“Lumet’s reputation as an ‘actor’s director,’ though accurate, has made it easy to overlook the subtle classicism and throwback efficiency of his technique, which he outlined in his congenial, common-sensical 1995 book, “Making Movies,” a memoir in the pragmatic guise of an instructional text. During rehearsals he is not merely fine-tuning the performances but also working out the cinematography.”
Tag: 10.21.07
Philip Glass At 70
“Glass has the beguiling air of a working-class grand master. With his dolorous long face and austere dark garb that could be read as either downtown chic or repairman’s work clothes, he’s a mix of mystery and modesty, understatement and straight-ahead simplicity.”
2007 – Year Of The Pop Women?
“As 2007 sashays to a close, pop has rarely been more female. A glance at the albums being released up until Christmas reveals a coven of pop high priestesses handbagging each other in pursuit of pop buyers’ cash.”
Time To Redo The Booker Prize?
“After one of the most embarrassing Booker speeches in living memory, from prize chairman Sir Howard Davies, backed up by complacent, regional sales conference-style remarks from Booker boss Jonathan Taylor and Man stooge Peter Clarke, it was hard, if not impossible, to suppress the thought that our premier literary trophy should be subjected to a root-and-branch reform.”
Baltimore’s Center Stage Manager Steps Down
After six years, Michael Ross is leaving the company. “Responsible for matters as diverse as fundraising campaigns and building plans, Ross was more than just the top administrator of the regional theater. He also was the very visible and public face of Baltimore’s largest nonprofit professional company, allowing artistic director Irene Lewis to concentrate on selecting, casting and rehearsing plays.”
What The Guthrie Theatre Can Teach American Arts
The organization and its new theatre do it right. Here are ten strategies other arts organizations should emulate.
Museum Symbolizes Reborn Boston Harbor
“For decades, the harbor was a noxious stew, a watery dump for Boston’s sewage and industrial waste. Like Lake Erie in the 1960s, Boston Harbor was given up for dead. But Lake Erie came back to life, and so has Boston Harbor. Its fate changed for the better in the 1990s when a sewage treatment plant opened to keep raw waste out of the harbor. Appropriately, the new museum building represents a similar rebirth for the Institute of Contemporary Art.”
Why DVRs Are Dangerous For Quality TV
“There are going to be dozens or hundreds of shows that are either not produced or cancelled because of the DVR. The recording devices, which are in about 20 percent of American homes, are a boon for couch potatoes but a headache for TV networks. Advertisers don’t want to pay for non-live viewing because they figure DVR viewing involves a lot of ad-skipping. And if advertisers don’t want to pay for commercials, networks cancel shows.”
Why The Royal Shakespeare Company Prefers Minnesota
“The RSC was in Minneapolis — one of only three stops on its current national tour — partly to pay homage to the Guthrie’s long tradition of support for classical theater, but mostly because of the astonishing new theater complex designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel. Now 16 months old and fully functioning, this is a theater without Midwestern peer.”
Green Hills To Climb
“Chicago has just 29 buildings and projects that bear the equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval from the U.S. Green Building Council, the Washington-based non-profit that sets the standards for what is officially considered green. While that is more than any other American city except Seattle and Portland, Ore., it nonetheless represents a tiny fraction of Chicago’s total of more than 500,000 buildings. More broadly, it is a sign that the fledging green movement has mountains to climb before it achieves broad acceptance.”