“Even by conceptual-art standards, Willoughby Sharp’s work stood out. There was his gestational spin in a clothes dryer. There was the curious affair of the talcum powder, the teddy bear and the tab of LSD. And there was the Oklahoma Gun Incident, which members of the art world still discuss, with a mixture of horror and awe, more than 30 years later.”
Tag: 12.31.08
San Francisco’s Magic Theatre In Danger Of Folding
The Magic Theatre is facing a major financial crisis and needs to raise $350,000 by Jan. 9 to avoid canceling the remainder of its 43rd season and perhaps closing its doors.
Exit Stage Right: Harold Pinter Funeral According To The Playwright’s Precise Direction
“He seems to have given very precise instructions. I believe the funeral will be carried out to his instructions.” Broadway theatres dimmed their lights to honour Pinter, who wrote 32 plays, one novel and 22 screenplays.
Madonna, Celine Were Top Concert Draws Of 2008
Despite a turbulent time announcing and then negotiating her divorce from British film director Guy Ritchie, Madonna managed to rake in $282 million (£195m) from 17 countries during her Sticky & Sweet world tour, which finished in Brazil last week.
How YouTube Killed The Rap Wars
Rap battles have been Notoriously nasty and violent. But things are different now… “YouTube has short-circuited the creative process and all but killed the diss rap stone cold dead.”
Cameron Mackintosh Tops Stage’s Most-Influential List
“Mackintosh, who has now been placed first five times since the list was launched in 1997, beat long-term collaborator Andrew Lloyd Webber, who came second. Lloyd Webber has been placed first more than any other figure in the history of The Stage 100, coming top six times.”
Irish Arts Council Slashes Funding To Theatres
“The average grant cut to theatre next year will be just over 8%, with major companies like the Gate, Druid and Rough Magic the least hard hit.”
Anatomy Of The Fake Memoir
The faux memoir has become so common that you wonder what it says about our culture that so many people with access to power and the media lie so readily.
The Year’s Best Movies? Still Missing In Madison
“This year’s movie awards season has played out like Oscar night at Minsky’s. At least a dozen of the supposedly hottest contenders are being teased out to the public in peekaboo release patterns. That approach became especially common this year, as studios held many of their more serious movies until after the election.”
JD Salinger At 90
“Salinger’s disappearing act has succeeded so well, in fact, that it may be hard for readers who aren’t middle-aged to appreciate what a sensation he once caused.”