01.30.18 – Page 2 – ArtsJournal Wayback

Hal Prince Is Turning 90, And He’s Serving Up Broadway Dish For His Birthday

Michael Paulson picks out some choice tidbits from a series of conversations Prince recorded with producer Jeffrey Seller (Hamilton, Rent). For instance, the M.C. in Cabaret was Prince’s idea.

Meet The First, And Greatest, All-Women Afro Drum Band In Brazil

Traditionally, the Afro-Brazilian drum bands of Bahia state were strictly male affairs. Then, in 1993, Neguinho do Samba – considered the father of the current drumming style in Bahia and former head of the standard-bearer of the form, the group Olodum – founded Banda Didá specifically for females. Reporter Shannon Sims goes to Salvador do Bahia to see and hear them. (includes video)

Musical Chairs: Keeping Track Of All The Music Director Changes At American Orchestras

“Chicago is secure [with Riccardo Muti] for the time being, but major orchestras in San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas and Detroit are all looking for new maestros.” So are the opera companies in San Francisco and D.C. And Seattle, St. Louis, D.C. (again) and New York (opera and orchestra both) have recently acquired new music directors. Michael Cooper presents “your cheat sheet on the comings and goings on some of the nation’s top podiums.”

Turns Out Philly’s ‘LOVE’ Sculpture Has Had The Wrong Color All These Years

“The work by Robert Indiana was first installed [near Philadelphia’s City Hall] on loan for the U.S. bicentennial celebrations in 1976 and was repainted twice using – in addition to its dominant red and green – a blue paint that turned out to be the wrong color.” When it returns from its yearlong renovation in two weeks, the right color will be there. (And that color is?)

This Dancer Has Been A Star In His Company For 20 Years – And He Got His Job By Sneaking Into An Audition

The company is Evidence, choreographer Ronald K. Brown’s troupe, and the dancer is Bessie winner Arcell Cabuag, now the company’s associate artistic director. In honor of Cabuag’s 20th anniversary with Evidence, Brown is creating a new duet for the two of them – and Gia Kourlas went to their studio to talk with the two of them about it.

UK’s Costa Book Of The Year Prize Goes To Helen Dunmore, Who Died Last June

“Inside the Wave considers [Dunmore’s] terminal cancer diagnosis and impending death. … [She] is only the second posthumous winner of the book of the year category in the prize’s history, after her fellow poet Ted Hughes won for Birthday Letters in 1998.”

A New ‘Porgy And Bess’ With A White Cast Raises Eyebrows, Even In Europe

“The decision [by the Hungarian State Opera] to use white singers is contrary to the clear wishes of George and Ira Gershwin, whose estates stipulate that the opera be performed only by black casts,” and all publicity for the production now reflects that. At least they’re not using blackface (as the company did during the Communist period): the production concept sets the opera in a refugee camp, with the characters as migrants.

Scotland’s Arts Funder Calls ‘Emergency Meeting’ After Cuts Get Serious Pushback

“Under-fire arts quango Creative Scotland has been forced to hold crisis talks to “review” controversial funding cuts. An emergency board meeting is to be held within days to ‘take stock’ of the fall-out from moves to strip 20 companies of long-term funding. The Scottish Government has revealed that the summit has been called to ‘review certain decisions,’ raising the prospect of an embarrassing climbdown for the quango.”

Bénédicte Pesle, Who Brought American Avant-Garde Performance To France, Dead At 90

“[She] did her work behind the scenes, eschewing labels like ‘producer’ and ‘presenter’ while performing a wide array of functions – go-between, convincer, fund-raiser and more – that might in fact have fallen under those job descriptions. When pressed, she would use a humble term to characterize her role: ‘secrétaire d’artistes‘ – secretary of artists.” Among those artists were Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown, Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, Philip Glass and Robert Wilson (she engineered the commissioning of Einstein on the Beach).

Tag: 01.30.18