The nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit repertory theater company is at a pivotal moment, with change at the top and challenges everywhere. It’s bringing in its first new artistic director in 12 years and preparing to start a search for a new executive director. It’s coming off a smoke-plagued 2018 season that ended with 26 outdoor performances either canceled or moved indoors, $2.3 million in losses and 16 layoffs. – The Oregonian
Tag: 05.18.19
There’s A Whole New Crop Of South Asian-American Stand-Up Comedians Coming
“They’re finding strength in numbers that have swelled in the wake of new role models, mounting recurring group shows with names like Kutti Gang and Brown Privilege in New York, and Desi Comedy Festival [in California]. … (It’s also no small thing to have people like [Mindy] Kaling and [Hasan] Minhaj to point to when arguing with immigrant parents who may disapprove of even their adult offspring pursuing stand-up.)” – The Daily Beast
The Man Who Used Culture To Transform Medellín’s Most Dangerous Slum Says He Can Do The Same With Paris’s Poor Suburbs
“Thirty years ago, Medellín was the most violent, the most dangerous city in the world. Nobody wanted to go there, not even Colombians,” says Daniel Carvalho, the urban planner who launched street-art and hip-hop programs to make the notorious Comuna 13 district attractive to visitors and locals (and keep give young people something to do other than joining gangs). Now officials from Paris are consulting him on similar ideas for the French capital’s poorest banlieues. – The Observer (UK)
The Pop-Up Instagrammable Experience: Is It Art?
“This is a sign of the times. Artists are understanding what audiences or the sponsors are drawn to and are looking for. They are looking for it to go viral or become an icon of that moment.” – Toronto Star
Recent Listening: Zeitlin Remembers Davis
Denny Zeitlin Solo Piano: Remembering Miles
– Doug Ramsey
Colleagues Remember I.M. Pei
People in the field who were close to him, recalling him after his death, said that the warmth was innate and not for show. “You think of architects who seem to lead with their ego, and he was never like that,” said David Childs, a consulting design partner with SOM, a firm that often competed with Pei’s. “He was very generous to me when I was a 28-year-old kid.” – The New York Times
How To make The SATs More Fair? Adversity Algorithms?
The standardized tests, it turns out, aren’t so standardized when you account for the disparities of students taking them. Where you grew up matters. How good was your school matters. So new algorithms attempt to measure these factors and level the field. – The Atlantic
Could New “Indie” Social Media Sites Solve What’s Bad About Social Media?
Could the IndieWeb movement—or a streamlined, user-friendly version of it to come—succeed in redeeming the promise of social media? If we itemize the woes currently afflicting the major platforms, there’s a strong case to be made that the IndieWeb avoids them. – The New Yorker
Sammy Shore, Co-Founder Of The Comedy Store, Has Died At 92
Shore, a stand-up comedian who opened for Elvis’ comeback and comeback tour, and for everyone from Barbra Streisand to Sammy Davis Jr. to Bobby Darin, spent the last 20 years touring with his son, comedian Pauly Shore. – Variety
Ruth Beckford, Often The Only Black Dancer In Modern Dance Companies, Has Died At 93
Beckford danced with the companies of Florelle Batsford, Anna Halprin, and Welland Lathrop – and “when Beckford came onstage, the audience would gasp in surprise.” In 1947, for the Oakland Department of Parks and Rec, she created the first modern recreational dance department in the country. – San Francisco Chronicle