What will happen to the theater when there are no more critics? With the decline of print media and the rise of online journalism; theater critics are facing hard times. As their influence fades; will the industry they cover be adversely affected or can bloggers and message boards fill the void? Can a new economic model be created for theater criticism? How can critics lucky enough to still have jobs stay relevant in the age of social media? Speaking of which; what does a theater critic really do; and how do you become one? In this book; Matt Windman; a theater critic himself; interviews more than 50 critics from New York and around the country; including Ben Brantley; Charles Isherwood; John Lahr; Terry Teachout; Linda Winer; Chris Jones; David Cote; John Simon and Peter Filichia. They discuss their long careers and the nightly process of evaluating plays and musicals; and offer their thoughts on the future of the profession.
#2494558 in eBooks 2016-04-22 2016-04-22File Name: B01ENPXFOA
Review
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Rich Historical and Aesthetic Narrative ...By Constance PierceAuthor Harriet J. Manning offers a significant contribution to that body of work now known as "Michael Jackson Studies." a comprehensive collection initiated by University of Rochester scholar/author. Joseph Vogel. Since Michael Jacksons untimely death in 2009. his after-life presence and his artistic oeuvre have been enriched exponentially through the scholarship of a plethora of academics including David Dark. Michael Eric Dyson. Susan Fast. Jason King. Sylvia J. Martin. Mark Anthony Neal. Willa Stillwater. Joseph Vogel. and Cornell West - among others.Now comes British scholar and author Harriet J. Manning who adds a unique particularity of vision with her new book. Michael Jackson and the Blackface Mask. This is due to her expertise in the history of blackface minstrelsy and its conflictual legacy. Manning holds a Ph.D. in this area and a Masters degree in Popular Music. This combination allows her to advance singular illuminations on Jacksons cultural influences not previously explored at this level - or with this precision - specifically in Jacksons relationship to minstrelsys "gestural vocabulary and tropes."Ashgate Publishing introduces Mannings work with the following thoughts. "... minstrelsy became an arena in which stereotypes were at once enforced and critiqued ... Manning argues that minstrelsys assumptions and uses have been fundamental to the troubles and controversies with which Jackson was beset."The author also advises us early on. "In these texts the narrative paradigm of minstrelsys origins is one of cultural expropriation and exploitation ... serving white superiority and white self-aggrandizement." Blacks were seen (prophetically. with regard to Jackson) as "bad and dangerous." Yet. Manning explicates the aesthetic methods Jackson utilized to deconstruct this stereotypical ideology. Michael Jacksons life and art became an example of an anomalous. even glorious - yet paradoxically sacrificial - act of deep personal. cultural and artistic "reclamation."As Manning narrates. Jacksons artistic moxie was routinely misunderstood. as with the initial 1991 TV airing of "Black or White." His black panther dance sequence ignited global media conflagration. Now. in retrospect. most are able to comprehend the visionary daring Jackson embraced in this piece of art. He flew in the face of convention. always pushing toward higher ground. Much earlier prototypes of this sort of inexorable visionary might include the likes of William Blake. Wolfgang Mozart. Vincent Van Gogh and more recently. William Faulkner (whose blunt literary portrayal of race polarization in the South was at times misunderstood as personal racism). As with so many uncompromising and ground-breaking artists. the passage of time is often a crucial factor in apprehending the true nature of their artistic genius.Manning serves up a rich historical narrative of minstrelsys political. cultural and racial practices. She also presents Caucasian blackface stage performers such as T. D. Rice. who popularized the repugnant stereotype of Jim Crow. Audience reaction (depicted in the texts antique advertising) often bordered on hysteria. Manning suggests that the intense duality inherent in white audience response presents a binary drama of "ridicule and adoration." This paradoxical duality was paraphrased (to tragic consequence) in Jacksons own life story.Manning is a compelling story-teller. because she is able to present what is essentially a piece of scholarly research in a fashion that is also fully engaging to the non-academics among Jackson appreciators. Mannings chapter headings promise intrigue. They do not fail to deliver. In "Ghosts: Racial Fantasy and the Lost Black Self." the author argues that a close reading of Jacksons short film. Ghosts. offers a virtual text rich for discussion "on the heavy weight of racial fantasy grounded in minstrelsy." Her book lends itself well to university level course studies.Manning also splices in philosophical insight through a plethora of writers from Freud to Foucault. as well as several African-American authors including Ralph Ellison and W. E. B. Du Bois. She aptly cites from The Souls of Black Folk. a largely autobiographical compilation of essays by Du Bois. "It is a peculiar sensation ... measuring ones soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity." This prefiguring of Jacksons adversities. so many decades ahead. seems a prescient and discouraging commentary on aspects of our American culture.In her chapter. "Turnaround: Love and Theft." Manning addresses white artists appropriation of Jacksons dance and gestural idiom. while neglecting genuine respect or acknowledgement. The Irish band Westlife. and the performer with "white trash roots." Eminem. are analyzed through the lens of the contextual contradictions inherent in minstrelsys history.One of Mannings many remarkable passages. in her chapter on "Black or White" - subtitled "From Jim Crow to Michael Jackson" - states "Jacksons mask should not have been understood as a marker of sell-out and negative black self-image but. through its erosion of race. as evidence of ambition and revolution: the reconfiguring of not his face but of a less than perfect world. Jackson nullified not blackness but blackness as biological fact and therefore by default whiteness and race in a cultural context that since the days of the classic minstrel show has used in fundamental ways a racist binarism of Self and Other. white and black. based on absolute racial difference. Jackson took the blackface mask and turned it inside out." Manning continues. "Jackson is empowered. the locus of control in minstrelsy has shifted ... for he has freed himself from the constraints of an over-determined social structure ... traditionally created to meet others needs. Jackson. in his own mind at least. had freed himself from the blackface mask."Because Mannings work emerges out of the genre of literary criticism. she integrates gender theory. new historicism and post-structuralist thought into her text. However. she is always in touch with her pronounced story-telling gifts. bringing dramatic nuance into play at every turn.On a personal note. I find it interesting that Jackson may have been informed (at least in part) on vestiges of the gestures of minstrelsy channeled through the legendary choreographer. Bob Fosse. One can witness this recognizable influence by way of Fosses dance interpretation of the snake character in the 1974 film adaption of The Little Prince. Although Fosse may be outside the perimeter of Mannings research. it seems quite possible that his dance mentoring was among the inspirations operant in Jacksons iconic performances of "Billie Jean."Although not a concern to most. the photo illustrations of Jacksons gestures (germinal to Mannings text) might be reproduced in a higher quality. The images would then achieve "figure/background" contrast and highlight the bodys contours. This could be of assistance in better revealing Jacksons performance gestures and their striking resemblance to minstrelsy.As with any text. there are places where ones personal rumination on the subject may tend toward differing interpretations. but we can not underestimate the immense import of Mannings scholarship in reinforcing this artist as a subject worthy of serious academic study and cultural discourse. Thankfully. as mentioned. Michael Jackson and the Blackface Mask is not inaccessible to the casual reader. It will. no doubt. find a special place on the bookshelves of various and sundry readers worldwide who experience a deep respect for Jackson and his art. as well as the doubters who may just need an objective. yet historically innovative. second look at this iconic artist - one who has bequeathed such a prodigious body of unrivaled creative work.It seems to me Jackson was always absorbing. re-mixing and re-imagining so much of his culturally inherited aesthetic. After Mannings text. readers will not likely see Michel Jackson in quite the same way again. but through layers of enhanced perception - a kind of "self/other" sublimation - echoing an aspect of grace that this artists work was all about. after all.Constance Pierce. April 9th. 20145 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Wonderful! An entirely new approach to understanding Michael JacksonBy Willa StillwaterThis thoughtful. well-considered. and well-researched book provides an entirely new frame of reference for interpreting Michael Jacksons work. both as an artist and as an important cultural figure.Manning begins her book by providing a brief history of blackface minstrelsy. As she explains. it was an extremely popular form of entertainment for more than a century. but now its legacy has largely been pushed underground. However. while this history has been suppressed and ignored in recent decades. Manning shows it has played a powerful role in allowing whites to define what it means to be black - a phenomenon that continues in subtle but pervasive ways even today.For example. Manning looks at how hip hop reinforces rigid definitions of blackness that were forged in blackface minstrelsy. and suggests it is this aspect of hip hop that led critic Eric Olsen to declare. "Eminem is far blacker than Michael Jackson." As Manning points out. what this statement actually means is that Eminem (a white man) fits white stereotypes of blackness. while Michael Jackson (a black man) defied and resisted those stereotypes.Manning also looks at two short films by Michael Jackson - "Black or White" and "Michael Jacksons Ghosts" - and shows how he engages with and challenges the legacy of blackface minstrelsy. including the restrictive definitions of race that were being imposed onto him.This is a truly fascinating and engaging book. one that opened my eyes to a new way of seeing Michael Jackson. I highly recommend it.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A Scholarly Fascinating BookBy Dr. Karen MoriartyAs the author of ldquo;Defending A King ~ His Life Legacyrdquo; about the incomparable Michael Jackson. I approached the reading of ldquo;Michael Jackson and the Blackface Maskrdquo; with special interest. This book by Harriet J. Manning adds a whole new dimension to the study and understanding of the ldquo;greatest entertainer of our time.rdquo; an enigmatic icon. and the embodiment of multiple cultural influences. The complexity and genius of MJ emerge from the pages of this book with greater clarity and definition.Michael Jackson determined to study the greats and to learn from them. His goal was to become as knowledgeable as possible -ndash; he reportedly read on average a book each day -ndash; and then to surpass the best entertainers with his own unique ldquo;push the enveloperdquo; approach to music and dance. No doubt MJ knew about the rich legacy of the blackface minstrelsy. which permeated the entertainment of nineteenth-century America ... but is largely unknown today.ldquo;Michael Jackson and the Blackface Maskrdquo; is a textbook. in my opinion. in the best sense. It is a welcome addition to other approaches that portray MJs life and work in print. many of which are tabloid-like and tend toward the superficial. In contrast. Ms. Manning teaches her reader about the sociological. cultural. and racial influences upon the celebrity who had more impact on music. dance. and videos [short films] than any other performing artist. A fascinating and thought-provoking presentation. this book will give the reader an entirely new perspective on Michael Jackson. From the wearing of a mask in his private/public life to his unique. iconic dance moves and gestures. the reader will experience a series of ldquo;aha!rdquo; moments as his/her fuller understanding of MJ and his rightful place in the powerful cultural evolution of the ldquo;blackfacerdquo; movement develops.Even if you have read a significant volume of works about Michael Jackson. you probably owe it to yourself to explore the "fresh." compelling and interesting concepts that are skillfully presented in ldquo;Michael Jackson and the Blackface Mask.rdquo; A scholarly work to be sure! Kudos to Harriet Manning!
