“In her eight years at the Folger, [Gail Kern] Paster has acquired increasingly rare documents of the Elizabethan era; raised millions of dollars, despite the recession, for the historic building and collections; and overseen the inevitable march to digitization.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
How Many Understudies Equal A Refund?
With its “leading man too ill to perform” and “his understudy and leading lady laid low by the same bug” yet game to “battle through,” the ENO went ahead with its performance — even when the ailing understudy was replaced after intermission with a chorus member. “At what point does ‘the show must go on’ tip over into ‘must the show go on’?”
Four Years Later, Alice Tully Hall Gets Its Pipe Organ Back
“The process started at the hall’s loading dock on 66th Street, with smaller pieces at first. Occasionally a recognizable feature — the organist’s bench, for example — would float by. … A little later, the second truck started yielding up organ pipes on 65th Street, where the stage entrance provided a more direct route and easier turns into the hall.”
Alan Bennett Falls Victim To Ice Cream Robbers
Shortly after withdrawing £1,500 from the bank, “Bennett, 76, was targeted by two women pickpockets who splattered his raincoat with ice cream, then stole his wallet as they purported to wipe him clean.” The playwright said that the incident was “most upsetting. But I shall be writing about it in my diaries.”
As Garment District Contracts, How To Dress The Dancers?
New York City Ballet’s costume shop is “charged with rebuilding costumes made years or decades ago, sometimes with materials that have long since gone out of style or production. Meanwhile, shrinking budgets, rising costs and an imperiled garment district make it increasingly difficult to keep City Ballet’s vast repertory looking fresh.”
In Birthday Honors, Queen Doesn’t Forget The Arts
Among those who got the nod: “Paula Rego, the Portuguese-born painter famous for the often fantastical feel to her art, has been made a dame. ‘I was totally surprised by it,’ she said. ‘What is it for? I don’t do anything but paint pictures.'”
Poll: Dido and Aeneas Aria Is Brits’ Favorite
“It is a tragic lament, sung by Dido, Queen of Carthage, who flings herself on a funeral pyre after being abandoned by the Trojan Prince Aeneas. ‘Remember me,’ sings the heartbroken queen, to the lover who has left her. ‘But ah, forget my fate.’ She then commits suicide in despair.”
James Levine Bows Out Of Tanglewood Season
“Levine, the Boston Symphony’s music director, said doctors told him he’s made great progress, but have advised him to ‘err on the side of caution and take the summer off to recuperate more fully from the two back surgeries of this past year.’ Levine’s latest surgery was in April.”
Glimmerglass Transforms From An Opera Into A Festival
“The venerated institution will change its name to the Glimmerglass Festival starting next summer to reflect a broader array of productions and events. For 2011, the festival is expanding its scope to include regular productions of Broadway musicals plus expanded offerings of concerts, cabaret and readings.”
B’klyn Museum’s Pop-Culture Focus Hasn’t Added Visitors
“The Brooklyn Museum has long faced criticism that its populist tack and exhibitions on topics like the ‘Star Wars’ movies and hip-hop music have diminished its stature. And now the attendance figures raise questions about the effectiveness of those efforts to build an audience by becoming more accessible.”