The failure to exempt “artistic performances from Chicago’s wholly laudable ban on indoor, public smoking” is “a dangerous and serious mistake,” Chris Jones writes. “In the theater, we exempt those otherwise undesirable and illegal activities because we understand they serve a greater good-our need to explore who we are, remember who we were, try out what we may be. If there were no warriors on the stage, there would be far fewer pacifists on the streets. If there were no thugs on stage, there would be fewer civilizing laws in real life.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Wallinger Among Four On Turner Shortlist
“Mark Wallinger, whose anti-war protest installation is on show at Tate Britain, was selected for the shortlist of four artists announced today for the Turner Prize. Mike Nelson, Zarina Bhimji and Nathan Coley are also on the 2007 list for the award, given to the best British artist under 50 years old for an exhibition in the previous year, said the organizers. Wallinger, one of the major figures of Britart in the 1990s, is the most celebrated and senior of those on the shortlist.”
Tony-Winning Choreographer Henry LeTang, 91
“Henry LeTang, a tap dance teacher and Tony-winning choreographer who taught many of the biggest names in dance, including Chita Rivera, Gregory Hines and Savion Glover, died April 26. He was 91. … In recent years LeTang had lived in Las Vegas and continued coaching dancers at his home until a few months ago.”
Picasso To Art History: Screw You
As Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” turns 100, Thomas Hoving confesses his own ambivalence about it and muses that the painting “is a deliberate throw of the gauntlet, a ‘screw you’ to the entire history of art. … Every aspect of the painting is at war with every preceding work of art. A more complete denunciation of accepted humanity, accepted beauty and every artistic style that preceded the work cannot be imagined.”
Mission Of “Radio Golf”: Find Black B’way Audience
“When August Wilson’s ‘Radio Golf’ opens tonight on Broadway in a $2-million production, investors won’t be relying solely on rave reviews to fill the Cort Theater’s 1,000 seats. In an unusually aggressive move, the producers hired five marketing firms to promote the show about an African American businessman who wants to run for mayor of Pittsburgh.” Wilson’s “plays have had mixed success on Broadway, whose nickname, the Great White Way, can sometimes be taken too literally.”
Living Artists’ Work Raises $1.8 Million For Met Opera
“An auction of new art by major living artists — part of an ongoing effort by the Metropolitan Opera’s General Manager Peter Gelb to combine the visual and vocal arts while keeping his house humming along financially — raised more than $1.8 million for future productions.”
Get The Remote For Baby; It’s TV Time
“For many families, apparently, it is never too early to watch television. Researchers reported yesterday that 40 percent of infants are regular viewers of television or videos by age 3 months, and 90 percent are watching regularly by age 2.”
The Audiobook As Pre-Publication Marketing Tool
Audiobooks “typically ride on the coattails of the hardcovers. Because audiobooks are so fast, inexpensive and easy to record, the dynamic seems to be changing, with publishers looking to the audio format to fuel interest in paper books that aren’t quite ready for the printing press. And with the ubiquity of iPods, that interest can be generated quickly: recordings need not be pressed onto CDs and packaged, but can quickly be uploaded to iTunes.”
“In The Heights” A Surprise (Tie) Winner At Lortels
“‘Spring Awakening’ and ‘In the Heights’ tied for best musical last night at the 22nd annual Lucille Lortel Awards for outstanding achievement in Off Broadway theater. … The Lortel Awards, administered by the League of Off Broadway Theaters and Producers with the Lucille Lortel Foundation, named David Hare’s ‘Stuff Happens,’ a scathing satire about the Bush administration that was produced at the Public Theater, as the best play of the season.”
NY Drama Critics’ Circle Honors Stoppard, Sheik
“The Coast of Utopia, by Tom Stoppard, was named Best Play of the 2006-07 season by the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, the membership announced May 7. The Best Musical award was given to Spring Awakening, which features book and lyrics by Steven Sater and music by Duncan Sheik. The late August Wilson’s Radio Golf was named Best American Play.”