“It was important we expose them to other points of view, but also the experience of shooting. So we took everyone to a gun range in South Philly,” said Ginger Dayle, author of the play Roseburg. “We had reserved the range in advance, but the day we showed up happened to be the day after the Orlando shootings. It made us realize just how important it is to talk about this issue.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
For The First Time, Two Major American Museums To Stage A Joint, Simultaneous Retrospective
“The 60-year career of Jasper Johns … will be the subject of an unprecedented simultaneous exhibition in the fall of 2020, when the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City jointly present a full retrospective covering every aspect of the 86-year-old artist’s career.”
Steinway’s Super-Skilled Craftspeople, At Work At The Mothership In Queens
“With Steinway’s blessing, [photographer Christopher] Payne spent time in virtually every corner of the large factory, from the foundry where the iron is poured to the mill where the lumber is cut. And though he came to possess a strong technical understanding of how these elements come together to form precision musical instruments, he said, the transformation never ceased to strike him as an act of magic.”
Bolshoi Ballet’s New Bosses Want More Dance, Less Drama – And Fewer Tours Abroad
Says the ballet’s new artistic director, Makhar Vaziev, “We think we are not just any dance company but a state institution that represents Russia.” Adds Bolshoi general director Vladimir Urin, “We often refuse offers to go and dance abroad. We want to dance in Russia, that is our objective, that is what the Russian state pays us to do.”
How To Keep Your Immersive Theater Piece From Feeling Like A Glorified Theme Party
“[Director/designer Michael Counts] prefers to throw his audience into the action cold, toying with their minds, blurring the line between the actual and the merely apparent. ‘Reality doesn’t give you a lot of information,’ he said. ‘Often you sit in a place of wonder and mystery, and you’re trying to figure it out. And that actually enhances your agency.’ In an escape room, it also enhances your fear factor, which is fine by him. He wants people to feel like the danger is real.”
Veteran Broadway Actor John McMartin Dead At 86
“He was a favorite of some of the most famous creators in modern theatre history, including Stephen Sondheim, Harold Prince and Bob Fosse. Mr. McMartin’s most famous stage role was that of Benjamin Stone, the jaded, regretful titan of business in Stephen Sondheim’s multi-layered masterpiece of show-business melancholy, Follies. … A close second was the original Sweet Charity, in which he plays the meek Oscar Lindquist, with whom Gwen Verdon’s title character almost ends happily ever after. He recreated the role in the film version opposite Shirley MacLaine.”
Don Friedman, 81, Jazz Pianist Equally At Home In Modern Mainstream And Avant-Garde
“Mr. Friedman had a crisp, fluid technique and an adventurous approach to harmony, which made him a desirable sideman over a career that lasted more than 60 years. He worked for decades with the trumpeter Clark Terry, a popular emblem of swinging ebullience, and also commingled with pioneers of free jazz like the alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman.”
Brooklyn Museum Closes As Air Conditioning Blows Out
“‘Our team is working around the clock to replace the damaged systems during this time. All museum collections are being constantly monitored and sensitive materials are being moved to climate controlled spaces,’ the museum wrote in a press statement.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 07.07.16
Climate-Control Crisis Closes Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum dropped this bombshell in my inbox at 5:23 p.m.: … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-07-07
His Kingdom for a Horse: Another Bad Brexit Deal?
Please don’t mention hypocrisy or the apparent need of all current politicians to tease the truth just a little in pursuit of power. It was both uplifting and depressing to see Ralph Fiennes play Richard III in Islington while we were still reeling from the Brexit lunacy. … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2016-07-07
So you want to see a show?
Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-07-07
[ssba_hide]
The WPA Collection Of Ex-Slaves’ Narratives Is A Valuable Resource, But How Much Can We Trust It?
“It mattered – a lot – who the interviewers were and who was editing the text they produced.” The testimonies collected by the relatively small number of black interviewers read very differently from the tales told to visiting whites – some of whom came from slaveholding families.