“When Kevin Broccoli wrote his two-man play James Franco and Me, he had vague hopes that the real James Franco might tweet about it or maybe, just maybe, come see a performance. Instead, Mr. Franco’s lawyers have sent a cease-and-desist letter to a New York theater that was going to stage the satire in August.”
Tag: 07.12.17
Watching A Former Literary Icon Fall Out Of Fashion
What happened to reading Rebecca West? Her 1941 nonfiction “Black Lamb and Grey Falcon” was often listen as a top nonfiction book of the 20th century … and then somehow the book, “an attack on empire, a defense of small nations, and an embrace of concrete delights over abstract causes,” passed its 75th anniversary with nary a notice, even from the International Rebecca West Society.
Truly Looking At Boyle Heights, The L.A. Neighborhood That Protested Gentrification By Galleries
Artist Star Montana: “I want people to understand the narrative of Boyle Heights. A lot of these people, they are trying to navigate how to exist in these neighborhoods. These people represent communities and neighborhoods. They exist. And they are individuals. And their stories — each one of them — their narrative is important, too. It’s important for me to sit down with them, even if it’s just for a minute.”
Why I Hate The Best Short Story I’ve Ever Written
Akhil Sharma: “I read ‘If You Sing Like That for Me’ now and I find myself jumping out of my skin. After each paragraph, I have to get up from my desk and pace around. Talking about the story, my tone becomes contemptuous. It is strange to think that, to readers, this story means nothing like what it means to me.”
The IRA Was Behind The Isabella Stewart Gardner Heist, Insists Investigator
“The 13 stolen masterpieces valued at around half-a-billion dollars included a Rembrandt and a Vermeer … ‘I’m 100 percent sure that they are in Ireland. Hundred percent sure. No doubt in my mind,’ art investigator Arthur Brand said. He’s described as the Indiana Jones of the art world. It’s an audacious claim to make after nearly three decades. But Brand alleges his leads point to the Irish Republican Army.”
West End Tickets Aren’t Expensive, They’re ‘Incredibly Reasonable’, Says One Of Theatre’s Richest Men
Andrew Lloyd Webber: “Theatre is highly labour-intensive. On the whole, the prices of West End theatre are incredibly reasonable considering the cost of putting something on.” Told that tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are over £100, ALW said, “We don’t charge anything like that for School of Rock.” (Orchestra/stalls seats for School of Rock in the West End are currently £129.50.)
America’s Elitism Problem
I bring up the extent to which “Dumb” is the Great American Default, because we are in the midst of an era in which the notion that the elite and elitism are the source of every problem has become fashionable. And, let’s be honest, when Americans say “elite,” they don’t mean rich people. They mean smart people.
How Bluegrass Got From The Hollers To College Campuses And Music Schools
More and more, from Ted Lehmann’s experience, roots musicians are coming to the scene with more classical training. It would be common, 25 years ago, for roots musicians to be unable to read music, Lehmann said. When he got his start blogging about and photographing musicians in 2003 — Lehmann considers himself a “newbie” — things were changing, but slowly. “You’d ask them that question [about being able to read music] and they’d say, ‘Well, a little bit, but not enough to hurt me,’” he said. “In other words, ‘I’m not going to lose my improvisational awareness.’”
Spotify Just Hired An Artificial Intelligence Expert. What’s The Plan?
The company’s blog post refers to Pachet’s previous work “assisting artists in music composition” and strongly suggests a foray into new territory for Spotify’s growing creator services department: the development of creative tools for songwriters and artists. Until now, that team has focused on things like arming artists with listener analytics data, helping musicians target fans with concert tickets, and simply teaching artists and managers how to make the most of Spotify as a platform for connecting with fans. The idea of Spotify developing its own semi-robotic GarageBand software is a fairly radical—and to some, perhaps terrifying—departure from what it’s been working on thus far.
Mid-Level And Small Galleries Are Dying Off. But Some Are Trying To Adapt Creatively In A Challenging Environment
Converting living rooms and bedrooms into temporary galleries is just one way that dealers are coming up with ways to adapt and survive. Car parks, hair salons, arcade bars and the backs of vans have also doubled as ingenious, if cramped, exhibition venues.