“Over fruit salad and cool drinks, the pair discussed the childhood difficulties that drew them to acting; their shared commitment to young people at risk and L.G.B.T. issues; and the emotional dividends of that work, as well as becoming role models to younger women of color and gay men.”
After Orlando: Nine LGBTQ Writers Reflect On Finding ‘Home’
“In an effort to create more space for healing and solidarity, to help articulate a more peaceful and just world, CF has invited a number of LGBTQ-identified writers to respond to this question: Can you tell us about a time that you felt at home in your identity? Home is a complicated notion, as several of our contributors note, and it’s ultimately inadequate to the task of realizing justice – but it is a powerful idea.”
Inside Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Final ‘Hamilton’
“In the ticketholders line were the people who had gone to extremes or paid thousands of dollars just to see the production that night. One attendee said she’d paid $3,500 for the chance to catch the show a second time before the original cast left, while others in the line had camped out overnight for cancellations. Here and there were the lucky winners of the day’s ticket lottery. “I’m the unicorn!” one of them declared happily.”
There Is Badness In The World. We’re Closer To It Than Ever. How To Deal With It?
“Social media makes the joy, suffering and anger of millions of people feel like our own. That is empowering and overwhelming. Social media also gives us the illusion that we can be effective merely by talking or feeling. The technology of this new form of mass communion has probably developed faster than our emotional capacity to process it. We do, however, have a tried and true method of communion with other people, the past and things that are foreign or unsettling to us: These include art and literature and honest colloquy, in which people speak not for victory but for truth and understanding.”
A Fiery Consideration Of Alexei Ratmansky’s Choices For Misty Copeland
“Watching Copeland dance ‘Firebird’ at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, we saw a wonderful ballerina come to terms with a not-so-wonderful role. To begin with, you, Mr. Ratmansky, assigned to other American Ballet Theatre dancers much of the music that Igor Stravinsky composed for her character.”
Who Gets Garcia Lorca’s Papers?
“The legacy of Federico García Lorca’s hostilities with government lives on these days through his family, whose members are tangling with officials over control of a new $25 million center built to honor García Lorca, the playwright and poet who was executed by firing squad during the Spanish Civil War.”
When Your Drawing Class Model Is A Sex Worker
“Squeezing in between a young female art student and a hairy guy, I picked up my pencil and waited for the sex to begin. It didn’t.”
Carrying A Lot More Than Her Crown As The Newest Disney Princess
“Few matters in entertainment are as fraught as the Disney princesses, a dozen or so characters led by Cinderella and Snow White that mint money for the Walt Disney Company but also are cultural lightning rods. People who love the princesses (they’re pretty and live happily ever after!) and those who despise them (they promote negative female stereotypes and unrealistic body images!) square off endlessly.”
The Small-Picture Problems That Add Up To Existential Crises
“Cheryl Strayed is really interesting. She’s very sure of herself, confident, a very healthy enlightened person. I am much more of a wreck that she is. I think both have a lot of wisdom to share, but her style is different because I think she’s had her shit together for much longer than I have, frankly. For example, I wouldn’t dream of camping alone under any circumstances. I’m a chickenshit. Our biology is different. I would not walk that far. Without Cheetos.”
What’s It Like To Take Over From Theatre’s Current Super Famous Guy? Ask #Javilton
“Already, he has a reputation and a fan base. He’s been described as the sexy Hamilton because of the swagger he brings to the role, and Mr. Miranda bestowed on him a hashtag-nickname, Javilton, that has stuck.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs For 07.10.16
London’s my city. Always has been and (I hope) always will. I’m a grandchild of immigrants, and grandchild too of a rootless, vicious century which has played havoc with the idea of home. Home … read more
AJBlog: Performance MonkeyPublished 2016-07-10
AJBlog: Performance MonkeyPublished 2016-07-10
The generations move on. It’s a sad part of an observer’s task to acknowledge the deaths of musicians who made important contributions. Pianist Don Friedman died of pancreatic cancer at home in New York City … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2016-07-09
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2016-07-09
The Road to Dancer Hell
The American Dance Institute presents Jack Ferver’s I Want You To Want Me.Jack Ferver’s I Want You To Want Me. ( L to R): Jack Ferver, Barton Cowperthwaite, Carling Talcott-Steenstra, Reid Bartelme, and their … read more
AJBlog: DancebeatPublished 2016-07-08
The American Dance Institute presents Jack Ferver’s I Want You To Want Me.Jack Ferver’s I Want You To Want Me. ( L to R): Jack Ferver, Barton Cowperthwaite, Carling Talcott-Steenstra, Reid Bartelme, and their … read more
AJBlog: DancebeatPublished 2016-07-08
Almanac: Tolstoy on love and happiness
“Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.” Leo Tolstoy,War and Peace (trans. Louise and Aylmer Maude) … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2016-07-08
“Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.” Leo Tolstoy,War and Peace (trans. Louise and Aylmer Maude) … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2016-07-08
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This Week In Audience: What Audiences Want (And How They Want It) Edition
This week: How do you keep the immersive experience “art”?… Screens are killing dance (unless they’re not)… A Music store that’s figured out community… The Louisville Symphony tries a new community model… Now audio is beating video – who knew?
Five Highlights From Last Week’s AJ: Ethics, Success, And Documentation Edition
This week: What ethical responsibilities do funders and funded have to one another?… The gatekeeper problem is still a thing in the internet age… What should the measure of success be in opera?… Historians are going to have a real problem documenting today’s artists… Our all-image culture suggests the place of images in art may be changing.
Prizewinning Writer Says African Authors Must Diversify – And Publish Their Own Journals – To Survive
“We have to be persistent even with little resources because there are so many stories to tell and no one else to tell them.”
You Can Still Watch The ‘Hamilton’ Original Cast Final Curtain Call
“As the crowd gave the cast a standing ovation, the four departing actors hit center stage and bowed to fans. Then, as the orchestra played the theme from The West Wing, Miranda himself grabbed the spotlight alone, and nodded to the audience one last time.”
Saying Goodbye To Lin-Manuel Miranda As ‘Hamilton’
“Despite the rain, many people were reluctant to leave, greeting other cast members at the stage door and holding out for another possible appearance by Mr. Miranda. Inside, he had gotten his hair cut, now that he no longer needed to keep it long for the role.”
How To Keep Your Immersive Theater Piece From Feeling Like A Glorified Theme Party
“[Director/designer Michael Counts] prefers to throw his audience into the action cold, toying with their minds, blurring the line between the actual and the merely apparent. ‘Reality doesn’t give you a lot of information,’ he said. ‘Often you sit in a place of wonder and mystery, and you’re trying to figure it out. And that actually enhances your agency.’ In an escape room, it also enhances your fear factor, which is fine by him. He wants people to feel like the danger is real.”