“The art market may have just laid down its new floor. The major spring art auctions that conclude Friday in New York were the smallest round in terms of total sales in five years, but collectors have begun venturing back into the market in search of art bargains.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Walcott Accuser: He Should Fight Oxford Smear Campaign
“I am appalled and saddened by the anonymous smear campaign against my former mentor Derek Walcott. … I can only hope that Oxford decides to stop the election and allow everyone more time to reconsider what has just happened. Derek Walcott should not walk away from this post.”
Much-Heralded B’way Desire To Close Early, Before Tonys
“The Broadway revival of Eugene O’Neill’s ‘Desire Under the Elms’ will close on May 24, several weeks ahead of schedule, in the face of declining grosses and its lack of any nominations for the 2009 Tony Awards. The play’s lead producer, Jeffrey Richards, issued a statement this evening to announce the closing. The limited run of the show was supposed to end in July.”
Shakespeare In Hyde Park, With Stephen Breyer
“Meet the newest Chicago actor: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Breyer will be appearing as the Ghost in ‘Hamlet’ in Hyde Park on Friday, with an encore presentation slated for Saturday. It’s part of this weekend’s ‘Shakespeare and the Law’ conference at the University of Chicago Law School.”
Alec Baldwin, NY Phil Radio Host, Will Tag Along To Hanoi
“Actor Alec Baldwin says he’ll travel to Hanoi with the New York Philharmonic when it makes its Vietnam debut in October. The star of NBC’s Emmy-award winning comedy ’30 Rock’ begins a side gig this fall as the new host of the national radio broadcast ‘The New York Philharmonic This Week.'”
First For Women & Triumph For Soldiers At Classical Brits
“Trumpeter Alison Balsom has become the first British woman to win best female at the Classical Brit awards. The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards won the prestigious album of the year for Spirit of the Glen: Journey, recorded during their tour of duty in Iraq.”
Don’t Try This At Home: Publisher Tattoos Issue On His Leg
“Marc Strömberg is a 22-year-old graphic designer in Ume, Sweden, and his leg is still sore. He creates record sleeves and posters for bands, and in his spare time he runs his own magazine, Tare Lugnt. Instead of publishing the latest edition in traditional paper and ink, he has had issue three entirely tattooed onto his left leg. The leg has now been photographed, and large-scale prints are due to go on display in Göteborg and Stockholm this month.”
In L.A., Even The Ballet Companies Fight About Parking
“Due to a neighborhood dispute over parking and crowd control at its former digs in a long-unused portion of a Christian Science Church in Venice, the Blankenship Ballet Company of Venice has left the Westside and taken up residence downtown at Vibiana.” The new space boasts loads more nearby parking lots — and room for hundreds of additional audience members.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Tonys (Guess Who’s Hosting!)
“Last week, we put Neil Patrick Harris on our wish list of potential hosts for the 2009 Tony Awards. And today, our wish came true as the Broadway League and American Theatre Wing announced that Harris will, indeed, host the award show live from Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 7.”
Colombian Author Nabs 10,000-Pound Independent Prize
“A brutal but beautiful novel about life in Colombia in the midst of the civil war which has ravaged the country for decades has won the Independent foreign fiction prize. Evelio Rosero, a prize-winning author in his own country but hardly known outside it, this evening became the first Colombian author to win the prize,” worth £10,000, which he splits with his translator, Anne McLean.