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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2016
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Courtesy Photos
P.T. Barnum
Setting the Scene
Brad Battersby, head of Ringling College’s film program, credits a handson approach with the program’s success. PAGE 4
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Libby Larsen’s opera, ‘Barnum’s Bird,’ tells the story of the world’s first pop icon.
MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR
A
rt has a pushy older sister, and her name is merchandising. In America, she’s been calling the shots for a long time. Our rock stars smile from lunch boxes, celebrity painters brand themselves, and action figures crowd the toy stores before the action movie sells its first ticket. Pop icons rule — and fine art keeps its place. But it wasn’t always this way. Libby Larsen can tell you. She can even tell you when it changed — and the man who changed it. She wrote a critically celebrated opera about how he did it, in fact. But first, let’s talk about her. Larsen is a prolific living composer, boasting more than 500 works across a range of genres. She’s equally fluent in the intimate voice of chamber music and the resonant majesty of opera. Her recordings have won Grammys; her talent continues to win her commissions and performances and the acclamation of her peers. As Larsen sees it, concerts and recordings are public experiences. The act of musical creation isn’t. A composer first listens — to her imagination; to the rhythms of American speech; to other composers. After that profound, private listening, a composer finds something new to say—and a new story to tell.
PAGE 2 Libby Larsen composed “Barnum’s Bird.”
‘Venus in Fur’ Kelly Woodland tackles risqué subject matter in this David Ives play. PAGE 10
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Wine Walk to the Ca’ d’Zan
Jenny Lind
Looking for something to do this week? Use our calendar to help plan your arts-and-entertainment outings. PAGE 12