“Meet the newest Chicago actor: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Breyer will be appearing as the Ghost in ‘Hamlet’ in Hyde Park on Friday, with an encore presentation slated for Saturday. It’s part of this weekend’s ‘Shakespeare and the Law’ conference at the University of Chicago Law School.”
Tag: 05.14.09
Alec Baldwin, NY Phil Radio Host, Will Tag Along To Hanoi
“Actor Alec Baldwin says he’ll travel to Hanoi with the New York Philharmonic when it makes its Vietnam debut in October. The star of NBC’s Emmy-award winning comedy ’30 Rock’ begins a side gig this fall as the new host of the national radio broadcast ‘The New York Philharmonic This Week.'”
First For Women & Triumph For Soldiers At Classical Brits
“Trumpeter Alison Balsom has become the first British woman to win best female at the Classical Brit awards. The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards won the prestigious album of the year for Spirit of the Glen: Journey, recorded during their tour of duty in Iraq.”
In L.A., Even The Ballet Companies Fight About Parking
“Due to a neighborhood dispute over parking and crowd control at its former digs in a long-unused portion of a Christian Science Church in Venice, the Blankenship Ballet Company of Venice has left the Westside and taken up residence downtown at Vibiana.” The new space boasts loads more nearby parking lots — and room for hundreds of additional audience members.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Tonys (Guess Who’s Hosting!)
“Last week, we put Neil Patrick Harris on our wish list of potential hosts for the 2009 Tony Awards. And today, our wish came true as the Broadway League and American Theatre Wing announced that Harris will, indeed, host the award show live from Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 7.”
Colombian Author Nabs 10,000-Pound Independent Prize
“A brutal but beautiful novel about life in Colombia in the midst of the civil war which has ravaged the country for decades has won the Independent foreign fiction prize. Evelio Rosero, a prize-winning author in his own country but hardly known outside it, this evening became the first Colombian author to win the prize,” worth £10,000, which he splits with his translator, Anne McLean.
With Its First Title, Amazon Becomes A Publisher
“In its first significant foray into publishing, Amazon has acquired world English rights to a self-published novel by a midwestern teenager called Legacy. The acquisition is the first for the e-tailer’s newly launched publishing banner, AmazonEncore. … Jeff Belle, v-p of books at Amazon, said the new publishing program, while focused on self-published books with promise, could also target out-of-print titles from major houses.”
Holden Caulfield, The Nursing-Home Years
“A former gravedigger and debut novelist has penned a sequel to J D Salinger’s seminal work The Catcher in the Rye which is due to be released next month. Swedish/American travel writer, John David California, wrote 60 Years Later Coming Through the Rye after a becoming ‘captivated’ by the story of Holden Caulfield.”
Low-Income Kids Locked Out Of Museums For The Summer
“Consider this: When the Chicago Public Schools year ends June 12, elementary students will not be able to visit for free the Field Museum, the Adler Planetarium, the Museum of Science and Industry — because none offer free days until September.” At other museums, admission for kids is free, but “they can’t go unaccompanied and special exhibitions can require tickets.”
No, Voters, You Do Not Have To See Billy Elliot Three Times
“Tony Award voters have to see only one of the three boys rotating in the title role of ‘Billy Elliot: The Musical’ before voting on their joint nomination for leading actor in a musical, according to a memo from the Tony Awards administration committee. The memo … has led some voters privately to question the appropriateness of casting ballots to honor all three ‘Billy’ actors if the voters have not seen all three of them perform.”