Much was made of the Bolshoi’s current visit to London – how the company has been rebuilt, and how artistically things haven’t been this good in years. Sad to report, but the new production of Romeo and Juliet is a stinker. “A lack of directorial and choreographic inventiveness allowed the piece to sink like a stone.”
Tag: 07.18.04
Poll – The Diversity Of “Must-Haves”
A poll of 500 readers last month came up with a list of “must have” books. “What has made me so relieved is that these very diverse books are practically all serious, accomplished, ambitious and original works of fiction. It takes a bit of thought to discover them, read them and respond to them. Most are contemporary, but they are not brand-new bestsellers or spin-offs from movies or TV shows. It was word of mouth, not hype, that got them on to this bookshelf.”
Why The TV Star Got Fired From Sondheim Play
Why did Saturday Night Live alum Chris Kattan get fired from Stephen Sondheim’s “The Frogs” on Broadway? “The departure of Kattan from ‘The Frogs’ could be turned into a sort of morality tale — or fraught disaster movie. After all, what could have been more promising and foolproof than to be summoned, as he was, from Hollywood to Broadway by some of its most dazzling citizenry — multi-Tony winners Stroman and Lane, not to mention Sondheim? They invited him to take his first role on the stage.”
Figuring Out The Royal Ballet
“The impression I have of today’s Royal Ballet is that of a company that places its highest value on technical precision in the legs and feet, a prescribed sculptural eloquence in the port de bras, and gentleness and gentility even in the execution of bravura feats and the rendering of powerful emotions. Other factors that one might look for in dancing—spontaneity, risk-taking, the projection of an individual stage temperament—are muted by some sort of consensus decision about dancing that the company has arrived at (no doubt, in part unconsciously). As happens anywhere under these circumstances, only the great stars—the Darcy Bussells, the Alina Cojocarus—transcend the prevailing code of behavior. What I wonder about the Royal is how many potential stars (I saw several, especially among the men) are being stifled by it.”
Dance Pioneer Bella Lewitzky Dies
“Los Angeles-based modern dance pioneer Bella Lewitzky, who transformed herself from a powerhouse dancer into an indomitably independent, internationally known choreographer, master teacher and arts advocate, died Friday at an assisted-care facility in Pasadena. She was 88.”
Orange County – A Fundraising Contradiction
Southern California’s Orange County Performing Arts Center, which “recently issued $180 million in bonds to ensure that an expansion is built on time despite lagging fundraising, announced Thursday that it had raised a record amount of money to support its operations in the last year. The seemingly contradictory news reflects the continued softness in high-end donations that have plagued arts groups nationwide in recent years.”
Criticism As Blunt Force Trauma
John Leonard is tired of Dale Peck. “This isn’t criticism. It isn’t even performance art. It’s thuggee. However entertaining in small doses — we are none of us immune to malice, envy, schadenfreude, a prurient snuffle and a sucker punch — as a steady diet it’s worse for readers, writers and reviewers than self-abuse; it causes the kind of tone-deaf, colorblind, nerve-damaged and gum-sore literary journalism that screams ”Look at me!” The rain comes down — and the worms come out — and just what the culture doesn’t need is one more hall monitor, bounty hunter or East German border guard.”
Theatre Sucks, Even If You’re Straight
A few months back, Emma Barber suggested in an interview that “no straight man ever willingly goes to the theatre.” Since the interview was published, Barber has met every straight man in the UK who enjoys the theatre, and one of them turned out to be her editor, who promptly assigned her to start going to some plays herself. Five evenings of theatre later, Barber is unmoved: “Where do you start listing what is wrong with it? The booking? The building? The queues for the loos? The surly bar staff? The undrinkable wine? The rip-off programmes? The torturous seats? These can all be summed up in the feeling that from the minute you embark on this excursion you have set yourself up for a sucker.”
When Elvis Costello Wrote For Orchestra
Terry Teachout comes away impressed with Costello’s skill with an orchestra. “It’s not cut-rate Prokofiev or Bernstein, but a lively, ingratiating piece of mainstream modernism, with decorous snippets of symphonic rock and jazz thrown in from time to time to spice things up.”
The Other Barnes Debate
There is more to the great battle over the future of Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation than just an argument over the location of the permanent collection, says Edward Sozanski. In fact, the future of the Barnes’s educational program is the subject of a debate that truly gets to the heart of the foundation’s mission. “The Barnes gospel of aesthetic analysis, which the founder expounded in a number of books, letters and public utterances over three decades, contains the key to the collection. Yet over the last six years, the Barnesian doctrine, which remained reasonably intact for more than 60 years through several administrations, has been strained by what amounts to a theological schism.”