“[The Palais de Lomé in Togo] is a remarkable achievement for one of the world’s poorest countries, where almost 70 percent of the rural population lives below the global poverty line. … The new museum is also an unexpected signal of cultural openness by the historically repressive Togolese government.” – Frieze
Author: Matthew Westphal
How Inigo Philbrick Became The Talented Mr. Ripley Of Art Dealers
“Inigo Philbrick probably didn’t set out to become one of the art world’s great enigmas when, at the age of 24, he opened a gallery and consultancy in London” and went on to become a conspicuously big spender. “Not if what he really wanted was to be seen nowhere but talked about everywhere. Yet that is what happened in the fall of 2019: a vanishing act.” He hasn’t been charged with a crime (yet), but he is definitely a fugitive. – The New York Times
Egypt’s Favorite Street Music Banned By Government
“Mahraganat music, fast and loud, soared in popularity following Egypt’s 2011 Arab Spring revolts, which toppled the country’s longtime autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak, who died last month. The music provided an outlet for poor Egyptians frustrated by political turmoil, growing repression, a declining economy, high unemployment and other woes. … [But] since February, clubs, hotels, music venues and even Nile cruise boats have been ordered not to book mahraganat musicians, unless they want to face stiff fines and be taken to court.” – The Washington Post
Keeping Contemporary Dance Works From Being Lost To History
Merce Cunningham, Alvin Ailey, Mark Morris, Pina Bausch, Richard Alston … and the list goes on. Writer Lyndsey Winship gives a brief survey of the various ways (and no, video alone is not enough) that companies and archives are working to preserve modern choreography. – The Guardian
Stephen Sondheim At 90: The Master Of Mixed Emotions
Ben Brantley: “When it comes to emotions, Sondheim — more than any other composer from the Broadway songbook — is the one I trust to tell me the truth. That’s because in the world of Sondheim, feelings never come singly but in battalions. Even his simplest, most assertive melodies usually sound as if they’re being pulled in contradictory directions.” – The New York Times
Stephen Sondheim At 90: Not Just A Great Songwriter, A Great Playwright
Jesse Green: “Having long taken for granted that he is the greatest composer-lyricist the United States has produced, we can perhaps now notice that he is also an artist to place in the line of America’s foundational 20th-century playwrights. In years to come, critics will have trouble understanding how our time put him in one basket but put Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, August Wilson and Edward Albee in another.” – The New York Times
The (Nearly) Complete Musicals Of Stephen Sondheim: A New York Times Critics’ Guide
Ben Brantley and Jesse Green give their takes on the 15 shows for which Sondheim wrote music and lyrics and the three for which he was lyricist (with music by Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne, and Richard Rodgers). – The New York Times
A Fundraiser For The Academy Of Music Is Philadelphia’s Biggest High-Society Event. Here’s How It Should Change For The 21st Century.
Eyebrows shot up last month when the Philadelphia Orchestra (which owns the building) and the Kimmel Center (which operates it) announced that the Academy Ball, held every year but one since 1957, was called off for next year and would be reconsidered entirely. Peter Dobrin makes the case that the Ball is a unique Philadelphia tradition that shouldn’t be ended but can definitely be made more relevant. – The Philadelphia Inquirer
UK Finally Makes E-Books Exempt From Sales Tax, As Print Books Are
“Printed books and newspapers have always been zero-rated for VAT but until now their digital equivalents – such as books from Amazon’s Kindle service or online subscriptions to news websites such as the Times or the Guardian – have been subject to the sales tax.” (Audiobooks will remain taxable, though.) – The Guardian
What Happens To ‘The Merchant Of Venice’ When Shylock Is A Woman?
Carey Perloff, who directed Seana McKenna in the role last year in Calgary: “I am not always convinced that cross-gender casting helps illuminate Shakespeare; many of the plays focus so specifically on gender that swapping out men for women can sometimes muddy the actual narrative or intent of the play. But in the case of Shylock, who is the ultimate ‘other’ in the play, gender served to crack open the drama in fascinating ways.” – American Theatre