“Sunday’s opening of a remade Alice Tully Hall, the first phase of an overhaul of Lincoln Center scheduled for completion in 2010, is a revelation. Designed by Diller Scofidio & Renfro, the womblike performance space, its surfaces flush with new life, makes it hard to remember the dreariness of the 1969 original. The freshness springs from the architects’ willingness to break with worn-out urban design strategies.”
Tag: 02.20.09
California School Isn’t The Only One That’s Canceled Rent
“‘Rent: School Edition,’ a modified version of the hit Broadway musical,” is still “[t]oo provocative, in the view of some high school officials and parents. At least three of the planned high school productions, in California, Texas and West Virginia, have been canceled after administrators or parents raised objections about the show’s morality, its portrayals of homosexuality and theft, and its frank discussions of drug use and H.I.V., according to administrators, teachers and parents involved in those cases.”
Speaking In Israel, A Japanese Writer Confronts Gaza
In a speech this week, Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami explains his decision to travel to Israel to receive an award. “In Japan a fair number of people advised me not to come here to accept the Jerusalem Prize. Some even warned me they would instigate a boycott of my books if I came. The reason for this, of course, was the fierce battle that was raging in Gaza.”