“As Morecambe and Wise, they were the nation’s best-loved comedy act, their Christmas extravaganzas regularly pulling in audiences of more than 20 million. But BBC chiefs initially believed Eric Morecambe would have a much better chance of TV stardom if he dumped Ernie Wise and went solo. The damning appraisal [was] delivered just two years before the duo … found fame on commercial television.”
Tag: 12.01.12
Simon Russell Beale Frets About Unemployment
“In 30 years [as an actor] I don’t think I’ve ever been so close to unemployment. I phoned my agent and said: in March I’m out of work.”
In Quake-Ravaged Italian Town, Magical Thinking And Little Progress
“That earthquake, in April 2009, killed hundreds and left tens of thousands of L’Aquilans homeless, shuttering the city’s graceful and extensive historic center … Since then Italian officials have kept promising to restore the city to its former self, but fewer than a dozen buildings have so far been repaired … These days, tourists arrive to gawk at the rubble. Ruin porn has become the new local industry.”
Does Money Change Your Brain?
Probably. If you’ve got that other winning Powerball ticket, you need to read this.
Penumbra Theatre Might Just Survive
“Foundations, corporations and civic sources have pitched in to aid a company known for developing fine actors and producing gold-standard versions of August Wilson plays.”
The Tories Want To Destroy The Arts – For Everyone Else
“There can be no doubt that, as Maria Miller insists, many Conservative ministers do cherish the arts in their own lives. They are not materialistic brutes so much as selective philistines, content for Newcastle, having pitted art against survival, to embark on its own version of the Dark Ages, while Downing Street’s connoisseurs blag £888 Wagner tickets.”
The Mad Dash For Height Is Ruining London
“There is no nice way of putting this, but the skyline of London is being screwed.”
How Much Is That Ballet Dancer In The Window?
Can’t get to The Nutcracker this year? That’s OK; just go shopping, and the ballerinas will come to you.
Museum’s Last (Full-time) Taxidermist Dies, Age 87
David Schwendeman, the chief taxidermist at the American Museum of Natural History for 29 years, “was an extraordinary artist, an expert sculptor. … He could pose animals accurately and scientifically, and at the same time make them aesthetically beautiful.”
The Movie Theatre, A True Communion Of Minds
Especially if everyone remembers to shut off mobiles, seeing a film en masse is far superior to watching it at home.