“‘You’re the only one in tonight,’ said the man at the box office as I picked up my ticket. It took a second for this to sink in. What, no one else? Just me? Yes, it seemed so; I was to be the sole audience member for Charlie Shand’s When Do We Start Fighting? on a chilly midweek evening.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Philip K. Dick’s Widow Reworks His Last, Unfinished Book
“Philip K Dick’s last wife has reworked the novel the legendary science fiction author was working on when he died in 1982. Tessa Dick, who described her self-publication of The Owl in Daylight as a tribute to her former husband, was Dick’s fifth and final wife, marrying him in 1973. She told online magazine the Self-Publishing Review that her version of the novel was an attempt to express ‘the spirit’ of Dick’s proposed book.”
Beijing Will Lend Taipei Works From Imperial Collection
“The Palace Museum in Beijing has agreed to lend works of art to the National Palace Museum in Taipei for an exhibition next autumn, temporarily bringing together a small part of China’s imperial collection for the first time in 60 years, both museums said on Monday.”
Unearthed: Opera And Instrumental Music, Circa 1907
A bit over a century ago, the Gramophone Company provided two dozen wax records to be sealed and locked for 100 years beneath the Paris Opera. Now they’ve been retrieved, and the recordings are about to be reissued on CD. “Most intriguing is the repertory chosen for posterity, and here the surprise is the lack of surprises.”
Mickey Rourke Is Back — So Who’s Next?
“Comebacks are not just a commercial or sentimental phenomenon – they are the best way for a star to atone in public for his or her perceived sins. Whether you’ve squandered your big chance, become mired in drugs and booze, been caught committing a misdemeanour on a Los Angeles thoroughfare, or simply faded from view (arguably the most unpardonable crime in the industry’s eyes), it is best regarded not as a career setback but the ideal opportunity for a relaunch.”
Goya Didn’t Paint Prado’s Colossus? Not So Fast.
“Clearly there is a need for an international committee to create a new and definitive Goya catalogue raisonné, a lengthy and complex project on the order of that organized for two other great and immensely prolific painters, Rembrandt and Rubens. Until then, the attribution of the ‘Colossus’ to anyone other than Goya remains unproved and highly questionable.”
Money Dries Up, And Festivals Shrink Or Disappear
“Across the country, festivals that give communities a sense of pride — and bring crowds to towns that rarely attract visitors otherwise — are getting crunched by the economic crisis. Events are being canceled or downsized as local governments, community groups and corporate sponsors pull back their dollars.”
Publisher Alfred A. Knopf Jr. Dies At 90
“Alfred A. Knopf Jr., who left the noted publishing house run by his parents to become one of the founders of Atheneum Publishers in 1959, died on Saturday. He was 90, the last of the surviving founders, and lived in New York City.”
Stop Your Spending Clampdown; The Theatre Needs You
“I don’t need theatre tickets. Yet I buy them, partly because they have never been cheaper – and partly because, if people don’t start buying tickets to the theatre, they won’t have any theatre left to go to. I am not asking my fellow Americans to buy things they do not need. I am asking them to zone in on things they really do enjoy and spread their cash around.”
H.S. Teacher: Principal Nixed Rent Due To Gay Content
“A high school principal is denying accusations that she refused to let a performing arts class musical depict gay characters, effectively killing the production. A drama instructor made that charge Friday, and a lengthy account of the episode, penned by an unidentified Corona del Mar High School student, has been circulating in e-mails and was posted Friday at queerty.com, a gay-oriented blog and news forum.”