“It isn’t every day you spot the Almighty in the East Village, but on Tuesday I sat directly behind Stephen Sondheim, the reigning deity of musical theatre, at a performance of Fun Home … Engrossed as I was with the action onstage, it was impossible to watch without imagining it through Sondheim’s eyes. … But that’s because it’s often hard to watch any modern musical without considering his pervasive influence on the genre, as if Sondheim is perpetually perched in Row H of the artists’ minds.”
Tag: 10.31.13
Why Students Cheat
“When a student sits down at a test, he knows how to cheat, in principle. But how does he decide whether or not he’ll actually do it? Is it logic? An impulse? A subconscious reaction to the adrenaline in his blood and the dopamine in his brain? People cheat all the time. But why, exactly, do they decide to do it in the first place?” Maria Konnikova goes looking for some answers.
When Tony Kushner Speaks To Writers About Writing
“At fifty-seven years of age, having made my living as a playwright, I feel I ought to be able to write about writing. I’ve tried on several previous occasions and I’ve always failed, sometimes at great length. I’m about to fail again. Here goes.”
Horrified By The ‘Selfie At Funerals’ Phenomenon?
Don’t be: “Isn’t vanity a defense against death? And isn’t dismissing a selfie as purely ‘vain’ also dismissing this form of nascent inquiry and self-preservation?”
If You Miss All Of Your Friends In November, They’re Probably Off Writing Novels
Yes, it’s National Novel Writing Month. Again.
London Gets A Big Frank Gehry Project
“It was announced last week that Gehry will be joining Norman Foster in the next phase of the £8bn Malaysian-backed plan to transform south London’s derelict cathedral of power into a gleaming wonder-world of 3,500 flats, shops and offices.”
A Month Of Banksy In Manhattan – So How’d It Go?
“And virtually no one bought them. People couldn’t believe that it was a Banksy. That’s a wonderful commentary on money and art, and the fact that you need dealers around you and the confidence to think that a Banksy is worth $60,000, when you could’ve bought one for $60.”
What Is This Obsession With A Nine-Year-Old Opera Singer?
“We are concerned, with abundant reason, about the hypersexualization to which prepubescent girls are exposed, but learning opera arias at too early an age does not seem quite as sinister a manifestation of this as skimpy clothes or lipstick or suggestive twerking poses in selfies.”
The Crowd Is Squeezing Out Professional Critics
“The internet and social media have trapped the scribbler-in-the-dark in a pincer movement. The former has pushed newspapers into such penury that editors increasingly see their arts desks as luxuries.”
Hollywood’s Top 25 Art Collectors
“There’s a serious love affair going on between Hollywood and the art world. Suddenly, everyone in town seems to have gone collecting mad.”