The Arts Fuse
@theartsfuse.bsky.social
📤 701
📥 660
📝 2002
Boston's Premier Online Arts Magazine
Scott McLennan on the late
#bobweir
: he protected the integrity and idealism of the
#gratefuldead’s
music, playing the band’s songs year after year with a sense of wonder that he never lost touch with.
artsfuse.org/322894/music...
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Musician Remembrance: Homage to Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead - The Arts Fuse
Bob Weir protected the integrity and idealism of the Grateful Dead's music, playing the band's songs year after year with a sense of wonder that he never lost touch with.
https://artsfuse.org/322894/musician-remembrance-homage-to-bob-weir-of-the-grateful-dead/
about 7 hours ago
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David Daniel on a
#Netflix
documentary about the heralded journalist
#SeymourHersh
: Given the current administration’s attacks on independent reporters, "Cover-Up" couldn’t be timelier.
artsfuse.org/322858/film-...
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Film Review: "Cover-Up" Reminds Us Why Investigative Journalism Still Matters - The Arts Fuse
Given the current administration's attacks on independent journalism, "Cover-Up" couldn’t be timelier.
https://artsfuse.org/322858/film-review-cover-up-reminds-us-why-investigative-journalism-still-matters/
about 7 hours ago
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2
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Ed Meek on David Szalay’s Booker Prize-winning novel "Flesh" (
@scribnerbooks.bsky.social
): it focuses on a current type of western male: one whose emotional growth and adult development are stunted by his inability to express himself and understand who he is.
artsfuse.org/322831/book-...
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Book Review: Trapped in the Present Tense - The Bleak Masculinity of David Szalay’s “Flesh” - The Arts Fuse
David Szalay's novel focuses on a current type of western male: one whose emotional growth and adult development are stunted or limited by his inability to express himself and understand who he is.
https://artsfuse.org/322831/book-review-trapped-in-the-present-tense-the-bleak-masculinity-of-david-szalays-flesh/
about 12 hours ago
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Peter Walsh on "British Blonde" (
@yalepress.bsky.social
): Lynda Nead’s meticulous, competent, and impressively researched approach gives the work weight without making it ponderous; this book seems destined to serve as a text for classes in gender or cultural studies.
artsfuse.org/322779/book-...
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Book Review: Blonde Ambition in Postwar Britain: Lynda Nead’s "British Blonde" and the Performance of Desire - The Arts Fuse
Lynda Nead's meticulous, competent, and impressively researched approach gives the work weight without making it ponderous; "British Blonde" seems destined to serve as a text for classes in gender or ...
https://artsfuse.org/322779/book-review-blonde-ambition-in-postwar-britain-lynda-neads-british-blonde-and-the-performance-of-desire/
2 days ago
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Trevor Fairbrother on "The Musical Lives of Charles Manson: The Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Invention of the Sixties —or, No Sense Makes Sense"(
@bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social
) The book sets out a mix of facts and fictions carefully sampled from the lit on Manson.
artsfuse.org/322756/book-...
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Book Review: "The Musical Lives of Charles Manson" — Scenes from a Counterculture - The Arts Fuse
Nicholas Tochka is less interested in crafting a coherent portrayal of Charles Manson's "musical lives" than in connecting his critical hypothesis of "the invention of the Sixties" to critical theorie...
https://artsfuse.org/322756/book-review-the-musical-lives-of-charles-manson-scenes-from-a-counterculture/
2 days ago
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Debra Cash writes that the book "Balanchine Finds His America" (
@academic.oup.com
) does justice to both George Balanchine’s gifts and the women who entered his orbit, and more than occasionally his bed.
artsfuse.org/322737/book-...
3 days ago
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Aaron Keebaugh writes that the Boston Artists Ensemble performances made one thing clear: what had in Mozart’s day been a failed musical venture (the "Prussian Quartets”) now present the opportunity for show-stopping pageantry.
artsfuse.org/322705/conce...
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Concert Review: Mozart Still Draws a Crowd -The Boston Artists Ensemble Perform the Prussian Quartets - The Arts Fuse
The performances made one thing clear: what had in Mozart’s day been a failed musical venture now makes for show-stopping pageantry.
https://artsfuse.org/322705/concert-review-mozart-still-draws-a-crowd-the-boston-artists-ensemble-perform-the-prussian-quartets/
3 days ago
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This week’s poem: Brenda Coultas’s “A Study of Night”
artsfuse.org/322752/weekl...
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Weekly Feature: Poetry at The Arts Fuse - The Arts Fuse
This week’s poem: Brenda Coultas's "A Study of Night"
https://artsfuse.org/322752/weekly-feature-poetry-at-the-arts-fuse-146/
3 days ago
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This week's newsletter is out and about: Coming Attractions, links to reviews of the A.R.T.'s "Wonder" and
#thediscobiscuits
. My column suggests that theatergoers support productions that engage with the crises around us.
artsfuse.substack.com/p/the-arts-f...
5 days ago
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Peg Aloi writes that
#vincegilligan’s
new series,
#Plur1bus
, is ambitious, visionary, and artfully realistic, teeming with topical and timely references that make us wonder if, indeed, this shit might actually be happening in the real world, too.
artsfuse.org/322687/telev...
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5 days ago
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Adam Theater is reviving its production of "Library Lion" at Boston's Calderwood Pavilion. A repost of Joan Lancourt's review of the earlier staging -- which she found to be utterly delightful: the lion puppet quickly becomes something magical.
artsfuse.org/298124/child...
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Children's Theater Review: A Rip-Roaring "Library Lion" - The Arts Fuse
"Library Lion," wonderfully staged by Adam Theater, marks the arrival of a new and welcome addition to the Boston theater scene.
https://artsfuse.org/298124/childrens-theater-review-a-rip-roaring-library-lion/
5 days ago
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Lauren Kaufmann on "One Hundred Stitches, One Hundred Villages: The Beauty of Patchwork from Rural China" at the
@mfaboston.bsky.social
. The work reflects a culture that reveres its age-old traditions and preserves them over many generations.
artsfuse.org/322624/visua...
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Visual Arts Review: Threads of Tradition - The Quiet Brilliance of "One Hundred Stitches, One Hundred Villages” - The Arts Fuse
Although the work seems timeless, its modernity reflects a culture that reveres its age-old traditions and preserves them over many generations.
https://artsfuse.org/322624/visual-arts-review-threads-of-tradition-the-quiet-brilliance-of-one-hundred-stitches-one-hundred-villages/
6 days ago
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Start the new year with a trio of children's books -- "How to Grow a Family Tree," "Anything" and "A Hatful of Dreams" -- about the ups and downs of family life. Cyrisse Jaffee reviews.
artsfuse.org/322668/child...
6 days ago
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Extensive and eclectic, writes David D'Arcy,
#DOCNYC
offers a valuable sampling of documentary films for the coming year. These favorites -- "FUGS FILM!," "Arrest the Midwife," and "True North" -- are worth searching out.
artsfuse.org/322598/film-...
8 days ago
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James Kates writes that many of the poems in Cornelia Veenendaal's new collection, "Sky of Sudden Changes," take in the world through a distinctively painterly eye for scenes and sketches. Blazevox [Books]
artsfuse.org/322481/poetr...
8 days ago
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Two critics, Scott McLennan and Paul Robicheau write on The Disco Biscuits, who chose Boston as its base for a three-night New Year’s run that unfolded in three different venues.
artsfuse.org/322557/conce...
9 days ago
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Peter Walsh on
#olivialaing’s
novel "The Silver Book" (
@fsgbooks.bsky.social
), set mostly in 1975, combines a gay romance with a literary text about the dangers of resurfacing fascism, a discourse on 20th-century avant-garde film-making, and a political thriller.
artsfuse.org/322458/book-...
9 days ago
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Each month, our arts critics fire off a few brief reviews. Peter Keough, Allen Michie, Mark Favermann, Bill Littlefield, and Editor Bill Marx send up a few critical flares for January.
artsfuse.org/322370/janua...
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January Short Fuses — Materia Critica - The Arts Fuse
Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
https://artsfuse.org/322370/january-short-fuses-materia-critica-5/
10 days ago
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Martin B. Copenhaver on the American Repertory Theater production of the musical "Wonder." The show aspires to make us more empathetic and to help us “choose kind.”
artsfuse.org/322533/theat...
10 days ago
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Happy New Year! Here is the magazine's first poem of the year: Ish Klein's "Global Amnesia"
artsfuse.org/322471/weekl...
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Weekly Feature: Poetry at The Arts Fuse - The Arts Fuse
This week's poem: Ish Klein's "Global Amnesia"
https://artsfuse.org/322471/weekly-feature-poetry-at-the-arts-fuse-145/
11 days ago
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@callinamagician.bsky.social
on Park Chan-Wook's black comedy about the inhumanity of corporate culture, "No Other Choice": South Korea looks as if it is steadily transforming into a home more fit for robots — manning the sawmills of capitalism — than humans.
artsfuse.org/322425/film-...
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Film Review: "No Other Choice" - Park Chan-wook’s Bleakly Comic Portrait of Capitalist Despair - The Arts Fuse
"No Other Choice"’s South Korea looks as if it is steadily transforming into a home more fit for robots -- manning the sawmills of capitalism -- than humans.
https://artsfuse.org/322425/film-review-no-other-choice-park-chan-wooks-bleakly-comic-portrait-of-capitalist-despair/
11 days ago
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Neil Giordano writes that director Bi Gan’s "Resurrection" is a sumptuous elegy to the cinema. The film is an artistic triumph, but be prepared -- its dreamy narrative may leave some viewers restless.
artsfuse.org/322327/film-...
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Film Review: Resurrecting the Dream - Bi Gan's "Resurrection" - The Arts Fuse
Bi Gan’s sumptuous elegy to cinema is an artistic triumph, but the dreamy narrative may leave some viewers restless.
https://artsfuse.org/322327/film-review-resurrecting-the-dream-bi-gans-resurrection/
12 days ago
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Thanks to you, it is a very Glad Day for The Arts Fuse --we made our $25,000 goal for the Winter Appeal! Thanks to all who contributed -- and read the magazine. Onwards!
12 days ago
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The magazine's Winter Appeal ends tomorrow. I’m very grateful for the response we’ve had so far from our readers. I invite those who have yet to support an independent, nonprofit publication dedicated to seriously (but not solemnly) covering arts and culture to do so.
artsfuse.org/keep-the-fus...
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Donations - Please Help Keep the Arts Fuse Lit - The Arts Fuse
The Arts Fuse serves as the next generation platform for thousands of arts and culture consumers across Greater Boston and across the globe. The magazine now
https://artsfuse.org/keep-the-fuse-lit/
13 days ago
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For Steve Elman, 2025 turned out to be a feast year for devotees of soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom. The music found on both of these releases could be thought of as exemplifying three areas Bloom has explored in depth and refined to purity.
artsfuse.org/322386/revie...
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Reviews and Retrospective: Jane Ira Bloom’s "once like a spark" and "Songs in Space" - The Arts Fuse
2025 turned out to be a feast year for devotees of soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom. The music found on both of these releases could be thought of as exemplifying three areas Bloom has explored in d...
https://artsfuse.org/322386/reviews-and-retrospective-jane-ira-blooms-once-like-a-spark-and-songs-in-space
13 days ago
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In "Translation Spotlight," Tess Lewis writes appreciations of three remarkable translated works that have preoccupied her for months.
artsfuse.org/322345/trans...
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Translation Spotlight: Haunted and Haunting - The Arts Fuse
Appreciations of three remarkable translated works that have preoccupied me for months.
https://artsfuse.org/322345/translation-spotlight-haunted-and-haunting/
13 days ago
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Viewing John Singer Sargent and his art through the lens of identity studies and LGBTQ history, writes Trevor Fairbrother, supplies new insights into claims about his homosexuality.
artsfuse.org/321979/visua...
13 days ago
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Ed Meek on Xiaolu Guo's rethink of
#mobydick
-- "Call Me Ishmaelle"
@groveatlantic.bsky.social
. Applying a litmus test to art — in this case ideological sanitizing — inevitably diminishes the art.
artsfuse.org/322286/book-...
13 days ago
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The title of this revelatory book might suggest that it’s limited to uncovering the deficiencies and biases of a particular profession, writes Bill Littlefield. But "The Coroner’s Silence"
@beaconpress.bsky.social
is far more than that.
artsfuse.org/322316/book-...
15 days ago
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3
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Steve Provizer on "Unfinished: The Role of the Artist in the Age of Artificial Intelligence" (
@bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social
) Composer Lucas Cantor Santiago's book supplies a thoughtful analysis of the relationship between music, musicians, and AI.
artsfuse.org/322054/book-...
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Book Review: "Unfinished" Argues for AI as an Artistic Partner — But at What Cost? - The Arts Fuse
"Unfinished" supplies a thoughtful analysis of the relationship between music, musicians, and AI.
https://artsfuse.org/322054/book-review-unfinished-argues-for-ai-as-an-artistic-partner-but-at-what-cost/
16 days ago
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Editor Bill Marx, Kai Maristed, Roberta Silman, Preston Gralla, Clea Simon and others offer up some of their favorite books of the year.
artsfuse.org/322168/arts-...
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Arts Feature: Recommended Books, 2025 - The Arts Fuse
An eclectic round-up of the favorite books of the year from our critics.
https://artsfuse.org/322168/arts-feature-recommended-books-2025/
16 days ago
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This week's poem: Martine Bellen's "To Think Snow: A Meditation"
artsfuse.org/322270/weekl...
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Weekly Feature: Poetry at The Arts Fuse - The Arts Fuse
This week's poem: Martine Bellen's "To Think Snow: A Meditation"
https://artsfuse.org/322270/weekly-feature-poetry-at-the-arts-fuse-144/
16 days ago
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Martin Copenhaver supplies a valuable message for the holidays. Sometimes the stranger is someone who is very well known to us, like a father whose strange ways include a devotion to a certain story about a childhood in Wales.
artsfuse.org/322032/holid...
17 days ago
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Roberta Silman on "NightWood" at The Mount. The intent was to create a winter display that had no religious message but that would illuminate The Mount at this darkest time of year, that would call attention to its wintry beauty.
artsfuse.org/322129/arts-...
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Arts Feature: NightWood at The Mount - A Magical and Deeply Spiritual Experience - The Arts Fuse
The intent was to create a winter display that had no religious message but that would illuminate The Mount at this darkest time of year, that would call attention to its wintry beauty.
https://artsfuse.org/322129/arts-feature-nightwood-at-the-mount-a-magical-and-deeply-spiritual-experience/
17 days ago
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Critics Peg Aloi and Sarah Osman supply their TV favorites of 2025.
artsfuse.org/322203/arts-...
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Arts Feature: According to Our Critics - The Best That TV Offered in 2025 - The Arts Fuse
Our critics supply their TV favorites of 2025.
https://artsfuse.org/322203/arts-feature-according-to-our-critics-the-best-that-tv-offered-in-2025/
17 days ago
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It can’t be denied that
#MartySupreme
is effective as a wild cinematic trip, writes
@callinamagician.bsky.social
. But it offers an immersive experience — not an analysis of its self-adorning anti-hero.
artsfuse.org/322148/film-...
17 days ago
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Happy Holidays! In this week's newsletter: a favorite poem. Also, jazz, film, and theater end-of-the-year lists.
artsfuse.substack.com/p/the-arts-f...
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19 days ago
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Jonathan Blumhofer on
#Trump's
slapping his name on the
#kennedycenter
-- and the fate his administration might have in mind for the
#nationalsymphonyorchestra
artsfuse.org/322110/arts-...
19 days ago
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Ed Symkus on
#BradleyCooper's
character-driven dramedy "Is This Thing On?": What’s harder … performing comedy onstage or making a marriage work?
artsfuse.org/321926/film-...
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Film Review: "Is This Thing On?" - Stand-Up Dramatics - The Arts Fuse
What’s harder … performing comedy onstage or making a marriage work?
https://artsfuse.org/321926/film-review-is-this-thing-on-stand-up
19 days ago
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Debra Cash on Anne Plamondon Productions' "Myokine" at the
@icaboston.bsky.social
: The ensemble itself is under interrogation: can these dancers connect enough to rescue each other? Can they form bonds of solidarity?
artsfuse.org/322100/dance...
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Dance Review: Anne Plamondon Productions - Emotional Rescue - The Arts Fuse
In "Myokine", the ensemble itself is under interrogation: can these dancers connect enough to rescue each other? Can they form bonds of solidarity?
https://artsfuse.org/322100/dance-review-anne-plamondon-productions-emotional-rescue/
19 days ago
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Michael Londra on
@fsgbooks.bsky.social
's release of John Berryman's "Only Sing": The poet's choice of minstrelsy in his "Dream Songs" is not just a distraction that can be explained away by aficionados — it is impossible to excuse or forgive.
artsfuse.org/321958/poetr...
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Poetry Review: The Devil's Sonnets - John Berryman's "Only Sing" - The Arts Fuse
Poet John Berryman's choice of minstrelsy in his "Dream Songs" is not just a distraction that can be explained away by aficionados -- it is impossible to excuse or forgive.
https://artsfuse.org/321958/poetry-review-the-devils-sonnets-john-berrymans-only-sing/
19 days ago
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Our popular music critics -- including Paul Robicheau and Scott McLennan -- pick some of the standout albums and performances of 2025.
artsfuse.org/322072/arts-...
19 days ago
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Critics David Greenham, Robert Israel, and Editor Bill Marx salute the year’s outstanding Boston-area stage productions, with some commentary on the state of the art.
artsfuse.org/321800/theat...
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Theater Feature: Favorite Boston-Area Stage Productions of 2025 - The Year of the Ostrich - The Arts Fuse
Our critics salute the year's outstanding productions, with some commentary on the state of the art.
https://artsfuse.org/321800/theater-feature-favorite-boston-area-stage-productions-of-2025-the-year-of-the-ostrich/
21 days ago
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Tim Jackson on the film "The Housemaid": " A satisfying, occasionally cringe-worthy Gothic thriller, whose sharp satire of social mores contains a feminist message that’s hard to miss.
artsfuse.org/321835/film-...
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Film Review: "The Housemaid" - A Twisty Gothic Thriller with a Feminist Edge - The Arts Fuse
A satisfying, occasionally cringe-worthy Gothic thriller, whose sharp satire of social mores contains a feminist message that's hard to miss.
https://artsfuse.org/321835/film-review-the-housemaid-a-twisty-gothic-thriller-with-a-feminist-edge
22 days ago
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Jon Garelick welcomes The Either/Orchestra back at The Regattabar: leader Russ Gershon's jazz band remains a refreshing outlier in form and content.
artsfuse.org/321847/jazz-...
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Jazz Concert Review: The Either/Orchestra at the Regattabar - The Arts Fuse
Welcome back! The second half-life of the Either/Orchestra.
https://artsfuse.org/321847/jazz-concert-review-the-either-orchestra-at-the-regattabar/
22 days ago
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Throughout their provocative anthology, "My Studio Is A Dungeon Is The Studio", artist, educator, and curator Nayland Blake reminds readers of the importance of maintaining authenticity and self-representation in every facet of creative work.
artsfuse.org/321897/book-...
22 days ago
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Cyrisse Jaffee on two new books ("Hugged by the Night" and "Winter is Wonderful") and one reissued classic ("Christmas in the Trenches") that will teach, delight, and intrigue children.
artsfuse.org/321822/child...
24 days ago
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Thanks to all for the greetings for editor Bill Marx's 72nd birthday. For those who would like to make the day brighter for him -- and to help the invaluable cause of arts journalism -- please contribute to The Arts Fuse, his teenage (18 year-old) publication.
artsfuse.org/keep-the-fus...
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Donations - Please Help Keep the Arts Fuse Lit - The Arts Fuse
The Arts Fuse serves as the next generation platform for thousands of arts and culture consumers across Greater Boston and across the globe. The magazine now
https://artsfuse.org/keep-the-fuse-lit/
24 days ago
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We continually hear from arts organizations and artists that this publication is more essential than ever. Please consider contributing to the Fuse's Winter Appeal. High quality coverage of the arts is a truly endangered species.
artsfuse.org/320870/winte...
24 days ago
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This week's poem: Heller Levinson’s "Archaeology of Gap"
artsfuse.org/321787/weekl...
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Weekly Feature: Poetry at The Arts Fuse - The Arts Fuse
This week's poem: Heller Levinson's "Archeology of Gap"
https://artsfuse.org/321787/weekly-feature-poetry-at-the-arts-fuse-143/
24 days ago
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