They create, sustain, and promote inequality – and a lack of public funding is increasing the issue. “The trend of putting on safer exhibitions by established artists to guarantee high visitor numbers and offset a decline in state funding could make it even harder for experimental and minority artists to break through.” – The Observer (UK)
Author: ArtsJournal2
Margo Lion, Proudly Independent Producer Of ‘Hairspray’ And Others On Broadway, Has Died At 75
Lion was the main producer for Hairspray and Jelly’s Last Jam, and she also played a major role in bringing Angels in America to Broadway. The artists she worked with remember how warm and how invested she was in their shows, and how absolutely committed. “She stuck with shows she believed in despite the considerable risk of losing money, as most Broadway productions do. She often put up her West Side apartment as collateral in support of a project.” – The New York Times
A New Revenge Movie Perfect For – But Not About – The MeToo Era, Written And Directed By A Star Of ‘The Crown’
She’s a rising star of Season 3 (and 4) of The Crown, an executive producer for Killing Eve, and – oh yes – a writer and director of a movie whose trailer has been viewed more than 3 million times. And she’s written the story and book for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new Cinderella. About that new revenge thriller, Promising Young Woman, starring Carey Mulligan, Emerald Farrell says: “I really wanted [it] to come out on Valentine’s Day, and I don’t mean that as a joke. I think what I wanted to make — and the stuff I always want to make — is popcorn, like great proper popcorn, Hollywood movies.” – Los Angeles Times
A Fire Tears Through New York’s Museum Of Chinese In America, Destroying 85,000 Irreplaceable Works
In the heart of Chinatown, the collection was central to the history of Chinese Americans – and, because the building is structurally unsound, no one can go in to retrieve the water-soaked items to save at least some of them. “Among the thousands of items in the collection believed to be lost is a document from 1883 about the Chinese Exclusion Act. Other irreplaceable pieces included the carefully written letters of bachelors working in the United States to send money home ‘even though they didn’t live a full life because of discrimination,’ said Ms. Maasbach; traditional wedding dresses from the early 1900s known as cheongsam; items brought by emigrants in suitcases that in some instances were later left anonymously outside the museum’s front door; and photographs from Chinatown in the 1980s.” – The New York Times
Next Week, The World’s First ‘Grime Ballet’ Premieres
Grime is a music style that came from London hip hop and electronic dance music – and now a grime artist, Lionness, has decided to team up with a London ballet company to “merge two worlds together.” – BBC
The Conductor Of Countless Harry Potter Symphony Match-Ups Explains Why He Does It
This is a hot time for symphonies showing Harry Potter movies while performing, live, John Williams’ scores. But, well, why? John Jesensky, who works for CineConcerts and has conducted many orchestras performing movie scores as the movie plays above their heads, explains. “I see so many young faces out in the audience experiencing the orchestra and live classical music for the first time. If there is one thing I hope I accomplish in all of our performances, it is to inspire a youngster to pick up an instrument, or for an adult to decide they would love to come back and visit the orchestra again.” – The Madison Capital Times (Wisconsin)
How Can We Look At Monet While Our Planet Burns?
The Denver Art Museum has cast Monet as a sort of Romantic painter, looking for the truth in unalloyed nature – and perhaps finding it. But instead of demonstrating oneness with pure nature, “with a little critical re-framing, Monet’s most celebrated works can testify to the perniciousness at the heart of the structural conditions underlying today’s climate crisis — in particular, the dated binary between ‘enlightened’ humans and an inert and exploitable ‘true’ nature.” – Hyperallergic
After Only A Year, The Staatsballett Berlin’s Co-Leaders Are Stepping Away
Sasha Waltz and Johannes Ohman had signed five-year contracts to lead the young ballet company (that was, in 2004, created as a consolidation of three opera ballets), but the protests against their tenures started early. Still, they hung in there for a while. “They aimed for a balance of classical tradition and modern dance. In the joint statement announcing their departure, they said that they believed their mission had been a success, citing healthy attendance figures and an honor from the magazine Tanz, which surveyed 25 dance journalists and named the Staatsballett its company of the year for 2019.” – The New York Times
What’s The Deal With Country Music’s Bizarre, Ahistorical Lack Of Diversity? [VIDEO]
Jimmie Allen, who hit the charts with “Best Shot” in 2019, says, “I was excited and a little sad to be the first Black artist to launch a career with a number one in country just because of the year it is.” – BBC
Deborah Duggan, On The Eve Of The Grammys, Says She Had To Push Back
With past colleagues backing her up (that story here), the ousted head of the Recording Academy says that she didn’t want to be the story as the 2020 Grammys get underway – but she couldn’t sit back and let others control the narrative. In her first few months at the Academy, her 44-page complaint alleges, “she alleged discovering voting irregularities, financial mismanagement, self-dealing and conflicts of interest among board members and nomination review committees, and criticized what she called ‘exorbitant’ legal fees paid to a few law firms with close ties to the academy.” – Los Angeles Times