Tag: 03.18.17

Social Revolution At The Drive-In Movies

“Drive-ins also appealed to a new audience-a mixed bag of viewers of different classes, neighborhoods, and races. … They were some of the South’s first integrated sites, and African-American moviegoers felt more safe and respected there than in the dirty balconies of Jim Crow movie theaters. Obese and disabled people, housewives and children, and working-class families also flocked to drive-ins. This sense of mixing … created anxiety among cultural and business leaders and a perception of the movie theaters as ‘passion pits’ where anything could happen.”

Italy’s Rossini Opera Festival Loses Its Orchestra And Chorus After 30-Year Relationship

“Starting with a Petite Messe Solennelle in 1987, [the Teatro Comunale di] Bologna has provided the orchestra and chorus for the main productions each year, resulting in almost 50 video and audio recordings.” But the opera house has now broken off relations with the Pesaro-based festival – and “it’s not an amicable split.”

One Crucial Thing Acting Schools Are Failing To Teach

“Right now, students at hundreds of MFA and BFA acting programs across the country are rushing from scene class, to voice, movement, and an array of “specialties”: Lecoq, Laban, Suzuki, Grotowski, commedia, kinetics, Fitzmaurice, Alexander, clown, mask, musical comedy, the list goes on. Later tonight they may be performing on stage, putting all that learning into practice in front of an audience. One performance experience most acting students are doing very little of is acting in front of a camera. Professional training programs aren’t training actors; they are training actors for a career in the theatre. This is a problem.”

How The Soviets Recruited Ernest Hemingway

“Why did Soviets focus on Hemingway? He first caught their attention in 1935 by writing for the far left American journal New Masses. His article was an angry denunciation of the U.S. establishment for leaving a large group of veterans, at work on government relief, to die in the path of a hurricane that struck the Florida Keys that year. Then, during the Spanish civil war, he came into contact with Comintern agents, Soviet spies, and communist guerrillas. They intrigued and captivated him, all the more so because they were fighting for a cause that had ignited his passion: anti-fascism. “

What Should A Museum Do In A Time Of Political Crisis?

From the “Art for Tomorrow” conference: “My dream is a Syrian refugee a few years living in Germany explaining a Christian sculpture to a Berliner. Our society becomes more and more complex and multiethnic, multicultural, multireligious, it’s important really to explain to each other what we are and where we come from. This political issue is, I think, the most important task for a museum.”

Netflix Wants To Dominate The World

One of its five public strategies to meet that goal: “Netflix is now dividing up its subscriber base into 1,300 taste communities, which are solely based on past viewing behavior. Each and every user can belong to multiple such communities, and all of these communities spread across the globe. Sure, Yellin admitted, German comedians may be more popular in Germany, but there’s also plenty of users in the U.S. who turn into their shows.”

Shonda Rhimes Of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ And ‘Scandal’ Fame Has Decided To Get Into Theatre

As part of an endowment for the IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles, Rhimes is starting a competition for playwrights. She said, “I think it’s hard for any playwright to find opportunities. … If people aren’t being included, then I’m going to find a way to make sure they’re included. I’m going to find a way to make sure they have opportunities.”