“The genre of horror, a wildly popular moneyspinner in other branches of entertainment, is practically absent from the stage. In fact, there is so little shock and gore available that a tiny fringe theatre in south London can accurately claim to be hosting Britain’s only annual festival of horror theatre. It seems theatre has no desire, or indeed ability, to scare.”
Tag: 10.31.06
All Hail The “Carbon-Neutral” Movie
An independent filmmaker has made a green film. “This means that all of the carbon dioxide emitted by the filmmaking process — lights, cameras, transportation — was totaled up and offset by comparable investments in renewable energy. Carbon dioxide is a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and contributes to climate change.”
“Wicked” Sets West End Record
The show took the most money ever at the box office in a single week. “Wicked took £761,000 during its eight performances at the Apollo Victoria Theatre last week, a record for a show on the London stage, they claim.”
Philly Chooses Cuban-American Memoir For Citywide Read
“One Philadelphia business owner makes his views known with a sign reading, ‘This Is America. When Ordering Please Speak English.’ Two towns in the region have laws intended to drive out illegal immigrants. On the statewide political trail, two Senate candidates swap heated words about immigration issues. The question of who belongs here and who doesn’t, who is American and who isn’t, is dominating much local and national debate. Which makes the latest selection for ‘One Book, One Philadelphia’ all the more appropriate. Carlos Eire’s ‘Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy’ is the citywide reading program’s featured book for 2007.”
Keeping Score On “Keeping Score”
Once upon a time in America, Leonard Bernstein brought music to the masses — to the children, even — on TV. “Classical music is much more marginalized now, at least in American life, and any appearance on television is to be enthusiastically celebrated.” But is Bernstein protégé Michael Tilson Thomas, host of the PBS program, “Keeping Score,” the right person to take up the mantle?
Lauder Selling Schieles To Cover Klimt Cost
“Apparently, even a tycoon like Ronald Lauder has to make choices sometimes. Four months ago, Mr. Lauder paid a reported $135 million to bring Gustav Klimt’s ‘Adele Bloch-Bauer I’ (1907) to the Neue Galerie, the museum of German and Austrian art he founded. Now, the museum is selling three works by Egon Schiele at Christie’s on November 8 to help defray the cost.”
The Directive Review
“Recently I’ve noticed a disconcerting trend for publishers to tell literary critics exactly what they should be saying about a new book. Instead of letting reviewers get on with their job of reviewing, publishers are behaving like anxious children, pulling at the journalist’s sleeve and suggesting what should come next.”
Books: One Of Kids’ Essential Food Groups
“We had a policy on books from the very beginning with our children; they are an essential need not a luxury. You can have as many as you like. A Christmas tradition soon developed. Each year they got a book stack – a selection of books wrapped individually in different coloured tissue paper and joined into a bundle with a large gold ribbon with the largest book at the bottom, the smallest at the top. … Not cheap, since you need at least eight books to make an impressive stack, but one that has, I think, helped to keep their love of reading going.”
A Fresh Flare-Up Of Plagiarism At Harvard
“A Harvard student newspaper cartoonist has been suspended from the paper and two of her cartoons retracted after editors learned of their resemblance to ones published in other media outlets. Harvard Crimson staffers found that four cartoons by Kathleen Breeden , a sophomore, bore striking similarity to cartoons shown on a website that compiles cartoons from around the world. … The incident comes less than a week after Harvard Crimson staff members said they discovered that a columnist, Victoria Ilyinsky , had failed to cite literary references that she had lifted from a column posted to the online magazine Slate.”
Picasso’s Bullring May Be Built At Last
“A bullring that was the only building ever designed by Pablo Picasso may be built in the artist’s home town, a close friend of the Spanish artist said last week. … Malaga-born Picasso had wanted the bullring built in Madrid, but that idea was vetoed by military dictator Francisco Franco, who was in power at the time. Picasso died in 1973; Franco, in 1975.”