Ben Brantley: “For centuries, [an] overwrought approach was widely considered great acting and frequently rewarded with prizes. (Just check the list of Oscar winners over the years.) Such performances, after all, are as dramatic as all get-out … What they don’t do, as a general rule, is lure you into the mind of the afflicted character.”
Tag: 07.07.11
The 18 Attributes of Highly Effective Liars
“[A] team of scientists, led by Dutch psychologist Aldert Vrij , believes that it has identified the precise ingredients of ‘good liars’.”
Global Smurfs Day: An On-The-Scene Report
“At the face-painting station, women are helping children get their blue-face on and grown men are painting each other, giggling. Some men choose to work alone, setting about their task with gravity. … Dazed, silent children in floppy Smurfgear – dragged along by gleeful blue 20- and 30-somethings – are consoled only by the promise of raffled-off chocolate.”
Writer Of Opera Demands Apology Over Canceled Opera
“The writer at the centre of a row over a cancelled community opera that sparked accusations of homophobia is considering legal action against the local council, even after Opera North announced in a dramatic U-turn that it would go ahead with the production.”
Opera North Reverses – Will Present Canceled Opera
“We have been able to keep this project on track thanks to intense negotiations behind the scenes with all parties.”
Remembering Cy Twombly
“His work was in many ways infinitely more basic, even primitive, in its emphasis on direct old-fashioned mark making, except that his feverish scribbles and calligraphic scrawls made that process seem new and electric. And part of that electricity came from his ecstatic response to history, literature and other art, and the raw emotionalism that his mark making conveyed.”
Surprise: Music Recordings Sales Up In 2011
According to Nielsen SoundScan’s midyear sales report, which was released on Wednesday, 155.5 million albums were sold in the United States in the first six months of 2011, up 1 percent from the 153.9 million albums sold at the same time last year.
Rock Star Lawsuit Against Tony Awards Is Moved To New York
“In his lawsuit Brett Michaels said the accident had led to a hemorrhage he had near his brain, for which he was treated in early 2010 and which required him to cancel several concerts (though it did not prevent him from winning “Celebrity Apprentice”). He also said CBS could have chosen not to show the accident, which became a widely circulated Internet clip.”
A Dance Legend Retires (In Top Form)
Sylvie Guillem’s latest appearance on the London stage has been applauded by the critics, one of whom said the 46-year-old was “still one of the most astonishing dancers on stage today”.
In Detroit – Art To The Masses
“The Detroit Institute of Arts has installed nearly 80 high-quality, life-size reproductions of some of its greatest paintings in 11 cities in southeastern Michigan. In its second year, the Inside/Out initiative is bringing a taste of the DIA to the masses where they live, work, shop and play. DIA leaders hope to woo new visitors downtown to visit the original paintings once they’ve seen the copies in their own backyard.”