“Just as language and nudity became the subject of First Amendment court fights in the face of obscenity and indecent-exposure statutes, smoking has emerged as a battlefront in the ongoing struggle to keep censorship off the stage. In other states and localities across the country, as well as several European countries, stage exceptions to bans on cigarette smoking in public places have not been forthcoming — thus forcing theaters to alter plays, cancel productions or flout the law.”
Tag: 04.15.07
American Idol For Writers?
“The Web site Reality TV Magazine, among others, recently reported that the writer’s equivalent of American Idol will begin airing on British TV in July. According to the site, writers will pitch their book ideas to a panel of judges; the winner will land a publishing contract.”
A Great Leap (To Where?)
“What if Americans really do want dance that provokes and stimulates? What if funders paid for it and people flocked to see it and had impassioned conversations about it afterward? Sounds like paradise. Or, maybe, ‘Hell’.”
Time To Reinvent The Piano Recital?
“One of the problems of concerts in the modern age is that people often have to come from the office … and they have all their quotidian concerns with them. They come, and they get a place — row number whatever, seat whatever — and they have to sit down. It’s a little like factory chickens. And we say, ‘Now it’s time for art, for the ultimate revelation.’ Length is also a problem, the idea that you have to have 90 minutes of music. It’s like going to the gym. It’s a stiff form — too stiff for me.”
Boundaries For “Free” Speech?
“Once again, offensive language — and who has the right to use it — has become a high-stakes turf war with constantly changing rules of engagement. It’s not just about the seven dirty words anymore. Today’s media spectrum, which includes cable, uncensored and often anonymously authored Internet postings and audacious satires like the film ‘Borat,’ has greatly complicated the issue of what constitutes acceptable free speech.”
Is Classical’s Pulitzer Reign Over?
In 50 years of Pulitzer prizes in music, “classical has reigned, despite a rich musical landscape featuring the likes of Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, James Brown, John Coltrane, the Motown era and the birth of new genres from rock to rap. That may change on Monday, when this year’s Pulitzers are announced.”
Life Beyond The Death Sentence
“While plenty of top-quality programmes always have been and always will be cancelled — even the mighty Seinfeld came close to the chop early in its run, and the fondly remembered My So-Called Life was cut after one season — the culling seems to have been unusually rampant and heartless of late.” But some of these shows ae finding new life on DVD.
Tomorrow’s Stars Today
“Is the world really so mad, grim and dark as the collective consciousness of the 52nd Sunday Times National Student Drama Festival appears to portray it? Since it was launched in 1956 by the Sunday Times drama critic Harold Hobson, this festival has been an annual opportunity to measure the morale of a generation who in a short time will be acting on our stages, working in our television studios, writing in our newspapers, teaching our children. Their tastes and preoccupations are going to change our world.”
Portland – Indie’s New Mecca?
“Portland has always supplied America’s indie market. Last week, for instance, the local entertainment mag Willamette Week listed more than 100 bands playing in a total of 60 venues on an average Thursday night. This in a town with a population the size of Edinburgh.” But why Portland?
Gospel Music Gets New Life On American Radio
“Contemporary gospel — an upbeat, jazz-and-R&B-tinged music that, if you don’t listen to the lyrics, could pass for the hit black music that was popular before the hegemony of hip-hop — is one of the fastest-growing formats in America’s big cities. A form of programming that was long relegated to weak-signaled stations at the top of the AM dial is popping up on big signals on FM, where the music can reach a much younger audience.”