Cheering For New Met Opera's Debut "People certainly turned out for this opening night. It was quite a sight to leave the Met during the curtain calls and encounter a cheering crowd in Lincoln Center Plaza who had watched the simulcast performance on an outdoor screen. The Met is starting its own digital radio network and soon will be televising productions to movie theaters in America and overseas. You want to say to Mr. Gelb, 'More power to you'."
Posted: 09/26/2006 12:01 am
Cantrell: Toronto Opera House Gets It Right Toonto's new opera house is a gem, writes Scott Cantrell. "Architecturally, the Four Seasons is generic modernism understated to a fault. But an inaugural Canadian Opera Company production of Wagner's complete Ring of the Nibelung this month showed off well-nigh ideal acoustics for opera: almost eerily transparent but also spacious, with an even frequency response and a good balance between stage and pit." Dallas Morning News 09/25/06
Posted: 09/25/2006 11:52 pm
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U.S. Reconfigures Its Cultural Diplomacy "The State Department has enlisted four national cultural organizations to broaden exchanges between American artists and foreign audiences and share the country's arts management expertise. ... This umbrella effort," known as the Global Cultural Initiative, "is taking a number of programs that federal cultural agencies and national organizations have underway that are more on-the-ground than marquee. The primary partners in the new program are the Kennedy Center, American Film Institute, National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities." Washington Post 09/26/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 5:31 am
Lincoln Center Accomplishes Its First Dismantling A plaza lid that had covered 65th Street at Lincoln Center has been removed. "Now, with the plaza finally removed, it is a pleasure to see daylight returning to this forlorn street. Suddenly the visions of the architects, which had a pie-in-the-sky quality until a few weeks ago, seem within reach." New York Sun 09/26/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 12:00 am
Why Is Most Art For The Blind About Touching? "This is not how people see a work of art; they can take in the whole of it at a glance. I feel I want the same. Perhaps this is a failing in me. Many totally blind people assure me that they can get an enormous amount from this kind of experience, both examining and creating it." The Times (UK) 09/25/06
Posted: 09/25/2006 11:55 pm
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Baritone Thomas Stewart, 78 "Thomas Stewart, an American baritone who was renowned for his portrayals of Wotan, Amfortas and other central Wagnerian roles and who was heard frequently at Bayreuth and the Metropolitan Opera, died on Sunday in Rockville, Md." The New York Times 09/26/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 4:28 am
Incoming Equity Director Patrick Quinn, 56 "Patrick Quinn, a former president of the Actors’ Equity Association who was about to become its first new executive director in 25 years, died yesterday at his country home in Bushkill, Pa. He was 56 and lived in Manhattan. ... His tenure was to begin on Oct. 5. He would have succeeded Alan Eisenberg, who has held the position since 1981." The New York Times 09/25/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 3:25 am
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Where American Theatre Coverage Trumps The Brits "Those who want a survey of the New York theatre scene may still go to the New York Times for the latest reviews and features, but the blogosphere is reaching corners the increasingly PR-driven and squeezed-for-space arts pages of the print media can't (or won't). A bevvy of New York-based playwrights, critics, directors, academics and assorted drama fans are using blogs to have conversations about theatre culture, post reviews, challenge critical consensus, respond to breaking news and plug their productions. What binds them together, from the formidably prolific Superfluities to Playgoer (my personal favourite), is genuine excitement about the medium." The Guardian (UK) 09/20/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 6:13 am
The Not-So-Great Side Of Shakespeare "The proposition that not all Shakespeare is Shakespeare-great was put forward by Frank Kermode in his recent book on the bard's language. Kermode came out and said what most audiences secretly think - a lot of Shakespeare is impossible to understand." The Guardian (UK) 09/25/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 12:33 am
Rebuilding London's Young Vic "The Young Vic was once a crumbling wreck facing closure. Now, after a two-year rebuild, it has been reborn - bigger and better." The Guardian (UK) 09/26/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 12:24 am
Questions About LA's Center Theatre Group Direction Questions concerning Michael Ritchie's "artistic vision for the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum and the Kirk Douglas — three unique spaces demanding customized leadership — are mounting. Having begun with a promise to make the Ahmanson more a showcase for world premieres, he's backed off in the new season with a lineup mostly of touring Broadway shows. As for his two other spaces, the message has been murky." Los Angeles Times 09/25/06
Posted: 09/25/2006 11:28 pm
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The Nobels That Almost Weren't "When Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite and more powerful explosives, died in 1896, he bequeathed the bulk of his fortune to create five annual prizes honoring ingenuity. The chemistry, medicine and physics prizes have come to be widely regarded as the most esteemed in their fields. The two others, literature and peace, are more controversial. Yet in a little known story, the Nobel Prizes, the first of which will be announced on Monday, almost never came to be, largely because of the unsophisticated way Nobel drew up his will." The New York Times 09/26/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 4:13 am
Thais Pressured Yale Not To Publish Book "A new and comprehensive history of the Thai modern monarchy, written by an American journalist, Paul M. Handley, and banned in Thailand, argues that in his 60-year reign King Bhumibol Adulyadej has generally exercised a preference for order over democracy. ... The book’s publisher, Yale University Press, said it came under heavy pressure from the Thai government not to publish it. The director of Yale University Press, John Donatich, said the pressure included a visit to New Haven by a delegation of Thai officials, including the cabinet secretary general, Bowornsak Uwanno, and the Thai ambassador to the United States, Virasakdi Futrakul." The New York Times 09/25/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 3:55 am
Murakami Wins Richest Story Prize Haruki Murakami has won the second Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. "The €35,000 (£23,000) prize, which is awarded to new collections published in English during the last 12 months, is the world's richest short story prize." The Guardian (UK) 09/25/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 12:30 am
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Amazon's Unbox Agreement: The New Face Of Evil? "Want to buy and download a video? Fine. But Amazon's Unbox program is going to run in the background on your computer and send information back to the company about your 'operating system, software, amount of available disk space and Internet connectivity' as well as what you're doing with those videos, all in order to continue to 'manage rights' associated with them, says the agreement. ... But if you somehow you violate their rules? Amazon has the right to reach into your hard drive from afar, delete all the videos you've paid for and not give you a refund." Chicago Tribune 09/26/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 5:12 am
Director Takes On Critics In Boxing Ring (And Wins) "Tired of the criticism of his films, controversial German film director Uwe Boll took on four of his critics in a Vancouver boxing ring, and ended each bout with a knockout. The director of the vampire flick 'BloodRayne,' based on a video game and starring Kristanna Loken and Ben Kingsley, issued a fight challenge to his critics several months ago. Fifteen responded. 'I like now the critics,' Boll said...." Los Angeles Times (AP) 09/26/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 5:03 am
Publishing Comics Online First, Then In Print "For generations of Americans, comic books were the first real page-turners. But the audience for their digital counterpart, called Webcomics, has for the most part been limited to a niche group of comic book creators and their most ardent followers. Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, the chairman of Platinum Studios, a privately held California entertainment company that develops and adapts comics for other media, wants to change that. ... Mr. Rosenberg plans to begin publishing Platinum’s comic books online before they go to press for traditional distribution through stores and newsstands." The New York Times 09/25/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 4:40 am
Want Your Movie To Do Well? It's All About The Buzz It's "one of the harshest realities of movie marketing today: It’s almost impossible to recover from bad buzz. Studios wield their marketing campaigns as they always have, priming audiences to expect the best. But with the media following every twist of a movie’s progress, viewers head to theaters loaded with behind-the-scenes information." The New York Times 09/26/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 12:15 am
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"Footloose" Revisited: Can Dance Lessons Save The Day? "Just hours after a welcome-to-school dance at Aliso Niguel High School in Aliso Viejo, Principal Charles Salter banned all future dances for this academic year. The frustrated Salter had been sending out warnings for several years. In a recent phone call, he boiled down his complaints to three factors: inappropriate clothing (or too little clothing), especially among the girls; students who had been drinking alcohol; and 'freaking' – dancing that was way too raunchy and sexually suggestive." Laura Bleiberg has a suggestion for rescinding the ban – and it involves (gulp) learning. Orange County Register 09/24/06
Posted: 09/26/2006 6:44 am
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