“To whom do we owe our super-saturated superhero culture? … [I]f you excavate long enough, you will inevitably bump smack into Richard Wagner, the 19th century composer whose four-opera cycle ‘The Ring of the Nibelung’ is regarded by many as an important genetic mother ship for today’s fleet of action heroes.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Redesigning NYC’s Governors Island, And Adding Hills
“When considered with Michael Van Valkenburgh’s Brooklyn Bridge Park, under construction across the harbor in Brooklyn, [Adriaan Geuze’s plan] represents a shift in the character of the city’s park system as a whole that is as revolutionary as Robert Moses’ early public works projects or Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s Central Park.”
An Artist’s Insomnia Flowchart
Complete with “the blob of recent regret” and “loud yet appallingly mild and clichéd R&B from through the wall.”
Pulitzer-Winning Dance Critic A Champion For Coverage
Sarah “Kaufman, who studied ballet at a Bethesda academy as a young woman, said her work was first published in college after she called the Washington City Paper and complained that it ran no dance reviews. ‘To the extent I can capture my experience in the theater and bring the reader there with me, it’s a joy to be able to do that,’ she said.”
Charities Argue Over Who Gets To Treat A Dancer Amputee
“Among Haiti’s thousands of new amputees, [Fabienne] Jean … has been singled out for special opportunities because of serendipity, news media attention and her potential as a symbol of Haiti’s resilience: if the dancer who almost died rises to dance again, that will resonate, her caregivers believe.” Her situation also illustrates Haitians’ dependence on foreign charities.
Talking With Newlywed Terrence McNally
“I was in fifth grade at a parochial school in Texas, and the nun brought in some shellacked records. She put on Puccini love duets with James Melton and Licia Albanese and I was gone. The other 29 kids in the class were sleeping, throwing spitballs, reading comic books and being tortured while I loved it instantly.”
Convicted Art Dealer Salander’s Furniture To Be Auctioned
“The items,” from Salander’s Manhattan townhouse, “include Italian Baroque credenzas, 18th- and 19th-century American furniture, Venetian glass chandeliers and about 50 carpets. … The Stair auction will be the first sale of Salander’s property since he pleaded guilty to grand larceny and fraud in New York Supreme Court on March 18.”
Ballet BC Reinvents Itself, Focusing On The New
The company will be “rooted firmly in contemporary ballet,” with “no full-length classical works” in its coming season other than “The Nutcracker.” The change of direction fits with its financially straitened circumstances: “even if Ballet BC wanted to stage a full-length classical ballet, it couldn’t afford to right now.”
Arnold Spohr, Who Long Led Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Dies
“Saskatchewan-born Spohr earned his place in Canada’s cultural pantheon by transforming the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) from a struggling provincial troupe into a company that won medals, ovations and critical plaudits in major capitals around the world.”
With Lincoln Center Studio, Channel 13 Raises Its Profile
“The location gives WNET a clear connection to the campus — the studio’s sign says ‘Thirteen at Lincoln Center’ — building on a relationship that already includes ‘Live From Lincoln Center’ and ‘Great Performances.'” It also “offered what WNET wanted most: a stronger presence in New York City.”