Author: ArtsJournal2

The Classical Musicians Who Created The New Live-Action ‘Lion King’ Score Because Representation Matters

The African American and Black musicians who make up the Re-Collective Orchestra recorded a chamber-music version of Black Panther‘s “All the Stars Are Open.” Hans Zimmer heard it, and then he asked the musicians to record the score for the Disney behemoth’s live-action version of its massive 1994 hit. For bassoonist Lecolion Washington, the experience “felt like an acknowledgement that who makes art, and the stories they bring, holds as much value as the art itself.” – WBUR (Boston)

The Family Lie That Turned Into This Summer’s Breakout Indie Film

Lulu Wang’s family didn’t want to tell its matriarch that she was dying of cancer – and the resulting efforts to get everyone to say their goodbyes, without letting her in on the reason, turned into The Farewell, an indie movie starring Crazy Rich Asians‘ Awkwafina that, over its opening weekend, did the best per-screen business of any 2019 film (and that’s with the Manhattan blackout that took one of its few screens dark). – The Atlantic

Years After Falling Ill With A Mysterious Disease, This Ballerina Says She’s Ready To Return To The Stage

Kathryn Morgan had to leave City Ballet in the fall of 2012 after an autoimmune disease screwed up everything from her hair to her balance, starting a couple of years earlier. “What Morgan initially believed would be a few months of recovery became a nine-year ordeal: of doctors who dismissed her, of surrendering a dream, of personal turmoil and a life repeatedly upended. And, now, as she prepares to return to ballet on her own terms, a rebirth.” – CNN

What Libraries Mean To The American Dream

Last year, an economics professor suggested killing off the public library and replacing it with Amazon. The backlash was swift – and it’s ongoing. Why? Libraries are free, providing a refuge for everyone, and helping those disenfranchised gain more and more agency – and more: “Libraries are the cornerstones of democracy, where all people—regardless of income, race and religion—are welcome. To me, they’re also the one place where I truly feel at home.” – LitHub

Sadie Roberts-Joseph, Founder Of A Museum And Tireless Activist For Historical Memory, Has Been Found Murdered

Roberts-Joseph was an icon in the Louisiana capital city, and she devoted her life and work to historical memory – and making Juneteenth a national holiday. Then there was “the Odell S. Williams Now and Then African-American History Museum, which she founded in 2001 and ran with volunteer help and donations. The Baton Rouge museum spotlighted black history and hosted gatherings for holidays such as Memorial Day, Kwanzaa and Juneteenth.” – Washington Post

Apparently, Netflix’s Lobby (The Physical, Architectural Kind) Is Pretty Cool

Hmmm: “Every era in Hollywood has a symbolic epicenter, a place that sums up everything, especially power and sometimes absurdity.” Apparently, that’s now Netflix. “An 80-foot by 12-foot video screen makes visitors feel like they are inside Netflix shows — visiting the Narcos cocaine lab, for instance, or sitting on the Blue Cat Lodge boat dock from Ozark. Another wall is covered by at least 3,500 plants, a living mural that includes red Flamingo Lilies, known for their big pistils.” – The New York Times

The Complexities Of Making A Musical About Race, Told From The Point Of View Of A Young White Woman

When a team decided to adapt Sue Monk Kidd’s 2002 book The Secret Life of Bees into a 2019 musical, and the only African American person on the production team was playwright Lynn Nottage, well, they knew they had some discussions ahead of them. Nottage says, “What makes this very different from those other stories [like The Help or Green Book], is that this white girl enters into a black space, and she has to negotiate a space that’s alien to her, rather than the black body entering the white space.” – NPR