The failure to exempt “artistic performances from Chicago’s wholly laudable ban on indoor, public smoking” is “a dangerous and serious mistake,” Chris Jones writes. “In the theater, we exempt those otherwise undesirable and illegal activities because we understand they serve a greater good-our need to explore who we are, remember who we were, try out what we may be. If there were no warriors on the stage, there would be far fewer pacifists on the streets. If there were no thugs on stage, there would be fewer civilizing laws in real life.”
Tag: 05.06.07
TV For The Over-The-Hills
“As boomers enter their 50s and 60s, the allure they once held for marketers has faded. The advertisers who spend about $70 billion a year advertising on broadcast, cable and local channels would rather chase the young, and they pay handsomely for the privilege.”
Why Bad Books Are Important Too
“Most of us are familiar with people who make a fetish out of quality: They read only good books, they see only good movies, they listen only to good music, they discuss politics only with good people, and they’re not shy about letting you know it. They think this makes them smarter and better than everybody else, but it doesn’t. It makes them mean and overly judgmental and miserly, as if taking 15 minutes to flip through ‘The Da Vinci Code’ is a crime so monstrous, an offense in such flagrant violation of the sacred laws of intellectual time-management, that they will be cast out into the darkness by the Keepers of the Cultural Flame.”
The Seattle Art Museum’s Brilliant Land Deal
“Not since New York’s Museum of Modern Art doubled its exhibition space in 1984 with the help of a 44-story condo tower next door has any art museum leveraged its land so effectively. And few museums in modern history have created a long-term master plan so thoughtfully and dynamically.”
“Color-Blind” Casting In A Two Way Street
“For most white actors today, roles of color — from the classics to some of the sensational writing that is currently being done for the theater — are not even an option for them, and I’m not sure why. For a time this idea was given the name ‘color-blind’ casting, but the only thing it seemed to be blind to was the fact that it wasn’t a two-way street; it was obviously designed to provide opportunity for minorities rather than put the best person in a role, regardless of color. I suppose this is the notion of equal opportunity rearing its fearsome head again — and if it is, can we stop using the word ‘equal’ in that phrase?”
Seattle Art Museum – New Building, New Presence
“Along with the museum’s ambitious new Olympic Sculpture Park on the shore of Elliott Bay, the $86 million doubling of the downtown museum’s public and gallery spaces also bumps Seattle to a league that once seemed out of reach: It is now a national player, though a firmly regional one, too.”
Which Voices Sing What
“The German word Fach covers a range of meanings, including ‘specialty’ and ‘compartment’. In opera it denotes a system of accepted ideas, now codified, about what kinds of voices should sing which parts. The German opera system distinguishes among some 25 voice types, from lyric coloratura soprano to basso profundo. This kind of compartmentalization never fully works.”
Met At The Movies A Hit With Audiences
The Metropolitan Opera’s moviecasts to theatres around the world have been a big success. “More than 500,000 tickets have been sold to the simulcasts, more than 50,000 of them in North America for the April 28 screening of Puccini’s ‘Il Trittico,’ making it the 15th top-grossing movie in the nation last weekend.”
The American Book Reviews Paradox
“It’s true that while newspapers in other countries (notably Spain) are enhancing their coverage of books, U.S. dailies (and weekly papers, too) have been de-emphasizing or out-and-out eliminating their reporting on, and criticism of newly published works. Illogically, this is happening at the same time as the number of books published in the States has exploded beyond the ability of even conscientious critics to keep up.”
Writers Reviewing (A Death Wish?)
“I am an idiot. Given that publishing honest and thus sometimes unfavourable assessments of the work of colleagues is violently at odds with a writer’s self-interest, it’s surprising that literary editors can cajole any author into reviewing. But then, plenty of writers like me don’t know what’s good for them, and some writers plain need the money.”