“If critics often bemoan the state of the pipeline that delivers new works for the American theater, at least there is a pipeline. Opera has more of a pipette, or a tear duct: only a trickle emerges, and only after prolonged suffering.” The new opera “Elmer Gantry” sees light in Nashville and demonstrates the difficulty…
Tag: 01.20.08
Books Written On CellPhones – All The Rage In Japan
In Japan, “of last year’s 10 best-selling novels, five were originally cellphone novels, mostly love stories written in the short sentences characteristic of text messaging but containing little of the plotting or character development found in traditional novels.”
The End Of The Outside Voice?
Children have stopped playing outside. It’s a generational change, and it has implications for how our kids interact, play, and show imagination…
Why Our Brains Find It Difficult Screen Luggage
“Though baggage screening might seem on the surface like a repetitive and uncomplicated job, it turns out to be devilishly hard. Even well-trained security officers have trouble spotting guns, knives, and plastic explosives amid the tsunami of hair dryers, socks, MP3 players, metal toys, and the occasional cured ham that flows by during a holiday week like this one.”
San Francisco Ballet At 75
“In the first decade of the San Francisco Ballet saga, emerged the mixed parentage – European in origin and vocabulary, American in flavor and energy – that has shaped the identity of classical dance in this country.”
The Art Of Parking Garages 01/20/08
“Early in the history of the garage, two philosophical currents emerge. Is the car a machine, to be stored as efficiently as possible? Or is it an extension of our quintessentially American mobility, which often is considered to be almost the same thing as freedom itself? From this split emerged two very different kinds of garages.”
How Do We Get Rid Of Those Bad Poets?
why do we fall about at the feet of poets whose work is just plain dull? I suspect it is fear of being labelled a cultural philistine, similar to the nation’s reluctance for robust debate about contemporary art. If it’s obscure and you don’t understand it, then it must be good.
Sphinx Symphony Becomes A Player
“The Sphinx Competition has become a signature event in classical music, doling out more than $100,000 in prizes and scholarships annually to music schools, and opportunities to perform with top American orchestras. Beyond the competition, the Sphinx Organization oversees a growing empire of education programs.”
Denver Center Takes The Lead In New Plays
“The Denver Center Theatre Company is no longer hoping to become a leader in American new-play development. By launching three new world-premiere plays in three consecutive weeks, it is one.”
Sao Paulo Moves To Close Brazil’s Top Art Museum
“The Sao Paulo Museum of Art, which opened in 1947, is considered Latin America’s top museum for western modern and contemporary art. Yet on Dec. 20, a gang of thieves, using only a car jack and a crowbar, broke into the building and stole the two paintings, reportedly worth more than $50 million US in total. The building has no alarm and was relying on unarmed guards who patrol inside 24 hours a day.”