“It was both a destination for tourists and it was also our hub, and so we wanted to keep it close to the theater district. And, too, we’re in the business of creating community, and that’s another thing the Drama Book Shop does, and that’s incalculable — I can’t tell you how many creative teams on theater companies say ‘Let’s go meet at the book shop and talk there’.” – The New York Times
Tag: 11.12.19
New Documentary Play Takes On Human Trafficking
“At a table reading of Live Bodies for Sale, a new docudrama about human trafficking in Northeast Ohio, playwright Christopher Johnston addresses the assembled cast and crew. ‘Everybody in this play is real,’ he says. ‘The characters, their monologues, are all taken from what these people have said to me in the time I’ve spent with them. We want to tell their stories.'” – American Theatre
How Do Movies Get Edited For Airlines To Show In-Flight? ‘Recklessly’
“As one editor who has been doing this type of work for 30 years and worked for nearly every major studio in Hollywood tells InsideHook, ‘The studios, outside of the creative groups, are full of people who have zero interest in or understanding of the creative process. They are pushing widgets. … Compromises are made in the name of cost. ‘The scene has nudity AND a key story element? Cut it!”” – InsideHook
Marin Alsop: Baltimore Symphony Has A Creativity Problem
“I find this is a difficult institution to get air time in because we don’t talk about the art first. Nobody ever talks to me. Barely. There’s no place to actually say these things safely, so I’m going to say them here.” – Baltimore Sun
Jan Erik Kongshaug, Revered Recording Engineer, Dead At 75
“[He] helped sculpt the rich and quietly splendorous sound of ECM Records, an influential label that has produced timeless jazz and contemporary classical recordings.” – The New York Times
Are Embassy Officials Using Diplomatic Immunity As Cover For Stealing Art?
Yes, scofflaw diplomats have been a problem for ages (ask any New Yorker who’s been clipped, or worse, by a UN delegate’s car), but over the past few years, artworks have been disappearing from certain embassies in Cairo, DC, Moscow, and other capitals. Some appear to have vanished without trace, and others have turned up at auction houses. – The Art Newspaper
Barnes & Noble Is Starting Its Own Book Of The Year Prize
“As one of the first initiatives under the leadership of new CEO James Daunt, Barnes & Noble has announced the shortlist for a new Book of the Year award. Books are nominated by B&N booksellers, who will also choose the winner. Booksellers are ‘voting for the title for which they are most proud to be selling,’ said Daunt,” who launched a similar prize at the UK chain Waterstones in 2012. – Publishers Weekly
DC’s National Symphony Is Launching Its Own Record Label
“In a collaboration influenced by [music director Gianandrea] Noseda’s role as principal guest conductor for the London Symphony Orchestra, the British symphony’s record label — LSO Live — will distribute the NSO’s new label.” The first release, with Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony and Copland’s Billy the Kid, is due on February 21. – Washingtonian
Zadie Smith Is Writing Her First Play, A Take On Chaucer
The Wife of Willesden will be a monologue giving Smith’s modern spin on The Wife of Bath’s Tale from Canterbury Tales. The piece will premiere next year in her home neighborhood, the northwest London borough of Brent, as part of its programming as London’s Borough of Culture. – The Guardian
The Movement To Turn Away BP’s Money Is Giving Britain’s Arts Fundraisers Heartburn
BBC arts editor Will Gompertz: “It has never been an easy task, but … what has become absolutely clear over the past 12 months is that arts organisations have to up their game when it comes to basic due diligence before accepting a sponsor’s money. It is no longer good enough to check the credentials of the sponsoring company. They now have to make sure the personal values of those who run and own it are compatible with their own charitable objectives.” – BBC