“The latest round of layoffs suggest the finances of the journalism museum remain shaky, as they have ever since it moved from a small space in Arlington to a gigantic building on Pennsylvania Avenue in the District.”
Author: Douglas McLennan
Christo Walks Away From His Big Colorado Project
“For more than 20 years, the artist Christo has worked tirelessly and spent $15 million of his own money to create a vast public artwork in Colorado that would draw thousands of tourists and rival the ambition of “The Gates,” the saffron transformation of Central Park that made him and Jeanne-Claude, his collaborator and wife, two of the most talked-about artists of their generation. But Christo said this week that he had decided to walk away from the Colorado project — a silvery canopy suspended temporarily over 42 miles of the Arkansas River.”
Russell T Davies: Theatre Is A Better Venue For Free Speech Than TV
“That’s generally why I am getting more and more interested myself in trying to find a voice for theatre. I’m definitely heading that way. I think you’ve got to – when you say that television can’t express certain things then you have to move beyond it. And I speak as someone who has got away with an awful lot on television.”
What (C)Should The NEA Be Doing?
“The money doesn’t seem to make big, promising things happen, things that wouldn’t happen otherwise. Much of the giving feels like disguised budget offset. The NEA’s goal looks like survival. It has been so beleaguered over the years, so pummeled, that its mission each year is to dodge the fatal bullet. Yet the NEA – or federal funding for the arts – has served many great goals and can do it once more.”
Shakespeare’s Special Place In America
“The great modern nations boast great writers who depict and define the national life and character: Victor Hugo for the French, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe for the Germans, Leo Tolstoy the Russians, Herman Melville and Mark Twain the Americans, and Shakespeare the English. Of course their greatness is hardly confined to their parochial impact: They are masters for all time and every place. And even among these titans an order of rank is observed, as a true aristocracy requires, and it is Shakespeare who ranks supreme.”
How The Great German And Austrian Orchestras Became Tools Of Propaganda
“The alchemy of the transformation began with a gradual relinquishment of autonomy, especially stark in Berlin. The Berlin Philharmonic, nationalized into a state-owned company in January 1934 under Joseph Goebbels’ Ministry of Propaganda, began to perform in the old Philharmonie on Bernburger Straße under an immense swastika. It was now expected to render service to “the German cause.” (Even Goebbels did not speak of “Nazi music” but of “German music.”) Goebbels, who began to call it “my orchestra,” increased its subsidies and its musicians’ salaries and personally signed letters of exemption from military service for its members.”
Smithsonian Museum Of American Art Names A New Director
“Stephanie Stebich is currently the executive director of the Tacoma Art Museum in Washington State, where she has helped grow the museum’s collection, which has an emphasis on American art from the Northwest region.”
Sales Of Orwell’s “1984” Surge After Conway’s “Alternative Facts”
“Sales of George Orwell’s dystopian drama 1984 have soared after Kellyanne Conway, adviser to the reality-TV-star-turned-president, Donald Trump, used the phrase “alternative facts” in an interview. As of Tuesday, the book was the sixth best-selling book on Amazon.”
Will Lin Manuel Miranda Win A Full EGOT?
It stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. Only 12 other performers have held the title. (According to Vanity Fair, the acronym was coined in the 1980s by the “Miami Vice” actor Philip Michael Thomas, who has won none of the awards. It was re-popularized by Tracy Morgan’s character on the sitcom “30 Rock.”)
Amazon Makes History With Oscar Nomination
To be sure, “Manchester By the Sea,” up for awards including lead actor, lead actress and director, is not streaming yet on the Amazon Prime service. Unlike Netflix, Amazon’s movie business follows the traditional windowing model where movies run exclusively in theaters before landing on home video outlets.