“[L]ess than two weeks after 50 students received the free Kindle DX e-readers, many of them said they were dissatisfied and uncomfortable with the devices. … ‘I hate to sound like a Luddite, but this technology is a poor excuse of an academic tool,'” one student said.
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Jackman: ‘Turn It Off … Unless You’ve Got A Better Story’
“Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig have become the latest actors to tackle the toughest theatrical challenge of all: the mobile phone that simply won’t shut up.” As they told the culprit to make the ringing stop, the confrontation was caught on video.
History’s Habit Of Forgetting Female Artists
“[I]t’s not that great women artists do not exist. It is that men are very good at finding new reasons to underrate them. We didn’t rule the world for millennia without being pretty ingenious when it comes to preserving our territory.”
Why France Treats Artists’ Behavior Differently
“[T]he French culture minister, Frédéric Mitterrand, says he is ‘dumbfounded’ by [Roman] Polanski’s ‘absolutely dreadful’ detention,” while “a large group of French actors and cinematographers … have signed an angry petition calling for Polanski’s ‘immediate liberation.'” Their response is consistent with tradition.
Memoir: Bush Denied Medal To Rowling Over ‘Witchcraft’
“A memoir by George W Bush’s former speechwriter claims that Bush administration officials objected to giving JK Rowling a presidential medal of freedom on the grounds that her Harry Potter books ‘encouraged witchcraft’.”
Troubled Skylight Opera Names Managing Director
Amy S. Jensen, “who observed the theater’s turbulent summer, said strong communication with the board, staff, artists, patrons and donors will be an immediate priority” when she takes over as managing director Nov. 16. “The Skylight is still working out how it will handle artistic direction.”
Conductor Falls 14 Feet Into Orchestra Pit, Breaks Back
David Ott “was walking across the Mainstage Theatre stage Friday night to retrieve a musical score just after the first performance of ‘The Widow’s Lantern,’ a full-length piece he wrote for the Pensacola Opera,” when he fell “into the basement below the orchestra pit,” landing “flat on his back.”
Details Sketchy On SFMOMA Wing For Fisher Collection
“[T]here’s no telling when those paintings and sculptures might be exhibited in a new wing – or even when we might know who the architect might be.”
92-Year-Old Pasadena Playhouse ‘Potentially In Peril’
Stephen Eich, a veteran of the Steppenwolf Theatre and the Geffen Playhouse, likened his first weeks as executive director of the Pasadena Playhouse to “lifting rocks and finding another problem under each one.” The theatre’s money troubles are worse than he’d expected.
Do New Music Directors Really Boost The Box Office?
Endowments are stretched, budgets are tight, and audiences are declining. “So orchestras hope that a new music director will bring in new life, new energy and — more to the point — new attendance.” But how to define the success of such a union?