“In sectors as diverse as finance, fashion, culture, and languages, innovators are stepping in to preserve decades or centuries-old systems for the future. These digitization projects have spawned new collaborative networks, bringing together people from different backgrounds who share similar cultural traits or interests.” Reporters Abdi Latif Dahir and Lynsey Chutel spotlight some examples.
Author: Matthew Westphal
‘The Satanic Verses’, 30 Years On — What Made (And Still Makes) Some People So Angry?
University of Chicago religion and ethics scholar Myriam Renaud offers a refresher course.
What Those Words And Phrases You Keep Seeing In Theatre Reviews Really Mean
“Critics often fall back on neat phrases to gesture at flaws they’re reluctant to spell out, or to wave impotently at a whole mass of ideas that would take a PhD thesis to explore. For your entertainment, three Exeunt writers are here to crack the code, and reveal the true meanings behind some of the shorthands that critics fall back on when deadlines, word counts and writers’ block bite.”
At Work With The Sound Mixer At The Metropolitan Opera
David Frost controls the soundboard for all of broadcasts for terrestrial and satellite radio, for the company’s in-house records, and for the HD cinema simulcasts. Joshua Barone watched him work on opening night: “He sits in a booth, following along with a conductor’s score and constantly adjusting several dozen faders, dials that control the levels on microphones set up onstage and throughout the orchestra pit. With the appearance of an organist juggling complex polyphony, he aims to match the high quality of studio recordings — only in real time.”
The Rehabilitation Of Mel Gibson
“The Hollywood redemption machine is always ripe for satire, since its formula is so depressingly simple. Take one once-beloved artist, add a bottled statement of apology, give them just long enough for their worst misdeeds to fade somewhat from public memory, and combine with the industry’s never-ending desire to use great artistry as an antidote to past sins.”
All The Rage: Rebecca Solnit On A Wave Of Books That Embrace Female Anger
“Much of the anger discussed in all these books comes from being thwarted — from the inability to command respect, equality, control over one’s body and destiny, or from witnessing the oppression of other women. One of the pitfalls in trying to establish equality is to confuse gaining power with unleashing rage. For all of us this is the conundrum: How, without idealizing and entrenching anger, can we grant nonwhite people and nonmale people an equal right to feeling and expressing it?”
When I Danced With Arthur Mitchell In Moscow At The Height Of The Cold War: Allegra Kent
“Arthur and I were dancing in Balanchine’s Agon, with music by Igor Stravinsky, the last ballet on the program. Balanchine was nervous. The cast was nervous. But not Arthur. (Arthur was never nervous.) In the wings before our pas de deux, he could see I was jumping out of my skin. He said, ‘This is just a small town, Allegra’” What he said was so ludicrous that it calmed me down.”
Getty Institute Launches New African American Art History Initiative
“The initiative, which launched with a $5-million endowment, aims to establish the Getty as a primary center of scholarship, research and education for African American art and as a model for like-minded endeavors in the field.”
‘Lion King’ Puppet Specialist Arrested For 3D-Printing Gun At Broadway Theater
Ilya Vett, who has worked fabricating and maintaining the masks and puppets for the hit show for at least a decade, was found by New York police in the Minskoff Theatre prop room, producing a gun using the company’s 3D printer and plans he had downloaded from the internet.
Pittsburgh Symphony Hangs On To Manfred Honeck For Two More Seasons
“Mr. Honeck’s contract [as music director] was to expire in 2020. He has been with the orchestra since 2008 and has led the PSO to its first Grammy win since 1992. The contract extension” — through the 2021-22 season — covers the orchestra’s 125th anniversary season (the PSO was founded in 1896) and the 50th anniversary of its tenure in Heinz Hall.”