“George C. Wolfe and Joe Mantello go back to the 1990s, when Mantello, as a young actor, starred as Louis in Wolfe’s Broadway production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. In the years that followed, Mantello found himself acting less and directing more. Now, they’re formidable colleagues in their prime, as well as great friends, to boot. In the latest edition of TheaterMania‘s Artist to Artist series, Wolfe and Mantello discuss what their successes and failures mean to them, how they approach actors in the rehearsal room, and what it takes to maintain a level of joy that carries them through adversity.”
The *Other* Issue ‘Call Me By Your Name’ Looks At: Americanness
Alyssa Rosenberg: “From the moment he arrives at the villa where he’s to spend the summer, Oliver feels almost shockingly American … [The film] felt like a gently twisty examination of what’s appealing and disappointing about Americanness, as seen from an outsider to it.”
De Sade’s ‘120 Days Of Sodom’ Declared National Treasure By France
“Officials ordered that the 18th-century erotic masterpiece be withdrawn from sale, along with André Breton’s Surrealist Manifestos, banning their export from France, the Aguttes auction house said.”
New York Gets New Unit To Prosecute Antiquities Trafficking
“Manhattan district attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has formed a dedicated antiquities trafficking unit to deal with the increasing number of illicit antiquities cases in New York City. … [Vance’s] office says that the dedicated unit is a logical step given that New York is a major marketplace for art and antiquities – both legitimate and illicit.”
Belfast Arts Centre Says It Needs Extra £300K Or It Will Shut Down
The Metropolitan Arts Centre received £40,000 in unannounced emergency funding in October from Belfast City Council “to keep the doors open”; the venue now says it needs an additional £300,000 by March and a further £270,000 for the 2018-19 season.
Here’s How Challenging It Is To Try To Fund The Arts Equitably
“How can philanthropy be a place where we redesign the way our culture engages the capitalist classes in order to build a system of wealth redistribution that has a goal of justice, rather than the unjust goals we have now?”
Annette Page, Star Of Britain’s Royal Ballet, Dead At 84
“A dark-haired beauty with a pure classical technique, … [she] was one of a golden generation of ballerinas who made the Royal Ballet into a global phenomenon in the mid-20th century.”
The Leaders Who Create The Future (“When Is The Last Time You Did Something For The First Time?)
One of the great satisfactions of being a leader is that you get to be a teacher, sharing the wisdom you’ve acquired over the course of a career with young colleagues hungry for time-tested advice. But when it comes to inventing the future, the most effective leaders are the most insatiable learners. Creative leaders are always asking themselves, “Am I learning as fast as the world is changing?”
The Contemporary Drag Queen: Social Media Versus The Live Personna
“On one level, social media has created a new point of entry to the global drag scene, opening doors for a broad spectrum of talented visual artists who might otherwise be excluded—queens isolated in small towns, barred from clubs because of their age, or too shy or unwilling to navigate the jungle of nightlife. But for some, the growing presence of Instagram queens seems to be skewing public expectations for drag toward looks and fashion, and away from rich traditions of performance (including lip-synching, stand-up comedy, and dance), activism, community building, and so on. And in an industry where low-pay and high-expenses renders money rarely the object, any threat to long-held tradition is deeply felt.”
How’s A Critic Supposed To Review Work By Compromised Artists?
How do we write about the work these figures create? To what degree do we acknowledge the actions of the creator, and what bearing should that have on how we consume, experience, dissect, and analyze art? The questions cut across all disciplines.
What’s Robbie Fairchild Doing Post-City Ballet? Becoming A Monster
The 30-year-old dance star talks to Sylviane Gold about his latest project, playing the Monster in a new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
The End Of The Old “Hemp House” Theatres
While there is nostalgia around this important piece of theatre history, everyone—including the stagehands—has come to realize that more and more touring companies are not familiar with the hemp-and-sandbag system and have very little if any experience working in it.
Why Did Amazon Studios Pass On All Its Women-Led Comedies?
As more and more content platforms flood the landscape, Amazon, in a state of turmoil, is in the midst of an identity crisis. Might it behoove the company in the meantime to land on one that doesn’t, at least from the outside, seem so egregiously dismissive of women?
The Big Corporations Using Orchestras As Staff Development Tools
“‘There’s no activity in the world where you have to react so quickly to each other and work together so well as in an orchestra,’ says Johanna Weitkamp, conductor of the symphony orchestra at the enterprise software company SAP. … Other [German] companies with employee orchestras include engineering firm Siemens, maker of trains and medical scanners; carmakers Daimler, BMW and Ford; auto components and electronics maker Robert Bosch GmbH; airline Lufthansa, and chemical firm BASF.”
Keely Smith, Cabaret And Nightclub Singing Star, Dead At 89
“[She] became a nightclub sensation in the 1950s with her then-husband, the comically disruptive entertainer Louis Prima, and … gradually emerged from his shadow as an acclaimed solo performer” whose hits with bandleader Nelson Riddle, on Capitol and later on Frank Sinatra’s Reprise label, included the million-seller “I Wish You Love” and “Little Girl Blue/Little Girl New.”
How To Tell Whether A Much-Restored Old Painting Is ‘A Wreck’
“I hate to say it, but I think we must now accept that the Leonardo is a wreck. Severe flaking was recorded as early as 1517 and according to Vasari it was ‘ruined’ by 1556. Vigorous overcleaning and retouching has only made things worse. It’s time for a proper debate on how much ‘original’ Leonardo is actually visible. Persuading people to queue around the block to see such a damaged painting is simply a triumph of marketing over connoisseurship. But that’s enough about The Last Supper.”
This Museum Will Leave You Upset, And That’s A Very Good Thing
“To a startling degree, and despite being a state-sponsored institution, [it] refuses to sugarcoat history.” Holland Cotter visits the new Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson.
Jack Boyle, 83, Helped Create The Modern Rock-Concert Industry
He started out as “a self-described ‘tone deaf’ concert promoter who turned Washington’s tiny Cellar Door music club into a venue that hosted the likes of Neil Young and Miles Davis” and went on to create Cellar Door Productions, “[which] produced more than 500 events each year and reportedly grossed up to $100 million annually, booking acts such as the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Pink Floyd, the Dave Matthews Band, U2 and the Who.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 12.18.17
What have you LEARNED from 2017?
No doubt you have worked hard. You have challenged your creativity, stretched every penny, and exhausted every option. Good job! So, in these last two weeks of this year, how about taking a moment to … read more
AJBlog: Audience Wanted Published 2017-12-18
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Boeuf
We have so many ways nowadays to discover how boeuf en daube is pronounced without having to tap a French shoulder, human or beef. Raise your hands, readers, if you know what novel lists this dish as an ingredient. … read more
AJBlog: Out There Published 2017-12-18
Touched by a Virtual Hand
Charles Atlas, Rashaun Mitchell, and Silas Riener collaborate on a video/live performance. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-12-18
Kevin Mahagony RIP
The singer Kevin Mahagony has died at the age of 59. As The Kansas City Star’s Timothy Finn reported today, Mahagony had only recently returned to his hometown. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-12-18
The Disneyland Of Detroit Has Become A Symbol Of Hope
“The destination has become iconic thanks to the man whose initials, D.S., appear on the tail of the helicopter—Dmytro Szylak, a retired Ukrainian-American auto-plant worker. To keep busy after leaving the working life, Szylak built this curious installation over the roofs of two adjacent houses he owned. Along the way, he became a beloved artist who captured the hope and heartbreak of one small city’s melting-pot culture. Locals named his creation Hamtramck Disneyland, a title he came to embrace.”
Study: Rural UK Residents Will Embrace Diverse Work (But It’s A Tough Proposition)
White and retired audiences in rural areas will happily go and see diverse work – and wish there was more of it – but more support is needed to create and tour it, new research has concluded. Academics at the University of Lincoln found performances in non-traditional spaces that dramatise narratives from diverse communities, rather than presenting “culturally foreign” performances, attract larger rural audiences.
Scientists: Limitations On Our Brain’s Capacity To Store Visual Images
“How many pieces of furniture do you think you could rearrange in your mind? Is there a limit to how much we can imagine at once, or is our imagination truly unlimited?”