07.22.14 – Page 2 – ArtsJournal Wayback

The Next Big Musical Tool – Your Phone

“Your phone is now a recording studio, a music school, and a Guitar Center. Thousands of music apps enable you to do everything from autotune your voicemail greeting to compose a symphony.”

Why Don’t We Have Alternative “Director’s Cut” Versions Of Books?

“While the film industry eventually embraced the notion of a director’s cut and ran with it – ran, in fact, with the idea of releasing multiple versions of films, each definitive in its own, idiosyncratic way –publishing did not. Despite a few exceptions, there seems to be very little enthusiasm today for multiple editions of the same contemporary book.”

Scaling Back Plans For New York’s Museum Of African Art

“After years of outsize promises and repeated postponements, officials now acknowledge that fund-raising travails have compelled them to scale back the grand design for the museum’s new home on Fifth Avenue.”

Boycott An Israeli Theatre Company Over Politics? Where’s The Logic?

“The demands for censorship speak to the illiberal tendencies of much of the art world and their self-important overestimation of the impact of cultural boycotts. They are the kind of artists who call for artistic freedom for themselves, and for those whose opinions they approve of, but deny it to those who they disapprove of, or, in this case, those whose countries they disapprove of.”

Rome’s Cinecittà Opens A Theme Park

“In its nearly 80-year history, the Cinecittà film studio lured the world’s greatest directors and biggest movie stars to this Italian capital, earning it the title of Hollywood on the Tiber. Now the studio, its fortunes in decline and its edges fraying, is hoping to attract some less famous visitors when Cinecittà World, a new theme park dedicated to its golden era, opens on Thursday.”

How Can Classical Music Save Itself?

Alex Ross, Greg Sandow, pianist and educator Orli Shaham, and Peabody Institute dean/former St. Louis Symphony CEO Fred Bronstein talk issues and strategies with public radio host Diane Rehm. (audio)

In Defense Of The Jukebox Musical

“Done well, jukebox musicals, which are by nature about popular music, can have great music and dramatic insight, too. I propose that we stop being embarrassed by them, and I hope that producers and librettists continue to make the genre better. Great pop music can be celebrated well and enjoyably.” Sarah Lawson explains how, with examples.

When Will Scholars Get Around To Actually Studying Tutankhamun’s Tomb?

“‘The real curse is that too few scholars have devoted attention to the contents of the tomb,’ says [curator] Paul Collins, … [who] believes that specialists have shied away from serious study of the boy king’s tomb because he ‘so quickly became imbued with glamour and mystery’ in the public imagination.”

The Strangest Temple In Thailand

“Wat Rong Khun, or the White Temple, is one of over 33,000 Buddhist temples in Thailand. But it’s the only one that features a mural depicting a plane hitting the Twin Towers as Spiderman and an Angry Bird look on.”

Tag: 07.22.14