“The original film paints a bleak picture of deeply unhappy people working blue-collar jobs and passively hoping for, rather than actively seeking a way out of their circumstances. The musical gives the source material a bright coat of Broadway paint with an upbeat and gorgeous pop score.”
Tag: 08.02.16
That Time Atlanta Got All Dressed Up To Host The Olympics. Then The New Yorker Made Fun…
Imagine then the shock and disappointment when the July 22, 1996 issue of The New Yorker arrived at our house. The cover illustration featured a farmer in overalls with a pig under one arm and the other arm holding a torch. Roosters were at his feet as he stood ready to light the cauldron beneath a display of the Olympic rings. Across his chest a banner read, “Howdy.”
America Is Quickly Getting Older. Are Our Arts Going To Be Increasingly Age-Specific?
“Some industries will forsake the senior audience, other industries will court it. And those decisions are likely the result of research and judgments. Which end of the spectrum will we end up on, and is it likely some arts organizations will embrace the senior growth market, while others of us, flee from it?”
Theatre’s Next Big Thing Problem
“At its best, artist development is terrific, providing opportunities and genuine benefits for early-career artists; at it’s worst, it can be like butterfly collecting, and just as cruel. That’s because too many artist-development schemes are not designed to support ambition and scale and so they don’t help artists develop sustainable careers in the industry.”
Do We Want Bots Determining Ownership Of Art?
“It seems outrageous to demand a photographer be asked to pay for the use of her own work, particularly when she has gifted that work to the public. It seems like another example of corporate bullying. But the suit will undoubtedly be complicated, as everything to do with posting images on the Web is. If, for example, an image is free, does it mean anyone else is free to charge for cataloguing it and giving access to it? If you put your old dresser on the curb and I pick it up, can’t I sell it myself?”
UK’s National Theatre Opens Virtual Reality Studio
“Anyone visiting the new National Theatre studio might experience the soul-destroying misery of the Calais jungle, take part in the 1916 Easter Rising or sit on a toilet while being serenaded by a giant psychedelic cat.”
Jim Northrup, 73, Poet, Author, Ojibwe Indian Leader
“An award-winning writer of books, columns, plays and poetry … Northrup was a storyteller, known for his stark and honest writing about his experience as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam and his early years at a federal boarding school. He was funny and pointed in his writings about everyday life on the reservation, politics and change in Indian Country.”
Book Publishing Has Always Been A Gut Instinct Business. Data Is Changing That
“Digital books made it possible to track the way people read and companies like Amazon and Apple could gather that data, but didn’t share it with publishers. Now a number of businesses have sprung up that specialize in reader analytics and they are sharing their findings.”
The Clown School Where Movie Stars And Hot Young Stand-Up Comics Go To Study
“An exercise has gone badly wrong at École Philippe Gaulier” – whose alumni include Emma Thompson, Simon McBurney, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen. “‘You are the definition of a bad student,’ croaks the septuagenarian teacher. ‘This is boring. It is so shit!’ Gaulier’s student gawps at him, chastened and gormless, as his classmates laugh cheerfully at his discomfort. … But for those aspiring to be funny, this is the place to be – and Gaulier’s tongue-lashings are an exquisite form of torture.”
Miami Beach’s Bass Museum Announces Plans For Reopening Following Expansion
“The museum’s historic Art Deco building has been under construction since 2013, when it first announced the $12 million expansion. … Without expanding the exterior of the building, Isozaki and Gauld’s redesign” – which opens December 1 – “will increase the size of the museum’s exhibition space by 50 percent, adding four new galleries.”