Company co-founder Jeff Perry: “Our group had an interesting mix of individual ambition, and even hubris, and love of group work. If we had started Steppenwolf in Los Angeles or New York, I don’t think we would have been left alone long enough to put down these roots.”
Tag: 08.17.16
‘No Hugging, No Learning’: How ‘Seinfeld’ Really Changed Television
“Anti-hero sagas like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Shield, and Californication may not appear to have much in common with a sitcom about four nebbishy New Yorkers. But Seinfeld‘s immense popularity proved to network executives that audiences could get on board with a show that didn’t necessarily end with a lesson and a group hug – and characters that reveled in their flaws instead of working to overcome them.”
Why Do Critics Still Hate Andrew Wyeth?
“At best, one might say that the most virulent haters are dead or are moving on, but the void is still not exactly filling up with love. Maybe there is some grudging respect, which might count as a victory for this most singular of artists.”
Smacked Back Into Place: Pop Music And Musicians After 9/11
As the 15th anniversary of the attacks approaches, Scott Timberg talks with scholar Mark Anthony Neal about the taboos that sprung up in the wake of the events (and the ensuing wars) and what happened to the artists who tried to challenge those taboos.
Who Goes To Choral Concerts? The Survey Says…
Personal relationships fuel the audiences for choral concerts. Among the children and youth choruses surveyed, four in five respondents have a familial or friendship relationship with a young performer. Among adult choruses, about a third of respondents reported having a relationship with a performer.
Three Olympics Story Lines That The Media Should Just Drop Already
“Doping scandals, dubious economic benefits of hosting, and nail-biter badminton finishes aside, the Olympics are really the world championships of #content. Small wonder, then, that some media narratives emerging from the games are more tired than Katie Ledecky’s competitors in the pool.”
One Of London’s Top Dance Critics Gives Up Her Gig
“This is my last column as The Spectator‘s dance spectator. It’s been the deepest pleasure to wander on your behalf around the fertile landscape of dance, but I’m off to Oxford University to do some research. Thank you for bearing with my thoughts and I hope you bought a few tickets as a result.”
Met Opera Posts Balanced Budget Despite Falling Box Office, But Major Challenges Loom
“Despite a record low in paid attendance last season, the Metropolitan Opera is on track to balance its budget for the second year in a row, company officials said. … Below, a breakdown of the opera’s biggest challenges.”
J.K. Rowling Launches Series Of Mini E-Books
“The first three titles, to be released on Sept. 6 by her publishing platform Pottermore, will focus on the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The e-books, each about 10,000 words long, will include new material as well as writing previously published on Pottermore.com.”
Will Thomas Mann’s House In LA Be Torn Down?
“Perhaps the juggernaut of the real-estate market is destined to roll over the Mann house as it has over many other notable places. Worse things will have happened in the world. But for anyone who loves Mann’s work, or who cherishes the story of émigré culture in Los Angeles, it would be a crushing outcome.”