“(He) was one of America’s most established dramatists, responsible for about 30 plays staged on or off Broadway since the mid-1980s. His work was wry yet tender, nipping at the divide between comedy and drama, and delved into questions of family, love and friendship.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
“A hard-driving giant …, (he) took the helm at Marvel at the tender age of 27, then spent nearly a decade revolutionizing the way superhero stories are written, drawn and sold” — gaining both fervent admirers and ferocious critics along the way. - The New York Times (The Spokesman-Review)
Maxwell took over the José Limón Dance Company after he died, but no one expected her to keep it going - much less for almost four decades. - The New York Times
“On arriving in Manhattan, she found studio closed; he and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, which he founded in 1953, were on tour. So, on her own, she began exploring other aspects of the New York dance scene.” - The New York Times
The Library announced this week that it has acquired more than 5,000 items from Sondheim's collection, which will be available to the public on July 1. - CBC
A new study suggests that there are six specific traits that these people tend to have in common: Cool people are largely perceived to be extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous. - The New York Times
“A war hero, attorney and real estate developer, … (he) led the design and development of major L.A. landmarks, including the Museum of Contemporary Art and Walt Disney Concert Hall, … (shepherding) the city out of a cultural stasis and turn(ing) it into a global cultural and architectural powerhouse.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
“A prolific director of Off-Broadway, Broadway and regional productions, beginning in the 1990s (he) worked with some of the brightest emerging playwrights, including Douglas Carter Beane, Kenneth Lonergan, Nicky Silver, and Paula Vogel,” directing the acclaimed premieres of Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth and Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive. - Deadline
Her unwavering commitment to shoring up the integrity of a book at every stage solidified her legacy as an editor who could turn talent, hers and that of the authors she published, into cultural and literary power. - Slate
“I worked for a long time facilitating other people’s creativity, and that was very meaningful and very fulfilling, but I started to miss my own,” Roth, 49, told me during a rehearsal break at a black box studio in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood. - The New York Times
Oh was "a glitter-dusted experimental artist-activist whose theater works intertwined political provocation with profound compassion in rituals of communion with audiences,” beloved by theatre folk in New York and across the country. - The New York Times
“There is a kind of performative sheen or a performative element that is not about just the fact of quashing opposition wherever it might be found … but also demonstrating the facts of that quashing through the overt and open humiliation … of the persons involved.” - Hyperallergic
The Argentine-born musician, who had long performing experience in both classical and jazz, wrote memorable music for an impressive list of feature films and television series, earning four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations. In addition, he composed over 50 concert works and maintained a conducting career. - The Washington Post (MSN)
His career ranged from Baptist minister to LBJ’s press secretary to publisher of Long Island’s Newsday to a decade at CBS News, but it was for PBS that he produced hundreds of hours of some of American TV’s most cerebral and provocative series. - AP
