“At 68, Trevor Nunn has every reason for confidence but is surprisingly insecure. He is principled, wealthy, married to the actress Imogen Stubbs and, all cavils aside, a brilliant director. Nobody can handle a large stage, and few a small one, more effectively than Nunn.”
Tag: 04.23.08
In Praise Of The Prompter
“While divas often sing their praises, opera prompters are a dwindling breed. Today, just a handful of prompters ply the trade in the U.S. In Italy, where singers say the practice originated, most of the big houses still employ prompters, but they’re less often used in England and Germany.”
In This Version, Romeo And Juliet Dance Off
Prokofiev’s original version offered a happy ending. “This version, written in 1935, was censored by Soviet authorities, who insisted on the reinstatement of Shakespeare’s ending, but has now been recovered thanks to documents unearthed by the Princeton University musicologist Simon Morrison.”
Argentine Poet Wins Spain’s Top Lit Honor
Juan Gelman gets the 90,000-Euro Cervantes Prize. “His prolific work addresses among other issues the pain of loss under military juntas that ruled his country in the 1970s and 80s.”
London Critics Say No To Gone with the Wind
Critics have given the musical, starring former Pop Idol contestant Darius Danesh and Broadway actress Jill Paice, a collective thumbs down.
Artist Steve Kurtz Cleared Of Bio-Terrorism Charges
Why the FBI chose to pursue this case is unclear, but Kurtz’s supporters are convinced that it was an intentional attempt to punish an artist who is critical of the government’s authoritarian tendency. As Nature magazine put it: “It seems that government lawyers are singling Kurtz out as a warning to the broader artistic community”.
LA Arts Funding To Go Up, And Down
“Los Angeles County would increase arts and cultural spending 3.8% under a proposed $22-billion budget released this week, but the city of L.A.’s arts agency could be headed for a 6.1% cut.” It’s all part of the endless see-saw of arts funding in America’s second-largest city…
Are Comic Books Now A Sure Path To Filmdom?
“If recent studio acquisitions are any evidence, then the fastest way to get a movie deal these days may just be to turn your next Big Idea into a graphic novel. In a faddish frenzy, no fewer than 22 film projects born of graphic novels or comics have been announced in the last six weeks.”
Carnegie Int’l Discovers Marketing
This year’s Carnegie International art show in Pittsburgh has a bit of a different feel from previous incarnations. “The Carnegie decided on four marketing firsts — giving the contemporary art show a title; advertising it in The New York Times; buying substantial Internet ads and launching an interactive Web site.”
Online TV Is Coming! (Actually, It’s Already Here)
“Once iTunes helped revolutionize the music business and began to make inroads in the television business, the media conglomerates that own TV networks and channels began to hatch a plan to compete (or, more accurately, they panicked).” The upshot is that the merger of television and internet is now closer than ever to becoming a consumer reality.