“Carrie was such a critical and financial flop (at $8 million) that, afterward, its three creators refused to allow another professional production anywhere in the world … But this winter MCC Theater, a respected Off Broadway company, is trying to reclaim Carrie from contempt. The creators have rewritten the story into a modern-day tale of bullying, with mean girls mocking notions of ‘equality’.”
Month: February 2012
The ’60s ‘Happenings’, Remembered By Their Instigators
“But what actually happened at the Happenings? Because they were so ephemeral, and documentation is so patchy, art historians have spent decades trying to figure that out. So have their creators.” Claes Oldenburg, Patty Mucha, Lucas Samaras, Red Grooms and others look back.
Why Americans Love Zoos
Diane Ackerman: “More than 150 million people a year visit zoos and aquariums in the United States. Why do we flock to them? It’s not just a pleasant outing with family or friends, or to introduce children (whose lives are a cavalcade of animal images) to real animals, though those are still big reasons. I think people are also drawn to a special stripe of innocence they hope to find there.”
Iranian Hardliners Dismiss Foreign Film Oscar Favorite As ‘Dirty Movie’
“The backlash [against Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation] was apparent on state-run television recently when Masoud Ferasati, an Iranian writer whose views are close to those of the Islamic regime, said: ‘The image of our society that A Separation depicts is the dirty picture westerners are wishing for’.”
Ohio Frets As Cleveland Orchestra Plans Extra Week In Miami Each Year
“Most concerning to Cleveland-based fans is word that the orchestra soon may be spending four weeks a year in Miami instead of three.” But orchestra officials say that “more time in Miami will simply mean less time in Europe – specifically, in cities where the orchestra is not already in residence.”
When Picasso Turned Anglophile
“[A] major new exhibition on the artist will reveal how Picasso developed a taste for all things English during his first trip to Britain. Picasso spent 10 weeks in London during the summer of 1919, designing scenery and costumes for [Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes staging of] The Three-Cornered Hat.”
Wislawa Szymborska’s Final Poems To Be Published Posthumously
The Nobel laureate “published her last book, Here, in 2008, but she had been working on a collection of poems that an associate said will be published in a book this year.”
La Scala Fires Ballerina Who Spoke Out About Anorexia
“Mariafrancesca Garritano, 33, has been fired for ‘damaging the image’ of La Scala after claiming that one in five ballerinas suffered from anorexia.”
Twyla Tharp On The Real Challenge Of Creating A Story Ballet
“I think that needing to translate into words to tell the story of a ballet is a problem. The ballet needs to tell its own story in such a way it can be received without having to be translated into language. That the emotions can be felt, I think, that’s another thing. Abstract can tend to be very sterile, and the so-called narrative has the capacity for an emotional connection.”
Actor Ben Gazzara Dead At 81
“In a 60-year career that began on stage, the gravel-voiced Ben Gazzara appeared in more than 100 films and TV movies. He also starred in the 1960s series Run for Your Life, enjoyed a renaissance in the ’90s and won an Emmy in 2002.”