His 1970 solo show at the Grand Palais in Paris meant to establish Bacon in the very highest echelons of living painters — even, he hoped, as a peer to Picasso. Then his erstwhile lover, the subject of many of the works on display, killed himself in their hotel room just before the show’s opening. – The Guardian
Author: Matthew Westphal
How Walt Whitman Hid A Dozen Same-Sex Love Poems In Plain Sight, And How A Researcher Found Them
Whitman wrote a sequence of poems title “Live Oak, With Moss” — inspired, scholars believe, by his romance with one Fred Vaughan — but scattered them throughout his 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass so that they wouldn’t be conspicuous. (Two of them were removed from subsequent editions for the next century.) Here’s how a scholar, back in 1959, discovered the series and reassembled it in sequence. – Virginia Magazine (UVA)
Betty Corwin, Who Saved Broadway Performances For Posterity, Dead At 98
The Theater on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts “was the charismatic Ms. Corwin’s baby. She proposed it to the library in 1969 and, told that she could pursue it as a volunteer, coaxed it into being through a feat of extraordinary diplomacy, persuading each theatrical union that recordings would neither lead to piracy nor harm the box office.” – The New York Times
New York City To Build Performing Arts Center Dedicated To Immigrants
“Last week, the city announced that it has committed $15 million to fund the design and construction of the Immigrant Research and Performing Arts Center in Inwood, the northernmost neighborhood in Manhattan. [Two municipal agencies] released an initial call for interest in the project, beginning the search for a non-profit to step in and manage the development and operation of the facility.” – artnet
Audiences Prefer Actors With Disabilities To Play Characters With Disabilities: Study
“Findings from the Ruderman Family Foundation’s just released effort, Disability Inclusion in Movies and Television, show that … 55% would like to see characters with disabilities portrayed authentically. … [The study also found that] viewers rank ‘diversity’ in the top five most valuable characteristics for content when disability is included in the definition.” – Los Angeles Times
Orchestras Struggling? These Regional Groups Are Doing Just Fine, Says Anne Midgette
“Are orchestras dying? These smaller groups are alive and well … The … orchestras presented below offer perhaps five programs a year, with freelance professional players, on a fraction of that budget. Yet their programming tends to be strikingly diverse in comparison with some of their larger brethren, and they all maintain strong education and outreach programs in local schools.” – The Washington Post
At 94, Director Peter Brook Still Keeps A Schedule That’s ‘Terrifying’
His career goes all the way back to 1946 at Stratford, through a 1970 Midsummer Night’s Dream and a nine-hour Mahabharata from the ’80s that arguably changed theatre history, to a new book this fall and a new stage piece, titled Why?, that he’s taking to three continents. Ben Brantley talks with the stage legend about his extraordinary career. – The New York Times
A New City-Wide Dance Festival Is Coming To Los Angeles
“Dance moguls Debbie Allen and Nigel Lythgoe are organizing a new two-week festival next spring” — titled, simply, the Los Angeles International Dance Festival — “featuring local and global companies including Ailey II, Bodytraffic, Syncopated Ladies and Heidi Duckler Dance, performing at venues across L.A. County.” – Los Angeles Times
How Problematic Is ‘Porgy And Bess’ In 2019?
Is it a sensitive portrait of a segregated Black community? Or is it a parade of stereotypes performed in embarrassing dialect? Is it a triumph of the American melting pot, with the sons of Russian Jews teaming with white Southern WASPs to tell an African-American story? Or is it a very model of cultural appropriation? Has it given Black singers valuable and (too) rare opportunities? Or has it caused them to be pigeonholed? Or is the answer to all these questions yes? – The New York Times
Eight Operas About The Black American Experience That Are By Black Composers
“Though they’ve been ignored or underheard, African-American composers have long been crafting ambitious music dramas. Some of the works cited below exist in complete editions, ready to be programmed. Others are still emerging, thanks to the work of scholars reversing decades of neglect.” – The New York Times