“It’s not just, or maybe even primarily, the size of the company that is giving people the shakes. It’s the fact that a single film corporation now seems to own everything worth having — at least, in stark capitalistic blockbuster terms. … Viewed according to the logic of 21st-century fantasy culture, Disney doesn’t just suddenly own all the properties. It owns all the mythologies.” Yet, argues Owen Gleiberman, “in the concern over the new company’s monolithic import, a couple of key issues have been lost.” – Variety
Tag: 07.14.19
Marcus Overton, Who Managed Classical Music Institutions From Coast To Coast, Dead At 75
“His many management credits included production stage manager at Chicago Lyric Opera, where his colleagues included William Mason, later the company’s general director; general manager of the Ravinia Festival; director of performing arts at the Smithsonian Institution; executive director and then producing director of Spoleto Festival USA; and artistic administrator at La Jolla Music Society.” – San Francisco Classical Voice
Edinburgh Fringe’s Looming Problem: Not Enough Critics
“[The worrisome development is] the recent decision of leading Scottish newspapers and magazines to slash their coverage of the festival in half. Coupled with the dwindling size of the annual contingent of London critics, the threat to the ecology of the festival is real.” – The Observer (UK)
25 Works Of Art That Define The Current Age? (A Discussion)
Naturally, when re-evaluating the canon of the last five decades, there were notable omissions. The group failed to name many artists who most certainly had an impact on how we view art today: Bigger names of recent Museum of Modern Art retrospectives, internationally acclaimed artists and high earners on the secondary market were largely excluded. Few paintings were singled out; land art was almost entirely absent, as were, to name just a few more categories, works on paper, sculpture, photography, fiber arts and outsider art. – The New York Times
Fewer Musicians Are Auditioning For The Pittsburgh Symphony. Does It Mean Anything?
In the three years since the musicians’ 55-day strike took place in the fall of 2016, that number has dropped significantly, from around 250 applicants per position to 150 applicants per position, according to an orchestra employee who asked that a name not be used. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Family Lie That Turned Into This Summer’s Breakout Indie Film
Lulu Wang’s family didn’t want to tell its matriarch that she was dying of cancer – and the resulting efforts to get everyone to say their goodbyes, without letting her in on the reason, turned into The Farewell, an indie movie starring Crazy Rich Asians‘ Awkwafina that, over its opening weekend, did the best per-screen business of any 2019 film (and that’s with the Manhattan blackout that took one of its few screens dark). – The Atlantic
Sadie Roberts-Joseph, Founder Of A Museum And Tireless Activist For Historical Memory, Has Been Found Murdered
Roberts-Joseph was an icon in the Louisiana capital city, and she devoted her life and work to historical memory – and making Juneteenth a national holiday. Then there was “the Odell S. Williams Now and Then African-American History Museum, which she founded in 2001 and ran with volunteer help and donations. The Baton Rouge museum spotlighted black history and hosted gatherings for holidays such as Memorial Day, Kwanzaa and Juneteenth.” – Washington Post
Apparently, Netflix’s Lobby (The Physical, Architectural Kind) Is Pretty Cool
Hmmm: “Every era in Hollywood has a symbolic epicenter, a place that sums up everything, especially power and sometimes absurdity.” Apparently, that’s now Netflix. “An 80-foot by 12-foot video screen makes visitors feel like they are inside Netflix shows — visiting the Narcos cocaine lab, for instance, or sitting on the Blue Cat Lodge boat dock from Ozark. Another wall is covered by at least 3,500 plants, a living mural that includes red Flamingo Lilies, known for their big pistils.” – The New York Times