Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Why Does The Mythology Of The “Lost City of Atlantis” Still Fascinate?
The confrontation is intriguing and raises many issues of which the most basic is the simple question: why has the story of Atlantis –...
Bad At Arguing? Try This
It’s not impossible to make your argument stick. And there’s been some good scientific work on this. Here are two strategies that, based on the...
After 70 Years, London’s “Mousetrap Is Coming To Broadway
On Friday, keen-eyed theatergoers discovered a website for the Broadway iteration, which announced that the murder mystery, whose London production holds the Guinness World Record for the...
This Year’s Oxford “Word Of The Year” To Be Chosen By Public Vote
Voting is now open online, and over the next two weeks English speakers can cast their vote, choosing from three words selected by Oxford University...
UK Orchestra Works With Dementia Patients To Recover Memories
While some with dementia can often feel trapped in the past, some researchers believe the act of creating music - as well as listening...
Disneyland Has Become A Lesser Experience. Iger Should Fix It
In recent years, especially in the months since it reopened after an extended, pandemic-forced closure, the tone of a visit to the Disneyland Resort...
End Of An Era: World’s Longest-Running Annual Musical Theatre Production To End
The musical was staged every year from 1965 to 2019, earning it recognition from Guinness World Records. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a two-year pause,...
Today Marks The 75th Anniversary Of Hollywood’s Blacklist
On that day, the heads of the major studios, with a few notable exceptions, agreed after a contentious two-day conference at the Waldorf-Astoria in...
What “Tar” Demonstrates About The Mythology Of Great Artists
By creating a character who can’t be written off as another predictably problematic man, “Tár” draws our attention to how Lydia learned to become...
The Audiophile’s Agony: Just What Is “Perfect” Sound?
I do know that the word “accuracy” in the context of audio means reproducing the master recording faithfully, but this always seemed like an...
What, Exactly, Were Music Critics?
The rapport between artist and critic has historically ranged from affable to antagonistic to utterly bizarre. - The New Republic
Just What Are Literary Studies Trying To Accomplish?
One of the main determinants of the vulnerability of literary studies, and hence of the compensating over-ambitiousness of the justification offered for it, is...
Museums’ Big New Security Concern: Which Visitors Might Attack Art?
With the attacks showing no sign of abating, museum directors across Europe are settling into a nervous new equilibrium, fearful for the works in...
Iger’s Return Is A Chance For Disney To Pivot Strategies
The change in leadership gives Iger the opportunity to swerve away from Chapek’s fixation on Disney+. A similar redirection occurred this year at Warner...
Parent Gets School Library To Remove All Its Graphic Novels
All graphic novels in the school library’s collection were recalled after parent Tim Reiland took issue with the school letting his teenage daughter borrow Blankets,...
“Gangnam Style” Blew Up The Internet. Its Creator Had A Tough Time After That
The video, which now has some 4.6 billion views, was so culturally pervasive in 2012 that Barack Obama was asked about it on Election Day. NASA...
Mark Williams On Being The First Black Man To Lead A Major North American...
"I’m not saying we shouldn’t address it; we are where we are, and we have to talk about it. But it’s difficult being the...
John von Rhein Remembers Ned Rorem
Rorem came across as an artist of disarming candor, fierce intelligence, urbane wit and, above all, enormous personal charm. We hit it off immediately and,...
Forecast: Theatre Fortunes Will Be Rough This Coming Year
By 2022, according to the same survey, 30 percent of responding theaters were projecting deficit operating budgets, and there’s a huge increase in that...
Buffalo’s Albright-Knox Completes Expansion, Will Reopen With A New Name
A $20 million commitment from New York State, announced Monday by Gov. Kathy Hochul, completes the Buffalo museum’s $230 million capital campaign, believed to...
Orchestras Are Beginning To Tour Again
With the mass introduction of vaccines, the decline in infections, and the lifting of travel restrictions, orchestras have already taken to the road, with...
New Women Directors At Three Big Ballet Companies
As three celebrated, longtime directors depart these companies, the entrance of women is proving that female directors are staking a firm claim in a...
The Number Of College Students In America Is About To Fall In A Precipitous...
In four years, the number of students graduating from high schools across the country will begin a sudden and precipitous decline, due to a...
In Praise Of Monotony
As one gets older and realizes that most of life’s good stuff is contained between two ledger entries, one sees that if it weren’t...
The Theatre World Never Really Understood The Subversive Side Of Lorraine Hansberry
The subversive intent of Hansberry’s art and activism has long been underestimated. Early reviews of Raisin, which debuted in 1959 and made Hansberry the first Black...