“David Mamet will make his Broadway directing debut next season with the world preem of his new play ‘Race.’ In Gotham, Mamet has previously helmed productions of his plays ‘Oleanna’ and ‘The Cryptogram’ as well as magician Ricky Jay’s outings ‘Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants’ and ‘Ricky Jay: On the Stem,’ all of which ran Off Broadway.”
Tag: 03.25.09
Yale Sues To Retain Ownership Of Van Gogh Painting
“The Ivy League university sued Tuesday in federal court in Connecticut to assert its ownership rights over The Night Café. It also seeks to block a descendant of the original owner from claiming it.” That potential claimant says he is the great-grandson of Russian aristocrat Ivan Morozov, from whom the Bolsheviks confiscated the painting.
Metropolitan Opera Bass Ezio Flagello, 78
“Mr. Flagello, a son of Italian immigrants in New York City, sang at major opera houses like La Scala in Milan, the Vienna State Opera, the San Francisco Opera and the Houston Grand Opera. But it was the Met that he made perhaps his most distinguished mark.”
America’s Sistine Chapel?
Christopher Knight: “When ‘Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective’ opened last November at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MOCA) in the old mill town of North Adams, the reviews were rapturous. Having just returned from there, it’s easy to see why. This may be the most perfect union of contemporary art and architecture in the United States. It’s our Sistine.”
Vancouver Chorus Begs For Tenors In The Streets
Choir directors everywhere bemoan the perennial shortage of higher male voices. This week, the Jubilate Chamber Choir, a 24-voice group that’s now down to its last two tenors, resorted to having four members stand at the foot of Vancouver’s Burrard Bridge at rush hour holding up signs in an attempt to locate new members of the elusive species.
Faust, Bowie, Last Scottish ‘Witch’ At Edinburgh Festival ’09
“Controversial choreographer Michael Clark will use the music of David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed as the starting point of a new work specially produced for Edinburgh.” Other highlights of the the 63rd festival: “a 100-strong cast performing Faust at the Royal Highland Showground, a recital from popular Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, the premiere of a play telling the story of Scotland’s last ‘witch’ and a reworking of JM Barrie’s classic fairytale Peter Pan.”
Sculpture With Energy As Topic Wins Jerwood Prize
“A sculpture made using scaled down models of electricity pylons has won the 2009 Jerwood Sculpture Prize. The £25,000 commission will see winning artist Michael Visocchi produce a large-scale work at the Jerwood Sculpture Park in Warwickshire. … Visocchi said the work aimed to provoke thought about climate change, carbon footprints and renewable energy.”
Was March 25, 1909, The Day Modern Poetry Was Born?
“Their names have largely been forgotten over time — TE Hulme, FS Flint, Edward Storer — but 100 years ago today, a young and edgy group of bohemians met together for the first time and changed the face of poetry for good. Enthusiasts are celebrating 25 March as one of our most significant literary anniversaries, though one that most people know nothing about.”
With TiVo, Blockbuster Enters Digital-Delivery Arena
“With its lingering debt problems resolved for now, Blockbuster is pinning some of its hopes on a digital future. The struggling video rental chain will announce a partnership with TiVo on Wednesday to deliver Blockbuster’s digital movie library over the Internet directly to the televisions of people with TiVo digital video recorders.”
Christopher James Is National Poetry Competition Winner
“Christopher James has triumphed in the National Poetry Competition for his wryly affectionate poem about a funeral. James’s poem, Farewell to the Earth, was chosen by judges and poets Brian Patten, Frieda Hughes and Jack Mapanje.”