“With respect to composers, said expectation goes something like this: child prodigy enters school already a mature genius; impresses all of his/her professors; then sets the world on fire with his/her youthful vigor, technical wizardry, and creative talent while winning all sorts of competitions; and proceeds to redefine an art form for the betterment of humankind. There may be examples throughout history where this fairy tale plays out in the likes of wunderkind composers such as Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven; but is this the most accurate representation of a composer’s path?”
Tag: 06.10.15
Dances With Robots
Seven such humanoid robots, of the model NAO, are the stars of “ROBOT,” a dance-theater work by the Spanish-born choreographer Blanca Li that had its American debut at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House on Tuesday. There are also eight human dancers, but the 90-minute production perks up when the robots arrive, and it sags whenever they’re absent.
Remember Christopher Lee, Horror Icon
“Lee had a reputation for being proud and humorless, and he certainly wasn’t easy. But everyone I’ve met who knew him well adored him, insisting that once you got past the prickliness, he was kind, loyal, and immensely endearing —one of the true good guys.”
What It’s Like To Perform Clandestine Theatre Under A Harsh Dictatorship
“The cloak and dagger nature of trying to see a play in one of Europe’s most authoritarian nations is to be mirrored in the UK as part of Belarus Free Theatre’s 10th anniversary celebrations. Audiences will have no idea where they are going to see performances and post-show discussions being staged in a festival scheduled over two weeks in November.”
This New York Post Headline Writer Was Surely The Patron Saint Of Clickbait
“HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR” was only the most famous of the front page come-ons that Vinnie Musetto produced for the love-to-hate-it tabloid. He also wrote, among many others, the deathless gems “500LB SEX MANIAC GOES FREE” and “GRANNY EXECUTED IN HER PINK PAJAMAS.”
TV’s “Smash” Musical Opens On Broadway (Biggest Theatre Kickstarter Ever)
“Bombshell” did arrive on Broadway this week to a rapturous reception at the 1,700-seat Minskoff Theatre — but only as a one-night charity event in which members of the original cast reunited to sing and dance their way through the songbook created by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman. Tickets to the Monday night show had sold out in about an hour in April after a Kickstarter campaign raised $300,000-plus to defer development expenses.
How Artists Are Trying To Fix Baltimore
The spirit of rebirth reveals itself in many ways. But nobody is talking about returning the area to the tailored elegance of a century ago. Baltimore is to Washington what Bologna once was to Rome. Affordable. And uninhibited by pretensions that stifle innovation.
Ford Foundation Re-prioritizes – Will Make All Its Grants To Fight Inequality
“Ford joins a growing number of foundations pouring more money into programs that fight inequality. But its plans to look at every grant to ask how it reduces inequality is a more stringent approach than other foundations have taken. That said, the foundation is taking a broad interpretation of inequality — looking not just at wealth, race, ethnicity, and gender but also access to technology and the arts.”
Gender Breakdown Of Designers In American Regional Theatres (In One Chart)
As a person of color, I strongly believe in self-identification. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out how to gather enough self-identified demographic information to be statistically representative. So this report looks only at gender, which I generally figured out from artist bios.
How The Detroit Symphony Is Building On A Stream-Everything Strategy
“I think the digital world makes us hungrier for the real world. The digital strategy has been very important in communicating the health of our organization, which is important to people making decisions to attend and to invest.”