Producers and critics have been talking about it for years, but now, it appears that interactive television may finally be ready for a trial run. “And this time around, enhanced TV isn’t limited to television screens. Microsoft is teaming up with developers to create new forms of interactive content for the Xbox platform, and they’re targeting wider audiences than gamers alone.” But one industry exec is a bit doubtful that Americans actually want to interact with what they watch: “Audiences are lazy and TV still caters to the lowest common denominator… ETV has to be so simple that they can do it half-baked and horizontal on the couch.”
Tag: 07.25.03
When A Concert Hall Isn’t Just A Concert Hall
“With world-class acoustics and a dramatic, curved steel exterior that looks more like sculpture than architecture, the Walt Disney Concert Hall is more than just a new home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. When the $274-million, Frank Gehry-designed building opens this fall, government officials and business leaders are counting on it to become the signature of the downtown skyline and an impetus for revitalizing the area.”
Stash Of Paintings Unearthed In Minneapolis
“In 2001, during the renovation of the council chamber at Minneapolis City Hall, staff members found five large oil paintings in a vault, amid a jumble of antique furniture. The paintings were not well-preserved; two of them were damaged, and all five were covered in grime accumulated over many years.” Moreover, it is still unclear who some of the subjects and painters are, or how the paintings came to be stashed in a basement. Four of the works appear to be portraits of Minneapolis city officials, but the fifth is a classical painting of a pastoral scene by Italian painter Domenico Pennachini.
Maybe It’s Time To Switch To Photographs?
Pity the poor British royals. In an era when humans featured on canvas are prone to being portrayed as twisted, ugly shadows of themselves, royalty is still expected to go out and find an artist of considerable reputation to paint their portraits. It was Prince Philip’s turn this year, and he chose portrait specialist Stuart Pearson Wright to commit his royal image to canvas. Royal spokespersons insist that Prince Philip had seen Pearson Wright’s work before selecting him, but the prince was apparently horrified at the artist’s first effort. No one is yet showing off that rough draft, but Pearson Wright’s signature is to stretch his subjects vertically to distort their features.
Schlesinger Taken Off Life Support
Director John Schlesinger, whose credits include Midnight Cowboy, which “received seven Oscar nominations and won three, for best picture, best direction and best adapted screenplay,” and the critically acclaimed Sunday Bloody Sunday, has been taken off life support at the age of 77. Schlesinger had quadruple bypass surgery in 1998, and suffered a stroke in late 2000.
A New Rite Springs Up In Manhattan
A startling new approach to a most familiar ballet seems to have catapulted Chinese-born choreographer Shen Wei to the top of the New York dance scene’s list of up-and-comers. Shen’s interpretation of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring strips away much of the imagery and symbolism which have been imposed on it ever since it first premiered in Paris. The dance takes place on a geometric floor, and the only colors visible are black, white, and gray. It’s difficult to associate the new visuals with such a familiar work of music, but Anna Kisselgoff calls Shen’s reimagining of the Rite “a stunning and objectivist approach to a score that has been overworked as a Modernist symbol.”
The Bible Of Editing Is Back
Let’s say you’re writing down a quotation of a sentence fragment, and you want to continue your sentence after the quoted material. On which side of the closing quotation mark do you place your comma? Who cares, right? Thousands upon thousands of writers, editors, and other word geeks care, as it turns out, and with the new 15th edition of the legendary Chicago Manual of Style set to hit shelves soon, we can all nitpick to our hearts’ content.
Met Opera Defends Itself
The Metropolitan Opera has responded publicly to a lawsuit by the estate of a Texas oil heiress which claims that the company has been misusing funds donated for specific purposes. Met Opera president Joseph Volpe issued the standard boilerplate denials, and assured the press that the Met would be fighting the suit in court. Harrington had her run-ins with Volpe and the Met in life, as well, and was reportedly a donor who expected to be granted a considerable role in the creative decision-making process in exchange for her generosity.
In Time Of Trouble, Do We Still Sing?
Some people respond to horror and tragedy by turning to music. To others, pain is best dealt with in silence. This spring, as the US and the UK marched off to a war opposed by a large percentage of the public, John Woolrich asked several prominent composers to do what composers so rarely do these days: write a piece in direct response to current events. “What should we sing in the dark times? There are as many musical reactions to public events as there are composers… ranging through music of anger, defiance, loss, remembrance, near silence, transcendence, nostalgia and mourning.”
Record Art Auction Anticipated
“The largest and most valuable collection of Australian indigenous art assembled for auction is expected to bring a record result when it goes under the hammer in Sydney next week.” Among the most anticipated works is a huge collaborative painting entitled Ngurrara Canvas 1, which is expected to sell for as much as AUS$500,000 (US$300,000). “Also up for auction are artefacts including rainforest shields and bi-cornial baskets, a rare Port Essington spear thrower, a Tiwi ceremonial dance wand and shields, boomerangs and pearl shells. Sotheby’s expects an auction result of between $6.5 million and $9.7 million.”