“Like a magic mirror held up to America’s heteronormative postwar culture, its music reflected a dignified, and seductive, vision of gay life. Just below the album’s title read the teaser: ‘For adult listeners only – sultry stylings by a most unusual vocalist.’ The surprising story of Love Is a Drag, released way back in 1962.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Why Old-School TV Sitcoms Are Making A Comeback
It’s not only the Netflix reboots of One Day at a Time* and Full(er) House: after years of single-camera mockumentaries like The Office and Parks and Recreation, networks are turning back to multi-camera sitcoms – often driven by contemporary issues, Norman Lear-style. Elise Czajkowski looks at how the change is happening.
*Any excuse to watch Rita Moreno is a good one.
This Actress Won A Tony For Playing A Middle-Aged Woman At Endless War With Her Mother – Two Decades Later, She’s Playing That Mother
Marie Mullen – star, then and now, of The Beauty Queen of Leenane – talks about what she did and didn’t borrow from her colleague, fellow Tony-winner and predecessor as Mag Folan, the late Anna Manahan.
‘The Dictator’s Wife,’ A New Opera That May Or May Not Be About Melania Trump (Or Mrs. Putin, Or Evita, Or Imelda)
The composer, Mohammed Fairouz, wanted to bring out every Trump similarity possible. The (in effect) executive producer, Francesca Zambello, insists, “It is not about the president-elect or his wife.” The librettist originally had in mind the late Pakistani dictator Zia ul-Haq. And director Ethan McSweeny said, “We were all joking among ourselves that if that guy Trump got elected, this would be the most politically prescient piece of opera ever produced in America. Well, that happened.”
How ‘South Park’-Style Humor And Trolling Elected Donald Trump
“There were things South Park had always had trouble imagining: it was complex and dialectical on male anger and sadness, and able to gaze with empathy into the soul of a troll, but it couldn’t create a funny girl or a mother who wasn’t a nag. What it did get, however, was how dangerous it could be for voters to feel shamed and censored – and how quickly a liberating joke could corkscrew into a weapon.” A longread by Emily Nussbaum.
Cultural World’s Protest Actions Against Trump May Be Missing The Point
“The discussion around such efforts has shown some of the typical – if muddied – ways people talk about the arts intersecting with politics. On the right, a common theme is that celebrity protests are only going to ensure Trump’s re-election by making his supporters feel condescended to. On the left, cultural anti-Trump efforts are being taken as examples of the kind of bold truth-telling Democratic operatives should mimic. Both frames prize electoral impact – policy influence now, voter persuasion for 2018 or 2020 – over all else. Which is a strange way to think about art, a form of communication that exists to do what other forms – political, commercial, journalistic – can’t.”
‘Institutional Critique’ Has Become An Institution Itself, So Artists Are Messing With It
“Even as one very visible portion of the art world becomes ever more soaked in money, artists like [A.L.] Steiner are picking up the ideas of first- and second-generation institutional critique and adapting them to the needs of the present … investigating, tweaking, and even striking out against the operation of museums, galleries, and the very market itself as an integral part of their larger practices.” Steiner, for instance, decreed for one gallery show that cutting in half the gallery’s opening hours was part of the artwork.
Sacramento Ballet’s Firing Of Its Founders: Each Side Speaks Out
“In a two-part feature, we first hear from [board president Nancy] Garton about why the board has decided to move forward with retiring [artistic directors Ron] Cunningham and [Carinne] Binda. After that, the two will talk about what happened from their end and their next steps in life.” (audio)
When Outsider Art Became In: President Obama’s Cultural Legacy
“If there was one place where the Obama administration was consistently ahead of the curve, it was in the cultural sphere: over eight years, the White House served as a staging ground for countless artists, intellectuals and activists, especially those from communities of color, especially cultural producers from New York, long exiled from [institutional] Washington.” (includes audio)
Fence Off The Spanish Steps In Rome? Yes, They’re Considering It
Since Dutch football hooligans damaged the Bernini-designed fountain at the steps’ base in 2015, there’s been a lot of concern about keeping the landmark safe. Paolo Bulgari (of the jewelry house), who paid for the Steps’ most recent restoration, wants to ban sitting on them and to put in a Plexiglas barrier at night; art historian Vittorio Sgarbi says tourists should be charged a euro or two for access.