The Arts Fuse Newsletter, January 29
A feature on Chuck Prophet's "Wake the Dead", reviews of Mark Morris's "The Look of Love," Joanna Fuhrman’s “Data Mind", and pianist Bill Charlap. A heartfelt homage to the humanity of David Lynch.
From The Editor's Desk:
When performing arts organizations have the gumption to move in an enlightened direction, particularly into areas where others fear to tread, forward-thinking critics and audiences should celebrate. “Activist opera company” White Snake Projects (WSP) recently announced its 2025 season will present “a climate change-themed series of performances, conversations, initiatives, and its first community opera. Dedicated to using the power of music theater and the arts to effect climate justice, WSP [has] designed a distinct mix of classical and contemporary music inspired by today’s climate crisis.” This commitment to bolstering “an amplified conversation with audiences to better educate, advocate, and converse about climate change” is accompanied by WSP’s pledge to “encourage both the practice of sustainability in opera, as well as to promote the adoption of a philosophy of sustainability that can be woven into every aspect of production, from libretto development to final performance.”
“Our passion for the arts and our love for the planet are not mutually exclusive,” insists WSP founder and librettist Cerise Lim Jacobs. Not everyone agrees with the pairing. There is a discouraging perception, among movers and shakers in the media and the arts, that dramas dealing with the issue turn off audiences. A blogger for “A Younger Theater” put it this way: “climate change is an anti-social subject. It is boring for people (unless you sensationalize it) – it is negative and sad. It produces fear.” Of course, there is no reason that this must be the case. Why shouldn’t WSP’s world premiere of its sci-fi opera, White Raven, Black Dove, provide inspiration and alternatives as it looks at dark realities? As always in the theater, the proof is in the pudding.
But the pudding has to be served. Up until now, Boston theaters have pretty much stayed away from the climate crisis on its stages, along with so many other crucial issues, from war and peace to growing economic inequality.
For Harvard University’s American Repertory Theater, a major regional theater dedicated to developing boffo Broadway shows, global warming is a commercial non-starter. (I am curious to see how Trump’s return will shape what pulls in big bucks on the Great White Way.) Perhaps because of their guilty consciences, many local stages are churning out shows that address issues of racial justice. It is an essential cause, but just one contributor to what historians call our current “polycrisis,” a bundle of rapid changes — environmental, technological, and societal — that are joining forces to disrupt human and planetary health. WSP’s programming decision is an invaluable reminder that our theater companies and music organizations are being called on to expand the reach of their imaginations. More on that obligation to come — watch this space.
—Bill Marx, Editor-in-Chief
Archive: From the Editor's Desk
Rock Concert Preview: Chuck Prophet’s “Wake the Dead” — Singing of Mortality
By Scott McLennan
Predictably, Chuck Prophet’s brand of rustic rock ’n’ roll gets a bit of a makeover by the members of the cumbia band ¿Qiensave? But let me reassure you — this is another gem of a Prophet album.
Poetry Review: Joanna Fuhrman’s “Data Mind” — The Algorithm That Ate America
By Michael Londra
Data Mind contains a spiritual blessing — it teaches us how to praise life in a universe that is so broken it is determined to erase our humanity.
Arts Remembrance: The Voice of Love — On David Lynch’s Empathy
By Nicole Veneto
For all the accusations David Lynch faced over the supposed emotional and ironic detachment of work, his films are wellsprings of love for their subjects.
Dance Review: Mark Morris Dance Group’s “The Look of Love” — Always Something There to Remind Me
By Debra Cash
There’s something gleefully retro about his hour-plus-long jukebox.
Concert Review: The Many Charms of Pianist Bill Charlap
By Jon Garelick
Bill Charlap is in that camp of brilliant jazz originals who have plied their trade by playing songs by other people and making them definitively their own.
Author Interview: Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian on his First Novel, “Nobody’s Empire”
By Blake Maddux
With 12 studio albums and myriad EPs to his band’s credit, Stuart Murdoch can now boast, not that he’s the type to do so, of being a published novelist.
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Questions, comments, concerns?
Editor-in-Chief
Bill Marx
wmarx103@gmail.com
