“A good book is an artifact made with passion, study, or struggle. … Someone is bound to invent a way of digitizing the paintings of Rembrandt to make possible an image that is better than we could get by gazing at the original. But we still would want to see the paintings. The human touch cannot be digitized.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
In Defense Of The Prompter — And The Prompted
“Matthew Broderick has taken heat for needing prompts in previews of a new off-Broadway play, and an actor was fired in Hartford for storing lines in his character’s hat.” In light of tradition, it’s much ado about nothing.
Boldface Names Join Obama’s Arts Advisory Panel
Yo-Yo Ma, Edward Norton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kerry Washington, Forest Whitaker, Anna Wintour and Alfre Woodard are among those tapped for the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, a largely ceremonial panel.
Ukrainian Billionaire Pinchuk To Build Kiev Art Center
Victor Pinchuk, “one of the world’s leading contemporary-art collectors,” said that he “envisages a multi-functional center with a permanent collection built on, though not limited to, works that he owns. Pinchuk said he’s ready to provide ‘100 percent’ financing for the center.”
Lehman Art Rakes In Bucks At Auction (No, It Won’t Help)
“An eclectic batch of artworks that once adorned the corporate offices of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. sold for $1.35 million,” or “almost double the projected total,” at auction Sunday. One art adviser explained part of the appeal: “This gives you a piece of financial history — good, bad or indifferent.”
Building By Building, Good Public Design Invades NYC
“For decades, the trinity of quick, cheap, and ugly dominated the city’s building program. Quick was always a chimera, and cheap remains sacrosanct, but ugly won’t cut it anymore.”
Google Search Could Be A Game Changer For Online Music
Google’s new music search feature, unveiled Wednesday, “was applauded by the music industry, which … is hoping the search feature will direct users to legitimate digital music outlets and in turn help them compete with free but often unauthorized sources of music.” It may also aid iTunes’ competitors.
Next Week In White House’s East Room: Classical Music
As part of the ongoing White House music series, “the first lady will host a Classical Music Student Workshop Concert, which will feature an appearance by superstar violinist Joshua Bell, guitarist Sharon Isbin, cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Awadagin Pratt.”
Group: Blind Or Deaf Actress Should Get B’way Miracle Role
The advocacy group Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts says a blind or deaf child actress should have been cast in the “Miracle Worker” role that went to Abigail Breslin, while the Broadway show’s lead producer argues that it would be “financially irresponsible to approach a major revival without making a serious effort to get a star.”
Canadian Opera Covers $1.6M Shortfall With Special Fund
“How could there be a shortfall when, as COC board president Paul Spafford proudly reported, for the third year in a row since moving into its new home at the Four Seasons Centre, the opera company played to full houses?” Among other things, “[d]onations from individuals and corporations were $1.1 million below target.”