Green: “Not that we and the rest of the world didn’t adore Ms. Midler in the part. But Ms. Murphy so immediately makes it her own, and has such a different take on it, that you are not left wanting what you cannot have.” (They also talk about Brendon Urie in Kinky Boots and Norm Lewis and Carolee Carmello – who “would be a great Dolly if Ms. Murphy herself wants an alternate” – in the pie-shop Sweeney Todd.)
Author: Matthew Westphal
Changing Young People’s Minds About Classical Concerts Will Not Be Easy
Graham Strahle writes about the results of a study of 40 young adults who attended concerts explicitly designed to cut down on concert-hall formality.
Bolshoi Canceled ‘Nureyev’ Ballet, On Culture Minister’s Orders, Because Of Gay ‘Propaganda’ Law: Report
“Just days after the Bolshoi called off the premiere, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency quoted an unidentified ‘source’ as saying that Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky ordered the show postponed because it may constitute gay ‘propaganda’ [under a notorious] 2013 law.”
Wendy Whelan Gets The Terry Gross Treatment
“I’ve been strapped in – physically strapped into pointe shoes, strapped into a leotard and tights, my hair’s been strapped up – for my whole entire life. … I was terrified to be unconstricted, and now I don’t know another way I’d rather be.” (audio)
SoCal Museum, Shuttered Temporarily Last Year, Will Close For Good By August Without New Funding Model
“The Museum of Ventura County, which temporarily shut its doors last year to take inventory, revamp some things and figure out its future, has not been able to raise enough money to get back on its feet. Unless the institution can get money from a new source, officials said, it will close by the end of the month. To Elena Brokaw, who since last summer has been the museum’s interim executive director, the answer lies in creating a public-private partnership.”
National Theatre Gets Extra £1.17 Million To Get The Hell Out Of London
“The strategic touring funding [from Arts Council England] has been earmarked for work specifically outside London, something the National has been criticised for not doing enough of in the past.”
Artist Creates Yet More Paints That Only Anish Kapoor Is Forbidden To Use
“The ‘color war’ between British artists Stuart Semple and Anish Kapoor has entered a new, rainbow-hued round of conflict.”
Ilya Glazunov, 87, Populist, And Controversial, Russian Painter
“His lifelong infatuation with the czarist past, the art and architecture of the Orthodox Church and the mystical conception of Holy Russia found an eager audience among audiences disillusioned with Communism and distraught by Russia’s loss of standing in the world. Liberals, on the other hand, regarded Mr. Glazunov as an obscurantist, xenophobe and anti-Semite, in thrall to the darkest forces in Russian history. He preferred to think of himself as a patriot.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 07.12.17
Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday Lives on in London
In her photographs, the multiple Tony-winner Audra McDonald looks nothing like Billie Holiday. But when she appears at Wyndham’s Theatre in Lanie Robertson’s Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2017-07-12
The Most Anthologized Short Stories Of All Time
Emily Temple compiles not just a list, but four sublists as well. Granted, they don’t really cover all time (let alone every place) – she surveyed 20 anthologies published in the U.S. between 1983 and 2017, not counting the yearly Best American anthologies or any themed collections (say, Best Ghost Stories or Best Love Stories).