You know an exhibit is extraordinary when the woman standing next to you, who happens to be Elizabeth Broun, the Margaret and Terry Stent director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwich Gallery, says this: “I’m blown away. We have a wonderful collection, but this puts it to shame.” That was how it was during a recent preview for Recapturing the West: The … [Read more...]
Sondheim compiles second treasure trove of remarkable career
Fortunately for all concerned, Stephen Sondheim’s Look, I Made a Hat is not a treatise on the art of millinery. Instead, it is the sequel to Finishing the Hat, the pre-eminent American theater composer-lyricist’s compilation and consideration of his career, divided into two volumes and filled with nuggets of insight. Or, as he prefers to put it in his subtitle, “Collected … [Read more...]