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  • AUDIENCE

Handel’s ‘Messiah’, Class Warfare, And The 1%

MUSIC Posted: December 20, 2016 6:03 am

Mark Swed: “Last week there happened to be something remarkable: two different (and they couldn’t have been more different) performances of Handel’s oratorio oriented around the one percent – the top and bottom one percent, that is.”

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Read the story in Los Angeles Times Published: 12.11.16

How George Lucas Helped Reinvent Movie-Making By Challenging Hollywood

MEDIA Posted: December 13, 2016 2:35 pm

“Lucas’s titanic achievement is even more stunning when you consider his modest roots: he is from, ironically, Modesto, a small city in northern California where his dad owned a stationery store that he expected his son to take over. The taciturn young Lucas had other ideas, heading to film school at the University of Southern California (USC) where he fell in with a new generation of cineastes — among them, Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola — who would be his co-conspirators in the takedown of the old Hollywood order.”

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Read the story in Toronto Star Published: 12.11.16

NPR Starts A Column Looking At Video Games As Literature

MEDIA Posted: December 13, 2016 9:03 am

“For years now, some of the best, wildest, most moving or revealing stories we’ve been telling ourselves have come not from books, movies or TV, but from video games. So we’re starting an occasional series, Reading The Game, in which we take a look at some of these games from a literary perspective.” Exhibit A: Mo Man’s Sky.

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Read the story in NPR Published: 12.11.16

Here’s One Actor Who Says That Being Openly Gay Helped, Not Hurt, His Career

PEOPLE Posted: December 13, 2016 7:32 am

Russell Tovey: “For so long, as a young actor, I had this anxiety about making sure I could get straight roles, and now I know that’s not necessary. The gay roles are the best for me. Being gay has made my career.”

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Read the story in The Observer (UK) Published: 12.11.16

An Auction House’s Dream-Come-True: Guy Walks In Off The Street With A Leonardo Da Vinci

VISUAL Posted: December 13, 2016 5:46 am

“That, more or less, is what happened to Thaddée Prate, director of old master pictures at the Tajan auction house [in Paris] … In March, Mr. Prate recalled being ‘in a bit of a rush’ when a retired doctor visited Tajan with 14 unframed drawings that had been collected by his bibliophile father.”

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Read the story in New York Times Published: 12.11.16

Nicholas Serota Wins A Well-Deserved Award (With Prize Money He Probably Doesn’t Need)

VISUAL Posted: December 13, 2016 4:31 am

The out-going director of the Tate museums will receive the $25,000 Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence, given by Bard College’s Center for Curatorial Studies based on a poll of art professionals.

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Read the story in New York Times Published: 12.11.16

Beatrix Potter Was A Careful Scientific Recorder Of Mushrooms (She Also Happened To Write ‘Peter Rabbit’)

VISUAL Posted: December 12, 2016 7:30 am

Her mushroom drawings hang in the Science Museum in London. “These drawings, most of them from the 1890s, are so accurate that even today, they are still consulted by scientists.”

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Read the story in PRI Published: 12.11.16

The Sacramento Ballet Has Been On Shaky Footing, But Then A Patron Died And Left The Company… Everything

DANCE Posted: December 12, 2016 6:45 am

A gift the organizations didn’t expect or look for, from a patron who had attended many private ballet functions and climbed the Great Wall with the dancers when they went to China, surprises – and helps – the Sacramento Ballet .

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Read the story in Sacramento Bee Published: 12.11.16

The British Writer A.A. Gill, Acerbic And Brilliant Restaurant Reviewer, Has Died At 62

PEOPLE Posted: December 12, 2016 6:00 am

The writer, who battled alcoholism in his 20s but emerged one of the most elegant writers in the language, announced last month that he had cancer – and used his final column to rail at the British National Health System.

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Read the story in The Telegraph (UK) Published: 12.11.16

Tech Is In A Big Showdown, And It’s Taking Place Inside Your House

AUDIENCE, IDEAS Posted: December 12, 2016 5:45 am

Will Google, Microsoft, Amazon, or something entirely new win this round of understanding how humans speak naturally? (It’s a big deal because real artificial intelligence depends on this point. Oh, and the machines are always listening.)

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Read the story in Wired Published: 12.11.16

Are We Having A Bit Of A Cultural Moment For Comedians In Theatres?

THEATRE Posted: December 12, 2016 5:30 am

Yes, and it’s because theatres are different venues from comedy clubs. One comedian: “There are some parts of [my show] that are very emotional just for the sake of being open, honest, and vulnerable onstage. … I don’t know that that’s a quality that can fly in a stand-up club that has a two drink minimum, where people are there for a night out to laugh and you have to make them laugh.”

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Read the story in Playbill Published: 12.11.16

We’ve Had Seven ‘Live’ Musicals On TV Now; What Have We Learned?

AUDIENCE, MEDIA Posted: December 12, 2016 5:15 am

Here are five lessons, including the perhaps obvious pop singers aren’t Broadway singers, and they don’t show up well next to talent like Audra McDonald and Kelli O’Hara (but! They bring viewers!).

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Read the story in The New York Times Published: 12.11.16

The Million People Who Make Up The ‘Symphony’ Of Brasilia

AUDIENCE, VISUAL Posted: December 12, 2016 4:00 am

The thing about Brasilia is that it’s so carefully planned and geometric that it’s hard to find the place where people meet up. One photographer, originally from a rural town, figured out where to find everyone: The central transport station.

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Read the story in The Atlantic Published: 12.11.16

Finally – A Law Against Ticket Bots. But Will It Do Much Good?

One Story: Some Context Posted: December 11, 2016 7:26 pm

Ticket bots are the scourge of the live performance business. For popular shows, automated ticket purchasing programs buy up all the tickets within moments of them becoming available, then scalp them for a profit. For really popular shows, the scalping prices (er…secondary market prices) can be several multiples higher than the face value. This all but ensures that only the wealthy can afford to buy. Since the shows themselves don’t make any extra from the scalper sales, the scalpers take the profits. The only ones who benefit are rich ticket-buyers who can afford the higher prices. Lin Manuel-Miranda says the bots will ruin Broadway and has been campaigning for legislation to outlaw bots.

Now he’s got it, as the US Congress has passed legislation to ban bots from circumventing

…the security measures of ticketing websites, which bots often do, and would give enforcement authority to the Federal Trade Commission… Ticketmaster has estimated that bots have been used to buy 60 percent of the most desirable tickets to many shows.

But in a fight between legislation and technology, you can usually bet on technology finding ways around the rules.

The world of bots is shadowy and little understood, with much of the software being developed and even operated overseas, complicating enforcement. And there is an enormous incentive for scalping, which is legal and now largely integrated into the mainstream concert business through sites like StubHub and even Ticketmaster.

So what’s the solution? Aside from banning scalping altogether, there will be abuses, and that’s not likely.

While few spoke against the BOTS Act — the National Association of Ticket Brokers, which bars bots among its members, welcomed the bill — ticket scalping has become a standard part of the entertainment economy, and services like StubHub are often welcomed by fans for their convenience. Economists frequently endorse secondary markets as a true demonstration of supply and demand.

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Read the story in One Story: Context Published: 12.11.16

What’s Winning (And What Has Won) At The New York Critics’ Circle Awards?

MEDIA Posted: December 11, 2016 6:47 pm

The news as it happens … and then collected after it happens. (We’ll post some analysis articles tomorrow.)

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Read the story in Variety Published: 12.11.16

Top AJBlogs Post From The Weekend Of 12.11.16

AJBlogs Posted: December 11, 2016 1:15 pm

A.A. Gill R.I.P.
Adrian Gill would have been pleased and amused by the way his too-early death, aged only 62, has been noticed. It was repeatedly announced in the national BBC radio and … read more
AJBlog: Plain EnglishPublished 2016-12-11

Dancing Toward a Future
“New Dances: Edition 2016” showcases Juilliard Dance’s four classes of students in new choreography. Members of Juilliard’s Class of 2017 assemble in Matthew Neenan’s Walk Me Through. Photo: Rosalie O’Connor Every December, the Juilliard School … read more
AJBlog: DancebeatPublished 2016-12-10

Robert Rauschenberg: Art that contains multitudes and overcomes gridlock
Robert Rauschenberg Retroactive II 1964, Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago)   Though London is in pre-Christmas gridlock, making it difficult to go anywhere that can’t be reached on foot, there are some important shows to … read more
AJBlog: Plain EnglishPublished 2016-12-10

Recent Listening: Thieves, MJQ, Nilsson
 The weekend is a good time to consider music that the Rifftides staff has ignored, overlooked or allowed to languish among the burgeoning boxes of incoming CDs. Keeping up isn’t hard to do; it’s … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2016-12-09

Amateur work
On Facebook and Twitter I’ve been talking about bad graphic design in classical music. Why does bad design matter? Because we need a new audience. Our new audience comes — will come — from the … read more
AJBlog: SandowPublished 2016-12-09

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Read the story in Published: 12.11.16

The Portland Art Museum’s Expansion Garners A Lot Of Attention, But Who Will Fund It?

VISUAL Posted: December 11, 2016 9:00 am

The proposed changes, including a central pavilion that features Mark Rothko’s work, are logical to fix the confusing layout of the museum and enhance it as well. But “to reach its $75 million total goal, it must crack Oregon’s historic stinginess about making large contributions to the arts.”

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Read the story in The Oregonian Published: 12.11.16

The Actor Who Just Stepped Into His 100th Role With The Same Theatre Company

THEATRE Posted: December 11, 2016 8:15 am

In the 50th anniversary of the St. Louis Repertory Theatre, one actor notches his 100th role for the theatre with a few weeks as Marley’s ghost. How the hell did the man do that while playing roles at other theatres around town – and spending eight seasons in Cincinnati? (The answer lies in the name of the company.)

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Read the story in St. Louis Post-Dispatch Published: 12.11.16

Let’s Talk About ‘Reading’ And Audiobooks

AUDIENCE, WORDS Posted: December 11, 2016 8:00 am

It turns out that talking about audiobooks means talking about government programs for people with visual disabilities and blindness, and that means talking about who chooses what gets recorded – and all of the politics that go along with that.

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Read the story in Los Angeles Review of Books Published: 12.11.16

‘Toni Erdmann’ Sweeps European Cinematic Awards

MEDIA Posted: December 11, 2016 7:45 am

It’s the first film directed by a woman to win best film – and she won best director and best writer as well, beating Ken Loach and Pedro Almodovar, among other strong contenders. What does this presage for the Oscars?

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Read the story in The Guardian (UK) Published: 12.11.16

Restoration Unlocks Secrets Of The Magnificent Ghent Altarpiece

VISUAL Posted: October 12, 2016 1:02 pm

“A study in 2010 determined that the altarpiece needed conservation – to remove varnish and to adjust the colours of older retouches. A €1.3m grant followed and now – with the restoration one-third complete – the discoveries are astonishing, casting light on a touching story of fraternal love and admiration.”

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Read the story in The Guardian Published: 12.11.16

  • Snapshot: Vladimir Horowitz plays Schubert
    Vladimir Horowitz plays Schubert’s Impromptu, Op. 90, No. 2, at a recital in Vienna in 1987: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Snapshot: Vladimir Horowitz plays Schubert at About Last Night.... Read more
    Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-27
  • Almanac: Jacques Barzun on the piano
    “It is drawing-room furniture, a sign of bourgeois prosperity, the most massive of the devices by which the young are tortured in the name of education and the grown-up in the name of entertainment.” Jacques Barzun, Critical Questions Continue reading Almanac: Jacques Barzun on the piano at About Last Night.... Read more
    Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-27
  • Matter
    To be sustainable we must do things that matter to the communities in which we exist.... Read more
    Source: Engaging Matters Published on: 2021-01-26
  • Lookback: on joining the National Counncil on the Arts
    From 2005: I went to my framer yesterday afternoon and picked up the presidential commission for my appointment to the National Council on the Arts. It’s a splendidly old-fashioned document, about twice the size of a college diploma, printed in copperplate script on thick cream paper by the Bureau of Engraving... Read more
    Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-26
  • Almanac: Thornton Wilder on hope
    “Hope, like faith, is nothing if it is not courageous; it is nothing if it is not ridiculous.” Thornton Wilder, The Eighth Day Continue reading Almanac: Thornton Wilder on hope at About Last Night.... Read more
    Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-26
  • Almanac: Gore Vidal on the will to power
    “To want power is corruption already.” Gore Vidal, The Best Man Continue reading Almanac: Gore Vidal on the will to power at About Last Night.... Read more
    Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-25
  • Just because: Gore Vidal talks about The Best Man
    In an undated TV interview, Gore Vidal talks about Franklin J. Schaffner’s 1964 screen version of The Best Man, his 1960 play, and the ideas about politics on which it was based: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each... Read more
    Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-24
  • Joseph Conyers on Being an Artist Entrepreneur
    Check out this week’s episode of my show Arts Engines with Joseph Conyers, The Philadelphia Orchestra bassist and entrepreneur, as he shares the passions that have fueled his success!... Read more
    Source: Aaron Dworkin Published on: 2021-01-23
  • Looking for a Fugitive Rainbow—a Very Transient “Gift” to the Bidens
    Laura Baptiste, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s (SAAM’s) always helpful chief of communications and public affairs, found herself fielding misinformation disseminated in a number of news reports after Wednesday’s Presidential Inauguration festivities. She scrambled to set the record straight about Robert Duncanson‘s suddenly famous “Landscape with Rainbow,” after several published... Read more
    Source: CultureGrrl Published on: 2021-01-22
  • Verbal virtuosity
    In today’s Wall Street Journal drama column, I review Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s Shaw! Shaw! Shaw!. Here’s an excerpt. *  *  * Webcasts of the plays of George Bernard Shaw have been scarce during the pandemic. It’s a shame, for Shaw’s plays are for the most part comedies of ideas, political and... Read more
    Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-22
  • Jump-starting an arts revival
    In today’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column, I talk about how to jump-start a post-pandemic revival of the arts in America. Here’s an excerpt. *  *  * As everybody with even the slightest interest in the arts knows, the coming of Covid-19 has had a catastrophic effect on creative institutions in every... Read more
    Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-22
  • Replay: Alfred Hitchcock talks to Dick Cavett
    Alfred Hitchcock is interviewed by Dick Cavett on TV in 1972: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Replay: Alfred Hitchcock talks to Dick Cavett at About Last Night.... Read more
    Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-22
  • Almanac: Tolstoy on happiness
    “Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.” Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace (trans. Louise and Aylmer Maude) Continue reading Almanac: Tolstoy on happiness at About Last Night.... Read more
    Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-22
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