Month: August 2003

NY City Opera For WTC – It Makes Sense

Developers of the proposed World Trade Center project are trying to decide which arts company ought to anchor its performing arts center. “The developers would be wise to court a major institution with a strong identity, one that would bring credibility and potentially a devoted audience base to the new complex. That institution is the New York City Opera, dubbed the ‘people’s opera’ by Fiorello La Guardia, one of its founders.”

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Grand Plan For Baghdad

In 1957, the King of Iraq asked architect Frank Lloyd Wright to come up with a grand master plan for Baghdad. “Now, half a century and a ‘war of liberation’ later, some Islamic scholars think it’s time for Iraq to take another look at the American architect’s vision for the narrow, sun-bleached streets of low-rise 1950s Baghdad. If built, his plans, which included an opera house, university campus and post and telegraph building, could, they say, do much to disabuse Iraqis of the view that Uncle Sam is intent on erasing Islamic culture.”

de Larrocha’s Long Farewell

After 32 years onstage, pianist Alicia de Larrocha is beginning her long goodbye from performing. “Time has not left her unscathed. At Lincoln Center she looked frail, even tentative, when she made her way centre-stage. She seemed instantly rejuvenated, however, when she touched the keyboard. Larrocha never was a dazzling technician and certainly cannot be one now. It hardly matters.”

Iraq’s New Burst Of Creativity

“Out of the ashes of war and dictatorship, a new spirit of creativity and intellectual exchange is tentatively coming to life in scattered corners of the Iraqi capital, from the newly revived academy to the downtown alley that hosts a weekly book fair and informal literary gathering every Friday morning. The venues may be shabby and damaged, but the buzz of ideas is infectious and freewheeling, so much so that it’s easy to forget how recently any form of artistic or literary dissent in this country was grounds for instant imprisonment or worse.”

Why Are Our Best Plays About Losers?

In a country known by the world for its pride of success, materialism and optimism, why are the most celebrated plays about what she calls ‘losers’? Think about it. Willy Loman, Blanche DuBois, O’Neill’s own barely disguised family. Even the most beloved commercial comedies – think about the schlumps in Neil Simon’s earliest hits – are organized around types that, outside our boundaries, would hardly be identified as winning Yanks.” Compare that to Hollywood movies and the heroes they portray.

On The Fringes Of New York

“This year the festival is offering more than 200 different productions in 20 locations — to call them all theaters would be to stretch the definition of theater — and to judge from the number of invitations, both polite and pleading, that I’ve received lately, the commercial aspirations of Fringe show producers are accelerated. A lot more of the shows have press agents these days. And in terms of content, the camp, irreverence and cheerful potty mouth of its glam graduate are reproduced in healthy doses.”

Movies – Where Is All The Fun?

Once upon a time mindless summer blockbusters could be fun. No more, writes Brian Miller. “After the opening weekend to each successive studio tent pole, nobody’s lining up around the block to catch the must-see movie two, three, or a dozen times more. That’s because there’s another new tent pole arriving each weekend that we grimly drag ourselves to see, like hamsters on a wheel. Why is that? Where has the fun gone? Into the machine, that’s where, the same self-perpetuating machine of which we all—moviegoers, critics, studio executives, directors, and stars—are a part.”