“Tired of seeing white politicians ‘black up’ for a children’s post-Christmas street parade, almost 62,000 people have signed an online petition demanding that Madrid council choose a black man to play the role of Balthazar in the city’s Three Kings cavalcade next week.”
The Death of the Artist – And the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur
“Hard-working artisan, solitary genius, credentialed professional – the image of the artist has changed radically over the centuries. What if the latest model to emerge means the end of art as we have known it?” William Deresiewicz, who caused a stir this past summer with an essay arguing that Ivy League colleges were overrated and their undergrads were timid “sheep”, lays out the problem as he sees it.
Cracking The Sitcom Formula
When Noah Charney (a U.S. expat in Slovenia) was asked to write a sitcom for Croatian TV, he said yes, despite knowing little about either Croatia or sitcoms. As he learned from lots of Googling and watching old shows online, he learned that “there is a highly-specific, minute-by-minute recipe used to write the vast majority of sitcoms out there. And once you know the formula, it makes it much easier to write them, and much harder to watch them.”
Cabaret Is Enjoying A Mini-Renaissance, But It Might Not Be Long For This World
“Fitful attempts to bring cabaret to television in a variety-show format have fizzled. The pace of contemporary life is too fast and too loud to showcase new, rising talent in an intimate, convivial atmosphere. Nowadays, singing on television is a competitive sport.”
Paying (In Security, Interruptions, Incessant Photos) For Celebrities On Broadway
“New audiences, however, have sparked new security needs, particularly around the stage door that cast members use to enter and exit the theater. Fans, sometimes ones who didn’t attend the production, flock to them, so that most Broadway stage doors are now flanked by steel barricades.”
Before ‘Google It,’ We Had ‘Call The Reference Librarian’
“Here’s one salacious example: ‘I went to a New Year’s Eve Party and unexpectedly stayed over. I don’t really know the hosts. Ought I to send a thank-you note?’ asked a ‘somewhat uncertain female voice’ during a mid-afternoon telephone call on New Year’s Day, 1967.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs For 12.28.14
This Art Map Will Startle You
AJBlog: Real Clear ArtsPublished 2014-12-28
Ruskin’s Influence on Ives
AJBlog: PostClassicPublished 2014-12-28
Price discrimination in the air
AJBlog: For What it’s WorthPublished 2014-12-26
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In Less Than A Year, Los Angeles Will Have Its New Broad Museum
“I’m working with what you would call a curator’s dollhouse of my own. We had a big decision to make about how to arrange the walls, especially of the third-floor galleries, because we have complete flexibility up there, 35,000 square feet and no columns, and there’s nothing dictating where the walls will go.”