Alex Ross’s depiction of Wagner in America, in his new work "Wagnerism," is focused at the start on the author Willa Cather. Ross finds Cather and Thomas Mann the most musically educated and sophisticated of the many literary figures who infused their work with the ideas of the Meister. The boundless scope of a work, its inclusion of ancient myth made present, and leitmotifs bound together to organize a story, are key elements of the Wagner style.

In a moment of upset when we are raging against that “thing” we thought so awful, shouting such hurtful words at the one standing before us, imagine how horrified we would be if we could step back to watch ourselves! Wouldn’t we wish we could find that patience, that wisdom,, to know that awfulness diminishes over time?

A work in progress, "Eleanor," by Mark St. Germain was commissioned by Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota. It was given a reading there. Recently it had a reading with another actress, Harriet Harris, for Barrington Stage Company. With two performances in an empty theatre it was viewed by subscription. By phone we discussed the new work and its intriguing character who was superly portrayed by a remarkable actress.

Ever wonder what the great artist, sculptor, architect, painter and poet, Michelangelo, ate and drank? According to his handwritten, and illustrated, 16th century grocery list, the Master thrived on a diet of fish, bread and lots of wine.

We are swept along by her lilting Irish brogue as Geraldine Hughes takes the stage in her Belfast Blues. Irish Repertory Theatre chose the play to open their fall season streaming. Charlotte Moore and her partner Ciarán O’Reilly chose well. This one woman shows draws the portraits of twenty-four characters, all presented through the vessel of Hughes. Yet we never wonder who is speaking. We learn the gestures and tics of each character and come to be entranced.

Rob Kapilow begins his “What Makes it Great” evenings with a discussion of special elements in a musical work to be performed in its entirety at the conclusion of the evening. Kapilow is a conductor and performer. Always responsive to a live audience, he draws us in, elucidating us as he instructs. Now he is streaming from an empty Merkin Hall. Yet you become addicted in one outing. Through Kapilow, listening to music has added whole new dimensions. Orli Shaham provides examples for a discussion of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 5. She also gives a deeply moving performance of the Appassionata.

In the age of COVID, Stephen Karam's dramedy The Humans is particularly timely. The Olney Theatre Center is streaming the play through Oct. 4. Karam balances comedy, creepiness, and drama. The Olney Theatre Center production features first-rate performances.

Richard Curtis, masterful playwright and master of mystery, has produced a new creepy podcast series in time for Horror Season. Episode 1, You Have a Guest, is available now. A demon’s dozen disturbing audio dramas are conjured out of the dark imagination of this horror dramatist. .

The Provincetown based conceptual artist, Jay Critchley, is known for wit and outrageous projects. Trump has him mad as hell and he can't take it anymore. Rather than just get mad he's getting even. His latest stunt it literally to tar and feather the White House.

The 2020 B3 Biennial in Frankfurt/Germany will open with 'Hello Truths, Extravaganza Virtuale' on October 9 in the US East Coast time zone @ 4 pm and in Frankfurt/Main @ 10 pm. The festival will be concluded after ten days on October 18. More than 100 artists from 23 countries will participate in an array of virtual events.

Images Cinema, an art house in Williamstown. has been shut down going on eight months. Here is an update from executive director, Doug Jones.

This past summer the artist, Ariel Klein, was in the thick of New York’s protests against the police inflicted murder of George Floyd. He was a resident of Brooklyn and its community of artists. His take on that is on view as “Rise Up” at the Eclipse Mill Gallery in North Adams.

Broadway will remain shuttered through at least May 30 which will mark 444 days since all 41 theaters went dark due to COVID-19. Broadway officials have said that they project productions to eventually resume over a series of rolling dates.

Victoria Bond brings a distinctive, rich ear to her musical composition in many forms. A recent commission provided a chance to collaborate with Paul Barnes, a go-to pianist for both Bond and Philip Glass. Bond's Simaron Kremata is based on a Greek chant and opens with a five note melody which repeats.

The Tony Awards' presenters announced the nominees for the 74th Annual Tony Awards. The pandemic cut this past Broadway Season short. Alanis Morissette's musical, Jagged Little Pill, leads the way with 15 nominations. In the Play category, Jeremy O. Harris' Slave Play comes out on top with 12 nominations. A date for the Tony Awards presentation has yet to be announced.

Before covid and shut-downs, millions of viewers each year passed through the galleries at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art looking at Daniel Kershaw's stagings. He is a design star you’ve never heard of. As Senior Exhibition Designer at the largest museum in the United States, Kershaw’s job is to plan and build environments for up to a dozen shows annually.

As part of a $65-million campaign called Renewing the Promise: For the Public Forever, which is raising funds to implement the Gardner’s bold Strategic Plan and ensure the continued success of the Museum’s vision and values into the future, a gift challenges the Museum to raise $5 million in endowment funds by 2024. These funds will be matched 1:1 with a $5 million contribution from the anonymous donor.

Mark St Germain's Typhoid Mary will be filmed in advance with the cast performing remotely. It will be available to stream on October 30 & 31 at 7:30 pm ET. The ever more timely play premiered at Barrington Stage Company in 2018.

In March 2020, Los Angeles-based artist Richard Nielsen began painting portraits of people in their COVID-19 face masks. On view at MASS MoCA, This is Not a Gag includes his first set of 49 paintings. Presented in a Zoom-like grid, the series shows the determination behind the eyes of artists, writers, and friends of the artist and MASS MoCA. The subject’s faces may be covered, but variations in masks and individual expressions speak volumes about our lives today. These paintings are not about the pandemic, per se, but about the fiercest and finest parts of human nature.

Howardena Pindell exhibits at the Shed. "Working on my commission for the Shed has been a very rewarding and healing experience. It allowed meto conceptualize an idea as a result of an experience I had as a child. I put it forth as a performance piece to a group of white women artists at the AIR Gallery where I was a founder in the early 1970s. They turned it down. I was the only non-white member of the gallery.

TheaterWorks is streaming live a production of Russian Troll Farm – A Workplace Comedy by Sarah Gancher. It is available through Nov. 2; the actors are performing from three different sites. It’s a coproduction with TheatreSquared of Fayetteville, Arkansas and in association with The Civilians.

Charles Henri Ford was America's first surrealist poet. He was also an artist, photographer, editor, publisher, diarist, filmmaker, painter, sculptor and world-class name-dropper. In the course of his ninety-three years he met everyone: Jean Cocteau, Dame Edith Sitwell, Paul Bowles, Salvador Dali, Patti Smith, Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe.

Thinking Cap Theatre’s ‘Laced’ will leave you hopeful for better days. The South Florida theater company is presenting a virtual production of Samantha Mueller's play. The engagement continues and ends this coming weekend.

Provincetown Arts Press celebrates 35th Anniversary Gala, which will be held on Tuesday, November 19 from 7–8pm via ZOOM, and announces the launch of its first Silent Art Auction, which will open on November 1.

Jefferson Mays will star in a new production of A Christmas Carol. Proceeds will benefit the hard-hit theater community, which has been devastated by the pandemic. A worldwide release is set for Saturday, Nov. 28.