The story behind Kelsey Grammer’s failed turn with the Bard is worthy of the most Shakespearean plot. “There were villains about to be sure, people who seemed to be wide-eyed in anticipation of yet another TV celeb trying to gain acting credibility by doing a bit of the Bard – and failing so publicly. There was palace intrigue, with Grammer himself allegedly investing in the show to keep it afloat, making it seem more of a vanity production than it already was. Then there were the ghosts – of other productions, near and far. Throw in a little envy and a lot of hubris, and you have a story for the ages, or at least the age of celebrity.” – Hartford Courant
Tag: 06.25.00
THE POLITICS OF NUDITY
Women actors of Hollywood get together to talk about the politics of taking their clothes off in front of the camera. Who decides what. – New York Times Magazine 06/25/00
NY-ON-THAMES
- Okay, so the Brits picked up a good share of the recent Tony statues up for the winning. But “if the New York theater sometimes looks a bit like Shaftesbury Avenue-by-the-Hudson, there are parts of London this summer that might be Broadway-on-the-Thames or even Hollywood-Near-the-Atlantic.” – New York Times
WEB-BASED FRANKENSTEIN
Hollywood is courting the new internet taste-makers. “The rules of the Hollywood marketing game are being reinvented overnight. Box office is booming thanks in part to an explosion of media coverage of movies, in traditional outlets like newspapers and magazines as well as a fast-growing body of Internet fan, news and gossip outlets. But the boom in Internet movie coverage has been a double-edged sword for filmmakers and movie marketers, rife with as many pitfalls as possibilities.” – Los Angeles Times 06/25/00
LOOKING BACK
“From the vantage point of a composer who has just spent 10 blissful months alone at his desk writing and orchestrating a choral symphony, Broadway looks like (and I say this with affection) Armageddon.” – New York Times
BREAKING THE WOODY ALLEN HABIT
Woody Allen still makes movies, but why? “Most of us broke our Woody Allen habit ages ago. We moved on while he stayed in some Upper West Side fugue state. Over the arc of his long outpatient career, we first adored, then admired, then tolerated, and finally ignored him. He should take a break. Do stand-up in Vegas. Write for radio. Grow orchids.” – Boston Globe 06/25/00
LEAVING ON A HIGH NOTE
Lofti Mansouri prepares to retire from the helm of San Francisco Opera after next season, and the tributes have already begun. – Los Angeles Times
A SYMPHONY OF SUCCESS
Who says contemporary music can’t get second performances? In the ten years since John Corigliano’s First Symphony was written, it’s been performed by more than 120 orchestras worldwide and by most major American ensembles. Recordings of it have won three Grammys. It’s one of only a handful of large-scale 20th Century orchestral works to have entered the standard repertoire so quickly. – Chicago Tribune
BETTER LIVING THROUGH STREAMING
American orchestras’ proposed agreement about streaming their performances over the internet is a forward-thinking idea for an artform generally thought to be mired in the past. “This whole agreement was not driven by the idea that this is a major new revenue source, but how can you use this to sell tickets and raise money to keep subscribers loyal. We want to find ways to use this new Internet technology to generate new audiences and keep our institution alive.” – Chicago Tribune
A LANDSLIDE VOTE FOR NIXON
John Adams’ “Nixon in China” just closed – but not before it became the hottest ticket in London. The opera’s success “has given pundits here yet another opportunity to engage in one of their favorite pastimes: sneering at America. ‘Nixon in China’ has been taken as further proof among some Brits that the United States, for all its wealth and power, has never quite matched the worldly sophistication of its mother country.” – Washington Post