Front Page
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Was Malcolm Rogers the MFA's Greatest Director
By Far Its Most Controvesial
By: - Jul 01st, 2020When the British born Malcolm Rogers took over the Museum of Fine Arts in 1994 it had a $4.5 million annual deficit and was generally moribund. It was better than he found it when he departed in 2015. He left a bricks and mortar legacy of The American Wing designed by Lord Norman Foster. Under a mantra of One Museum, however, he dismantled the traditional departments, fired renowned curators, or forced them to leave. He created a structure of mega departments staffed by cooperative curators. The current director, Matthew Teitelbaum, inherited a debt of $140 million and is tasked with mending curatorial fences.
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Woodie King Jr., Andre De Shields, Chuck Smith
Three Men Rap Their Truth
By: - Jul 01st, 2020What a month to hear black men, and women too, at the top of their game in theater, talk about their journeys to success. As Andre De Shields told the world when he won his first Tony at age 73, "the slowest way is how to get where you want to be." Chuck Smith is a resident director at the Goodman in Chicago. Woodie King Jr. founded the New Federal Theater fifty years ago.
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Lawrence Brownlee from Home on Being Black
A Formidable Tenor Speaks Openly About race
By: - Jun 29th, 2020Lawrence Brownlee sang a two-part concert at the Park Avenue Armory in 2017. In the Officer's Room he performed the bel canto arias we have come to associate with him. He is entirely comfortable. And he is sure that Bellini would welcome him, black or not, in any role. He moved to the Veteran's Room for the second part of the program. There he performed pop songs, gospel and folk. He was less comfortable in the more relaxed atmosphere. Now with downtime he discusses race.
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Broadway to Remain Dark
Perhaps Reopens in January
By: - Jun 29th, 2020Broadway League announces further suspension of performances—all the way through Sunday, January 3, 2021. The same is true for Off-Broadwayj shows.
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Watch 'Hamilton' from Home
Musical Streams on Disney Plus
By: - Jun 29th, 2020Starting Friday, you can watch Hamilton's original Broadway cast on Disney Plus. The musical's debut on Disney Plus comes right in time for the Fourth of July. You'll need to subscribe to Disney Plus in order to watch the production. This is not a film adaptation of the musical. A film crew captured a live performance of the original Broadway production.
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ATCA Statement of Action
Critics Support Anti-Racist Organization
By: - Jun 27th, 2020While Broadway and American Theatre are closed from now until whenever It is a time of reflection, accountability and change. The American Theatre Critics Association acknowledges but does not codone and pledges to end instance of racism by some of our members. Moving forward ATCA will strive to be an anti-racist organization that embraces diversity and inclusion.
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Woolf Works Streaming from the Royal Ballet
Wayne McGregor and Max Richter Join in Storytelling
By: - Jun 26th, 2020The Royal Ballet's #OurHousetoYourHouse premieres a stream of Wayne McGregor's Woolf Works, featuring music by Max Richter and inspired by the writings of Virginia Woolf. It won the Olivier and the Critic's Circle Awards for Dance in 2015. Allesandra Ferri dances Woolf.
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MOMA Streams Salacia by Tourmaline
Transgender Life in 1830 Seneca Village
By: - Jun 25th, 2020Salacia is a short film made by Tourmaline, a transgender artist who discovered a compatriot in a New York City Village located in Manhattan in 1830. It was one of the few places in America that black people could own land and vote. It was taken by eminent domain to make way for Central Park.
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Daniel Chester French and Minute Man's Model
All in the Family
By: - Jun 25th, 2020Isaac Davis, Captain of the Acton troops was the model for the Minute Man. He was the first officer killed on April 19, 1775. The statute is placed on the ground on which he died.
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Chesterwood to Open Soon
Berkshire Home of Daniel Chester French
By: - Jun 25th, 2020Chesterwood, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation since 1969, was the former summer home, studio and gardens of Daniel Chester French (1850-1931), one of America’s foremost 20th century public sculptors. Although French is best known for his statues of the Minute Man in Concord, Massachusetts and the seated figure of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., he also had a passion and talent for garden and landscape design.
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The American Robot: A Cultural History
Book by Dustin A. Abnet
By: - Jun 24th, 2020Robots are with us, in fact, for the future and in decades of industry and popular culture. Dustin A. Abnet, assistant professor of American studies at Cal State Fullerton, takes us on a serious tour of robots in American industry and culture in his new book, The American Robot: A Cultural History.
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Orchestra of St. Luke's Presents Bach at Home
Delightful Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 Launches Series
By: - Jun 24th, 2020Musicians return to Bach as a home base. He is not only fundamental, but a composer of sheer beauty, delight and even complexity. As listeners, we can return with the Orchestra of St. Luke's to a series of online concerts for our home bound performance time.
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Editor Chris Busa at 73
Published 35 Years of Provincetown Arts Magazine
By: - Jun 23rd, 2020Chris Busa, the son of the abstract expressionist, Peter Busa, cast a long shadow over the Provincetown artist’s colony. The 35th anniversary issue of Provincetown Arts Magazine will soon include a memorial to its publisher. He passed away in June 20 at the age of 73. We spoke and collaborated often here is an interview from April, 2015,
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Theodore E. Stebbins of the MFA
Former Curator of American Painting
By: - Jun 22nd, 2020MFA director Jan Fontein first apppointed John Walsh as curator of European Paintings then Theodore E. Stebbins as curator of American Paintings. In this first of our two part coverage Stebbins discusses the M&M Karolik and William H. and Saundra Lane collections. On his watch Stebbins acquired major American, modern and contemporary works. His legacy for the museum and in the field is formidable.
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Inaugural Antonyo Awards
Celebrating Black Theater
By: - Jun 22nd, 2020The Antonyo Awards debuted recently with a spirited ceremony marked by a celebratory aura. Tina: The Tina Turner Musical won "Best Musical" honors.
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Theodore E. Stebbins MFA Two
Pollock's Troubled Queen Among Many Acquisitions
By: - Jun 20th, 2020When John Walsh left for the Getty Museum, and with a hiatus in the contemporary department, Theodore E. Stebbins, chaired three departments. He seized the opportunity to acquire American and European modern and contemporary art. There were huge gaps to fill when works that now command millions were relatively affordable.
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Maria Scarpini, Artist and Set Designer
Color is Her Tool
By: - Jun 19th, 2020Maria Scarpini is multi-faceted to put it mildly. She is a trained restorer of old master paintings, monuments and frescos. She is also a self-taught painter who has been in group and solo exhibitions from Brooklyn, New York to the American University in Paris. Now she turns to the settings of opera.
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Woodie King Jr. Looks for Leroy Jones
Rapping with Artists on Zoom
By: - Jun 18th, 2020Woodie King Jr.'s Rapping with Artist Series continues with a discussion of Larry Muhammed's acclaimed "Looking for Leroy." Director Petronia Paley and the playwright join King in a lively discussion of the play, one of the best Zoom theatrical pieces,
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Corona Cookbook: Pizza
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Man in an Orange Shirt
Vanessa Redgrave in Britich Film
By: - Jun 16th, 2020The real beauty of this engaging, powerful and achingly poignant film lies in the performances of its sublime ensemble cast. They’re experienced, talented, and spot-on in their portrayals, and all are in the thrall of the great 80-year-old (when she made the film) Vanessa Redgrave. The great ones never seem to lose that special gift of star quality.
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Alan Shestack Two
In 1992 the MFA Had an Annual Deficit of $3 Million
By: - Jun 15th, 2020When I interviewed Alan Shestack in 1992 he had been MFA director for five years. It was a time of economic downturn and the museum faced an annual deficit of $3 million. We discussed ways in which the museum might meet this challenge including a relationship with a museum in Nagoya, Japan which it helped to launch and program. He spoke adamantly that selling works to cover costs violated the mission and covenant of museums and their donors.
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Joseph Nechvatal’s Art Springs From Algorithms
Viral Venture Online at White Page Gallery
By: - Jun 15th, 2020Long before we had heard of, or even imagined, viruses like Covid-19, Post-Minimal painter, multi-media artist and art theoretician Joseph Nechvatal was generating them. Not the contagious types, but computer-robotic assisted ones.
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Virtual Works & Process from the Guggenheim
Social Distancing Dance and Music
By: - Jun 14th, 2020Works & Process Artists (WPA) Virtual Commissions financially supports artists and nurtures their creative process during these challenging times. Works & Process at the Guggenheim is granting over $150,000 for artists to create new works while observing social distancing. New works will be posted on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube (@worksandprocess) every Sunday and Monday at 7:30pm.
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Drama Desk Announces Winners
Annual Awards Ceremony Honors the Best of Broadway,
By: - Jun 14th, 2020The Drama Desk Awards ceremony was streamed live. The annual event honors the best of Broadway, off, and off-off Broadway. Matthew Lopez's The Inheritance wins Outstanding Play honors. A Strange Loop is named Outstanding Musical.
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Collage Brain: Insights, Ideas, Inspiration
An Ilustrated Book by Berkshire Artist
By: - Jun 13th, 2020The collage artist Lynn Gall divides time between the Berkshire and New York where she works and exhibits. Collage Brain: Insights, Ideas, Inspiration is her first book.
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