“In Imagine This, a new musical about the Holocaust, a group of actors in the Warsaw ghetto stage a play. The play is about a community of Jews in Masada who, in AD73, are surrounded by the Roman army and, rather than surrender, choose to kill themselves en masse.”
Tag: 11.10.08
Houston TV Station Questions City’s Arts Funding Process
It’s a piggy bank full of your money being spent on art. But is the bureaucracy of art in Houston now costing more than a Picasso?
L.A. Music Center Cancels Nederlands Dans Theater
The Music Center’s dance season has called off one of its six remaining programs this season: three June performances by Nederlands Dans Theater I. The decision was made “solely on the basis of our desire to manage our resources in the most prudent fashion.” The series has recently seen “reduced donor giving, a decline in investment revenue and a shortfall in ticket sales.”
Exiled Afghan Writer Takes Prix Goncourt
Writing in French for the first time, former refugee Atiq Rahimi won France’s top literary prize for Syngue Sabour (Persian for “Stone of Patience”), about a woman caring for her husband, who has been paralyzed by a war wound, and telling him stories about her life that he had never heard.
Gehry’s Beachfront Project In Brighton Is Killed
Funding for Frank Gehry’s £290 million King Alfred Leisure Center in the English seaside resort town has collapsed. The architect’s design plan, which featured a pair of wavy towers, is being scrapped.
August: Osage County To Get Movie Version
The Weinstein brothers have acquired the film rights to Tracy Letts’s Tony-winning drama about a ferociously dysfunctional Oklahoma family. Actresses are already lobbying for the juicy female roles in the film, which is planned for 2011 release.
Cinematography, Where Oscar Honors Only Men (So Far)
“First the bad news: When it comes to Oscar nominations, cinematography rivals the best actor category in number of women honored: zero. That comes as no surprise to Women in Film president Jane Fleming, who calls the discipline ‘by far the worst’ in its male-to-female ratio.” The good news? “This year, two female d.p.s stand a good chance of bucking the trend….”
Minority Report Foretold Real-Life Technology
“The future-predicting technology that drives the premise of the sci-fi blockbuster Minority Report is silly at best. And when the film hit theaters in 2002, the gadgets seemed pretty unrealistic, too. But eerily enough the slew of dreamed-up gizmos showed off throughout John Anderton’s daring escape are hardening into reality.”
If City Opera = Kmart, Who Can Be Its Martha Stewart?
Like a couture designer who likes the challenge of creating a clothing line for Kmart, Gerard Mortier might have enjoyed running an opera company on a shoestring — if he were a completely different person, argues James Jorden, editor of the opera blog Parterre.com.
TV Networks Fail To Score New Fall Hits
Once again, the five broadcast networks made it into November without one breakout, game-changing hit — or any show, old or new, that has caused any palpable audience excitement.