“Brazil is known as the land of samba, bossa nova and funk. But increasingly, the artists topping the charts wield not just guitars and tambourines but also copies of the Bible.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Theatre Company That Stages Godot And Hecuba For Christmas
“At a time of year when feel-good carols and Sugar Plum Fairies rule the stage, Vancouver’s Blackbird Theatre Company has been creating a different kind of holiday tradition: hard-hitting, challenging plays.”
How Helen Frankenthaler And John Chamberlain Changed American Art
The two artists, who died within a week of each other, “brought a new, unfettered approach to materials that pushed their respective mediums toward greater expressive freedom, unabashed physicality and a rough-edged, aggressively color-based beauty. These qualities became identifying hallmarks of American art, especially in the 1960s, but remain crucial to it even now.”
Censorship And The British Stage
“For any British person under the age of 50, the idea of theatrical censorship is totally alien. … But it’s salutary to be reminded that, in Britain, it was only the Theatres Act of 1968 that finally put paid to a system of censorship that existed here for over 230 years. While we rejoice in our current freedom, we should be wary of a creeping caution that exists in the UK and other western democracies.”
The Rise And Fall Of Vachel Lindsay
“[In] the 1920s he was arguably the most visible poet in America, whose performances were witnessed, and applauded, by thousands.” His work was anthologized and taught in schools well into the 1960s; since then, his reputation has plummeted and his memory has faded. What happened?
Jazz Saxophonist Sam Rivers Dead At 88
“Joy was the word that resurfaced again and again when musicians and friends remembered Sam Rivers, a saxophonist, flutist and composer whose long list of credits included work with the legendary Miles Davis … Dizzy Gillespie and Cecil Taylor [as well as] blues musicians T-Bone Walker and John Lee Hooker.”
Discord Within Board Behind Opera Boston’s Sudden Closing
“At least six of 17 members of the board of directors did not attend the Tuesday night meeting during which the vote was taken to disband the company.” One frustrated former board member complained of “the unwillingness by longtime members to allow newer board members to help work on the company’s financial problems.”
Don’t Like That Plot Twist Or Close-Up Shot? IM The Director About It
Online screenings at which filmmakers host live chats and answer questions “are the latest effort by the movie industry to try to follow viewers online as the traditional movie business struggles.”
Sori Yanagi, 98, Pioneer Of Japanese Industrial Design
“The lines and curves of Yanagi’s designs were as distinctly Japanese as they were universal, winning him fans – and a place in homes not only in Japan but around the world – for his teapots, ceramic cups and even the lowly whisk.”
The Mad Scramble When Classical Musicians Call In Sick
“On Broadway when the star can’t go on, management simply taps the eager understudy. When classical musicians and singers bow out, an occupational hazard what with all that international travel and all those international viruses, there’s generally no backup waiting in the wings.”