“The removal of the books is occurring nationwide, part of a long-delayed, post-Sept. 11 federal directive intended to prevent radical religious texts, specifically Islamic ones, from falling into the hands of violent inmates.” The removal was ordered “out of a concern that prisons had been radicalized by inmates who were practicing or espousing various extreme forms of religion, specifically Islam, which exposed security risks to the prisons and beyond the prisons to the public at large.”
Tag: 06.10.07
Dance’s Heavy Issue
“In the all too real world of dance, and especially ballet, weight is no laughing matter. The scale, if not always a full-blown obsession, has been a critical career determinant for dancers for decades. There are, in fact, few other professions — only fashion, entertainment and some sports come readily to mind — where pounds, or a lack thereof, can be determinants of success. And though there appears to be an emerging plus-size culture elsewhere in the new millennium, the pressure is still on for dancers, whose bodies, after all, are their instruments.”
Elgar At 150. Anybody Care?
“The 1960 centennial of the birth of Gustav Mahler began the worldwide interest that has made his music today as popular as that of any Romantic composer. This year’s sesquicentennial of the birth of Edward Elgar may do the same for him. But nobody is counting on it.”
3000 Shows Later, A Theatre Critic Walks Off
After 16 years, Baltimore Sun theatre critic Wynn Rousuck is packing it in. “By modest estimate, I have seen more than 3,000 productions during my years as theater critic. Among those have been at least one performance of every play by William Shakespeare — from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s lavish stagings to an adaptation of The Tempest performed by a single actor with a doll and a Bic lighter.”
Dancing On The Street
“Every weeknight, Alvin Ailey holds classes for the general public in ballet, hip-hop, Middle Eastern dance and other dance forms, including, on Friday, Afro-Cuban, the swaying dance and ecstatic music of the plantation workers of Cuba. It is an eye-catching performance at the corner of Ninth Avenue and 55th Street, and passers-by — sometimes one, sometimes 30 — take in the free show.”
Leon Fleisher’s Second (Or Third) Act
It’s been ten years since the pianist regained the use of both his hands for playing the piano. “Several weeks shy of his 80th birthday, Mr. Fleisher maintains a schedule most people half his age would find exhausting, performing widely and recording, most recently, the Brahms Piano Quintet with the Emerson String Quartet, just released by Deutsche Grammophon. He rejects the suggestion that he’s making up for lost time.”
Broadway’s House Of Failure
Broadway’s Hilton Theatre is ten years old. It has a dismal record of terrible flops. “Although many theaters can claim a distinguished history of failed shows — such is the slim rate of commercial success for Broadway productions — an astute producer would be wise to ponder the unhappy correlation between flopdom and tenancy in this particular house. Given its size, it theoretically has the potential to be among the industry’s most profitable; somehow it hasn’t worked out that way. I am not sure that is pure coincidence.”
Dance’s Billion-Dollar Company
“Twelve years after its Dublin premiere, its continued popularity proves that it was, and remains, a phenomenon of historic proportions. As evidence of ‘Riverdance’s’ enduring status, consider this: There are two full-fledged companies touring North America and the United Kingdom. The production has grossed at least $1 billion so far.”
Booksellers Impoverished By Harry Potter
Booksellers aren’t at all happy about the economics of big sales of the new Harry Potter. “Everywhere you go there is huge, ridiculous discounting by the chains. They are literally not going to make one penny out of the book. It is stupid — just throwing money away … The world has gone mad.”
Those Confusing Hollywood Box Office Numbers
“The statisticians who compare domestic openings have refined their comparisons; three-day weekends, four-day holiday weekends, etc. are all clearly delineated. But the definition of worldwide day-and-date openings — with different countries debuting movies on different days of the week — has yet to be fully outlined. The intense focus on worldwide openings also obscures how movies have been doing in subsequent weeks domestically, where the competition has been a lot tougher than it has been abroad.”