Opera’s Composer, Stephen Paulus, Lauds BU’s The Postman Always Rings Twice

bjuarez — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 04:00:57 +0000

The Boston University College of Fine Arts presented Stephen Paulus’s The Postman Always Rings Twice, this past week on the mainstage of the Boston University Theatre. The opera featured conductor William Lumpkin, stage director Jim Petosa, singers from the School of Music Opera Institute and vocal program, and accompaniment by the BU Chamber Orchestra, with production design by students from the School of Theatre. Colin Graham’s libretto was sung in English.

I am grateful to Stephen Paulus for spending time with our students. I know that he was very happy with the results, placing it above professional productions of the opera. I look forward to having him work with our students in the future.

Congratulations to all of those who worked on this collaboration between the School of Music and the School of Theatre.

See BU Today article including video.

Smithsonian Portraiture Exhibit Used in “Culture War”

bjuarez — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 21:55:58 +0000

Walt Whitman deemed safe for a U.S. postage stamp in 1948. Public Domain image.

Update Dec. 20, 2010. The ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art) here in Boston is now showing Hide and Seek. See The Boston Globe‘s story: Offensive? ICA Lets Public Decide

School of Theatre director Jim Petosa passed this article on to me. It seems there is an attempt to politicize photographic portraits of Americans of varying sexual and gender expressions in the Smithsonian show, Hide and Seek.

According to the article, a video by artist David Wojnarowicz on his male lover’s death from AIDS, included a scene with ants crawling over a crucifix. The video, A Fire in My Belly, was pulled from the show after complaints from Catholic League president Bill Donahue who called it “offensive.”

An official in incoming House Speaker John Boehner’s office told The Hill newspaper that “Smithsonian officials should either acknowledge the mistake or be prepared to face tough scrutiny beginning in January.”

It seems entirely possible that the overall theme of the show is an underlying reason for the criticism it has received.

Like truth, art challenges and disturbs precisely because it submits to no political agenda or comfortable preconception. At best, art has an adversarial relationship with comfort.

The art world must be a place for everyone with something of worth to say. Sexual orientation and gender expression are not inherently political but are human characteristics. They are “issues” only for those whose political purposes come before the needs of the very people they purport to serve.

Read the full article here including a slide show of some of the works:

Smithsonian Under Fire for Gay Portaiture Exhibit

BU College of Fine Arts Dean's Blog » jim Petosa

Opera’s Composer, Stephen Paulus, Lauds BU’s The Postman Always Rings Twice

Smithsonian Portraiture Exhibit Used in “Culture War”