This is a year when Hannah Gadsby’s “Nanette” earned rave reviews and made the comedian (as she notes in a joint interview with Roxane Gay this week) unbelievably busy. A year when Michelle Wolf’s epic set at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner made waves – and infuriated the president. “So it’s a shame that the 2019 nominees for best comedy album — a category that now includes spoken comedy and musical comedy — only lauds men.” – Los Angeles Times
Tag: 12.07.18
Can Belgium’s Africa Museum Overcome Its History Of Racism?
Even its name is a bit of a challenge, but there was far worse in its history. Did a five-year, $73-million remodel change things? Part of the problem: “Most of the collection of over 120,000 items comes from Congo, collected in colonial-era military campaigns, or by missionaries and scientific explorers.” – The New York Times
Yes, Anna Netrebko Is Extra, And That’s Why We Love Her
The soprano gives a new meaning to diva. Even when her Carnegie Hall debut gets pushed back, oh, 12 years, that’s fine – she “has an Instagram account much like the interior of a very rich, very well traveled, possibly colorblind teenager’s school locker. … She embodies an excess that lies at the molten core of opera, and which spills into the images she unloads online.” – The New York Times
The Librarypocalypse Continues With Almost 130 Closing Across The UK Last Year
Utter austerity madness continues, as “712 full-time employees lost or left their jobs and volunteer numbers increased by 3,000.” – The Guardian (UK)
Dawn Clements, Artist Whose Life Was The Subject Of Her Panoramas, Has Died At 60
An example of her work is “Three Tables in Rome,” which “has a diaristic quality to it, the artist seeming intent on documenting everything around her. For another, it’s an unusual shape: an elongated rectangle with an appendage (the third of the three tables) hanging off the bottom right. And it is huge, more than 20 feet in length.” – The New York Times
Why We Still Love (Some) Monsters Of Literature
“Last night I dreamt I went to Sweet Valley again.” That’s right: This is why we just can’t quit Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield (and their evil friends), the monsters of teen serial books. – BuzzFeed
Is Britain Finally Going To Make Some Progress For Women In Theatre?
Maybe! Arts Council England chair Nicholas Serota met with a delegation, some of whom say that the meeting was quite useful. “We are on that track now and we are not getting off this time. We are not allowing it to be sidelined. I don’t want young people coming out of drama school being treated like that.” – The Stage (UK)
How Joni Mitchell’s ‘River’ Became A Depressing Christmas Music Classic
Discounting the utterly depressing yet joyous – and always voted the number 1 Christmas song in the UK – “Fairytale of New York,” even Joni Mitchell admitted, “We needed a sad Christmas song, didn’t we? … In the ‘bah humbug’ of it all.” – The Washington Post
This Year’s Classical Grammy Nominations
The Seattle Symphony leads all orchestras with three nominations — two for its present music director, Ludovic Morlot, in Aaron Jay Kernis’ traditionally shaped Violin Concerto with soloist James Ehnes (in the classical instrumental solo and contemporary composition categories), and one for its future music director, Thomas Dausgaard, in Nielsen’s Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 (orchestral performance), a strong opening entry for a complete Nielsen cycle. There were no nominations for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which has recorded little lately. – Los Angeles Times
The Oscars Have A Bigger Problem Than Kevin Hart
We’re living in a time of perpetual, distracting, cheap cliffhangers provided by a ratings-conscious president. America’s relationship to many of its long-standing institutions, from the U.S. government to the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the Emmys and the Grammys — it’s all eroding. And maybe inevitable. – Chicago Tribune