Dear Sam Elliott: As a fan of Westerns, maybe you should check out Zachariah, which "shot back at the genre's fatalistic masculinity by celebrating peace, pacifism and, most remarkably, intimate male friendship." - BBC
As the war in Ukraine enters its second week, cultural institutions worldwide are grappling with the question of whether to boycott Russian artists, in debates reminiscent of those around South Africa during the apartheid era. - The New York Times
The idea was that Gergiev could somehow retract his blatant politicization of music and adopt a purist guise when he walked onstage. In fact, if he had appeared at Carnegie during the invasion, it would have been a Putinist triumph: hard power and soft power operating in tandem. - The New Yorker
Fairly or unfairly, many tech companies with disproportionately young employees and leaders have gone from a shining example of how entrepreneurial capitalism can improve our lives to something that seems unhealthy and even sinister over the past several years. - The Atlantic
“It looks like the entire curriculum is developed to normalize sexuality, normalize nudity and normalize vulgar language,” said Mike Cochran, a school board member. “I think we need to re-look at the entire curriculum.” - The New York Times
It is an unusual production model in European theater, where directors tend to have the final word on every iteration of their work. The goal, Mitchell explained in a video interview, was to figure out new avenues for theater-making in the face of an environmental threat. - The New York Times
Anthony Amore, chief of security for the Gardner museum, tells Boston 25 News that a recent tipster prompted officials to take another look at the murder of career criminal Jimmy Marks, a known career criminal, because the killing may have possible links to the heist. - Smithsonian
"Due to our carefully built relationship," said a statement from the Dutch satellite, "we had access to one of the world's most famous art collections that we could use to complement our exhibitions. ... The recent attack by Russia on Ukraine means that neutrality is no longer tenable." - ARTnews
What is happening here represents just the latest, though perhaps the most glaring, iteration of an age-old conundrum. What expectations do we have — should we have — for artists and other ostensibly nonpolitical actors in a time of crisis? Is it incumbent on literally everyone to declare their allegiances? - San Francisco Chronicle
"Critic Hayley Levitt ... now finds herself in a state of bafflement when a comedy is just for laughs. Critic Zachary Stewart loves a good political play, but lately thinks a lot of creatives have gone too far in putting fashionable politics onstage — often in a cynical way." - TheaterMania
Before the performance, conductor Ivan Velikanov — a star on the Russian music scene hailed as "the new Teodor Currentzis" — came on stage, gave a short speech calling for peace and led the orchestra in Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." The opera followed. - DW
"Hazel" (formally, the Hazel Wright Organ) was the instrument of the Crystal Cathedral, from which Rev. Robert H. Schuller once hosted the Sunday morning show Hour of Power. After years of repair, Hazel is back home in what's now Christ's Cathedral in the Catholic Diocese of Orange County. - AP
Regardless of one’s opinions about Kitty Kelley, or her methodology, there can be no denying that her brand of take-no-prisoners celebrity journalism — the kind that in 2022 bubbles up constantly in social media feeds in the form of TMZ headlines and gossipy tweets — was very much ahead of its time. - The Hollywood Reporter
"His health was failing, but he gave every reading his histrionic last ounce. ... As Ruskin explained it, Dickens 'chooses to speak in a circle of stage fire.' The reason the books are melodramatic is that they are melodrama. If you're looking for something else, read Anthony Trollope." - The New Yorker
In the end, rather than dropping 12 categories altogether from the telecast, the Academy was able to satisfy ABC with the current plan, which will leave the network with more time to restore the sorts of ratings-drivers that were glaringly absent from last year’s telecast. - The Hollywood Reporter
