06.24.15 – ArtsJournal Wayback

Ten Great Writers Nobody Reads

Stephen Sparks: “I haven’t come closer to understanding the vicissitudes of literary fortune (the moment I do, I’ll open my own publishing house), but in studying these writers, I’ve come up with a set of categories into which many fall.”

There’s No American Sitcom Harder To Translate Into Other Languages Than This One

“Two decades after it went off the air, Seinfeld remains relevant to American audiences … but in much of Europe it is considered a cult hit, and commonly relegated to deep-late-night time slots. Its humor, it seems, is just too complicated, too cultural and word-based, to make for easy translation.”

Retired Baby Boomers Become Docents Gone Wild

“Managing a generation of volunteers who grew up as rebels isn’t always easy.”

Berklee and Boston Conservatory Merge

“The schools said Thursday that they have agreed to explore a merger, a union they say could create a national powerhouse in performing arts education, with rich programs in music, theater, and dance. Governing boards for the two schools have approved plans to pursue the potential merger, which could occur as soon as 2016.”

For The First Time In His 50-Year Career James Taylor Has A #1 Album

For the first time in his nearly half-century career, James Taylor topped the Billboard 200 Wednesday with his latest record, “Before This World.” The singer-songwriter’s first set of new songs since 2002’s “October Road” (which opened at No. 4), “Before This World” sold 96,000 copies during the week that ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Music.

America’s Embrace Of Anti-Intellectualism Is Killing Us

“In a country where a sitting congressman told a crowd that evolution and the Big Bang are “lies straight from the pit of hell,” (link is external) where the chairman of a Senate environmental panel brought a snowball (link is external) into the chamber as evidence that climate change is a hoax, where almost one in three citizens can’t name the vice president (link is external), it is beyond dispute that critical thinking has been abandoned as a cultural value. Our failure as a society to connect the dots, to see that such anti-intellectualism comes with a huge price, could eventually be our downfall.”

How Did The New York Public Library Lose Its Way?

“What went wrong at one of the world’s eminent research libraries? NYPL, as it is often known, has been under intermittent financial pressure for most of its history, but in the last few years it has been enveloped by a controversy that has exposed the institution to unprecedented public scrutiny. What stands revealed is a library that is abandoning its core mission of research and is losing its way in the digital age.”

How Much Should A Theatre Worry About Offending An Audience?

“Instead of censoring or sanitizing content that “might offend,” theatres should look at such works as opportunities to engage their audiences in critical public discourse about important issues in the play, because if we approach theatre as something that should be feared or approached cautiously, then we’ve robbed it of it’s power before the actors have even said a word.”

Docents Gone Wild

“More arts-loving baby boomers – educated, experienced and recently retired – are hustling to become museum tour guides. … [Yet] behind closed doors some museum staffers are growing impatient with docents flouting their supervisors, misstating facts, touching the art, and other infractions.”

Tag: 06.24.15