Karen Heller: “Unexpect? The phrase – unnatural, forced, and heretofore unused in the English language – suggests something confined to boudoirs or bathrooms. Expectorate yourself comes to mind, the slogan suggestive of a spit take.”
Tag: 02.07.10
Tea Party Convention: Altman’s Nashville Come To Life?
The populist platform embraced by the presidential candidate in Robert Altman’s 1975 movie “included forbidding lawyers from serving in Congress (‘Did you ever ask a lawyer the time of day? He told you how to make a watch, didn’t he?’), taking on oil companies, abolishing the Electoral College and eliminating farm subsidies.”
The Curtain Has Descended On Pasadena Playhouse
“‘Tonight we are closing this theater,’ Executive Director Stephen Eich told the crowd of over 600 audience, board members and well-wishers from the stage on a night that also saw the closing of the Playhouse production of ‘Camelot.'” He said the theatre is “absolutely optimistic that it will in fact reopen.”
Brooklyn Cultural District Construction To Begin
“The projects include the long-awaited new building for Theatre for a New Audience; a renovation of the Strand Theater building; [and] a third theater venue for BAM…. But the nascent arts neighborhood has had so many setbacks, it’s easy to question whether these projects will be completed as scheduled, especially during a major recession.”
Stew And Heidi Write A Show (About Their Breakup)
Heidi Rodewald and Stew split up before their musical, “Passing Strange,” got to Broadway. A year after it closed, “Stew starts writing breakup songs. His friends tell him they’re great, but you know what would be really great? Have Heidi sing about her side of things.” Now St. Ann’s Warehouse is staging the new show.
Aspen Music Festival Cuts Season
“This summer’s season will run eight weeks instead of nine — July 1 through Aug. 22 — and that trim inevitably means a reduction in the overall number of concerts, master classes and other offerings.”
The “Glee” Effect
“In the US there has already been a rise in membership of show-choirs like the fictional one that Glee revolves around, and a live tour is planned for the cast. But will Glee leave an indelible mark on television? Musicals are a difficult genre to get right on TV.”
Questions About Ambitious Stonehenge Development
“We question whether, in this landscape of scale and huge horizons and with a very robust end point that has stood for centuries and centuries, this is the right design approach?”
British Jazz Luminary Johnny Dankworth, 82
“With Dankworth’s death we see the passing of a generation; men and women who enriched British musical life and wove jazz into the fabric of so many other art forms.”
Has Pasadena Lost Its Way With Culture?
“At the turn of the last century, Pasadena’s love of the arts was part of what historian Kevin Starr called a “genteel tradition,” which included a Shakespeare Club and a Grand Opera House. But these days, Pasadena’s art scene is in flux.”