Month: June 2000

FIRST NIGHT

Lavish sets and costumes are a hallmark of the historic Moscow-based company; more surprising was the clean luster of the dancing. Leading a thoroughly excellent cast, the Bolshoi’s prima ballerina, Nina Ananiashvili, used her dagger-sharp technique to emphasize the headlong passions that drive this story of unstoppable love. – Washington Post

HAVE TONY WILL TRAVEL

The contest for best play in this Sunday’s Tony Awards is likely to come down to a two-way contest between Britain’s “Copenhagen” (about the atomic bomb) and the US’s “Dirty Blonde” (about Mae West). “The result may have less to do with nationalism than the increased influence of Tony voters who are road presenters. (Their percentage on the judges’ panel rose last year when 100 New York producers lost their voting eligibility.) On the road, the late blonde bombshell Mae West is probably more powerful than the atomic bomb, audience-wise.” – The Times of India (Reuters)

BORN IN THE U.S.A.

The Tony Awards have usually been dominated by the British, but this year more American plays and artists are in the spotlight. “There’s no more apt symbol of the shift in British fortunes on Broadway than the revival of  “Jesus Christ Superstar,” whose lone Tony nomination – best revival of a musical – has been dismissed as a sop to Andrew Lloyd Webber.” – The Guardian

ROCK ON BROADWAY

“In small but growing numbers, celebrated songwriters and performers cite varied reasons for leaving the safe confines of successful rock careers to roll the dice with musical theater projects. And in deed, if not by design, they’re starting to mend a decades-old rift between popular music and the stage ripped open by the birth of rock ‘n’ roll.” – Los Angeles Times

ROMAN HOLIDAY

A look at Roman Polanski’s turbulent career and the morbid fascinations at the heart of his film work to date. “All are disturbing works which showcase his ability to invest the everyday with psychological terror, and the other way round.” – The Times (UK)

CYBER CHAMPAGNE & DIGITAL DIP

The book party has taken a decidedly techno turn – from the lobbies of intimate bookstore and chic restaurants onto the internet. Erotic-novelist M.J. Rose recently celebrated the launch of her latest book at an online chatroom, where champagne glasses clinked without a sound. – Salon

WHAT – YOU THOUGHT HE LOVED THE WRITING?

Steven Spielberg recently paid $2 million for a first novel by French architect Marc Levy. The book was a bestseller in France as soon as it hit the shelves last winter, yet Spielberg hadn’t even read it when he flew Levy to New York for meetings. “So doesn’t anyone object to the fact that literature can now be bought and sold at a colossal price solely on the basis of a minimal plot summary?” – The Guardian

THE BRAIN TRAIN

What could possibly be gained by having 107 writers from 43 European countries spend six weeks on a train together traveling through 11 countries and 19 cities? “Reclaiming public places for literature and deciding “what Europe means,” says the organizer of this summer’s bizarre “lit. express.” – Die Welt (Berlin)