“See any stories of late about expensive swag that attendees to the upcoming Academy Awards are getting? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences certainly has – and it’s not pleased. The social media hashtag that has prompted a lawsuit this award season is not #OscarsSoWhite. Rather, it’s #OscarGiftBag.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Oscar Wilde’s Women
“Wilde’s life and work was shaped by strong, colorful and ambitious women just as much as it was by the men who conspired to bring him down. Here are some rather surprising facts about some of the women he knew.”
There’s Amazing Theatre Happening In The Refugee Camp In Calais
“On many nights, performances are given of shows that have been devised and rehearsed throughout the week. These are shared with an audience made up of a mixture of the theatre’s regular participants and curious outsiders who may never have entered the dome before.”
UNESCO And Italy Establish Task Force To Protect Art And Artifacts Threatened By Civil Wars
“Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni and UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova signed an accord in Rome Tuesday creating an Italian task force dubbed the Peacekeepers of Culture, as well as establishing a center in Turin, northern Italy, to train cultural-heritage-protection experts. Officials say no country has been chosen yet for the first mission.”
Putin Listens To Activists, Chews Out His Culture Ministry For The State Of Russia’s Monuments
“At a meeting of his presidential council for culture and art in December, the Russian president … chastised officials about the state of the country’s rich architectural heritage and listened to the impassioned activists who have been fighting to save Russia’s monuments,” some of which have been vandalized or demolished illegally.
The Author Of The Banned Picture Book About George Washington’s Chef Gives Her Side Of The Story
Ramin Ganeshram, author of A Birthday Cake for George Washington: “It goes without saying that these and other enslaved people were not happy to be enslaved. It goes without saying that their lives were harder and crueler than we could possibly imagine … Nonetheless, Hercules did not fit the ‘norms’ of his time. … To say that [he] couldn’t have done certain things or lived a certain way because others who suffered under the criminal institution of slavery did not, is simply not historically true.”
Ex-Met Opera Chief Joe Volpe Steps In For Fired Ballet Manager
“Joseph Volpe, who spent 42 years with New York’s Metropolitan Opera – 16 of them as general manager – was named the interim managing director of the Sarasota Ballet Thursday, replacing Mary Anne Servian, who was dismissed from her position of five years earlier this week.”
What The Times Did The *First* Time The Met Produced An Opera By A Woman
“The Metropolitan Opera has just scheduled a work by a woman for the second time ever. Let’s hope she receives a warmer welcome than her predecessor.”
Antonin Scalia, Defender Of The Arts
As he wrote in one famous opinion, “Reading Dante is unquestionably more cultured and intellectually edifying than playing Mortal Kombat. But these cultural and intellectual differences are not constitutional ones.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.18.16
When the hall’s half empty…
Or, worse, if it has more empty seats than people, as appeared to be the case at the Budapest Festival Orchestra’s concert at the Kennedy Center on Monday. … But wait! … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2016-02-18
Interview: The Skinny on the Beats
Hilary Holladay: How would you size up the significance of the Beats as writers rather than as personalities? Jan Herman: Kerouac has had a huge influence on readers worldwide. I’m sure that more people have … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2016-02-18
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 2016-02-18
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