'Crime and Punishment' at the Kennedy Center
This header refers to American Ballet Theatre's adaptation of Dostoyevsky's novel, which I saw last week. What else could I possibly mean?
Maybe Donald Trump taking over and appointing the likes of Laura Ingraham to the Kennedy Center's board? OK, yes. I can see why you thought that. Read on.
What I'm writing
My circle of freelance life in these early chaotic, tragic days of the second Trump administration has gone roughly like this:
Survey the news (spending way too much on time on Bluesky, Instagram, etc.)
Identify a story
Target an outlet
Write the pitch
Wait for a response
Get a "no" or a no answer
Realize the story is out of date because the pitch feels so seven—constitutional crises ago.
So with the caveat that even stories I've produced in the past few weeks seem like the products of a more innocent time, here are some recent bylines.
For The Baltimore Banner, I shared news that Baltimore Symphony concertmaster Jonathan Carney, the subject of a 31-page internal sexual harassment report, will retire from the orchestra. You may recall Carney from my November profile of BSO oboist Katherine Needleman. Two decades ago, the orchestra's top violinist sought to have sex with while touring Spain. That was hardly the beginning of his alleged (but very well documented) impropriety. He will depart for good in 2027, after 25 years with my hometown orchestra.
Rebecca Ritzel
Also for the Banner, I wrote about a subject that's long been close to my heart as an arts journalist from Baltimore: The pipeline that sends outstanding Black DMV dancers to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. When those dancers retire from the stage, many return to the area to teach, including Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell, who I first interviewed for a 2010 Chronicle of Higher Education story.
Rebecca Ritzel
And for Dance Magazine, I wrote about woes facing arts organizations as Trump 2.0 continues to threaten and restrict NEA funding. Several news organization made much ado over the administration cutting the Challenge America grants, which were founded during the Clinton era as a vehicle for dispatching $ to GOP congressional districts. "Underserved communities," some of those Red State districts were called.
Lo and behold, Elon Musk hits "Control F" and decides those grants to "underserved" communities have to go.
But the NEA also developed actual DEI grants during the Biden administration, in response to now-rescinded executive orders. I spoke with two recipients of those ArtsHERE grants, who no they will be the last to receive them. NOTE: Both the NEA and Wallace Foundation declined to confirm that those 112 ArtsHERE grantees would receive the second installment of their promised payments. HOWEVER, at least three grantees have since said the money is secure.
Rebecca J. Ritzel
What I'm Seeing
Schmigadoon! Who wants corn puddin'? In this climate? Me and thousands of other Washingtonians! A very successful run at the Kennedy Center was the best-of-possible-worlds last-hurrah, celebrating a bygone era of an arts center that has upheld works from the past while also pushing boundaries gently into the future. A week later, Donald Trump fired President Deborah Rutter, creator of the Broadway Center Stage series, as well as board members and communications director Eileen Andrews, who I have worked with for years, and will dearly miss.
What I'm Reading
So much and way too much. But here are a few particular reads.
First, the independent, nonprofit Texas news outlet The Barbed Wire published a thorough investigation into William VerMeulen, the self-styled "horn guru" who retired from Rice University last spring. At the time, he was accused of sending "private images" (aka dick pics) to a former student. Rice student newspaper editor Riya Misra spoke with 15 women who accused him of sexual misconduct, include some who experienced unwanted touching, groping and kissing. VerMeulen remains listed as principal horn of the Houston Symphony.
Second, a few links for those who can't get enough on Trump's Kennedy Center takeover:
Minnesota blogger Emily E. Hogstad (aka Song of the Lark) on the national implications for the Trump takeover, particularly when it comes to arts union negotiations.
Anne Midgette, my friend and the former Washington Post classical music critic, in Van Magazine on "the flurry of discussion currently dominating the cell phones of everyone in the D.C. arts community."
David Smith, my friend and the Guardian's DC bureau chief, on the decidedly fascist implications of Trump's cultural coup.
If I could write anything
I'd write a Saturday Night Live cold open of a Kennedy Center board meeting, featuring Heidi Gardner as Laura Ingraham, James Austin Johnson as Trump, director's choice as Lee Greenwood and Bowen Yang as Elaine Chao singing showtunes.
If I could see anything
Leaving you with a glimpse of bright and cheerful news from Instagram feed. Seattle's Pacific Northwest Ballet debuted a new Sleeping Beauty this month, with vivid and bright new designs completely devoid of fake 18th-century European foppery. No Eurocentrism necessary. You love to see it.
Zoe Meadows-Sahr
