David Ivers, who’s taking on the role at the Arizona Theatre Company (which runs both in Phoenix and Tucson): “When I became the unanimous candidate — the board’s words, not mine — I felt I had the opportunity … to say ‘I would like to fight on behalf of the staff before I take this job. So if you are serious about me doing this, we have to raise some money before we start. I won’t take the job unless we start to equalize cash flow problems. I’ll help, and I’ll do that even as a candidate, but I can’t in good conscience ask myself and my family to move here, or these families who live here, to continue if you aren’t serious about saving the theater.'”
Tag: 07.02.17
What Happened To The Big Business Of R-Rated Comedies?
This summer has seen a string of utterly failed attempts to get adults into the theaters for raunchy, semi-dark comedies. Why? It might be that “the definition of what makes a good comedy has changed quickly and dramatically in the past year.”
A Netflix Movie That Everyone (In The U.S. And U.K.) Needs To Watch
Hollywood plus Afghanistan equals … nothing. “Hollywood movies do not ask the difficult strategic questions. Should the US invade or interfere in countries it knows little about, how do US troops win over local support, is nation building and promotion of democracy feasible by one part of the US government while another part pursues a war strategy? Can the US ever understand tribal societies through the barrel of a gun? Hollywood has left us devoid of any understanding of the escalating global chaos. That is, until now.”
Top AJBlog Posts For The Weekend Of 07.02.17
Riddell’s Tower
Clocking in at a mere seven hundred pages, give or take, The Communist Movement at a Crossroads: Plenums of the Communist International’s Executive Committee, 1922-1923, the eighth volume of John Riddell’s awesome edition of documents … read more
AJBlog: Quick StudyPublished 2017-07-02
Shoehorned at Hirshhorn: Imprisoning Ai Weiwei’s “@Large” Alcatraz Installation
I can understand why Philip Kennicott felt unenthusiastic about the Hirshhorn Museum’s Ai Weiwei: Trace at Hirshhorn (to Jan. 1), which riveted me when I saw it to best advantage at its original venue—Alcatraz. The … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished 2017-07-01
Assessment, Resilience & Consensus
Happy New (Fiscal) Year to those who celebrate! So, how will you work differently going forward? Here are 3 questions to help you get started: What have you learned from the year just concluded? … read more
AJBlog: Audience WantedPublished 2017-07-01
Recent Listening: Broadbent’s Developing Story
Alan Broadbent, Developing Story (Eden River Records) Broadbent’s title composition is in concerto form, although it is not described as a concerto. His piece combines jazz and classical sensibilities in a flow … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2017-06-30
Dancing with Lou Harrison
The Mark Morris Dance Group celebrates the centennial of composer Lou Harrison’s birth. Mark Morris dancers in Morris’s Numerator. (L to R): Noah Vinson, Sam Black, and Brandon Rudolph. Photo: Christopher Duggan In 1991, the … read more
AJBlog: DancebeatPublished 2017-06-30
Why Do Most Of Us Have Such Intense Intellectual And Emotional Reactions To Music?
Music isn’t like natural sounds, and it isn’t like speech. “Music conveys meaning since all its constituent sounds – notes – elicit tiny emotional responses, and these are locked together in a coherent narrative through imitation.”