“With Harriet Tubman coming to the American $20 bill, and other changes being made to the look of money in the United States, the design of dollars is once again set to evolve. But our current bills still hold many of the symbols and motifs that existed in our earliest paper money, the Colonial and Continental currencies.”
Why Are People Flocking To Improv Classes? Because It Makes Them Better People
Julie Brister, a teacher at Upright Citizens Brigade: “I think improv helps people become better humans. It makes people listen better. Improv rules are life rules. And so, if a lot more people are taking improv, a lot more people are being thoughtful in their daily life about how they interact with each other.”
Tolstoy *Hated* Shakespeare – Partly For The Things We Love Shakespeare For Today
“What frustrated Tolstoy the most was how Shakespeare neglected to furnish his characters with clear reasons for their actions, how he left a play’s meanings and intentions ambiguous.”
China Shuts Down Apple’s iBooks And iTunes Movies
“Initially, Apple apparently had the government’s approval to introduce the services. But then a regulator, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, asserted its authority and demanded the closings … just six months after they were started there.”
David Finckel And Wu Han To Stay With Chamber Music Society Of Lincoln Center Through 2021-22
“The extension ensures that Mr. Finckel, a cellist, and Ms. Wu, a pianist, who are married and who took over the artistic leadership of the society in 2004, will remain in their posts through the society’s 50th anniversary season, which will begin in the fall of 2019.”
There’s A New Update Of Pride And Prejudice, Including Bingley As A Former Reality-Show Contestant
“Certain critics have balked at Sittenfeld’s irreverently contemporary retelling of what many consider Austen’s masterpiece. But I found Eligible to be a lot of fun—a novel of manners recast as a novel of terrible manners.”
The Most Underappreciated Job In Orchestral Music Is Being Outsourced To iPads
“The only time anyone takes notice of what you are doing is when something goes terribly wrong. The more perfect one is at turning pages or being an air traffic controller, the less we even notice they are there.”
The Author Of ‘Headscarves And Hymens’ Explains How To Fight Oppression
“We are post-nothing. If anything, the past few in this country have taught us that we’re not post-racism, we’re not post-sexism, we are post-nothing.”
Wait, The Victoria & Albert Has Banned *Sketching*?
“The rule is implemented for logistical reasons: the V&A anticipates long lines for the underwear-filled exhibition, and artists sketching skivvies for prolonged periods may cause traffic to get bunched up in the galleries.”
Hamilton’s Original Cast Will Be Getting Royalties, But Should They?
“Why should Miranda get 10 percent, plus his salary as a performer, while Diggs remains merely a salaried dude? Did they not collaborate?”
Hollywood, Why Still #SoWhite?
“Hollywood’s argument is circular: If Asian-Americans — and other minority actors more broadly — are not even allowed to be in a movie, how can they build the necessary box office clout in the first place? To make matters worse, instead of trying to use their lofty positions in the industry to push for change, Hollywood players like Mr. Landis and Mr. Sorkin take the easy, cynical path.”
A Gloriously Revitalized ‘Gallery Of The Maps’ At The Vatican
“In the 16th century, Pope Gregory assigned the monk and geographer Ignazio Danti to carry out the project. In turn, Danti hired several artistic stars of the day and up-and-comers as well to illustrate the maps, including Girolamo Muziano, Cesare Nebbia and the Flemish brothers Matthijs and Paul Bril. The Brils excelled at landscape paintings—an essential skill for the work.”
Is Life In Hollywood Getting Any Easier For Women Older Than 50?
Sally Field says no: “To have a long-term career, you have to go for whatever material comes along. Since I’m older, and female, the journey has led me all over the place.”
Let’s Talk About The (Game-Changing, Yes, We Said It) New San Francisco MoMA
“SFMOMA is about to rise high up the table of art museums and become an unmissable attraction on the west coast. Without doubt this achievement is in part a product of the money-fuelled transformation of the Bay Area – and the gallery’s expansion is unlikely to silence the increasingly loud talk of how the tech industry has stripped San Francisco of its culture and its soul.”
Imagine (If You Can) Being Lin-Manuel Miranda Right Now
“Miranda’s extraordinary success is a boon to an insecure industry hungry for heroes. Theater has long been receding as a popular art form; while it’s a tourist magnet in New York, elsewhere it’s become a fairly esoteric habit for a relatively small though devoted elite.”
Can A Canadian Lawyer Save The Reputation Of Salieri?
“The rest of us who saw 1984’s Amadeus were prepared to accept at face value playwright Peter Shaffer and director Milos Forman’s portrait of Salieri as a mediocrity who despised Mozart’s God-given talent, and who thus wreaked revenge on the innocent genius. Not Kyer.”
Lucien Freud’s Estate Settles Tax Bill With A Self-Portrait
“The unfinished oil on canvas, thought to date from the mid-1980s, will settle £559,773 of tax. Arts Council England, which administers the acceptance in lieu scheme, said the portrait fragment had only been discovered recently.”
Prince Was A Big Ballet Fan. He Had A Major Impact On The Joffrey
Today, the great success of “Billboards” remains a cautionary tale. A ballet company needs to approach a radical new direction with care, and a view to the future. But what also remains is the generosity and inspiration of a singular musical artist, who saw new possibilities for classical ballet. Prince knew that ballet could tell a lot of stories, and he helped spin them in new directions.
Prince, Technologist, Luddite (But Always In Control)
“Sometimes he hated technology; sometimes he loved it. But more than that, at his best Prince was technology, a musician who realized that making music was not his only responsibility, that his innovation had to extend to representation, distribution, transmission and pure system invention.”
Art-Dealer-To-The-Celebs Arrested In Los Angeles
“Perry Rubenstein, 62, was arrested late Thursday in Santa Monica, more than a month after prosecutors filed charges alleging three felony counts of grand theft by embezzlement. The complaint requested that he be held on $1-million bail.”
Parisians Greet New Les Halles Canopy In Parisian Style – With A Shrug
“Three weeks after the anxious official unveiling … and five years after construction began, the appraisal of skeptical Parisians, it seems, is like the face the city presents to the world: reserved and critical, but not unwelcoming. At least, they are learning to live with it, if only because it is going nowhere.”
While All Britain Fetes Shakespeare, Spain’s Cervantes Celebrations Fall Short
“Spanish officials have been accused of not doing enough to promote Cervantes, … [and] the criticism has taken on a distinctly political flavor. … Spanish officials insist that such criticism is misplaced, saying the government never sought to take full control over how Cervantes should be honored, nor foot the entire bill for the celebration.”
Met’s Money Woes And MoMA’s Millions: Today’s Art World In Microcosm
“Modern and contemporary art dominate the action these days – in auction houses and galleries, as well as museums. Everyone wants in, including a revered institution like the Met, which is striving to play catch-up even as it is struggling to pay the bills.”
Maurice Sendak’s Only Known Mural Gets A New Home
“Painted originally in 1961 in the bedroom of New York City’s Chertoff children – Nina and Larry – and moved to the Rosenbach several years ago, the mural now promises to catch the eyes of borrowers at the … Free Library of Philadelphia’s new branch, opening soon at Broad and Morris Streets in South Philadelphia.”