The data show Americans move geographically less. So what is the cause? “My best guess is that the greatest single factor in the great settling down was the increasing physical and economic security of US life.”
Author: Douglas McLennan
What Is Donald Trump’s Definition Of Good Art? And Will He Have Impact On Art?
For Trump, good art is an expensive hotel. When he announced his plans for the Donald Trump hotel in Washington DC three years ago he said: “Friends of mine, they spend these ridiculous amounts of money on paintings. I’d rather do [hotel] jobs like this, do something that the world can cherish and the world can see and that everyone can truly be proud of.”
Should Theatre Be “Safe” As Mr. Trump Suggests? How About Pushing Political Agendas?
“The very presence of Mr. Pence — whose views on immigration, like those of Mr. Trump, are anything but celebratory — at this particular show (one previously embraced by the Obamas and Clintons) would seem to signal that an unspoken debate was going on that night. In that case, wasn’t Mr. Dixon belaboring the obvious in delivering the statement prepared by him and his associates (including Mr. Miranda)? Was what he said a condescending equivalent of supertitles for the inferentially challenged?”
How Should We Define “Reading” In An Age Of Multimedia?
“It’s easy to assume that people are reading less because of the myriad options they have to choose from. But is that really the case? What if we redefined what it means to read, as well as what constitutes literature?”
This Week’s AJ Highlights: “Hamilton” Teaches The Art Of Protest, At Last Some Real Data On Orchestras
This Week: That Mike Pence goes to “Hamilton” story? A textbook protest… Finally – some real data on the health of orchestras… Arts criticism is either being reborn or it’s in dire shape… Pop culture is getting to be only for the rich… The myth of the outsider is a standard pop culture meme…
Off-Broadway Actors Get A Long-Overdue Pay Raise
“Stage acting has long been a poorly paid profession, and it is not unusual for union members to agitate for higher wages. But Off Broadway performers said their campaign this time was different because their wages had become increasingly unacceptable – in most cases, Off Broadway actors are paid no more than $593 a week, in roles that generally last only a few weeks, and they have to pay 10 percent to an agent, 2.25 percent to their union, and about 30 percent in taxes, leaving them with take-home pay that does not, they say, cover the cost of living in New York.”
“Hamilton” Cast Lectures, Audience Boos, Mike Pence; Trump Cries Rude!
It was a deeply felt and altogether rare appeal from the stage of a Broadway show — and it drew a surprisingly sharp rebuke from Mr. Trump on Saturday morning. The president-elect tweeted that the “Hamilton” cast had “harassed” Mr. Pence by making the statement and had been “very rude.”
Small UK Theatre Companies Are Dying Off
“In the past, graduate companies kept body and soul together on breadcrumbs for maybe eight to 10 years, always with the hope that if you were good enough you would eventually secure more regular funding. That expectation now seems to have gone.”
Pop Music? Why That’s Really Only For Rich Now…
“Pop was a child of the 20th century, a form carried on gloriously uniform products that embodied their time just as perfectly as Henry Ford’s Model T did. Those were the days when capitalism was as democratic and egalitarian as it has ever got, and the products – or rather phenomena – at its heart were all the better for it.” No longer. Increasingly, pop culture experiences are only for the rich, only if you can afford to pay great sums…
In Only Four Years, Tamara Rojo Has Completely Transformed The English National Ballet
Tamara Rojo “is the company’s marquee ballerina (along with a fellow Royal Ballet alum, Alina Cojocaru), somehow managing to keep up her technical form and artistry while acting as a one-woman visionary, manager, cheerleader and glamorous high-profile ad for her organization.”