“Kindle sales appear likely to get a significant boost on Friday, with talk-show megastar Oprah Winfrey apparently about to endorse Amazon’s digital book reader.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
On Broadway, Economic Chill Is Waiting In The Wings
“Here’s a grim game theater insiders are playing: guessing how many Broadway houses will be empty in January.”
With Starchitects, Do Two Projects Make A Trend?
“When I saw that the New York Public Library hired Norman Foster to carve out a new library space under the celebrated reading room of [its] main 42nd Street building, my trend meter lit up. That’s … exactly the strategy that the Philadelphia Museum of Art is following for its expansion, which is being designed by Frank Gehry.”
After The Curtain Call, The Paramedics
“A leading actor in a West End play insisted on finishing his opening night performance before being taken to hospital. Concealing his discomfort from critics at the Gielgud Theatre sufficiently for them to later deliver glowing reviews, Ian McDiarmid carried on with his role” even as he suffered what reports have called a heart attack.
City Council: Banksy Broke Rules, Artwork Must Go
“An artwork by street artist Banksy in central London will be removed to send a message to graffiti artists in the city, a council has decided. Westminster City Council has ordered a 23ft-high (7m) mural, entitled One Nation Under CCTV, to be removed from a building on Newman Street.”
One Way Not To Alienate Patrons: Decent Customer Service
“In this rough economy, you’d think theaters would take care of their paying customers. But as with airlines, restaurants and computer companies, the level of customer service at Chicago theaters varies. Drastically.”
Producers, Agents Dream Of Palin
“As campaign managers for Sarah Palin plot last-minute tactics to get her elected, Hollywood bigwigs are convening strategy sessions of their own. Their goal: finding the ideal on-air vehicle for the vp candidate if and when she exits politics.”
Tennessee Williams, Portraitist — Literally
Michael Garady reminisces about Tennessee Williams on the occasion of their joint exhibition of paintings: “As we painted, I asked Tennessee for advice on writing. He gave me a lot of hints and I ended up writing three novels. He said keep everything very simple and straightforward: be honest to yourself.”
Alan Bennett Donates Archive, Takes Swipe At Oxford
“Playwright Alan Bennett has taken a sideswipe at the government and Oxford university over tuition fees as he bequeaths his literary archive to the Bodleian library in Oxford. The sort of free state education that he had enjoyed was something today’s students could only dream of, he told the Guardian, criticising his old university for demanding higher fees, and telling it off for accepting money from Rupert Murdoch.”
London’s ICA To Shutter Live & Media Arts Dept.
“News comes from the [Institute of Contemporary Arts] that as of the end of next month it will be closing its Live & Media Arts department. The really astonishing – and worrying – thing is … the extraordinary statement put out by artistic director Ekow Eshun, ‘it’s my consideration that, in the main, the art form lacks depth and cultural urgency’.”