“(She) believed that it was Soviet repression which made her so powerful and distinctive a composer, though it was only after the fall of Communism that she became well known in the West, … becoming, in her 70s, one of the most sought-after composers in the world.” - The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)
The New York Times crossword editor and Sunday-morning NPR stalwart suffered two strokes a year ago. He came home from the hospital last April and has been hard at work on recovery ever since. New York mag restaurant critic Matthew Schneier tagged along for a therapy session. - New York Magazine (MSN)
Nope, no studio is using AI to re-create Blanc’s rendition of the wascally wabbit, dastardly duck, put-upon pig and their Looney Tunes confrères. Why use AI when we’ve got Eric Bauza, whose gifts ae nearly as amazing as Blanc’s were? - The New York Times
“The essence of drag is its exaggeration of gender stereotypes in a theatrical style that gives the performer permission to say outrageous, often offensive things. ... That is also the definition of Trump’s style: … performing with hypermasculine bravado in a space where one can’t quite take him seriously.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
In South Africa, “for decades he was considered subversive by the government; at times productions of his work, with their integrated casts, were considered illegal, and his co-workers in the theater were jailed.” - The New York Times
“‘We’re sort of really trying to ride a fine line of when we talk about the play and how we talk about the play,’ said Karla Hartley, the producing artistic director. ... 'So we don’t sort of draw the ire of certain people in the state government.’” - The New York Times
A prominent human rights lawyer warns that “when a political leader tries to ‘capture culture' it's something ... typical of an authoritarian. ‘Right by the playbook.’” - CBC
“The news is mixed, however. While artists may now apply for funding without attesting to the new ‘gender ideology’ requirement, the NEA has not agreed to remove its new eligibility criteria” - but the ACLU lawsuit continues. - American Theatre
The German artist said “stays abreast of current events, and said that recently he has felt a physical sense of threat by the rise of right-wing authoritarian leadership, both in Germany and in the United States.” - The New York Times
A nation’s “soft power” is “the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments” — foreign aid, public perception, and especially cultural exports such as movies and music. American soft power has been enormous, and Lily Janiak considers how it's being frittered away. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
The play was Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, produced in 1996 by the Charlotte Repertory Theatre. Here’s the story of the fight about it started by a fundamentalist minister, the legal mechanism used to shut the play down, and the decades-long aftereffects of the debacle. - Charlotte Magazine
Including red carpet coverage, and, eventually, awards as well. If you would prefer something slightly different, here are the Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter (winners only), and host ABC’s updates as well. - The New York Times
With hammers and screws, of course. Composer Daniel Blumberg, tipped to win tonight, “found himself in the novel position of actually having to write music about architecture.” - The Independent (UK) (MSN)
Andrea Barrett: Some writers will change facts. “But that makes me queasy. I think my own sketchy, early education made me realize that for some of us, what we read in a historical novel might be all we’ll ever know about a particular period.” - Los Angeles Review of Books
“French president Emmanuel Macron has said he is concerned about the 'arbitrary detention’ and health of Boualem Sansal, days after the French-Algerian author began a hunger strike over his imprisonment in Algeria.” - The Guardian (UK)
“An actor who powerfully embodied ordinary men under stress in dozens of films and twice won Oscars for bringing humanizing depth to corrupt lawmen, ... in The French Connection (and) Unforgiven, (he) was found dead Feb. 26 along with his wife at their home in Santa Fe.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
“AHWOSG, as everyone called it, launched Dave Eggers’s career, one that’s seen him publish dozens of books, write screenplays, oversee a literary magazine and publishing company, and launch a nonprofit that’s helped hundreds of thousands of children become better writers. All those things happened because the book was a phenomenon.” - Slate (Yahoo!)
“On Feb. 25, 1925, Art Gillham, a musician known as 'the Whispering Pianist' for his gentle croon, entered Columbia Phonograph Company’s studio to test out a newly installed electrical system. Its totem was positioned in front of him, level with his mouth: a microphone.” - The New York Times
