Tag: 01.16.18

What A Generation Of Broadway Choreographers Learned Dancing In ‘Fosse’

Andy Blankenbuehler, Sergio Trujillo, Josh Rhodes, and Christopher Gattelli all performed in the 1999 show assembled from the late Bob Fosse’s choreography. “[They] didn’t appropriate the distinctive Fosse style. But it’s more than happenstance that the show produced this bumper crop of choreographers. Ask them why, and they make the school analogy.”

Pacifica Radio Seeks Emergency Loan To Avoid Collapse

“[The Pacifica Foundation] is at risk of asset seizure following a judgment in October that ordered the network to pay $1.8 million in back rent plus interest to the Empire State Realty Trust. The rent is for the transmitter of WBAI, Pacifica’s New York City station. … Pacifica’s total debt is roughly $8 million, including roughly $2.4 million to Democracy Now! Productions. The network is also in arrears for pension payments.”

It’s Time To End The Fat-Phobia In Theater

Maggie Rogers: “It is time to talk about the elephant in the room: me. I’m the elephant. I’m the fat girl playing the Nurse in Romeo & Juliet senior year of high school, because as a fat girl you only play grandmas or other ‘undesirable’ characters. I am the fat girl who sits behind the rehearsal table as an assistant director trying to keep her mouth shut while wondering why all the characters of lower status and even lower intelligence levels in the show are fat.”

Even With Free Admission, Attendance At Baltimore’s Art Museums Is Falling

“Eleven years ago, when Baltimore’s two largest art museums” – the Walters Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art – “joined a nationwide trend by announcing that they would drop admission fees, the news was applauded in newspapers from New York to Detroit to Jackson, Miss. … [But] after initial surges in attendance, museums in Baltimore and nationwide that went free soon resumed losing visitors at alarming rates. A decade later, museum officials are still scrambling to devise ways to reverse the slide.”

There’s A Painted-Over Sol LeWitt In A Houston Dentist’s House

“The site-specific Wall Drawing #679 – a grid of blue squares segmented by red and yellow lines – had been commissioned by the late William F. Stern, a local architect and the home’s previous owner. It was executed on the roughly 30-by-10-foot wall in the early 1990s, and covered up years later when the house was sold.” Now the owner is uncovering it – problem is, she doesn’t legally own it. Artsy‘s Isaac Kaplan explains.

Jazz Vocalist Marlene VerPlanck, 84

“[She] a polished jazz vocalist who began her recording career in 1955, had a strong second career in the 1960s and ’70s as a prolific jingle singer, sang backup on Frank Sinatra’s Trilogy album, recorded solo albums throughout the ’80s and ’90s, and had a third career recently as she toured and performed to critical acclaim in the States and abroad.”

What The “All The Money In The World” Salary Gap Says About Changes In Hollywood

“It’s easy to criticize Hollywood’s current moment of reckoning for coming off as superficial. You can wear black to a couple award ceremonies and say the right lines in interviews, but does it really mean you’re working to effect systemic change behind the scenes? The All the Money in the World situation served as a reminder of how, for actors, preserving their public image is often more important than the money they stand to make.”

A Golden Age For Free Speech? Yes, But Wow…

“In today’s networked environment, when anyone can broadcast live or post their thoughts to a social network, it would seem that censorship ought to be impossible. This should be the golden age of free speech. And sure, it is a golden age of free speech—if you can believe your lying eyes. Is that footage you’re watching real? Was it really filmed where and when it says it was? Is it being shared by alt-right trolls or a swarm of Russian bots? Was it maybe even generated with the help of artificial intelligence? (Yes, there are systems that can create increasingly convincing fake videos.)”