“The central bank, a staid building in many countries, is coated in bright red candy cane stripes. Multicolored fluorescent lights cover one of the city’s bridges, creating a Hawaiian luau effect. Blast walls and security checkpoints stick out because they are often painted in hot pink.” (They say this like it’s a bad thing …)
Tag: 05.15.11
New Jersey Arts Council, Normally Uncontroversial, Becomes Political Football
“Its funding represents one penny for every $18 in the state budget, and it stays away from even a breath of controversy. But lately this tiny agency has become a huge annoyance to Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, and though it is part of the office of Secretary of State – her own department – she has launched a public campaign to get more authority over it.”
Oregon Symphony Gets A Rave In The New York Times, And Still They’re Upset?
Critic Allan Kozinn “generated some heat within the orchestra when he … wrote that [current music director Carlos] Kalmar had ‘maintained’ the orchestra ‘admirably’ after taking over from James DePreist. As followers of the orchestra know, Kalmar has done more than maintain the orchestra.”
The Star Of Fela! On Taking The Show ‘Home’ To Lagos
“Sahr Ngaujah has spent the last two years playing the great Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti on stage in New York and London. Last month he took the production back to Kuti’s native Nigeria. Here, he describes the extraordinary and emotional trip.”
Has Combative Filmmaker Nanni Moretti Mellowed?
“Critics hoped [that his] new film” – Habemus Papam, about the election of a very reluctant Pope – “would be a fierce attack on the Catholic church – instead, it’s an amiable farce. Has the scourge of the Italian establishment gone soft?”
Jacques D’Amboise: My Favorite Career
“D’Amboise admitted he was spoiled as a dancer, with Balanchine, especially, letting him do whatever he wanted. Surprisingly, this did not include running City Ballet after the choreographer’s death in 1983.”
How Far Will Artworld Protests Over Ai Weiwei Detention Go?
“Despite the art world’s concern over the fate of Ai Weiwei, it remains to be seen if any galleries pull out of the Chinese fair which has just been bought by MCH Swiss Exhibition Ltd, the company which organizes the two most prestigious modern and contemporary art fairs in the world, Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach.”
On Being Lang Lang
“In a way I’m very lucky. I play with the world’s best musicians and that’s what really matters to me. I can be super-famous, but it doesn’t mean anything. Working in the best cultural capitals with the best musicians is what matters to me the most because that way I always have the chance to stay at a good performance level.”
A Cleveland Theatre Success Story (Counter-intuitive Edition)
“Despite the worldwide economic collapse, a slow recovery in Ohio and an exodus from Cleveland, more people kept buying more tickets to see more plays — Shakespeare plays, mind you — after Great Lakes moved from a 1,000-seat theater to one with 550 chairs.”
The Dance Of Cannes (Media Circus)
“Critics gird themselves to watch what could either prove the film that sets the competition ablaze or leave us with very ashen faces indeed – possibly both.”