“It may have no melody, no chord changes, no backbeat — nothing, in fact, that generations of listeners have come to expect from jazz. Its very name — free jazz — stirs heated arguments to this day, even though it has been a part of our musical life for more than 40 years.”
Tag: 02.17.08
How The Goodman’s New Musical Fell Apart
“To write an autopsy report for The Boys Are Coming Home is not so much to document failings or disagreements among personnel — although fissures were present in this case — as to explore the difficulty of creating and nurturing a new work for the American theater.”
Colorado Fights Theatre Smoking (Theatres Protest)
The Colorado Department of Public Health is keeping up its uncompromising fight against theaters seeking a performance exception to the state’s indoor smoking ban.
America’s Incoherent Arts Funding Policy
So George Bush proposes cutting the budget for the National Endowment for the Arts only months after its budget was increased. “Let’s face it: These aren’t the best of times for arts funding, regardless of recent gains, nationally or locally.”
The Art Trade At Its Grass Roots Commerce
“Anyone can be an art dealer; you don’t need qualifications, background, or any fiddly stuff like that. All you need is capital, something that passes for charm and boundless stocks of windy guff. But “who dictates what an artwork is worth? What makes it valuable? How can anyone take seriously the drivel in auction catalogues about ‘meaningful white spaces’?”
The Woman Who’s Rebuilding The State Ballet Of Georgia
“Nina Ananiashvili, like the titanic 20th century choreographer George Balanchine, hails from the former Soviet state of Georgia, and in 2004 her now-independent homeland summoned her to direct its national company, long established but also, because of civil hardship, long dormant.”
What Happened To Women In Hollywood?
“It does seem that Hollywood has been overwhelmingly working out maleness issues, rather than feminine ones – whether it’s rampant capitalism (There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton) or essays on violence (No Country For Old Men, Jesse James) or paeans to male solitude (Into the Wild).”
After The Writers’ Strike (So?)
So the writers’ strike is over, and TV sows will be produced again. “Not to be ungrateful about the resumption of writing, but shouldn’t there be a greater sense of foreboding in the industry, and in your living room, right about now?”
The Magnificence That Is BMW World
“BMW Welt has just celebrated 100 days of activity. It presents, as an architectural phantasmagoria, an entire world organised and designed to BMW’s meticulous engineering standards. Scary or magnificent, depending on your perspective. At five minutes to midnight for the automobile, what does it mean?”
Does Good Business Improve Social Responsibility?
“Companies that empower their employees to cut costs in the workplace not only improve their bottom lines, but also may foster civic engagement and contribute to peace in the societies where they operate, according to research published in the November 2007 issue of the Journal of Organizational Behavior.”