The Screen Actors Guild may have recently settled the strike with Hollywood’s commercial producers, but an internal report says the union is fractured and lacking focus. “SAG lacks a clear, shared mission and strategy, which is the foundation of an effective organization,” the report says. “There is no consensus regarding SAG’s mission, which is essential for establishing a shared consensus about SAG’s goals.” – Backstage
Author: Douglas McLennan
THE BIG DEAL ABOUT LIT PRIZES
“A shiny medallion-shaped sticker, stamped with the word ‘winner,’ affixed to the otherwise enigmatic cover of a new novel, has a formidable power to sell books – sometimes thousands of them. But what do these prizes really mean? How are they chosen, and which of them, if any, is the most reliable?” A look at the prizes and their processes. – Salon
SUSAN SONTAG WINS NATIONAL BOOK AWARD —
— for her novel “In America.” The nonfiction award went to Nathaniel Philbrick for “In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex;” the poetry prize went to Lucille Clifton. – New York Times
LOOKING BACK, AT A MINIMUM
In the mid-’80s minimalism was a force one had to contend with – fer or a’gin. “By now, of course, 1988 seems like old times; and while these sorts of aesthetic wars are never actually won, so to speak, it’s safe to say that the bells have indeed tolled for minimalism’s reign over American fiction.” – Salon
CANADIAN PUBLISHING’S NEW STAR
She is 34, the youngest ever to be appointed to such a senior position in the Canadian publishing industry. Maya Mavjee is the lead editor behind the Giller Prize-winning “Mercy Among the Children” by David Adams Richards and the newly appointed publisher of Doubleday Canada, which makes her a star just beginning her ascent. – The Globe & Mail (Canada)
PHILADELPHIA AT 100
The Philadelphia Orchestra turns 100. “Only the orchestras of Berlin, Vienna, Cleveland and Chicago can claim to be competing on as high a level. And yet, the orchestra continues to operate in the same state of institutional uncertainty that has plagued it for the last six or seven years.” – Philadelphia Inquirer
SAWALLISCH’S NEW INTENSITY
Wolfgang Sawallisch is on his way out the Philadelphia’s music director. But as he’s turned 77 the critics are noting a new intensity in his performances. While Sawallisch notes the change, he’s at a loss to explain it. – Philadelphia Inquirer
RETHINKING BOCELLI
Has a singer ever been trashed so thoroughly by the critics as Andrea Bocelli has? Yet his first recording of a complete opera (“La Boheme”) has some critics rethinking their assessments. “Judged as a recording experience, Bocelli’s Rodolfo, which he has performed onstage in Sardinia, offers a great deal. His pop-crossover background may be responsible for his unusual attention to words; try his wistful query about Mimi in the Act IV duet with Marcello, “L’hai visto?” (have you seen her?). This Rodolfo simply sounds young, a bit light in the head and endowed with the soul of a poet.” – San Francisco Examiner
GREENSPAN A SWINGER
Dour-looking US Fed chairman Alan Greenspan “studied music at Julliard, and long before he was tracking interest rates he was mastering music scales. Early on, in fact, he spent a year on the road playing saxophone and clarinet with the acclaimed Henry Jerome band.” – National Post (Canada)
SPECTACULAR PHOTO COLLECTION: IN NEED OF A HOME
“Britain, the first country to take the photograph seriously, now gives it the shortest shrift in its national art museums. There is no central, authoritative public photography collection.” Maybe the time has come to create one. – The Guardian