“In a move that would be truly bizarre, were it not par for the recent course, the former governor of Illinois has invited the cast of Second City’s ‘Rod Blagojevich Superstar,’ a merciless spoof of the disgraced politician’s recent shenanigans, alleged and otherwise, to appear with him on the radio.”
Tag: 03.24.09
There’s Little Gain In Resurrecting Bard’s First Theatre
The plan “to raise a new stage on the bones of Shakespeare’s first theatre in Shoreditch, almost certainly the first purpose-built theatre in Britain,” is misguided. “We already have a replica Elizabethan theatre, of course, and – given that the Globe was built from the skeleton of the Theatre – it surely can’t have been that different from the original, at least in its basic form. If the plan is to build something along Elizabethan lines, it’s difficult to see the point.”
Eye On DC, MPAA Shuns News Of Healthy Box Office
“Usually around this time the Motion Picture Assn. of America formally issues, with much fanfare, its annual entertainment industry report on the prior year.” So why no report yet on 2008, which was a record-breaking year? “Turns out that’s the problem –insiders say MPAA topper Dan Glickman doesn’t want to publicly tout the health of the box office during the economic crisis. Nor does he want to give Washington politicos ammunition.”
Plays By Coen Brother Headed To NYC
“The Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham will lead an 11-member ensemble cast for the Atlantic Theater Company’s world premiere of Offices, a set of three one-act comedies by Ethan Coen, the Oscar-winning filmmaker (No Country for Old Men).”
Orlando Opera Mounts Last-Ditch Fund Drive
“Desperate for cash, Orlando Opera may not be able to produce operas after the current season if a new $500,000 fundraising campaign fails. The 51-year-old group… is reeling from a huge deficit that has forced it to deplete the organization’s once-healthy endowment.”
Paavo Järvi Pleads Not Guilty To Driving While Intoxicated
“A lawyer for Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conductor Paavo Järvi this morning entered a plea of not guilty to a charge of drunken driving on behalf of his client.” He was arrested after being found asleep at the wheel of a stopped but running car and failing the “walk-the-line” sobriety test.
Gehry Thinks His Brooklyn Mega-Project Is Dead
“Asked by a trade paper about ‘unrealized commissions’ he most wishes had been built, famed 80-year-old architect Frank Gehry brought up Atlantic Yards. ‘I don’t think it’s going to happen,’ he told the Architect’s Newspaper… Gehry’s Los Angeles-based design firm laid off all two dozen employees working on the Atlantic Yards project in November.”
Why Sylvia Plath’s Suicide Still Holds Our Attention
When her son killed himself last week, the event made headlines worldwide. “Why, of all the stories of creative, brilliant people who have suffered from fatal depressions, does Plath’s tragic legacy resonate so widely? Here, Joyce Carol Oates, Peter D. Kramer, Erica Jong, Andrew Solomon and Elaine Showalter offer their thoughts.”
Judi Dench Returns To West End Following Injury
The grand Dame was obliged to sit out four performances of Yukio Mishima’s 1965 Madame de Sade over the weekend after spraining her ankle. She returned to the production today but will perform with a cane for the next several days.
For 30 Years, Publisher Has Sought To Capture A Culture
“This is a year for celebrations, from the centennials of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin to the 30th anniversary of The Library of America. While those black-jacketed books with their simple, elegant type didn’t appear until 1982, the nonprofit publisher with the lofty goal of republishing the literature of a nation began in 1979 with seed money from the Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities.”