When the idea and the office of the president was regarded with a sort of reverence, presidential representations were more heroic, historian Dean J. Kotlowski writes, pointing to the “schmaltzy, character-themed biographies” of the 1930s through early ’60s. And in a sort of reversal, where a fictional representation led to a very nonfictional one, researchers Michael P. Rogin and Kathleen Moran note that the political film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington had a strong influence on the nation’s highest office. – JStor
Why It’s Time To Reopen Movie Theaters
“Despite being indoors (a red flag), the sort of behavior engaged in at the movies is, relatively speaking, benign. Patrons who can and should wear a mask for the duration of their visit face the same direction and don’t chatter much. … [And] movie theaters in the age of the coronavirus have placed an almost disconcerting emphasis on safety.” And no one has found a case of COVID transmission directly traceable to a cinema. – The Atlantic
French Mayor Ordered Museums Reopened, COVID Be Damned. French Court Orders Them Closed Again
An administrative court in Montpellier ruled that Louis Aliot, mayor of Perpignan (and Marine Le Pen’s number-two in the far-right party National Rally, and also her ex-partner), could not place his orders above those of President Macron, who instituted the latest lockdown. (Note, however, that we have here a far-right politician who has tweeted publicly that “culture is an essential need that asks only to be expressed.”) – Artnet
Finally: More Money, Resources For Black Theatre?
In the last seven months, there has been a groundswell of support for Black-owned businesses and nonprofits that are focused on specifically and directly helping the Black community. People have recognized that to dismantle a flawed system, we need to invest in a new one. After decades of talk about funding theatres and artists of color, some are finally stepping up with the money. – American Theatre
Claim: The COVID Shutdown Has Revolutionized And Democratized Theatre
“The result is a worldwide swarm of approaches that have profoundly opened up the possibilities of the form, most likely for good. The word ‘theatre’ stands at the starting post, all but outgrown. It now applies as much to something happening in the palm of your hand as it does to an event beamed to you from a thousand miles away. It is hard to think of an art form at any time in history so radically reconsidered and swiftly reformed.” – The Stage
Composer Gets No Play Until She Puts Her Music Out Under Male Pseudonym
A change of name it all started to click. After adopting the pseudonym Arthur Parker her pieces were getting the airplay she had struggled to achieve as a woman. – The Times (UK)
Everyone’s Pivoting – Here’s What’s Relevant To Classical Music
According to Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, there are ten different kinds of pivots. At least six out of them are relevant to classical music. – Ludwig Van
1,000-Year-Old Murals Identified In German Cathedral
“A series of frescoes showing the life and death of John the Baptist in the cathedral of the Bavarian city of Augsburg have been recently dated to the first decade of the 11th century, ranking them among the oldest wall paintings in a medieval church north of the Alps.” – The Art Newspaper
Documentary: Could It Be Years Before Big Music Festivals Return?
“If, like me, you happened to watch the documentary mere hours after hearing that statement, the Glastonbury scene took on a whole different kind of emotional meaning. All of a sudden, it wasn’t so much, “I can’t wait to get back to that,” as, “is that now gone forever?” – Chicago Tribune
COVID Has Shown Us That Theatre Is Too Dependent On Its Buildings
Lyn Gardner: “At their best, [theatre buildings] are creative powerhouses, community hubs, a place of inspiration, succour and sanctuary. But often they come with self-perpetuating, top-down hierarchies” — not to mention burdensome running costs — “and fuel a self-importance around that building that keeps it from connecting with local networks, unknown artists, and from practices that do not conform to the norm. … They are not the only show in town, and maybe their dominance needs to be reconsidered.” – The Stage
How A Bad Joke Ended Up In Canada’s Top Court
Comedian Mike Ward made a bad joke about a teenager with a disability back in 2010. The victim sued and the case is now in the Supreme Court. Many comedians are supporting Ward. “The support comes amid concern in stand-up comedy circles that it’s found itself pulled into the debate around political correctness, free speech, censorship, and cancel culture. There’s a fear of a chilling effect on comedy.” – BBC
To Understand The Problems With Big Tech Platforms We Need To Understand What’s At Risk
Harvesting data at scale makes us collectively vulnerable in ways that go beyond breaches of individual privacy. This is a new and nasty problem: even when individual rights are formally considered (e.g., via privacy consent forms), the consequences for society may be very harmful. – 3 Quarks Daily
Music Critic Peter G. Davis, 84
He was longtime critic for New York Magazine. Peter was best known as an authority on opera — his 1997 book The American Opera Singer is an essential work — but he covered every form of music-making with expertise and panache. – The Rest is Noise
‘Drenching Richness’: Alex Ross Revisits The Films Of Andrei Tarkovsky
Ross fell under the director’s spell upon seeing Andrei Rublev in college. “The long pandemic months seemed a good time to burrow back into Tarkovsky’s world. Life was moving at a neo-medieval pace, and the aesthetic of slowness was all the more welcome in an age of frantic digital scissoring. I watched the films again … [and] I emerged with my admiration undiminished but my idolatry somewhat tempered.” – The New Yorker
Johnny Pacheco, Giant Of Latin Jazz And Salsa, Dead At 85
“Pacheco, a Juilliard-trained multi-instrumentalist who’d found success recording with his band, Pacheco y Su Charanga, sparked a musical revolution when, in 1964, he met Jerry Masucci and together, they founded Fania Records. The two started the label with $5,000, selling albums in Spanish Harlem from the trunks of their cars. Fania soon became known as the Latin Motown, home to superstars like Celia Cruz, Cheo Feliciano and Héctor Lavoe, and the breeding ground for seminal artists in the genre of music that would come to be known as salsa.” – Billboard
How A Young Pianist Learns About The Liszt Sonata From Historic Recordings
“I almost feel like you should know the notable recordings of a work like this,” Benjamin Grosvenor said of the sonata in a recent interview. “More than anything, it helps you understand what works and what doesn’t work. You react to some things positively and you react to some things negatively, and that fuels your imagination.” – The New York Times
The Line Between Audiobook And Theatrical Play
“When different narrators take on chapters devoted to different characters’ points of view, the listener’s engagement with the book can be heightened. On the other hand, when narrators join in together, in what are often referred to as ensemble productions, the text is usurped by performance, the book disappearing into thespian clamor.” – Washington Post
We Worried About Children On The Internet And Completely Forgot About Adults
Honestly, will we never learn? “Americans have expressed their concerns about each new form of media through fears about children and youth. Younger Americans were supposed to be especially vulnerable to undue influence, influence that would come through direct exposure to cheap publications, movies, radio, television, and the internet. Over multiple generations, Americans tried to guide, control, or censor access to these media under cover of this supposedly greater vulnerability. But with every new medium, adults are the real suckers.” – Slate