Jerrod Bogard says it wasn’t easy or fast to learn what a sexist playwright he was. When a director and producer asked him to make some changes, whew … he wasn’t into it. “My first response was confusion and anger. Being challenged to do better is uncomfortable.” – HowlRound
Tag: 07.25.19
The Opening Of Ghana’s First Subscription-Model Library Changed Lives, But The Founder Says It’s Not Enough
The founder of Libreria Ghana opened with 1300 volumes in 2018, but she soon learned that having a cozy library wasn’t enough for her, or for her country. She doesn’t want to be seen as a hero. “To deny the feeling of pleasure and, indeed, self-satisfaction that comes from knowing you’ve made a difference to an individual, a community and, by extension, a society, would be to deny being human. After all, the payoff of self-sacrifice is often self-fulfillment. There are no saviors, not even Black ones.” – LitHub
Why Are The ‘Harry Potter In Concert’ Programs So Popular?
Sometimes, you have to let a SyFy reviewer explain: “The Harry Potter in Concert series not only provides an opportunity to visually watch each individual instrumental sound take shape on the stage in front of you, but allows the viewer to line it up with the film as you watch it. This offers a whole new appreciation for productions in the arts. You might even be inspired to pick up a flute or learn to play the harp yourself.”- SyFy Wire
Turning The Tables On Superheroes
Superheroes have had their day – and now shows and movies are focusing on superhero backlash. – Los Angeles Times
How Do We Measure What’s Popular In Music?
We used to be able to look to Billboard charts. But there are so many ways people are accessing music it’s become almost impossible to tell what the “top” music is by how many are listening. – The New York Times
How To Address Gender/Race Imbalances In Classical Music?
“From art to science and beyond, the work of historically marginalised groups is being gloriously shared. Except within classical music, that is. And to compound matters, the errors of the past are being repeated today.” – The Guardian
Composer Ben Johnston, Who Made Microtonal Avant-Garde Music Sound Sweet, Dead At 93
“Mr. Johnston was an unusual avant-gardist: His music was so melodically engaging, rhythmically vital and structurally transparent that listeners who were unaware of his tuning experiments and their complex theoretical underpinnings heard his works as essentially neo-Romantic.” – The New York Times
Even In 2019, More Than Four-Fifths Of All Ballets Performed In America Were By Men
“A new report released by the Dance Data Project — a nonprofit launched earlier this year to assess gender inequity in ballet — looks at the 2018-2019 seasons of America’s 50 largest ballet companies [by budget]. … 81 percent of works last season were choreographed by men … Looking at just full-length ballets the number grows worse: 88 percent were choreographed by men.” – Dance Magazine
Design Is Changing As The Environment Forces Us To Adapt
The Cooper Hewitt’s curators are illuminating how environmental challenges are scrambling the roles of designers, scientists — and the museum itself. – The New York Times
Yao Li, ‘Silver Voice’ of Shanghai, Dead At 96
“With her soft, high voice, Ms. Yao was long referred to as one of the seven great singing stars of Shanghai, … [whose popular music] bore not only the rhythms of jazz, but also global sounds like Cuban rumba and the Hawaiian steel guitar. … She was not famous well beyond Asia, but at least two of her songs made an impact in the United States.” – The New York Times