“Depending on the staging, as many as 200 card moves are required over all. And if the wrong move happens during the wrong hand, the actors can easily find themselves in the middle of the wrong act. … Here are the memories and lamentations of some Gin Game survivors – and, in the case of Mr. Jones and Ms. Tyson, future survivors.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Tradition! The Indestructible ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
“Most of all, Fiddler persists because it’s a beautifully built show that offers all the storybook satisfactions and memorable songs of the best mid-century musicals, while also advancing the form by taking it into some unusually dark realms: the first-act curtain comes down on a pogrom, the final one on a mass eviction.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 10.08.15
Flights of crazy fancy
Now my fourth — and next to last — post on changing the conservatory curriculum. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2015-10-08
Blank Space: What’s Missing from the Metropolitan Museum’s “Ancient Egypt” Show?
The Metropolitan Museum’s monumental Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom (Oct. 12-Jan. 24) displays some 230 objects, ranging from monumental stone sculptures to delicate jewelry — “the first comprehensive exhibition to be presented of Middle Kingdom art,” … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-10-08
Is it all about grit?
From a young age, we’re told that if you work hard and practice every day you can achieve your goals. This often requires focus on few or only one thing in order to reach a desired level of success … but for most – we’re just not wired that way. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-08
Which path is the right path?
Informational interviews are one of the most beneficial ways to understanding what you need in order to get where you want to be. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-08
How to Get Lucky (It’s Not What You Think)
We’ve talked about lots of different elements that factor into a career path. We’ve shared words of wisdom, scholarly articles, tools and frameworks. But I think we’ve yet to talk about what is arguably the biggest factor in one’s career – luck. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-08
Mays & Company Revisit The Seasons
This weekend, The Seasons Performance Hall in Yakima, Washington, marks its 10th anniversary with two concerts by pianist Bill Mays, the hall’s first performer. In its first years the decommissioned Christian Science Church, an acoustic … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-10-08
And Tipu’s Tent Too — the stuff of India
What would your house look like if Indian textiles had never been exported? Mine would be bereft of cushions, chair covers, hand towels, tablecloths and napkins, wall hangings, garden parasols, … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2015-10-08
Sweet enough for you?
Advance booking for the theatre can backfire. I saw Medea at London’s Almeida Theatre yesterday, so missed the UK’s major television event – the final of the Great British Bake-Off. Medea was, yeah, interesting … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2015-10-08
The Grand Both/And
For a long while, my teaching in arts management has emphasized “balance” … the nuanced navigation of opposing forces, the careful and reflective response to instability. … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2015-10-08
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‘It’s Long Past Time’ For James Levine To Retire From Met Opera, Says New York Times Classical Editor
Zachary Woolfe: “It’s time – long past time – for Mr. Levine to make a transition to an emeritus role. Maybe then, with a fresh perspective to set alongside that of Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, the company can reverse the ‘artistic retrenchment’ that Alex Ross rightly observes this season.”
Streaming And Classical Music – Even More Dangers Than For Pop?
“However, whilst metadata and audio quality have been the burning issues for classical journalists and listeners, it’s the economics of streaming that has been alarming certain independent specialist classical record companies. In fact, as far as they are concerned, streaming poses unique and far greater problems for the classical industry than it does for the pop world.”
Promising Woman Conductor Dead At 27 After Cerebral Hemorrhage During Rehearsal
Zaeth Ritter Arenas, music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes in Culiacán, was rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery on Sept. 27 but died a week later. (in Spanish; Google-translated version here)
What’s ‘Super Thursday’? Sort Of Like ‘Black Friday’ For The Book Industry?
“Super Thursday is the day when publishers release many of the big titles expected to greet eager readers, and elderly relatives, on 25 December. In 2015 there are 404 of them: that, remarkably, represents something of a record, last year we counted 315. In other words: it is a big moment for a book business still highly reliant on gift purchases, and a time of extreme activity for booksellers. And excitement, too, of course. This is fun.”
There’s A Man Scattering Fake Books, Signs And Pamphlets Around L.A.
“When he’s on a job, leaving fake signs and objects in his gym, at IKEA, in book stores, in chain stores, on the street or at a museum, he tries to be sneaky. Once the deed is done, ‘I run away as fast as possible,’ he says. Since January, Wysaski, a Los Angeles comedy writer who runs the website Pleated Jeans, has been planting jokes in the real world. “
The Beautiful People Are The Hardest To Draw: Interview With A Courtroom Artist
“Chicago courtroom sketch artist Lou ‘L.D.’ Chukman has drawn some of the biggest names to ever pass through Chicago’s unfathomably large court system. He’s been working as an artist since 1975, in courtrooms and doing caricatures and commissions.”
Visions Of France In The Year 2000 – By Artists In 1900
“En L’An 2000 (In the Year 2000) is a series of visionary cigarette cards and postcards by Jean-Marc Côté and other artists. First produced for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris – the cards were distributed in 1899, 1900, 1901 and 1910 – the world of the future in 2000 was plain to see.”