Tag Archives: theatre

Musicians, music critic, and lighting designer win genius grant

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13 Academics Are Among 2008 MacArthur Fellows
Chronicle of Higher Education
By CAITLIN MORAN
9/23/08

Leila Josefowicz, 30, violinist, in New York. She captivates audiences with her technically precise and emotionally resonant performances of both traditional and contemporary works.

Walter Kitundu, 35, multimedia artist, Exploratorium, in San Francisco. He is an inventor of original musical instruments that navigate the boundary between live and recorded performance.

Alex Ross, 40, music critic, The New Yorker, New York. His writing captures the often elusive aesthetic and technical aspects of classical and contemporary music with clarity, grace, and wit.

Jennifer Tipton, 71, stage-lighting designer, in New York. Her distinctive, internationally recognized designs have redefined the relationship between lighting and performance.

Miguel Zenon, 31, saxophonist, in New York. He is a jazz musician who expands the boundaries of Latin and jazz music through his elegant and innovative collages.

The play’s the thing

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As many of you know, we acquired many theatre-related materials from the English Library over the Spring and Summer. We’ve got
—> periodicals (1st floor, on the new periodicals shelves facing the reading room and in the periodicals stacks near the reading room).
—> new playscripts (1st floor, on the shelves facing the M3 reference scores)
—> older playscripts (1st floor, Dewey sequences 811 (for American drama) or 822 (for English drama)
—> books (1st floor; Dewey sequence 792 and 808-830 (roughly); LC sequence PC-PS)

YouTube and Research

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It comes as no surprise that students use YouTube for fun and for research, because it’s easy to use and has a lot of content. Respected music writer Norman Lebrecht writes about how he too has been pulled into YouTube.

While he’s writing about music specifically, there is also a lot of dance content. Looking for a demonstration of how a dance move goes (especially popular dance)? Try searching YouTube. Theatre researchers can also use YouTube to their benefit. Of course, as with any tool, you have to evaluate what you find here critically. But, YouTube can be very useful.

How YouTube shrank the classical world
By Norman Lebrecht / June 25, 2008
the Lebrecht Weekly in LaScena Musicale

New journals area

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You might have noticed the new journals display area near the reading room on the first floor. We’ve selected several dozen of the top journal titles in music, dance, and theatre, and will display current issues face-out (recent issues are in the shelves beneath). Older issues and journal titles not in this display (we have hundreds) can be found in the journals area in the northwest corner of the first floor.

Theatre and Performing Arts blog

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A thought-provoking blog focusing on theatre and the performing arts from the UK’s Guardian. I think this source is useful for several reasons, not least for its international perspective. Here are a few recent entries to illustrate:

Is Ballet’s Future in America?
San Francisco Ballet’s New Works Festival has been warmly received by an eager public. It makes English ballet look secretive and cautious
May 2, 2008 8:15 AM Judith Mackerell


Where are our black ballerinas?
Britain’s ballet companies must start to look further than the white middle classes for their talent
April 10, 2008 12:30 PM Judith Mackerell

You can’t have community theatre without a community
The postponement of a £100,000 flagship project at the Brighton festival raises urgent questions about who the work was actually for
May 2, 2008 6:00 PM Lyn Gardner


Should theatres listen to consultants?
An American consulting firm is offering statistical advice to programmers. Should playwrights be worried?
May 1, 2008 4:00 PM George Hunka

PS The Guardian also has a separate music blog here.