SmArts

May 9-15, 2016

Rapid fire: What’s been going on?

By Molly Rector

The semester is coming to an end. I am taking a break from planning a final exam to write this column, and while I’d love to spend more time bragging about how brilliant my students have been this semester (we’re collaborating on the exam design), a lot has happened in the arts world since my last column, both in my own life and in the arts realms, and I think my time is better spent discussing that:

Prince: On April 21, Prince Rogers Nelson (a.k.a. Prince and The Artist Formerly Known as Prince) was found dead in his home, sparking intense mourning from music lovers across the globe, as well as many conversations about the value of artists to their communities, and in pushing the boundaries of what is considered acceptable in society.

Lemonade: Speak of artists who know how to start a debate about the role of art in the larger community, two days after Prince’s death, Beyoncé Knowles launched Lemonade to great acclaim. Her second “visual album” (a new genre of music she is responsible for creating) has already led to thousands of news articles and intellectual meditations, particularly when it comes to the social commentary elements of the album.

Hamilton: Speaking of social commentary and new genres: this week the groundbreaking hip-hop musical Hamilton was nominated for a record 16 Tony awards – the most in Broadway history.

And Speaking of the theater: I had the chance in the past two weeks to see the Arkansas Rep’s production of “The Bridges of Madison County” (a romantic and dramatic musical for which the actors traveled with the show from New York), and the Walton Arts Center’s production of “Rapture, Blister, Burn” (a Pulitzer-prize winning dramedy about intellectuals navigating love). The shows were wildly different in their goals, subject-matter, format, and execution. Both were beautifully produced, though I found myself disconnected from the subject matter of the first, and left outside of the second.

Finally, the Met Gala: This week, the New York Metropolitan Opera held its annual themed Gala benefitting the Costume Institute. The theme this year was “fashion in the age of technology.” I’ve made it something of a tradition to discuss the fashion at the Gala in these columns, as I think of it as a fascinating spectacle in the rhetoric of fashion. I’ll be sure to address this more next week.

Molly Rector is a staff writer for the Daily Record. Contact her at molly@dailydata.com.