“Did Neruda want these to be read by the world? [Translator Forrest] Gander says when he first heard about the new poems he thought they were going to be terrible. Then he read them in Spanish and changed his mind.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
‘Shuffle Along’ To Tony Committee: We’re A Revival, We Swear!
“But the question is complicated, because this production of ‘Shuffle Along’, a show that first opened in 1921 as one of Broadway’s earliest all-black musicals, features songs from the original but an almost entirely new book. It is arguably as much a production about ‘Shuffle Along’ as it is a production of ‘Shuffle Along.'”
What If Artificial Intelligence Machines Became Sentient? And Could We Even Tell?
“Even in cases where robots manage to act in ways similar to us (like playing chess), the way they go about performing these actions is very different from the way we do it. Both fish and submarines can travel distances underwater, but it is questionable whether it is appropriate to say they both swim.”
How ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ Will Change As Chris Thile Takes Over From Garrison Keillor
“Under Thile’s direction, which begins on 15 October, A Prairie Home Companion will be retooled into a heavier musical focus.” (He says Radiohead would be his dream guest.) “Thile is game to tackle comedy himself, and has already demonstrated chops at singalong spoofs and acidic one-liners, but Keillor’s staple segments will exit with him.”
Major Art Gallery Collapses, And Artists Fight To Keep Their Work From Being Sold To Pay Creditors
“Lawsuits by artists and collectors, seeking the return of consigned works, demanding profits, or both, have never stopped Douglas Chrismas, the founder of Ace Gallery, from doing business. … But on April 6, Mr. Chrismas lost the keys to his gallery, after failing to make a $17.5 million court-ordered payment to settle his debts in a long-running Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.”
Classical Music Is Thriving In Beijing And Shanghai; In China’s Smaller Cities, Not So Much
“Many second- and third-tier cities, like Wuhan and Xi’an, are struggling to fill their gleaming new theaters and concert halls with quality musicians and audiences. Most of these cities lack regular concert seasons and the funding to bring in distinguished foreign orchestras. In some, once-grand halls are falling apart because of poor upkeep.”
Victoria Wood, 62, Sharp, Smart, Beloved British Comedian
“No one in American culture enjoys the status that comedian Victoria Wood had in Britain. To find an equivalent, you have to combine Richard Pryor, Allan Sherman, and Joan Rivers – at least when it comes to the role she played in British society.”
Syria’s Greatest Writer Says Arabs Must Separate Religion And The State
Adonis: “In the [European] Middle Ages, the ecclesiastical courts were just like the jihadists today. They killed people and burned them. But the West succeeded in separating church from state, and created modern societies. And if the West was successful in this separation then there is no reason to prevent the Arabs from separating [the two] as well. … If we do not distinguish between what is religious and what is political, cultural, and social, nothing will change and the decline of the Arabs will worsen.”
Met Opera’s Credit Rating Stabilizes
“The Metropolitan Opera, which has been cutting costs in recent years to address its serious fiscal challenges, got a measure of good news on Wednesday when Standard & Poor’s affirmed the company’s ‘A’ credit rating and revised its outlook to stable from negative.”
Johan Kobborg Returns To Romania’s National Ballet After Government Deal
Following a firestorm at the Bucharest National Opera that culminated in the near-collapse of the ballet season and the intervention of the prime minister, the culture minister has reinstated Kobborg as the ballet’s artistic director and brought back, for a three-month interim period, the general manager whose departure (due to corruption charges) precipitated the entire mess.
(in Romanian; Google Translate version here)