ballet Along The Sides Of A Skyscraper
This week’s viral dance video features two members of the daredevil company Bandaloop making their moves in midair outside the windows of a Shanghai office tower.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 10.15.15
Defending Melissa Chiu
When the Hirshhorn Museum, which has been led for the last year by Melissa Chiu, late of the Asia Society Museum, announced that its 40th anniversary gala would be held in New York, not in Washington, D.C., … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2015-10-15
No hope for Hamlet
Benedict Cumberbatch made me cry at Hamlet. Or, more precisely, at the curtain call, with a beautifully feeling, indignant and compassionate appeal for Save the Children’s work in the Syrian refugee crisis. … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2015-10-15
Dancing as the Leaves Fall
Every autumn, as the leaves change color and begin to consider falling, Fall for Dance defines the verb differently: New Yorkers and savvy visitors buy bargain-price tickets and fall in love with dance—or at least with some of the twenty companies, … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2015-10-15
More on Carmine Branagan’s Departure from National Academy
“You have reached the office of Carmine Branagan, director of the National Academy Museum and School.” So said the voicemail message when I called Branagan’s office about an hour ago. But a highly reliable informed source … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-10-15
Weekend Listening Tip: Mays & Stamm
Last weekend, pianist Bill Mays wrapped up a tour of the west with his Inventions Trio, which includes trumpeter and flugelhornist Marvin Stamm and cellist Alisa Horn. Longtime collaborators in several projects, Mays and Stamm … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-10-15
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