“So Michael Billington wonders why British playwrights aren’t writing more gay farces, when the gay comedy of manners is proving so successful on Broadway. There are two answers to this. One, because British theatres aren’t commissioning them, and most writers have a hard enough time making ends meet without writing work just for the hell of it. And two, if gay writers write gay stories, we’re told we’re ‘ghetto-ising’ ourselves; if straight writers write about gay themes, they’re told they don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Tag: 12.06.06
Thanks For The Kudos, But…
AJ blogger Apollinaire Scherr, who also serves as dance critic for Newsday, was one of the critics put to the test in Time Out‘s survey, and she came out of the fire unscathed. But she also feels that the process used to conduct the survey was seriously flawed, from the selection of critics discussed to the inclusion of publicists on the judging panel.
Why Hollywood Keeps Its Closet Door Locked
Hollywood’s public promotion of gay rights stands in stark contrast to its desperate cling to the inside of the closet door, writes Andrew Gumbel. “Playing gay and admitting to being gay are two completely different things. When it comes to the latter, Hollywood still adheres to the mentality that American audiences look to their on-screen idols as outlets for their own romantic fantasies and thus need to think of them as strictly heterosexual. The mentality is not necessarily wrong – homophobia is certainly widespread in the American heartland, as evidenced by the slew of recent state ballot initiatives condemning gay marriage. But it does suggest a certain failure of the imagination.”
Sugar Plum Conundrum
What is it about the Sugar Plum Fairy that sets so many ballerinas’ hearts atwitter? Hers is not a leading role, not even close, and compared to some of the leaping, cavorting characters in The Nutcracker, she’s not even that interesting from a dance point of view. “Sugar Plum is always in danger of being little more than a pink and pretty vacuum – which is why a succession of producers have attempted to invent extra substance for her.”
The Complaining Choir
Everybody loves to complain, but no one likes to listen to other people’s complaints. If only bitching and moaning could somehow be made more aesthetically enjoyable, like maybe by having a 100-voice choir sing your personal kvetches in four-part harmony…
Stripping Back The Art
A Norwegian appeals court has ruled that striptease is an art form and should therefore be exempt from value-added tax (VAT).
An Award? Me? Um, Okay, Sure, I Guess.
The first woman to win the Turner Prize seems singularly unimpressed by that fact. In fact, Tomma Abts seems to regard her entire underexposed career as something of a personal experiment in success and failure. “Abts has never had formal training in fine art and hasn’t taken a painting lesson in her life… She has always painted for herself, on the side, and the fact that it has ended in glory is something she finds quite amazing.”
Lighten Up! What New Operas Could Use
There are plenty of contemporary operas these days. But why must new opera be so serious?
The Book As Technology
The Sony eBook is the latest “book killer” to hit the market. It won’t replaced the traditional book. “Yet it is useful to remember that the printed book is just that — a technology, a tool designed for a specific purpose, no less than the shiny new Sony Reader. And the prospects for the book’s survival do not depend on mere nostalgia, a fogeyish attachment to dusty shelves, and the smell of moldy paper. No, the reason why the printed book is likely to survive, at least for our lifetimes, is that it is the best tool we have for reading works of literature.”
Cultural Olympiad Iced From The Schedule
An ambitious arts and culture program for Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic Games that was supposed to begin this year has been put on ice until 2008.