R-Rated Opera (Seriously): Alt-Classical Stars Adapt Lars Von Trier’s ‘Breaking The Waves’

“‘Would you go to R-rated things as a grown-up? Of course you would,’ said Opera Philadelphia general director David Devan. ‘We’re making disclaimers. We’re telling people there is nudity and stylized violence. … We did talk to the cast. … To do the job you have to be prepared to be nude for certain portions.'” Says soprano Keira Duffy, “There are moments when I’m thinking, ‘What is my Irish Catholic family going be thinking in certain scenes?'”

Embarrassed Egyptian Government Bans Unauthorized Public Sculptures

A cabinet official who asked to remain anonymous said Wednesday’s decision came after “the repeated setting up in the country’s squares of bad statues that do not conform with Egypt’s deep-rooted history”. The controversial statue of a soldier hugging a woman from behind in Sohag’s town of Balyana was the latest in a series of statues that have become a laughingstock on social media.

Could This Really Be True? In The Gig Economy Jazz Instructors Can Make More Than Lawyers

“FlexJobs came up with a list of 10 of the best-paying part-time jobs based on real job listings from over 40,000 companies… For instance, you stand to make more money as a part-time jazz instructor than you can as a government contracts attorney. Part time clinical pharmacists make almost as much as part-time dentists.”

Eight Diversity Takeaways From The 2016 Emmys

“Last night, as Rami Malek, Courtney B. Vance, Regina King, and Sterling K. Brown all won major acting awards, Alan Yang and Aziz Ansari picked up recognition for their writing, and Key & Peele won for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series, the inclusiveness of the ceremony really did seem worth celebrating. But how diverse were this year’s winners, really? And how did they compare to years before?”

Top Posts From AJBlogs 09.19.16

What Neuroscientists Know About The Brain And Creativity: It’s Disruptive, Not Systematic
It appears many of us want a formula for creativity. There are 11,386 books on creativity for sale on Amazon, most of them promising to unlock the secrets of being creative. Scientists studying how the brain works are … read more
AJBlog: diacritical/Douglas McLennanPublished 2016-09-19

Kraftwerk at the Hollywood Bowl
Krautrock has rarely been my cup of ale … But I’ve heard so many good things about the shows Kraftwerk — who all but invented the genre, and scored its first big U.S. hit with “Autobahn” — performed at Disney Hall a few years ago, that their Bowl show was hard to pass up. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2016-09-19

‘Street Gangs of the Lower East Side’
It’s rare that the tireless staff of thousands agrees to post a guest review. But there are exceptions. … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2016-09-19

Interim
In 2003-04, I served as Interim Dean at the North Carolina School of the Arts.  It was quite an education, an introduction to the niceties and nastiness of arts administration.  … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2016-09-19

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Andrew Sullivan: My Life Online Nearly Killed Me

“By the last few months, I realized I had been engaging — like most addicts — in a form of denial. I’d long treated my online life as a supplement to my real life, an add-on, as it were. Yes, I spent many hours communicating with others as a disembodied voice, but my real life and body were still here. But then I began to realize, as my health and happiness deteriorated, that this was not a both-and kind of situation. It was either-or. “