“The $200,000 Steinberg award for playwriting, the most generous prize in theater, has been presented to Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang for 32 years of provocative satires and dramas (Chinglish, M. Butterfly) that brought more Asian and Asian-American characters to Broadway and other stages.”
Tag: 08.22.12
German Customs Impounds Violinist’s Guarneri, Demand €380K To Return It
“Belgium-based Yuzuko Horigome was transiting through Frankfurt Airport last week after performing in Japan … When she tried to walk through the green gate for travellers arriving in the EU with nothing to declare, customs officers stopped her and said she needed to pay 190,000 euros in duty on her 1741 Guarnerius violin.” (They’re now demanding an additional 100% fine.)
Phyllis Diller Was Underrated
Jason Zinoman: “[She] was long seen as slightly old-fashioned, her self-deprecating one-liners out of step during the brash comedy revolution and boom of the 1970s and ’80s. Stand-up comedy, however, is about form as much as content. … She was not playing a retiring, apologetic wallflower. She dished out insults to her fictional husband, Fang, the same way that borscht belt comics mocked their wives.”
Vowel Movement: How The Great Lakes’ Cities Are Changing The Sound Of American English
“But American linguistic diversity as a whole isn’t dying – it’s thriving. … From Syracuse, N.Y., in the east to Milwaukee in the west, 34 million Americans are revolutionizing the sound of English.”
Rage Against The Machine Vs. Pussy Riot: Why Protest Songs By Themselves Aren’t Enough
“The politically important stuff about music isn’t the ‘content’ of the lyrics; it’s the symbolic gestures made by the people performing them. In fact, the lyrics matter so little that Paul Ryan can enjoy songs [by Rage Against the Machine] about American foreign policy that are diametrically opposed to his belief in American exceptionalism.”
How To Write An Enduring Hit Play
“Most dramatists would kill to have a play revived every few years. One solution is to write an imperishable masterpiece; even better if it becomes a set text on the school or university syllabus. But a more reliable method is to choose a subject that excites cyclical interest – a tactic demonstrated by the late Gore Vidal.”
Is Buzz More Important Than Viewers In Today’s TV Market?
“It’s a simple formula for success: Critical acclaim leads to buzz, which leads to interest in your channel, which leads to demands for the cable or satellite company to carry it, which leads to profit. But now, with viewers and programmers running madly off in all directions, it is anybody’s guess how long the old formula will last.”
Amazon Maps The Politics Of Our Book-Buying
“The map presents a rolling 30-day average of book-buying data and classifies them as red or blue depending on promotional materials and customer classifications.”