“When it is the star who is the draw and being reviewed, it often means the production lacks daring and ambition. The star alone is the reason for the revival, not a director’s urgent need to stage a particular play at a particular time.”
Tag: 01.30.14
How Big Data Is Finding Meaning In Meaningless Data
“While traditional data analysis tends to focus on data that has intrinsic, meaningful value, Big Data allows us to aggregate otherwise meaningless data and find insight in the group. By way of analogy, it probably won’t tell us much to observe the individual meanderings of an ant, but when observing the colony together, patterns emerge.”
President Obama Uses Art History As A Punchline For A Joke
So called “high culture” hasn’t fared well under this president who, like so many politicians, seems reflexively afraid of being associated with anything that might be seen as elitist.
As Hollywood Goes All-Digital Some Neighborhood Movie Theatres Fade To Black
“The National Association of Theatre Owners says of the nation’s 40,000 screens about 37,000 have gone digital, but it seems likely that at least a few may end up going dark instead.”
Actor Fired From Geffen Playhouse’s ‘Birthday Party’, Production Postponed
Just two weeks before opening, director William Friedkin decided to replace Steven Berkoff and says he can’t engage a suitable replacement on such short notice.
Is This the World’s Oldest Landscape Painting?
“Scientists have linked the eruption of Turkey’s Mount Hassan with a Neolithic painting found in the nearby proto-city of Çatalhöyük.”
Harlem’s Apollo Theater Is Going Global
“Looking to expand its brand to international proportions, the Apollo Theater is kicking off its 80th anniversary with a series of global initiatives – including a first-ever international tour of its original production about the Godfather of Soul.”
Playwright Sues to Get His ‘Three’s Company’ Deconstruction Out of Copyright Limbo
After David Adjmi’s 3C had an Off-Broadway run, attorneys for the producers of the old ABC sitcom sent a cease-and-desist letter alleging copyright infringement, and the play has not been staged since. Now Adjmi has gone to U.S. Federal court, arguing that fair-use laws regarding parody proyect him and his script.
Why Conspiracy Theories Make Some People Go Postal
Jared Loughner in Tucson. Aaron Alexis at the Washington Navy Yard. Raulie Wayne Casteel in Michigan. Timothy McVeigh. Lots of people believe in strange conspiracy theories; why are some people driven to serial murder because of them?
What Makes a Book a ‘Classic’ – And When That Question Matters
Laura Miller: “That’s one of the most acrimonious, endless and irresolvable discussions in the literary world. … But there are a few places where deciding whether a book is a classic or not has real consequences. One is, obviously, classrooms, but the other is bookstores.” How do, or should, they make that decision?