Sarah Kaufman: “We are cursed with George Balanchine, cursed with an overload of his ballets as well as with the ubiquity of the sinewy style he favored, his preference for plotless works on a naked stage, his taste for fast, skinny, emotionally guarded dancers.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Reviving Klingon Opera
Fans of The Next Generation will recall that Lt. Worf was a great fan of his planet’s Gesamtkunstwerk. Now a Dutch group is using the techniques of historical performance practice research and an ancient Klingon treatise called paq’jachchcu (“the book of the perfect scream”) with the goal of “mount[ing] the first authentic performances of Klingon opera here on earth.”
The Power Of Hatred (On Reality TV)
Virginia Heffernan: “Early reality shows borrowed plots from fiction: the end of innocence (The Real World), the dawn of romantic love (The Bachelor), the perils of greed (Joe Millionaire). By contrast, later-generation reality producers have recognized that capricious animosity, even when it seizes an otherwise unremarkable mind, is an exceptionally efficient source of dialogue, character and suspense.”
Tintin-ophilia At The Auction House
“Tintin mania swept a Belgian auction house on Sunday with almost 600 lots associated with Hergé, creator of the famous cartoon reporter, breaking national and world sales records, an expert said.” The sale raised a total of €1,172,000.
‘The Donald’s Top Flops’ (As The NY Post Might Say)
Blair Kamin: “[T]he just-completed spire atop the 92-story Trump International Hotel & Tower, the tallest American skyscraper since the 1974 completion of Sears Tower … [is] a one-star piece of skyline stagecraft, a Kmart accessory for an Hermès suit.”
The Addams Family Lurch-es To Broadway
“[T]he new Broadway-bound musical about the winds of change blowing though the haunted mansion of the famously macabre family will star two-time Tony Award winners Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth” as Gomez and Morticia. The show is based on the original Charles Addams cartoons, not the TV series.
Making Art From The Anguish Of Africa’s Child Soldiers
“Out of interviews with former child soldiers in Uganda and the Congo, Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin and Belgian director Josse de Paauw have fashioned a gripping multimedia music theater piece, Strange News. Its North American premiere by the Chicago Chamber Musicians will take place Friday night at the Museum of Contemporary Art.”
Four-Year-Old Triple Amputee Thrives In Ballet Class
Harvey Phillips suffered meningitis as a baby and lost both lower legs and his right arm. But when he saw his big sister take ballet, he “was so determined to take part that he took to the dance floor without the aid of traditional prosthetic limbs. Now he is able to run, jump and twirl using custom-made plastic caps to protect his legs.”
Auckland Art Gallery Receives 15 Modern Treasures
“The works include significant paintings by Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Gauguin and Piet Mondrian dating from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries. The total value of the works is between $200million and $250million [NZ] and is the most significant collection gifted to any New Zealand public gallery.”
Met’s Beverly Sills Award To Bass John Relyea
“The award, which comes with a prize of $50,000, has been given annually since 2006 to singers between 25 and 40 who have appeared in featured solo roles at the Met.” Previous winners include Nathan Gunn, Joyce DiDonato and Matthew Polenzani.