The designer of Dublin’s fine new Samuel Beckett bridge is none other than “Santiago Calatrava, the Valencian architect who has made expressionist bridges and weirdly torqued structures a trademark. Never mind that Beckett made a virtue of muted understatement.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Yo-Yo Ma To Be Chicago Symphony’s Creative Consultant
“Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director designate Riccardo Muti took a giant step toward realizing his goals of connecting the CSO with wider audiences and young people of all backgrounds by tapping cellist Yo-Yo Ma … for a new position in the orchestra’s artistic and educational leadership.”
Case Against Accused New Moon Pirate Is Dropped
“The great ‘Twilight Saga: New Moon’ movie-taping ruckus concluded quietly Friday when prosecutors dropped charges against a Chicago woman who had captured a bit of the film on her digital camera. It wasn’t exactly a Hollywood ending, but a sequel might be coming soon.”
Author Grants Amazon E-Book Rights; Publishers Quake
“Stephen R. Covey, one of the most successful business authors of the last two decades, has moved e-book rights to two of his best-selling books from his print publisher, Simon & Schuster, a division of the CBS Corporation, to Amazon.com for one year.”
In Recession, Even Roundabout Finds The Going Tougher
“The company expanded during the boom,” when it overtook “Lincoln Center Theater as the largest nonprofit theater in the country. But the past year has seen drops in fundraising and membership subscriptions,” as well as box-office disappointments. “And now the renewal of Roundabout’s biggest corporate sponsorship is in doubt.”
Lincoln Center Creates Its Own Discount-Ticket Venue
“Starting Jan. 7th, visitors will be able to buy day-of discounted tickets to performances at all Lincoln Center cultural institutions at a box office in the new David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center on Broadway between West 62nd and West 63rd Streets. Tickets will be discounted from 25% to 50% off regular prices.”
Was One Man Motivating Americans To Go To The Movies?
“You may not know his name — Don LaFontaine (also known as ‘The Voice’) — but you certainly know his work. He’s the guy with the ominous voice of doom who introduced thousands of previews by saying things like … ‘In a world of blood. In a time of plague. In a land of death. In a house of pain . . . ‘” Now that he’s dead, fewer of us are going to the movies.
Tate Christmas Tree Is Delightful. What’s Going On?
Tate Britain’s traditional, very Christmassy Christmas tree, decorated by artist Tacita Dean, is “extremely pretty — and confusing. What can this startling outbreak of Christmas spirit at Tate possibly mean? Is it caused by the credit crunch? Is the zeitgeist changing?”
How Downloading Has Altered Music Collecting
“This is not a Luddite’s lament, or a cri de coeur about the significantly reduced audio quality of those compressed MP3 files. I love having more music at arm’s reach than ever before, I love taking it with me wherever I go. But I do find myself wondering why, exactly, collecting music now means so much less.”
Even When Their Movies Get Nominated, Asian Actors Don’t
“This lack of recognition for ethnic actors is especially notable in light of Hollywood’s growing interest in non-Western narratives, as well as the kudos breakthrough that African-American thesps have experienced this decade. … But while Hollywood may have largely atoned for Mammy and Stepin Fetchit, the legacy of Long Duk Dong and Mr. Yunioshi has yet to be counterbalanced.”