A couple of weeks ago, HBO announced a series called Confederate, depicting an independent 21st-century Confederacy (the South won) where slavery is still legal. (There’s been a lot of queasiness and worse about this project on social media, not least because the producers, the Game of Throines guys, are white, although the head writers are black.) Meanwhile, Amazon has been developing a series titled Black America, in which ex-slaves were given Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and created the nation of New Colonia, which has been the United States’ neighbor and frenemy for 150 years.
Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra Closes Down
“The decision follows a Board vote in April to suspend operations for the 2017-18 season, pending a review of the organization’s prospects.”
Met Museum Turns Over A Second Ancient Artwork To Police
“Manhattan prosecutors have taken custody of an ancient bull’s head that was on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art because of concerns that the antiquity was looted from a Lebanese storage area in the 1980s during Lebanon’s civil war. … Last week, the Met surrendered an ancient vase that it bought at auction in 1989 because of concerns that it might have been looted from Italy.”
Harold Williams, Founding CEO Of J. Paul Getty Trust, Dead At 89
In his 17 years there, he oversaw the construction of the hilltop Getty Center and led it to become one of the country’s most-visited museums; he also more than tripled the Trust’s endowment.
And The World’s Next Super-High-Profile Shakespeare Production Will Be –
Kenneth Branagh directing his theatre company in Hamlet with Tom Hiddleston in the title role. Reporter Nick Clark has the details.
Buenos Aires Herald, South America’s Only English Daily, Closes After 140 Years
Launched by a Scottish immigrant to Argentina in 1876, the paper became famous for its coverage of the “Dirty War” (1976-83), which the city’s Spanish newspapers wouldn’t touch. Less than a year ago, the Herald had switched to a weekly schedule and laid off most of its employees.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.01.17
Bard SummerScape’s latest operatic resurrection: Dvorák’s long, bloody Dmitrij
Dmitrij is an opera that keeps growing before your very ears. And growing. And growing, until you have some of the most dramatically apt music Dvorák ever wrote for the stage. … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2017-08-01
Memo to Berkshire Museum: Homeless National Academy Suspends Its School, Slashes Price for Its Posh Digs
The Berkshire Museum’s self-proclaimed deaccession-or-die desperation measure has triggered traumatic flashbacks to the National Academy’s failed attempt to secure its future by selling off important works by Frederic Edwin Church and Sanford Robinson Gifford … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-08-01
Take it from an old friend, Bob, you just gotta see this
Girl from the North Country, which has just opened at the Old Vic, is not easy to describe. Other theatrical events have had strange origins – for example, most of Peter Sellar’s oeuvre, … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2017-08-01
The NYC Influence
Over time, various cities emerge as strongholds of finance: Venice, Zurich, Edinburgh, Singapore, Hong Kong. These cities, though they have many other characteristics, have been known for taking a leadership role at some point in … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2017-07-31
Kurt Weill in 2017
“Wherever I found decency and humanity in the world, it reminded me of America.” That this observation – recorded by Kurt Weill in 1947 – rings hollow in 2017 does not diminish the fascination … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2017-07-30
Remembering Sam Shepard, An “Accessible Demigod”
Charles McNulty: “Not everyone will agree with my assessment that he was America’s best dramatist since Williams. But as someone who has taught playwriting for years, I can say that, if Samuel Beckett has been the god of modern theater, Shepard has been the more accessible demigod who has inspired more young talents in the last few decades than any other.”
Do You Really Need A Fine Arts Degree? And Other Questions Answered By Star Arts Pupils
“Three graduates of New World School of the Arts in Miami” – composer and orchestrator Alex Lacamoire (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen), actor Cote de Pablo (NCIS), and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney (The Brother/Sister Plays trilogy and the screenplay for Moonlight) – share advice for students interested in pursuing a dream.”
London’s Next Hot Male Ballet Star Bangs The Drum For His Art Form In His Homeland
Isaac Hernández, now a principal at English National Ballet after stints with ABT II, San Francisco Ballet, and Dutch National Ballet, grew up taking classes from his father with his 10 siblings in a studio in their house in Guadalajara. Now, in between his company work in London and on tour, he flies home to Mexico and organizes both professional ballet performances and a pair of dance schools in poor barrios.
Stolen 17th-Century Italian Altarpiece Was Rolled Up In A Carpet (Yes, It’s Damaged)
The 10’x6′ painting by Guercino was stolen from its home in a Modena church in 2014 and found and seized by police earlier this year in Casablanca. Officials say it has lost 30% of its pigment.