Tag: 01.10.18

How Did The High-Culture New Criterion Possibly Come To Embrace Trump?

Traditionally we think of decadence as an excess of self-consciousness; when irony and reflection come to dominate a culture, we are told its faith in itself has been sapped and it has not long to go. But as the conservative intellectual teaches us, it is the lack, rather than the surfeit, of self-reflection that is really fatal. Without it, erudition calcifies into ornament, and the act of thinking itself becomes a mere pretense.

Live-Streaming Broadway Makes Sense. But It’s Been REALLY Hard To Get There

In reality, much of Broadway’s success comes from a handful of breakout hits, while the majority of shows never turn a profit. Long-running favorites like The Lion King or Wicked may consistently attract tourists, but that doesn’t help the houses that either struggle to fill seats or aren’t reaching their full potential. Of the 32 or 33 shows listed the boards during a typical week, some may not even bring in half of their earning capacity. Streaming could fill in those gaps, the argument goes, by either helping to promote shows while they’re still running or offering producers a new revenue stream that exists long after the show is closed. Easier access to shows could also help democratize Broadway’s stubbornly homogenous audience–last season, 77% of ticket buyers were white, and most had an income of over $75,000 a year.

As US Becomes Less Friendly To Foreigners, China Welcomes International Students

“For decades, the U.S. has been the No. 1 destination for international students seeking a foreign college or graduate school education. The U.K. has been second. But in recent years, China has suddenly appeared in the No. 3 slot, and Allan Goodman, president of the Institute of International Education, tells Axios that it is on track to overtake the U.K. and capture No. 2 this year.”

Study: Women Fill Only 18 Percent Of Hollywood Behind-The-Scenes Jobs (Here’s How It Matters)

“We have found that year after year, when a film has at least one female director, the percentage of female protagonists goes up… people tend to create what they know. When you have women working behind the scenes that frequently translates into more female characters on screens and you tend to see more powerful female characters.”

France’s New Collection Of Camille Claudel Sculptures Are Now At Musée D’Orsay

“Eleven sculptures by the artist Camille Claudel, who was also Rodin’s muse and mistress, have gone on show at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris after six major French museums stepped in and acquired the works at auction last November. … Twelve items were acquired under French law, whereby the state is entitled to ‘pre-empt’ the sale of an object of national importance by matching the sale price (with buyer’s premium).”

An Open Letter To New York City Ballet Dancers Supporting Peter Martins

Former NYCB corps member Sophie Flack: “I have known some of you for a long time, so I’m telling you this as a friend: by posting on social media your sadness for Peter’s downfall, you are siding with an abuser. You are discrediting the men and women who’ve come forward, an extraordinarily difficult thing to do outside the ballet world, and career suicide when it’s done while still ‘inside.’ Even if you were to discredit each and every allegation, Peter’s documented crimes are inarguable, and would be fireable offences in any other setting.”

Young Adult Author Kathleen Karr Dead At 71

“[She] sailed the Nile, learned to box and ensconced herself in library archives to research humorous, frequently suspenseful novels about pioneer girls heading West, ‘turkeypokes’ herding poultry, a grave-robbing phrenologist and – told from a camel’s point of view – an Army experiment in the West Texas desert.”

Why Critics Fail When They Aren’t Critical Enough

Here’s the heart of the problem: The set of critics’ and audiences’ interests do not perfectly overlap but rather form a Venn diagram. In the audience circle, the pressing question is, “Should I spend some number of the dollars I have to my name and the hours I have left on Earth on this thing?” Critics get in for free and by definition have to read or watch or listen to whatever’s next up. So their circle is filled with relativistic questions about craft and originality and wallet quality and the often unhelpfully general “Is it good?” (Some of them even have an idea of what they mean by “good”; the rest are winging it.)