Applause, Please
I cannot stand snobbery; I doubt anybody can. I am especially embarrassed to catch myself putting on airs, and I admit it happens from time to time. The other night, I went to the symphony. I brought a...
View ArticleThe Arts and Humanities Are Alive and Well -- Just Watch the Millennials
The arts and humanities might be going through a rough patch, but if you ask the Millennials they can tell you that disciplines such as classical music, visual art and fiction are alive and well. You...
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Under the Skin
Would you be enticed by Scarlett Johansson even if you knew you were going to die? Would you be able to resist those sensual lips, even if you knew she was an alien who would destroy you? Would you be...
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Ass, et al.
Because I am an "emerging" artist, I can say whatever I want. I am mercifully un-tethered to a gallery or institution (save for the Brooklyn Children's Museum, and there I can plead the 5th-year-old)....
View ArticleFirst Nighter: William Inge's Loss of Roses Somewhat Wilted
It seems to me there's more than one reason for staging a revival. The first one that springs to mind, because it's the most obvious, is that a well-written and successful play is always a strong...
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Grave Robbing or Archaeology?
Do human remains belong in museums? According to at least some of the families of 9/11 victims from the Twin Towers, they most certainly do not. This weekend, protesters held up unequivocal signs...
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The music of our lives: Sarah Bush Dance Project (Rocked by Women)
It's been a great season for music in dance on the Left Coast, from Zoë Keating's haunting cello in ODC Dance's boulders and bones, to Ratmansky's Shostakovich Trilogy at San Francisco Ballet, Mark...
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Short Takes
Whether one chooses to think of them as the dramatic equivalent of dim sum, the theatrical version of tapas, or the documentary field's offering of donut holes, short plays and films have a dynamic all...
View Article6 Remarkable Re-Imaginings of Marilyn Monroe
When I was working on The Blonde (in which Marilyn Monroe is coerced into spying on the president of the United States by a mysterious K.G.B. agent), I avoided fictional representations of Marilyn...
View ArticleEating Wild
A Review of EATING WILDLY: Foraging for Life, Love and the Perfect Meal by Ava Chin, Simon & Schuster _________ I have only one reservation (not at a restaurant!) about this utterly absorbing,...
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'Costumes of Downton Abbey' Is the Exhibition Every Aspiring Lord and Lady...
I remember the first time I caught a glimpse of Downton Abbey. My mom was watching Sunday night Masterpiece on PBS, as is her wont, and, in passing, the show looked like any other British period piece,...
View Article'Women's Fiction?' 'Men's Fiction?' 'Human Fiction?' What Does It Mean?
"How good does a female athlete have to be before we just call her an athlete?" --Author Unknown When did women's fiction come to be? In 1956, the New York Times reviewed Peyton Place. It was called...
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Lisi Raskin's Mutual Immanence
Mutual Immanence, a show of paintings by Lisi Raskin at Churner and Churner gallery, are works that bare a subtle vibrance and power piece by piece. The informal vibrant play of color and shape give...
View ArticlePEN Ten with Molly Crabapple
The PEN Ten is PEN America's biweekly interview series curated by Lauren Cerand. This week, Lauren talks to Molly Crabapple, whose 2013 solo exhibition, Shell Game, led to her being called "Occupy's...
View ArticleArtists Must Make Peace With the Academic Life
It is said that when the Italian Renaissance artist Verrocchio saw the work of his student, Leonardo da Vinci, he decided to quit painting since he knew that his work had certainly been surpassed. The...
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Can the Arts Save Detroit?
After graduating from the University of Michigan, I became a graphic artist in D.C. Twenty years later, I was involved with the labor movement. At the time, I didn't think that there was a connection...
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State of the Art: The Kindness of Strangers
The road to State of the Art has been a long one, both literally and figuratively. Literally, Crystal Bridges President Don Bacigalupi and Curator for Special Projects Chad Alligood logged more than...
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Leslie's Lesson in Laughing
(Photo Credit: Joseph Moran) Just type "Leslie Uggams" into YouTube and it auto-fills with an infamous moment in her career, singing, "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" on Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Lawn....
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Jeffrey Biegel Is Rainbow High on New CD: Life According To Chopin: Chopin's...
Pianist Jeffrey Biegel's latest CD, Life According To Chopin: Chopin's Greatest Piano Solos may be the first tell-all among a colossal number of recordings dedicated to the work of Frédéric Chopin. The...
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On This Matter of Learning to Write
An acquaintance of mine once called to ask advice on a memoir he was writing. He told me he wanted to learn to write for better effect. And he told me something that has been bouncing around in my mind...
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