“Conservatism was his perspective, but William F. Buckley was really interested in having the other side on and having real discussions.”
Judicial Review
REVISED: Judicial Review #11: “The Great Gatsby” — A Great Opera?
This Judicial Review deals with the Boston premiere of John Harbison’s opera version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. Read the reactions and join the conversation.
Judicial Review #10: Discussing the Point of Elizabeth Graver’s “The End of the Point”
What is a Judicial Review? It is a fresh approach to creating a conversational, critical space about the arts and culture. This session discusses Elizabeth Graver’s new novel The End of the Point, a multi-generational story about the trials and tribulations of a family that takes place between 1942 and 1999 in Ashaunt Point, a fictional beach community on Massachusetts’ seacoast.
Judicial Review # 9: Pushing Hot Buttons — David Mamet’s “Race” @ New Rep
What is a Judicial Review? It is a fresh approach to creating a conversational, critical space about the arts and culture. This is our ninth session, a discussion about the New Repertory Theatre’s production of David Mamet’s play “Race”, which revolves around the frenzy and fury generated by three attorneys who are asked to defend a wealthy man accused of raping an African-American woman.
Judicial Review # 8: Making Sense of the “Assassins”
What is a Judicial Review? It is a fresh approach to creating a conversational, critical space about the arts and culture. This is our eighth session, a discussion about the Boston University College of Fine Arts production of the 1990 Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman musical Assassins, which looks at the lives and sensibilities of men and women who attempted (successfully or otherwise) to kill the President of the United States.
Judicial Review # 6: “Divine Sparks” (Boston Jewish Music Festival Concert at Berklee): How Hot a Flame?
What is a Judicial Review? It is a fresh approach to creating a conversational, critical space about the arts and culture. This is our sixth session, this time a discussion about the concert “Divine Sparks,” a provocative attempt to explore how Jewish cantorial music and other kinds of religious song can spark musical improvisation and […]
Judicial Review #5: After the Hoopla — The MFA’s New Art of the Americas Wing
Success assured? Critics and others discuss whether the MFA’s new wing, The Art of the Americas, lives up to the hype generated by the opening in the latest Judicial Review.
Judicial Review #4: What Is This Thing Called Food?
What is a Judicial Review? It is a fresh approach to creating a conversational, critical space about the arts and culture. This is our fourth session, this time deliberating on the relationship between science and food. It could be foam or gel, popcorn cloud or liquid ham, in the hands of the chefs of avant-garde […]
Judicial Review #3: Gish Jen’s World and Town [Updated2x]
Gish Jen’s novel about New England small-town life in the new millennium, “World and Town,” has just come out in a paperback. We greeted the hardback edition of the book with a Judicial Review, a fresh approach to creating a conversational, critical space about the arts. It is a good time to highlight the innovative approach again. The aim is to combine editorial integrity with the community—making power of interactivity.
Welcome to the Newly Upholstered Arts Fuse!
The Arts Fuse began as my blog after the untimely end of NPR/WBUR Arts Online. But, as more writers and critics wanted to make their voices heard, the blog became a magazine. So, I decided to make it a New England focused magazine modeled on other pioneering efforts to cover the news online, such as […]