“Stephen Eich, the former managing director of the Geffen Playhouse, has been named executive director of the Pasadena Playhouse in partnership with Playhouse artistic director Sheldon Epps. … Eich, who left his Geffen post last June, is also a former managing director of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater Company.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
TV Is Giddy For Twitter, Its Latest Tech Crush
“The E! channel streams a feed of celebrity tweets across the lower third of its screen, while some CNN newscasters have practically made Twitter their co-anchor. Over at MTV, the new show It’s On with Alexa Chung allows viewers to type a message in Twitter and watch it appear on their living-room sets.” This despite the fact that “relatively recent history is littered with futile attempts to integrate television with the latest technological fad.”
New-Media ‘News’: Do We Know What We Think We Know?
“Has technology’s ability to deliver information at such a rapid pace corrupted us? It’s one thing to marvel at how social media sites have helped spread Iranian news we might not have attained due to censorship — and with such timeliness; it’s quite another to have become a culture that prizes speed over confirmed facts. Have our standards for accountability dissolved?”
Among Nonprofits Fearing Future, Arts Orgs Most Worried
“Ninety-two percent of the nearly 100 respondents in a survey conducted in May by the Bridgespan Group said they were feeling the effects of the downturn. Eighty percent of charity officials reported that their organizations were experiencing financial stress, in another study conducted in April by the Johns Hopkins University’s Listening Post Project. Nearly 40 percent of the 363 respondents described the stress as ‘severe.'”
Michael Martin, A.K.A. Graffiti King Iz The Wiz, Dies At 50
“Iz the Wiz was a legend among graffiti artists, by almost all accounts ‘the longest-reigning all-city king in N.Y.C. history,’ as the graffiti Web site at149st.com puts it. In other words, Iz put his name, or tag, on subway cars running on every line in the system more times than any other artist. Michael Martin — Iz the Wiz — died on June 17 in Spring Hill, Fla., where he had moved a few years ago.”
Why Kodachrome Mattered
“[W]hile the discontinuance of Kodachrome may not be felt as keenly as that of other recently defunct items — notably Polaroid’s SX-70 film or Kodak’s black-and-white printing papers — the Kodak film has given honorable service for so long (since 1935 in movie cameras, since 1936 in 35mm still cameras) that its demise calls for a send-off more ceremonial than just a quote from the Paul Simon lyric.”
Jerry Lewis To Direct Nutty Professor Musical On Broadway
“A musical version of the 1963 comedy classic ‘The Nutty Professor’ is headed to Broadway, and the director will be none other than Jerry Lewis himself. The comedian, who won’t be acting in the musical, has brought on board Marvin Hamlisch to write music and Rupert Holmes to do book and lyrics.”
Hoffman Outburst Proves Author-Critic Feuds Alive & Well
“Authors generally try to stay classy in the face of negative feedback, bravely showing up for their readings and working the publicity circuit despite whatever Michiko and company proclaim. When they do respond to a critic, it’s more likely to present a clarification or correction of something the writer has apparently gotten wrong. … Sometimes, however, the quarrel is less about being right and more about lashing out.”
Tate Commissioned Unknown, Aiming To Make Her A Star
“It is one of the country’s largest spaces to showcase the best of British sculpture, so being commissioned to create an artwork for the Duveen Galleries – the central space in Tate Britain – has not just drawn in hordes of visitors but also cemented the reputations of Britain’s boldest contemporary artists. Now, the gallery has selected a previously unknown artist,” Eva Rothschild, “in hope that she will become as celebrated as her earlier ‘art star’ counterparts….”
P.M. Looking To Former Poet Laureate For Talk Tips?
“Gordon Brown has sought advice from Sir Andrew Motion, the former poet laureate, prompting speculation that the Prime Minister was seeking inspiration for his speeches. Mr Brown, who is often criticised for his leaden manner, spoke to the poet about popular works including Thomas Gray’s celebrated Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard, one of the most-quoted poems in the English language.”