Tag: 04.20.17

Battle Over The (Existence Of The) Armenian Genocide Plays Out In Rival Movies

“If history was any guide, the director Terry George figured, there’d be weirdness around his new film, The Promise, about the Armenian genocide. Sure enough, he was right” – there was a concerted pile-on at IMDb, and the unanticipated release of a competing film on strangely similar material, The Ottoman Lieutenant. Cara Buckley lays out the strange circumstances around the two titles.

The Tragedy Of Google Books: How ‘The Most Significant Humanities Project Of Our Time Was Dismantled In Court’

“Somewhere at Google there is a database containing 25 million books and nobody is allowed to read them.” James Somers runs down the history of the massive book-scanning project and of Authors Guild v. Google – and how “perhaps the most adventuresome class action settlement ever attempted” was taken apart despite the best interests of all the parties.

Getting A Southern Accent Right Is One Of The Big Challenges Of Making Audiobooks

“Southern accents are like hot sauces: dozens of varieties that can be difficult to distinguish, but they can be subtle or heavy-handed; they can add color or be a one-note distraction. … When some people detect their presence, that’s all they can focus on. In the wrong hands they can be dangerous.” John Adamian talks to a professional audiobook narrator about the pitfalls involved.

‘No Brits, No Chekhov Translations, No Classics’ – Broadway’s Smallest Theater Begins New American Plays Program With Nine (Diverse!) Commissions

That unequivocal statement came from Carole Rothman, the artistic director of Second Stage Theater, which, reports Michael Paulson, commissioned new works by the nine playwrights – seven of them women, three of them African-American, and one of them Asian-American – with the intention of bringing the shows to Broadway.”

‘Really Galvanised To Make Work’ – Director Sam Gold On American Theater In The Trump Era

“I think it’s made the whole community feel braver about making work that pushes people harder and gives voice to subject matter and to people that we can see being silenced under this administration. The second he was elected, the theatre community got energy and it’s a really great thing that we have a place to put our anger and our fear.”

‘The Diva Whisperer’ – Yannick Nézet-Séguin Starts Settling In At The Met

“We [conductors] are the ears of the singer. But if we tell singers to please fit into a little box that I’m trying to create … then the conductor is like a teacher, and that is not what it should be.” David Patrick Stearns does a Q&A with YNS as he prepares for the opening of The Flying Dutchman, his first production at the Metropolitan Opera since becoming music director-designate.

Neighbors Sue Tate Modern Under European Convention For Human Rights (Yes, Really)

One unexpected sight at the London museum’s new Switch House extension is a view straight into the glass-walled condos of the Neo Bankside complex, just 20 meters across the street. And visitors have been taking full advantage of that view, sharing photos of it all over social media, much to the residents’ chagrin. (The Tate has not been sympathetic.) Now five plaintiffs “claim their high-rise homes have been turned into ‘goldfish bowls’ while they have become ‘public exhibits'” – a violation of their human rights, they say.

Top Posts From AJBlogs 04.20.17

Smart Move In Brooklyn
A lot of people today are interested in “design.” Unless they are furnishing a home, not all that many are interested in “decorative arts.” They are, of course, fraternal if not identical twins. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-04-20

Miles, Cleanhead, Sonny And “Four”
“Four” is one of the best-known jazz tunes attributed to Miles Davis. He may actually have written it, although a substantial number of musicians maintain that the composer was the alto saxophonist … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-04-20