Finding The Right ‘Nutcracker’ For You And/Or The Kids

“For many children, The Nutcracker will be their first experience of live theater. If you don’t want your child to talk during a performance, do what I do: Pour a handful of M&M’s – or any pellet-size candy – into his or her lap. (Skirts are ideally shaped; for pants, add a napkin.) … To optimize the viewing experience, here is a guide – in order of calendar appearance and including some options for older audiences – to help you decide on the right Nutcracker.”

Arts Grants Reward The Wrong Things

“We’re so used to jumping through funding hoops that when we try to make the case for continued state funding of the arts, we parrot back the values of the political classes – tangible, rational, moderate and easily quantifiable benefits to society. Rather than proving their worth, talking about the arts simply as a way to transfer skills or drive a social agenda diminishes them to something small-minded and replaceable and undermines the very ecology we seek to protect.”

The U.S. Demands That Germany Take Action On Nazi-Looted Art

“The letter, postmarked two Thursdays ago in Washington, wasn’t likely to be welcomed by its recipient in Munich’s state chancellery. The document bore the grand blue letterhead of the US House of Representatives and was signed by 29 members of Congress — and demanded that Bavarian Governor Horst Seehofer facilitate a dialogue between his state’s museums and Jewish families who still suspect the institutions of harboring Nazi-looted art.”