BIO FEEDBACK

posted by James Reel

My colleague Robert Rappaport blogs about his latest assignment, writing his own bio for our Web site. Says Robert:

One of the tricky areas in a bio is making your hobbies sound interesting. Sure it's fun sitting at home watching pro wrestling and reruns of Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond, but do you really want to say that? It sounds a bit classier to say you enjoy reading Shakespeare, attending the symphony and listening to classical music.

Hey, wait a minute—I’m the one who enjoys doing those things. Well, maybe not going to the Tucson Symphony anymore.

MORE ON CRITICISM

posted by James Reel

Violist-blogger Charles Noble provides some interesting statistics linking newspaper and orchestral demographics, and critic Justin Davidson, one of the few who does still have a job in the mainstream media, offers a solution to the decline in professional arts criticism in American communities: online arts bulletins funded by consortia of local arts organizations. I’m not sure how a critic’s editorial independence would figure into this—the critic would be paid, indirectly, by the very institutions being reviewed—but it’s worth some thought.

DAVINCI PLAYERS

posted by James Reel

My contribution to the Tucson Weekly this weekend is a look at the Da Vinci Players:

In a recent lunchtime chat about his work, the only word Robert Encila used more than "community" was some variant of "connection." It's even in the name of his arts-education organization: Studio Connections. Consider his choice of namesake for Studio Connections' acting troupe, the Da Vinci Players: "Leonardo was the inspiration, because he worked in almost every artistic and scientific discipline in the Renaissance," he said. "The Da Vinci Players and Studio Connections are about integrating disciplines. We're making connections with artists in a lot of different fields."

You can read more and find out about the group’s production of Barefoot in the Park, opening this weekend, here.