- — 43 years ago this week, becoming an instant sensation and setting a new standard for American musical theater. Playwright Arthur Laurents (who wrote the book) and Chita Rivera (who originated the role of Anita) reminisce about the fateful collaboration. “We had a vision of what we called lyric theater, and it was something intuitively we all shared and all felt.” – NPR [Real audio file]
Author: Douglas McLennan
BUILDINGS AND BODIES
The Zandra Rhodes Museum of Fashion, designed by architect Richard Legorreta, is slated to open in South London in 2002. The museum will address why “architecture and fashion move remarkably closely together at some points in history. The connections are intriguing, for buildings are in many ways a representation of ourselves, our bodies and the ways in which we clothe ourselves. We build facades for ourselves, not just for our buildings.” – The Guardian
LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR HOMEGROWN
The Olympic Arts Festival next month in Australia would have been the perfect opportunity to showcase aboriginal plays and playwrights to the world. Instead, “the festival program sends out a loud message to people from overseas who may want to spice their sports with a bit of theatre or opera from the country they’re visiting: it has none.” – Sydney Morning Herald
THE SECOND-PRODUCTION PROBLEM
In 1714 Vivaldi premiered his new opera “Orlando Finto Pazzo.” But it got such disastrous reviews, the composer put it away and it was never performed again – until now. – The Guardian
ODE TO SANTA FE
After 44 years John Crosby is stepping down as head of the remarkable Santa Fe Opera. “His retirement this month comes close upon several more publicized recent or upcoming retirements – Peter Hemmings from the Los Angeles Opera, Lotfi Mansouri from the San Francisco – but it may be the more significant milestone.” – Washington Post
OPEN BOOKS
In response to criticism that no one is actually buying e-books, electronic publishers released sales figures – modest, yet encouraging. “Given that printed books have been around for 600 years, and e-books have barely registered on the consumer radar yet, I think we’re doing OK.” – Wired
A NOVEL IDEA
How worried does the audio-book business (a $2 billion-a-year industry) need to be about the recent proliferation of downloadable audio books on Napster-like sites? “The question really is whether there is a demand for audio books in the MP3 format. If there is, publishing would be well advised to figure out a legal – and money-making – way to make audio books available online. Readers might be willing to pay for the convenience of easy downloading if such a site were made available to them.” – Inside.com
THE HARDEST WORKING DEAD GUY IN SHOW BUSINESS
It’s been 23 years since Elvis died. But “during the past year, Elvis could be found in more movies than other hardest working men in show business such as Michael Caine, Gene Hackman and the Bridges brothers. The period of mid-1996 to mid-1997 – the first year of my unscientific survey – remains the champ. During those 12 months, Elvis “appeared” in 26 movies – only seven fewer than the number in which he actually starred.” – Chicago Sun-Times
IN SEARCH OF BOHEMIA
“It has become fashionable these days to emphasize, even to celebrate, the assimilation of bohemian ideals to capitalist realities. The ‘bourgeois bohemian’ is becoming a stock figure in social criticism, or what passes for it. Trendy boutiques and lame attempts at politically correct purchasing have become the stuff of neo-conservative satire. The implicit message of such gloating is always the same: bohemia has disappeared into up-market fashion. And one would be hard pressed to deny that this new pop-sociological cliche has a basis in reality.” – The New Republic 08/14/00
EDINBURGH – DOES SIZE MATTER?
“We are repeatedly told that it is the biggest in the world, the largest arts festival of any kind, an artistically overstuffed August when, for three weeks, Edinburgh becomes the mother of all festivals – Official, Fringe, Film, Book, TV and now Club. But for too long, the Fringe has been inordinately concerned with size. Like an adolescent boy – and, for that matter, most males – it is obsessed with being the largest. But who’s counting? And does it matter?” – New Statesman 08/14/00