“At 38, she still looks like a racehorse. She promises there will be no comebacks, but I wonder how much this lovely dancer will really enjoy putting herself out to grass.”
Tag: 05.16.07
It’s A Boy’s (Reading) Life
“UK education secretary, Alan Johnson, who yesterday launched his campaign for the Labour party’s deputy leadership, announced this morning that every state secondary school in England will be able to choose 20 of the titles in order to set up a dedicated ‘boys’ bookshelf’ in the library.”
Mumblypeg – Why Do Actors Mumble Onstage?
“Many theatres have given in to boosting the voices of actors in straight plays which would otherwise have no chance of ever reaching beyond row eight – never mind the back of the stalls. Does this matter at a time when it’s taken for granted that any self-respecting musical performer will automatically be fitted with a head-mike? Why shouldn’t straight drama feel free to follow suit?”
Traditional TV – We Don’t Care How You Get It
What’s the biggest threat to traditional TV? CBS president Les Moonves thinks if the networks are smart they’ll weather any challenges. “We don’t care how you get our content — over the air, over cable, satellite, the Internet, or on your cell phone — as long as we get paid for it.”
Met Opera Sees Big Ticket Bump
The Metropolitan Opera saw a seven percent increase in ticket sales this season. “It was the opera house’s first ticket-sale increase by season in six years, with 810,225 sold, compared with 755,255 in 2005-06, Gelb said today in an interview. In all, the Met sold 83.9 percent of tickets offered this season for its 3,800-seat opera house at Manhattan’s Lincoln Center, compared with 76.8 percent last year.”
The New Multimedia Met
“More than anything else, Peter Gelb’s first season as general manager of the Met will be remembered for his video innovation, transmitting six operas live around the world in high-definition as part of a series that will expand to eight productions next season.”
The Pianist’s Pianist
“The least showmanlike of performers, Stephen Hough, 45, is recognised by his peers as a pianist’s pianist – a contemplative artist with an encyclopaedic knowledge of music and a microscopic command of detail. Six years ago he won a ‘Genius Fellowship’, half a million dollars from the MacArthur Foundation, its only musical recipient. He has been marked out as Nobel class. And now he’s fervently composing.”
“Sahara” A Dry Hole
The movie was the subject of a bitter dispute about who was responsible for its losses. Neither side ultimately wins. “The case may have been much ado about less than nothing — $105 million less than nothing. That is the sum of money that “Sahara,” with a $160 million budget and starring Matthew McConaughey and Penélope Cruz, has lost for its investors, principally Crusader Entertainment. Along the way, jurors and the public have learned that Hollywood studios and best-selling authors sometimes exaggerate or lie.”
A Rothko Record
Mark Rothko’s “White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)” sells for a record price. “The $72.8 million Sotheby’s declined to say who the buyer was or where he was from. But the seller was David Rockefeller, the retired banker and chairman emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art, who had decided to cash in on the market and invest the money in other philanthropic endeavors.”
Oregon Voters Turn Down Levy To Reopen Libraries
“Jackson County’s libraries closed on April 6 after Congress failed to renew the Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act, which pumped $23 million into county coffers annually.” So library supporters proposed a tax levy to reopen the 15 libraries. But this week residents rejected the levy in a special vote.