Coming Attractions
Our expert critics supply a guide to film, visual art, theater, author readings, television, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.
The Arts Fuse Currents
Music
Janis Siegel’s first project since the Manhattan Transfer’s 2023 dissolution honors the lyric-driven jazz practice shaped by Eddie Jefferson and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.
Visual Arts
William Nicholas Love’s punch heard round the internet belongs to a long comic-book history of fighting homegrown fascism—from Captain America to “The Clan of the Fiery Cross.”
Film
At TIFF, Barbara Kopple follows exploited delivery workers, William Greaves revives the Harlem Renaissance, and Iranian filmmakers find private lives shadowed by surveillance, war, and repression, yet also beautified in some cases.
Books
In “The Disciple: A Wagnerian Tale of the Gilded Age,” the cultural historian and novelist resurrects Wagner’s American apostle—and a progressive, populist musical culture that New York has largely forgotten.
Poetry at The Arts Fuse
This week’s poem: Joanna Fuhrman’s “Why Aren’t You Angry?”
Dance
“Jazzed” makes a persuasive case for Jack Cole’s artistic importance, even as its overly admiring portrait evades some of his darkest behavior.
Theater
James Ijames’s funny, moving family fable receives an engaging New England premiere, but its comforts also raise questions about what local theater should risk in a moment of public crisis.
Television
The real-life friends play fictionalized versions of themselves in a genial but thin comedy built around a long-running family rumor.
Podcasts
Guest host Jessica Khan talks to DJ and broadcaster Kwame Daniels about his immersive live musical performance, “North Star.”
Short Fuses
Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Spotlight
William Nicholas Love’s punch heard round the internet belongs to a long comic-book history of fighting homegrown fascism—from Captain America to “The Clan of the Fiery Cross.”
About the Arts Fuse
The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication's over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. Support arts coverage that believes that culture matters.
Arts Commentary: Boffo Box Office — Cultural Bust