Longtime Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) president Karen Brooks Hopkins: “I call these tidbits ‘KBHisms,’ which I hope will guide you through the cold winter months ahead and provide some comfort.” (Note no. 6: “You Lose More Money Presenting Opera by Intermission Than You Do Presenting an Entire Season of Theater.”) — Inside Philanthropy
Tag: 12.09.18
The Day Lorraine Hansberry Schooled Robert F. Kennedy
“You have a great many very accomplished people in this room, Mr. Attorney General, but the only man you should be listening to is that man [Jerome Smith] over there. That is the voice of twenty-two million people. … I am very worried about the state of the civilization which produced that photograph of the white cop standing on that Negro woman’s neck in Birmingham.” And then she led those very accomplished people in walking right out of the room. — Salon
Meet The Guy Who Makes Sure The Guthrie Theater’s Shows Are Accessible To Folks With All Sorts Of Disabilities
Says one of many admiring advocates and clients, “If a school is supposed to make programs accessible to students with disabilities — say, blindness — they might put things on tape and say it’s accessible. They don’t say to the person: What would be your preference? Hunter [Gullickson] does that. And he’ll get the program on tape, but also in Braille.” — The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
What’s It Like To Direct A Historic Black Theatre Company In The 21st Century?
Just after Jamil Jude was announced as the incoming artistic director of the True Colors Theatre Company in Atlanta, he talks with Sarah Bellamy, who is the artistic director of St. Paul’s historic Penumbra Theatre. Jude: “When speaking about the work or having the work evaluated, do you feel like you need people in certain cultural contexts in order to better understand it? I feel like whenever I’m talking about True Colors, there’s an immediate lane some people want to put the work into.” – HowlRound
Is A Culture’s Music A Human Right?
When refugees flee, or when groups migrate en masse, they (at least try to) take their music with them. But the modern world isn’t kind to public performances of music. Some musicians say that “music, song and dance are vital areas of empowerment, they are part of the foundation of personhood, and should be included among internationally recognised human rights.” – Le Monde
Making Art, And Aesthetically Pleasing Satellites, Out Of Government Surveillance
MacArthur Fellow Trevor Paglen’s work shows the gaps “between what we can see and what is actively being hidden from us. Often by governments or military forces. And that edge is where we as citizens can try to investigate what governments want to hide from us.” – NPR
What In The Heck Is NPR Doing To Its Freelancers And Temps?
The story at Washington, DC, headquarters is not super great. “Temps do almost every important job in NPR’s newsroom: they pitch ideas, assign stories, edit them, report and produce them. Temps not only book the guests heard in interviews, they often write the questions the hosts ask the guests.” – The Washington Post
Activists Protest At Whitney, Demanding The Exit of Board Member Who Owns A Tear Gas Manufacturer
Board Vice Chair Warren B. Kanders is the owner of the tear gas manufacturer whose products were fired at the asylum seekers on the U.S./Mexico border. The protesters, who filled the lobby, brought banners, drums, and a cowbell, and burned sage, were “in solidarity with but separate from the nearly 100 Whitney staff members who signed a letter expressing their dismay at Kanders’s presence on the board and requesting a new policy around trustee participation in exhibitions.” – Hyperallergic
No Surprise, ‘Roma’ Wins Another Best Picture Nod
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association pick Alfonso Cuarón’s ode to his childhood – and Netflix original – as Best Picture, with Best Cinematography, and runner-up awards for directing and editing. – Los Angeles Times
Becoming (A) Spider-Man
Shameik Moore was in the middle of filming 2015’s Dope when he wrote in his journal, “I am Miles Morales, I am Spider-Man.” That was aspirational – and it came true. Movie director Bob Persichetti says, “I can’t now imagine anyone else being that voice.” – Los Angeles Times