Michael Billington: “Brook himself hates looking back over his career … [but] the rest of us are entitled to put his 70-year-long career in perspective and the stock idea is that it falls into two distinct parts” – the British period and the internationalist period. “It’s a neat division but, to me, Brook’s career is far more unified than it seems.”
Tag: 03.19.15
French Comedian Convicted Twice In Two Days, For Condoning Terrorism And Inciting Racial Hatred
“A French court on Thursday fined Dieudonné 22,500 euros ($24,000) for anti-Semitic comments … It caps a bad week for the comic, who was on Wednesday handed a two-month suspended sentence for condoning terrorism after a comment suggesting he sympathised with one of the jihadists who attacked Paris.”
When ‘The Glass Menagerie’ Conquered Broadway
In an excerpt from his prize-winning biography, Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh, John Lahr recalls the atmosphere in New York and the rest of America at the time of the play’s Broadway success – the close of World Wat II.
What’s The Deal With Mardi Gras Indians?
“The inevitable first question, though, can always be answered with: ‘No, they’re not Native American.’ This is a purely African-American tradition. … Some suggest it was a way of honoring Native Americans who sheltered runaway slaves, and also a means of paying respect to a culture that fiercely resisted European domination. Others say it arose after Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show passed through New Orleans in 1884.”
Japan’s Ministry Of Cool
“For over a decade, the country has embraced ‘Cool Japan,’ a government-supported movement focused on selling what many have described as its ‘gross national cool.’ … There is some irony at work here – an eagerness to promote something as trendy usually signals the opposite – but for years the country’s efforts have paid off. “
How The Solar Eclipse And Vernal Equinox Have Cast Shadows Across Literature
“A solar eclipse will be visible across the UK on Friday, coinciding with the vernal equinox. To celebrate, we look back at how authors have been inspired by this ‘obliteration’ of the sun as well as the onset of spring.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.19.15
If Our Value Were Self-Evident, Would We Need Advocates?
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-03-19
Extreme Users: Look Outside the Everyday Audience Member
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-03-19
Research, Reports & Real People Talking About the Arts (Oh My!)
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-03-19
Everyone’s a Potential Partner: Building Value Together
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-03-19
What’s Up With The Met’s Lauder Center?
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2015-03-19
Mysterious Disappearance: Michael Taylor’s Unceremonious Departure from Dartmouth’s Hood Museum
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-03-19
Other Matters: Duke’s Bread … Homemade
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-03-19
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“Empire” TV Show Album Tops The Billboard Music Charts
“The compilation marks the first time a TV soundtrack debuted on top of the charts since 2010, when Fox’s high school musical “Glee” had three of its compilations hit No. 1. It’s also the first time a network show saw an album featuring original music land at the top since since “Miami Vice” — and that was 30 years ago.”
Geena Davis: Our Kids’ Movies Are Sexist! Why?
“What are we saying to kids when the female characters are hyper-sexualised, narrowly stereotyped or not even there? The message clearly is girls are not as important as boys, women are not as important as men and they take this all in completely unconsciously.”
Samuel Charters, 85, The First Blues Musicologist
“When [his] first book, The Country Blues, was published at the tail end of the 1950s, the rural Southern blues of the pre-World War II period was a largely ignored genre. His book immediately caused a sensation among college students and aspiring folk performers … [and] created a tradition of blues scholarship.”