One reporter’s account of the 2007 expansion of the Seattle Art Museum noted that the large trove of works then given and promised to SAM by multiple owners would bring an estimated $1 billion if they were to come to auction. Now some of them have.
Author: Matthew Westphal
The HBO test
I have a suggestion for any opera company that commissions a new opera. And I don’t mean this as a joke. Once the work starts to take shape, show it to someone at HBO. And if they say it isn’t good enough for them, pull the plug.
‘Cli-Fi’ — How Science Fiction About Climate Change Is Envisioning The Roasting Of The Planet
Katy Waldman: “There is something counterintuitive about cli-fi, about the fictional representation of scientifically substantiated predictions that too many people discount as fictions. … Literature has always been a humanist endeavor: it intrinsically and helplessly affirms the value of the species; its intimations of meaning energize and comfort. But what if there is scant succor to be had, and our true natures are not noble but necrotic, pestilential?”
I’ve Done Lots Of Public Radio Pieces, But NPR Spiked This One Because Of My Accent
Gisele Regatao: “My accent? It’s mild; Americans can tell right away that I am not a native English speaker, but foreigners can’t. I moved to the US from Brazil 20 years ago, though most people can’t tell where I’m from. … I knew accents could be taboo for some radio people, but I thought NPR would be thrilled to have a piece about a Brazilian artist by a Brazilian journalist. Plus, I’d voiced stories for WNYC and PRI’s The World many times before.” She completed the piece, but NPR wouldn’t air it.
Extreme Close-Ups: Why, And How, Dramatic Movies Are Relying On Them
“Long a staple of television, the technique has gained traction in recent years as an antidote to the kind of smash-cut film editing that first became popular in the ’90s before passing into cliché. But the execution of extreme close-ups requires a certain bravery on the part of actors: nary a blemish, a crow’s-foot wrinkle, or clogged pore will be spared the camera’s unblinking scrutiny.” Thank heaven for CGI.
Toning Down The Asian Stereotypes In ‘Nutcracker’
Marie’s tour with the Nutcracker Prince in Act II includes, of course, Spanish chocolate, Arabian coffee, and Chinese tea. New York City Ballet is one of several companies that has rethought how those dances — tea, in particular — play to American audiences in the 21st century. To wit: out go the Fu Manchu mustache and pointy fingers.
Two-Thirds Of A Billion Euros To Rebuild Berlin’s Natural History Museum
“The budget committee of the German parliament’s lower house has approved €330m — a sum to be matched by the city of Berlin — to finance a ten-year renovation and extension of Berlin’s Natural History Museum and create an online database of its collections. … The €660m exceeds the budget for rebuilding the city’s royal palace and creating the Humboldt Forum cultural district around it.”
Tales From Andy Warhol’s Factories: An Oral History (From Those Who Survived)
Fran Lebowitz: “When you walked in, there was a metal door. After that door opened, there was another metal door. On it, handwritten on a piece of paper torn from a legal pad, was a note that read, ‘Knock loudly and announce yourself.’ I knocked, and someone said, ‘Who’s there?’ I said, ‘Valerie Solanas.’ And Andy opened the door.”
Oscar-Winning Film Composer Francis Lai Dead At 86
“[He] began his musical career as an accordion player and as an accompanist to the renowned French chanteuse Edith Piaf. He was primarily a songwriter before being introduced to filmmaker Claude Lelouch, who invited Mr. Lai to compose a score for A Man and a Woman — and for another 35 films on which they worked together.” In the U.S., his best-known work by far is the music for the 1970 Ryan O’Neal-Ali MacGraw movie Love Story.
The Show Must Go On? Really? Always?
Lyn Gardner: “Nobody thinks accountants should always put accountancy before everything else, so why is the ‘show must go on’ mentality, whatever the cost, so pervasive in theatre? In part, it is because jobs are hard to come by, and nobody wants to get a reputation for unreliability, but most of all I suspect it is because holding it together whatever the stress you are operating under is seen as a badge of honour, part of being a trouper. No wonder so many deal with the stress by self-medicating with alcohol.”