The monetary losses are staggering. But far worse was what happened during the first months. Mark Swed: “The L.A. Phil publicly demonstrated little leadership. One minute it was in the midst of a revolutionary and radically prescient ‘Power to the People’ festival; the next minute, the power was summarily turned off.” – Los Angeles Times
Author: ArtsJournal2
The Coronavirus Olivier Awards Went Off Surprisingly Well
But the British theatre awards were still filled with pain. Marianne Elliott, joint winner of best director: “This is a happy day and this is a sad day, because of what theatre was, and because none of us know when it will properly return.” – BBC
The Sisters Who Have Transformed The Piano Duo
Katia and Marielle Lèbecque “for over 50 years have been playing — and enlarging — the two-piano repertory. They have interpreted traditional classical and Romantic works, to brilliant effect, but have also ventured into jazz, Baroque, modernist and experimental genres — commissioning scores, inventing projects and testing their limits.” – The New York Times
Three Extraordinary Memoir Writers On The Art Of Memoir
Laymon: “That word memoir, in some way it distracted me from the hard shit that I was writing. … Having the memoir title helped me sort of get through the heart work, in this fucked up way.” – LitHub
Suzanne Perlman, Expressionist Inspired By Goya And Van Gogh, 97
Perlman was extraordinary, truly. The painter once said, “‘In my work I need to identify myself with the essence of things.’ Such fierce focus as a visionary expressionist painter nourished her in a life of unforeseen and radical changes of circumstance. She was essentially self-taught, and it was following her arrival in the Dutch West Indies as a young Jewish refugee from Europe in 1940 that her art emerged with a consummate self-assurance.” – The Guardian (UK)
Netflix’s Bemusing Reshuffle Continues
NIna Wolarsky, who was VP of original series – drama, is out. “The Wolarsky news comes just a week after president of originals Jane Wiseman was shown the door. The ongoing senior management exodus from Netflix also includes Channing Dungey, to whom Wolarsky previously reported. Dungey stepped down from her vice president of original content role to succeed Peter Roth as chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group.” – Variety
London’s Old Vic Has Sold 30,000 Live Streaming Theatre Tickets … And Counting
It’s not an archive; it’s not live in a parking lot. It’s live and socially distanced and streamed. Those 30,000 tickets have sold to people in 73 countries. But it’s not perfect, especially for the directors and performers. “There’s no immediate response, no sense of connection, nor is there an opportunity to go out and have a drink or something to eat. Everybody just goes home, individually. It emphasizes the isolation and the loneliness and the grimness of this whole thing.” – The New York Times
How (And Why) A Longtime Producer Became A Director
After producing everything from The Talented Mr. Ripley to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Lydia Pilcher started looking for a project of her own. “Being on the inside of the industry as a producer and really being able to see all aspects of how decisions get made — Who decides what stories get told? How did the directors get chosen? — it made me understand that there was something being missed on the Hollywood end. It’s not just that the stories were being shut out. A lot of money was being left on the table.” – Variety
The Responsibilities Of A Literary Institution
In Seattle, and likely everywhere, it’s time to think a little bigger. “A different kind of literary institution means reinterpreting what a core mission, vision and values mean when cast upon a wider field. Many arts institutions today are ‘committed to racial equity’ but don’t have the courage to take a position on upzoning, land use policy or ending the sweeps of homeless encampments. In this era, the arts are an active practice. Housing, human services, the role of government—these are the defining fights of our time and will shape the future of our city.” – LitHub
Literary Inspiration For A Covid-19 Halloween
Don’t forget to look at your shelves for ideas. – The New York Times