“With such astonishing sums of money being tossed around, one might assume that art buyers are making cool, levelheaded decisions, especially when they’re in a room full of people they know and are trying to impress. This is often not the case. To the contrary, scientists see mounting evidence of ‘auction psychology’.” Here’s how it works.
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Showbiz Folk We Lost In 2016
Playbill helps us bid farewell to David Bowie and Brian Bedford, Patti Duke and Patrice Munsel, Edward Albee and Zsa Zsa Gabor, and all too many more.
Daniel Barenboim’s New YouTube Channel Has Terrific Intros To Classical Music
“The playing is beautiful, of course – Mr. Barenboim is one of the greatest pianists of his generation – but it’s the talk that matters. It turns out that in addition to being a great pianist, Mr. Barenboim also has a knack for getting straight to the point.”
Benjamin Millepied Says Paris Opera Ballet Has A Racism Problem
“I heard someone say a black girl in a ballet is a distraction. If there are 25 white girls, everyone will look at the black girl. Everyone must be alike in a company, meaning everyone must be white.”
When Actors’ Roles Invade Their Dreams (It Gets Pretty Weird)
“What happens during REM sleep if your daily routine involves assuming a new identity in front of hundreds of strangers for several hours? Even in small doses, does that repeated performance generate emotional muscle memory?” The answer is yes – Sandra Oh, Judith Light, Simon McBurney, and other actors share their examples.
The Top 15 Art Shows In America In 2016 That Weren’t In New York Or L.A.
And only one of them was in D.C. Other major museum/gallery towns are well-represented, though, as are two pretty out-of-the-way spots.
The Top Dozen Theatre News Stories Of 2016
It wasn’t only all-Hamilton-all-the-time, though that certainly leads the list. Among the other big news was the debut of BroadwayCon, the hit show stopped in its tracks by what should have been surprising good news, and the rise of Broadway’s next dynamic duo.
Want Kids To Be Good At Math And Reading? Teach Them Philosophy
“The nature of truth. Theories of fairness. The essence of bullying. These are big, weighty subjects, and apparently 9- and 10-year-olds just eat them up.”
Violinist Sarah Chang Robbed While Flying To Moscow
She was traveling from Philadelphia to the Russian capital via London when someone took $12,000 worth of money and property from her suitcase.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 12.29.16
12 Plays of Xmas: 3. Ruined by Lynn Nottage
I can’t remember how I missed the Pulitzer-winning Ruined when it played in London in 2010. It was at a favourite theatre (the Almeida) and starred favourite actors (Jenny Jules, Lucian Msamati). Maybe I was … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2016-12-29
My favorite posts of 2016
In addition to writing about theater and the other arts for a living, I also blog in this space purely for my pleasure. Here are ten of my favorite posts from the year almost past: … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-12-29