Dan Kois: “Ready to explain how you CODDLE WRITERS, Laura?”
Laura Helmuth: “Hello, Kois. Have you made anybody cry today?”
Tag: 05.12.14
How The U.S. Supreme Court Helped Create The Cover Song As We Know It
It all started in 1908, with a somewhat ridiculous copyright decision involving player pianos.
Why Is There So Little Non-Fiction For Children?
“No one would dream of telling an adult that novels offer a better experience than history or biography. So why do we do this with children?”
Why It’s So Difficult To Bail On Bad Theatre
“Having paid for your seat, having promised yourself a special evening, and finding yourself sitting in the middle of a long row beside others who have also paid and promised themselves a special evening, others whom you imagine have similar interests to your own, people willing to spend time and money supporting avant-garde culture, a community almost—in these circumstances you are probably always going to hang on at least thirty minutes, however bewildered and sceptical you may be.”
The Book Tour – Not For Delicate Egos
“Behold the book tour, which is an ordeal for many writers. They stand alone on a stage quaking and exposed, prepared to offer the world the results of years of hard labor, perhaps only to find that their audience consists entirely of family members.”
David Henry Hwang Fesses Up About ‘Miss Saigon’ Controversy
In an essay, the playwright revisits the outcry in the U.S. over the “yellowface” casting of Jonathan Pryce as a Eurasian character in the hit musical, explains how his thoughts about cross-racial casting have evolved, and confesses to the lie he told Cameron Mackintosh.
We Live In A Sea Of Carefully Designed Beeps
Even the word barely existed until 60 years ago. Now electronic tones are everywhere from heart monitors to smartphones to supermarket scanners, alerting us to everything from the truck backing up toward us to the train doors closing behind us to the Lean Cuisine in the microwave being ready. And those sounds aren’t chosen casually: psychoacousticians work hard to match the beep to the job.
TV Industry’s New Hot Property; Audience Warm-Up Artists
“For a long spell, [many Hollywood] comedies … were taped without a live audience as laugh tracks fell out of fashion. But with the re-emergence of the traditional sitcom – comedies staged on a familiar set – living, breathing warm-up performers like Mr. Lundblade are suddenly in vogue. Producers fight for the best and virtuosos can command anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000 a day.”
Dance On HD – Is It Real Or…?
“Broadly speaking it seems fully appreciating a live ballet screening requires recognising it as a concession to the real deal, not a substitute for it.”
Long Missing Van Gogh Painting Discovered In Tax-Evasion Raid
“The safe-deposit box was one of more than 100 targeted by Spanish officials in a tax-evasion investigation. The painting was discovered unframed in the box, El Mundo said.”