Author: Matthew Westphal

Can The Rebooted ‘Will And Grace’ Work In The Age Of Identity Politics?

“Will & Grace pushed well past the broadcast network comfort zone when it arrived with a finger snap in 1998. … Now, however, with the legalization of gay marriage and Transparent and gay characters even popping up on the Disney Channel, … [and] at a time when Hollywood is under intense pressure to avoid stereotypes and to promote diversity from every possible angle, Will & Grace – once seen as the epitome of diversity on television – could actually find itself assailed for being behind the curve.”

How David Simon’s Porn Drama ‘The Deuce’ Keeps Its Women Characters Real (And The Critical Praise Pouring In)

“Ensuring these women were not portrayed, in any way, as broken, was crucial. ‘The female characters are fully rounded,’ says one of the show’s writers, Lisa Lutz. ‘They might make some bad choices, they might have some terrible experiences, but they are not silent victims.'” Says director Michelle MacLaren, “We want the 1971 version of this show, not the present-day one. We had to remember this is the pre-Aids era and certain things we take for granted now, attitudes towards women and sex, were not looked at as clearly in this time.'”

Knoedler Gallery Forgery Scandal Finally Over As Last Lawsuit Is Settled

“Ann Freedman, the former director of the now defunct Knoedler gallery, has settled the last of ten lawsuits against her arising from a $70m forgery ring that forced the 165-year-old gallery to close in 2011. The lawsuit was brought by Frances Hamilton White, a California collector who with her then-husband had bought a purported Jackson Pollock for $3.1m in 2000.”

John Cleese Talks About Political Correctness And The Nature Of Comedy

“The thing about political correctness is that it starts as a good idea and then gets taken ad absurdum. And one of the reasons it gets taken ad absurdum is that a lot of the politically correct people have no sense of humor. … Because they have no sense of proportion, and a sense of humor is actually a sense of proportion. It’s the sense of knowing what’s important.” (He then edges into some rather iffy jokes.)

Condé Nast’s ‘Slow Dismantling’ Of The New Yorker’s Cartoon Bank

Bob Mankoff, until recently the magazine’s cartoon editor, had the idea in 1992 to make a business of collecting and licensing all the submitted cartoons that weren’t accepted for publication. Under his stewardship, the Cartoon Bank’s business thrived (especially once the Web came along), with revenues at one point reaching $7 million annually. Half of those revenues went to the cartoonists, giving their often-meager incomes a badly-needed boost. Then, in 2008, Mankoff handed off the running of the Bank to Condé Nast. Reporter Seth Simon tells the sad story of what’s happened since.

How Pina Bausch’s Company Keeps Thriving, Eight Years After Her Sudden Death

“Over the course of those years since 2009, the company’s future has become more clear. Crucially, there appears to be an undiminished appetite for Bausch’s emotionally driven style of tanztheater (or dance theater) … (Performances tend to sell out weeks in advance.) Part of that future is a product of continuity. There aren’t many dance troupes whose performers range in age from their 20s to 60s, but that is the situation in the company today. Many veterans are still there to pass on the knowledge embedded in their bodies and memories.” Marina Harss talks with three dancers from various stages Tanztheater Wuppertal’s history.

Pop-Up Replica Of The Globe Theatre Presents Shakespeare – Well, Almost Anywhere

The founder/artistic director of the Pop-Up Globe was inspired when he read to his daughter about the original Globe and she asked if they could go there. It’s not an exact replica of the second Globe (1614) – it uses modern materials and electricity – but the shape and dimensions are similar and it can be erected and taken down in a matter of a few weeks; it’s already done two seasons in New Zealand and is just starting one in Melbourne.

At Age 30, Has Jazz At Lincoln Center Become Fuddy-Duddy? Not If You Look At It The Right Way

“It has been busily pioneering new angles of engagement and outreach, even as it holds the line against broader artistic changes sweeping the jazz world. At a time when canon-busting is nearly the national consensus, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s founding artistic director, Wynton Marsalis, maintains that jazz is a classical music with a fixed roster of heroes, and a nonnegotiable rhythmic foundation.” Says Marsalis, “We are a music that is constantly asked to abandon its own identity to become another thing. Why? What’s wrong with our identity?”