Author: Matthew Westphal

How An Awkward, Overprotected Valedictorian Grew Into Weird Al Yankovic — And Stayed Popular For 40 Years

“For many decades, he has been trying to delight Alfred Yankovic, the bright, painfully shy kid who grew up alone in his tiny bedroom. For the benefit of that lonely boy, he reshaped the whole world of pop culture. His ridiculous music sent out a pulse, a signal, and these were the people it drew: the odd, the left out. A crowd of friends for that lonely kid.” – The New York Times Magazine

John Tavener’s Final Opera Is Now Recovered And Will Be Staged — Thanks To Prince Charles

The popular composer, who died in 2013, finished writing Krishna in 2005, but it was never published or produced and few were aware of its existence. Then the Crown Prince, a longtime friend of Tavener’s, asked director David Pountney to take a look at it — and, said Pountney, “I was astonished to discover this massive complete work.” He will direct it in the summer of 2024 at the Grange Park Opera festival. – The Guardian

NPR Reporter Shows You How To Build The Perfect Home Radio Studio

“Don Gonyea, NPR’s roving national political correspondent, has a lot of experience recording high-quality audio outside of a studio. He often records his features and spots from hotel rooms across the country while he follows political hopefuls. … We thought Gonyea’s expertise building temporary studios with everyday items like couch cushions and pillows may come in handy for those of you at home who could use some guidance. Here are his top tips.” – Current

Playwrights Horizons To Release Brand-New Audio Plays By Star Writers

“Soundstage, a podcast series from Playwrights Horizons announced on Thursday, allows listeners to experience world premieres by playwrights including Robert O’Hara, Heather Christian, Lucas Hnath and Jeremy O. Harris while confined safely, if sometimes uncomfortably, indoors. The podcast has been in the works for about two years, but its release date was moved up to April from the summer in response to social-distancing directives.” – The New York Times

A Silver Lining: Coronavirus May Have Made Dance Instagram Into What It Should Have Been All Along

Theresa Ruth Howard: “In 2018 I wrote an article about how Instagram was changing the value system of the dance world. It took to task the hyper-sexualization of the body’s facility, the fetishism of dance tricks. … Enter COVID-19. … Literally overnight, the exhibitionistic nature of Instagram was sublimated from being mainly a tool of narcissistic self-promotion (to be sure, it still is) into what could be the highest form of itself: a tool for education, nurturing an authentic community.” – Dance Magazine

Artists Begin Working, Nervously, With Artificial Intelligence

“Not only is A.I. a tool for artists, who are employing machine intelligence in fascinating ways, it is also frequently a topic to be examined — sometimes in the same piece. And underlying many of the works is a deep unease. As Lisa Phillips, the director of New York’s New Museum, put it, the worries come down to ‘the prospect that machines are going to take over.’ She added, ‘What are we unleashing?'” – The New York Times

America’s Largest Cinema Chain Will Probably Go Bankrupt: Analysts

“AMC Theatres — whose business has effectively shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic — looks increasingly likely to file for bankruptcy with its cash reserves dwindling, according to Wall Street analysts. … Even if AMC is able to tap government bailout funds, [an analyst] wrote, the company’s high leverage ratio — with $4.75 billion in debt — ‘will make for tough sledding … thus making a reorganization inevitable.'” – Variety