The 1,055-seat Broadway theater on West 43rd Street is currently named after actor-producer Henry Miller. It is being formally renamed Wednesday in honor of Sondheim, who turned 80 in March.
Tag: 09.15.10
Rochester Philharmonic Names A New Music Director
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra announced Wednesday that it has named Norwegian conductor Arild Remmereit its 11th music director in the orchestra’s 88-year history.
The Hidden Brain: Why Some People Believe Lies Even After Seeing Evidence of the Truth
Think of the mind as an environment – a savannah or ice cap – and new information as an animal. “If our minds offer savannah, lions thrive and polar bears die. If we have arctic chills, the polar bears live and the lions die.” Showing evidence that contradicts a deeply-held belief is “like setting a lion down on a polar icecap and expecting it to drive the polar bears into extinction.”
Scottish Opera’s Orchestra, Fearing for Survival, Goes Part-Time
Management told the Musicians’ Union that the company could make the orchestra part-time, change it to a freelance band, or eliminate it and hire Scotland’s existing orchestras as pit bands.
Warner Bros. Gives $5M to Smithsonian’s American History Museum
“Warner Bros. Entertainment has given $5 million to the National Museum of American History to create a first-rate film theater in its 46-year-old auditorium.”
Theatre Critic Takes a Junket to Baghdad
Brian Logan: “The idea was that I accompany a British director, now working in the Middle East, to scout out Iraq’s burgeoning theatre scene. It’s the kind of offer I’d usually jump at. But on this occasion, excitement found itself sharing space with trepidation and fear. I asked for assurances. Can you promise I won’t get beheaded?”
The Philosopher as Boxing Coach, and Vice Versa
Gordon Marino: “I offer training in both philosophy and boxing. … I would rather take a punch in the nose any day than be subjected to some of the attacks that I have witnessed in philosophy colloquia. However, I have a more positive case for including boxing in my curriculum for sentimental education.”
Steve Martin Creates a $50K Bluegrass Prize
Described by its patron as a “mini-MacArthur,” the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass “will give $50,000 annually to ‘an individual or group for outstanding accomplishment in the field of five-string banjo or bluegrass music’.” The jury, which included (along with others) banjo legends Earl Scruggs and Béla Fleck, gave the inaugural prize to Norm Pikelny of the Punch Brothers.”
Catherine Deneuve Dishes on Directors
On Roman Polanski: “really a director that loves to direct actors, I really listened to him very closely.” Lars von Trier: “we do the scenes like they are in the script, but…at the end of the shooting, he said, now…you are going to improvise.” On François Ozon: “He knows very well what he wants. Of course, he expects something else, you know, something he hasn’t thought of.”
Godspell Revival’s Producers Try Crowdsourcing Investors
“A unit investment in Godspell goes for $100 and investors are required to purchase at least 10 of them. In exchange, each investor will receive a limited liability company interest in The Godspell, LLC.” Producer Ken Davenport is now describing the production, which he hopes to open on Broadway next spring, as “community-funded.”