“It’s hard, from the vantage point of our Peak TV era, to grasp why Dallas caused such a global ruckus. In 1980, the show was arguably the hottest pop culture entity in existence; about as many Americans tuned in to find out who shot J. R. as voted for president. … After more than 35 hours of interviews, we learned that the stories behind Dallas are nearly as over-the-top as the stories on the screen.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
In The Age Of The Museum Of Ice Cream And The Creation Museum, What Does ‘Museum’ Even Mean?
Philip Kennicott: “It isn’t easy coming up with a definition capacious enough to include the richness and diversity of the museum world without being so wide open that it might as well encompass theme parks and drinking holes that just happen to include the word ‘Museum’ in their name.”
Using Dance To Help Stroke Victims Recover
Ben Duke’s dance-theatre piece Stroke Odysseys, now touring Britain, puts five stroke survivors onstage, alongside dancers and musicians, to tell their stories — including how performing Duke’s specially-tailored choreography has improved their conditions.
We Need to Talk About Non-Consensual Audience Participation
“Artists who cleverly use participatory moments can make bold statements about the boundaries between performer and spectator, onstage and off. … But all the experiences I’ve loved have had something in common: They’ve given audiences a choice. A few weeks back, I had a starkly different experience.” Lauren Wingenroth describes what went wrong with that experience (Boris Charmatz’s 10000 Gestures, if you want to know), and suggests one simple step performers could take to avoid crossing the line from challenging to obnoxious or worse.
‘It’s Something Of A Counter-Museum’ — American Poetry Museum Operates Without Exhibition Space
Board chair Jon West-Bey, who developed the institution based on his graduate thesis: “We wanted to put programs before space. We didn’t want to be the type of place where we said, ‘If we build it, they’ll come.’ It was more, ‘We’ll come to you.'”
Huge Old Master Painting, Divided For Centuries, Reunited At Last
“The three sections of The Van Campen Family in a Landscape (1623-1625) [by Frans Hals] that have been located — including a piece from a private collection in Europe that was discovered to be a part of the painting a few years ago — [have been] reunited for the first time in an exhibition [at the Toledo Museum of Art].”
Professor Convicted For Embezzling Sentenced To Play Piano In Senior Homes
“[Dr. Alexander] Neumeister admitted in June to stealing roughly $87,000 while working for New York University, according to court records. … [A federal judge ruled that] must play piano for at least an hour, twice a week at facilities for the elderly in Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and Bridgeport for the next three years.”
New York City Ballet Promotes Dancers To Begin Rebuilding After Scandal
“New York City Ballet, which forced out three male stars this year after a nude-photo-sharing scandal, is replenishing its ranks: The company announced Saturday that it was promoting seven dancers, including Joseph Gordon, who was named a principal dancer.”
Rembrandt’s ‘Night Watch’ To Get Major Restoration — And You Can Watch The Conservators At Work
“[The director of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam] said it was expected to be a slow and intricate project, which would take several years and cost millions of euros. … The public will be invited to watch the intimate conservation process, both up close in the gallery itself and via an internet livestream, in what is believed to be the biggest ever undertaking of its kind.”
Hit Film Inspires Hundreds Of Survivors Of Abuse By Polish Priests To Come Forward
“Based on real events, Kler (The Clergy), by the director Wojciech Smarzowski, which includes testimonies of survivors, features an alcoholic priest who encourages his lover to have an abortion, a priest accused of abusing a young boy, a senior cleric engaged in corruption and blackmail, and a grotesque, foul-mouthed archbishop cutting deals with politicians and mobsters, all operating with impunity.” Despite denunciations by conservative laypeople and churchmen, the film is breaking box office records and encouraged many victims to speak out.