“At 55, facing his largest live audience ever, [Jimmy Tingle will] stand in front of 32,000 people at Harvard’s commencement and deliver the graduate student oration…. ‘He’s clearly got a media presence,’ said Kennedy School professor and political commentator David Gergen, who had Tingle as a student in a leadership development class.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
When The Flatiron Building Is Your Office
The triangular landmark’s “interior is a warren of awkward spaces,” so “it seemed logical that workers in the building would be thrilled at the prospect of moving to a better space. Not so. ‘Everyone will be dragged kicking and screaming from here,’ said Airie Stuart, publisher of Palgrave, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers.”
Streets Of NY Rise Again On Universal’s Back Lot
“The studio on Thursday will unveil its refurbished New York street movie sets that burned down in a fire nearly two years ago, which comes as welcome news to the local production community at a time when Los Angeles is struggling to keep movie and TV shoots from leaving the state.”
At Long Last, BookExpo Makes Way For Digital Publishing
“As the trade show BookExpo America revved up its new abbreviated version here Tuesday, the digital publishing industry was given a prominent place at the annual gathering of one of the country’s most traditional businesses — the ink and paper world of book publishing.”
Italy’s Opera House Honchos In Bid To Prevent Budget Cuts
“Today the directors of all 14 opera houses will hold a crunch meeting with Sandro Bondi, the Culture Minister, in a last effort to stave off the cuts,” which the government says are necessary as “part of a package of austerity measures. … But for performers and legions of opera lovers, what is at stake is an art form that is a symbol of Italy throughout the world.”
Researching Dementia To Write Lion’s Face Libretto
“[A]n elderly man and an elderly woman, neither of whom use language any more, gaze at each other, shaking their simple instruments in time. My first thought is a cliche: music drawing strangers together in the depths. Then the doctor sitting next to me gives me a nudge, and shows me what he has scribbled on the margin of his notes: ‘husband & wife’.”
Reserve Funds Put Chicago’s Lyric Opera In The Black
“The glory days of the company achieving more than 100 percent capacity are gone, but Lyric announced Monday that it it sold 86 percent of its seating capacity for the 2009/10 season and surpassed its $16.6 million fundraising goal.” It also “tapped $2.7 million in reserve funds … to balance its $53 million operating budget.”
Vaclav Havel Gets Back To Playwriting
“Leaving is about the leader of an unspecified country who steps down after many years in power, but Havel insists it’s not autobiographical. He began writing the play in the 1980s, long before the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. … A neighbor saved an early draft.”
Puncturing The Romantic Myths About Art Theft
“Hollywood has painted a picture of the art thief as glamorous, besuited Thomas Crowns, pilfering art for the thrill and challenge of it. But in the real world, it’s a much less charming affair. … In fact, most museum crooks are second-rate thugs that steal art because it packs so much value into such a compact and portable package.”
Tina Fey To Get Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Humor Prize
“And before anyone asks, let’s settle the question of honoring someone who’s a mere 40 years old. ‘It does change the paradigm a bit,’ said Mark Krantz, co-executive producer of the Twain salute. … ‘A lot of people felt it was a lifetime achievement award for an old person. It never has been.'”