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I Was At The Auditions For “Shortbus”, John Cameron Mitchell’s Sex Movie

Back in 2003, journalist Mark Harris had been going to write a book about the film and its process; now, as Shortbus is being reissued, he's revisited his notebooks. "This is going to be complicated. BOUNDARIES." - New York Magazine

How Alternative Art Spaces Changed LA

Despite the chorus of mainstream voices that had written off Los Angeles as essentially devoid of noteworthy cultural activity, the 1970s gave rise to one of the city’s most important art-historical developments of the latter half of the 20th century: a flourishing network of alternative spaces. - Hyperallergic

On Transitioning From Porn To Standup Comedy (Yes, This Is A Thing)

"Despite being seemingly worlds apart, comedy and porn have always been linked in some form or another. From the goofy humor of X-rated spoofs to … edgy comics who live to shock the prude out of us, both styles of entertainment require a certain level of fearlessness." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)

The Taylor Swift Debacle — Why Questioning Her Authorship Is A Dumb Idea

Calling out fellow songwriters for not writing their own material is bad form for musicians, particularly so given that the definition of songwriting has become ever more fluid over time, and depends greatly on the genre of music. - The Conversation

Two Of This Year’s Most Eagerly Awaited Cookbooks Are Now At The Bottom Of The Ocean

Turkey and the Wolf, from the much-heralded New Orleans sandwich shop, was due to drop next month; New York Times columnist Melissa Clark's Dinner in One was to appear in March. But the copies were on a ship that lost 60 of its containers overboard. - Grub Street

Does Passing Down Ballet Tradition Hinder Advancement Of The Art Form?

“We’ve been told forever that what you receive from your teachers, you are then passing on to your students. And I think in that way we are losing the accumulation of new research and information. As the information changes, sometimes we stay attached to our old language.” - Pointe

English Teachers In Britain Say They Need More Diverse Books In The Curriculum

"Asked which changes to the English syllabus they felt would most help their students, 80% of secondary school teachers, and 69% of primary school teachers, said they wanted more diverse and representative set texts." 99% of British students graduate without having studied a book by a nonwhite author. - The Guardian

Data Scientists Set About Completing Beethoven’s Tenth Symphony. In The Process…

"I have spent the past two years immersed in writing a book about the man and his music. Beethoven’s most appealing feature is his progressive impetus, his need to flout precedent, to prick the pompous and kick the fools. The new AI confection is made by ticking digital boxes." - The Critic

At Daniel Barenboim’s Berlin State Opera, Things Are More Strained Than Ever

"For decades, Barenboim and the Staatskapelle shared common interests. Now, 'til death do us part' has become a burden. Complicating the dynamics of this stagnant marriage is a third party: Berlin's Culture Department, … (seemingly) unable to intervene in the quagmire at the Staatsoper." - Van

Justin Peck Got His New Dance Piece From His Baby Daughter

"We came up with the structural pattern that starts the ballet!" said the choreographer, who had been moving around building blocks with his toddler while listening to Caroline Shaw's Partita for 8 Voices — which is now the work's score, with sets by Eva LeWitt (Sol's daughter). - The New York Times

What’s Going To Happen To Chicago’s Amazing Theater Scene As COVID Stretches Into A Third Year?

"Has one of the great theater cities on the planet just suffered the kind of blow that may require a recovery time of years?" asks Chris Jones. "Certain truths seem to have revealed themselves" — and not only that one can't predict the course of a virus. - MSN (Chicago Tribune)

Jad Abumrad Is Leaving “Radiolab”

"It's a momentous occasion, but for close observers, this development doesn't entirely come out of nowhere. … Radiolab isn't going anywhere, and Abumrad has left the show in capable hands." - Vulture

Seattle Symphony Crisis: Board Chair Digs In

The exodus of two-thirds of both administrative staff and board members — culminating in the resignation of music director Thomas Dausgaard — since the arrival of CEO Krishna Thiagarajan just over three years ago indicates a problem. What's happening now is not how a healthy organization would handle things. - Post Alley (Seattle)

Perfectly Intact 2,000-Year-Old Glass Bowl Discovered In The Netherlands

Archaeologists unearthed the blue vessel in Nijmegen, the country's oldest city, while doing excavation work for a green housing project. - ARTnews

United States Artists Announces Its 2022 Class Of Fellows

The 63 recipients of unrestricted $50,000 grants are spread across ten disciplines: architecture and design, craft, dance, film, media, music, theater and performance, traditional arts, visual art, and writing. - United States Artists

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