How Three Decades Have Changed ‘M. Butterfly’ (And Vice Versa)

“[The character Song Liling’s] true gender was the meant-to-shock big reveal of the original Broadway production … [But] by now, the play has been in the repertory for nearly 30 years. As [actor B.D.] Wong said by phone recently, ‘The cat is out of the bag.’ Yet here’s the thing, as I saw when I bought a ticket and went to an early preview: [David Henry] Hwang has made a new cat, and [Julie] Taymor has put it in a very different bag.” The playwright talks with Laura Collins-Hughes about that brand new bag.

Top Posts From AJBlogs 10.17.17

Excellence and Engagement: II
Last time I began a discussion of excellence in community engagement … This time I continue with a consideration of three potential categories of excellence that are often not part of our discussions in the arts. … read more
>AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-10-17

Warhol Effect: Can Leonardo’s Strange Bedfellow Make Christie’s Bidders Salivate for Salvator Mundi?
It seems Christie’s couldn’t resist the chance to pair Leonardo da Vinci‘s Jesus with one (or, more accurately, 60) by art-market megastar Andy Warhol, whose 32-foot-long Sixty Last Suppers (riffing on the Italian Renaissance master’s … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-10-17

Not just for rich white people
In which I tell orchestras in the US — or at least the National Symphony — that maybe they should stop taking so much time to thank donors (and other upper-crust supporters) — at their opening galas. They should greet the community instead. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2017-10-17

A Song as Halloween Approaches
Like many of our holidays, Halloween has morphed into something far from its origins. Now it is a time for children to dress up as just about anything, and ask for candy, and for adults to put on masks and behave very badly. … read more
AJBlog: OtherWorldly Published 2017-10-17

 

Does Cincinnati Music Hall’s Renovation Hold Any Lessons For Lincoln Center’s Geffen Hall?

“A concert hall that was simply too cavernous: hard to sell out and leaving audiences feeling distant from the music. Lobbies that have grown shabby over time. A fortresslike presence, somewhat isolated from the city just outside its doors. These are all problems that Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic have been trying to fix for nearly two decades at the theater now known as David Geffen Hall – and still hope to, after their announcement earlier this month that they had scrapped a $500 million gut renovation in favor of a more modest approach. But Cincinnati faced these issues too – and went ahead and did something about them.”