Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.01.17

Bard SummerScape’s latest operatic resurrection: Dvorák’s long, bloody Dmitrij
Dmitrij is an opera that keeps growing before your very ears. And growing. And growing, until you have some of the most dramatically apt music Dvorák ever wrote for the stage. … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2017-08-01

Memo to Berkshire Museum: Homeless National Academy Suspends Its School, Slashes Price for Its Posh Digs
The Berkshire Museum’s self-proclaimed deaccession-or-die desperation measure has triggered traumatic flashbacks to the National Academy’s failed attempt to secure its future by selling off important works by Frederic Edwin Church and Sanford Robinson Gifford … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-08-01

Take it from an old friend, Bob, you just gotta see this
Girl from the North Country, which has just opened at the Old Vic, is not easy to describe. Other theatrical events have had strange origins – for example, most of Peter Sellar’s oeuvre, … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2017-08-01

The NYC Influence
Over time, various cities emerge as strongholds of finance:  Venice, Zurich, Edinburgh, Singapore, Hong Kong.  These cities, though they have many other characteristics, have been known for taking a leadership role at some point in … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2017-07-31

Kurt Weill in 2017
“Wherever I found decency and humanity in the world, it reminded me of America.” That this observation – recorded by Kurt Weill in 1947 – rings hollow in 2017 does not diminish the fascination … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2017-07-30

 

Remembering Sam Shepard, An “Accessible Demigod”

Charles McNulty: “Not everyone will agree with my assessment that he was America’s best dramatist since Williams. But as someone who has taught playwriting for years, I can say that, if Samuel Beckett has been the god of modern theater, Shepard has been the more accessible demigod who has inspired more young talents in the last few decades than any other.”

Do You Really Need A Fine Arts Degree? And Other Questions Answered By Star Arts Pupils

“Three graduates of New World School of the Arts in Miami” – composer and orchestrator Alex Lacamoire (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen), actor Cote de Pablo (NCIS), and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney (The Brother/Sister Plays trilogy and the screenplay for Moonlight) – share advice for students interested in pursuing a dream.”

London’s Next Hot Male Ballet Star Bangs The Drum For His Art Form In His Homeland

Isaac Hernández, now a principal at English National Ballet after stints with ABT II, San Francisco Ballet, and Dutch National Ballet, grew up taking classes from his father with his 10 siblings in a studio in their house in Guadalajara. Now, in between his company work in London and on tour, he flies home to Mexico and organizes both professional ballet performances and a pair of dance schools in poor barrios.