“Charmingly crazy; comically crazy, able to laugh at his own obsessiveness; sometimes, crazy like a fox – at least to those who don’t share whatever mission he’s on. … The recent baffling controversy over his behavior during the Broadway run of Glengarry Glen Ross, for instance, which he describes as ‘like a Civil War battlefield’.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
I Was Playboy‘s Literary Editor
“I was hired in 2005 to help resuscitate the magazine’s literary tradition. My sense of mission ran high and, for my nearly seven years there, was hard to argue with. Very few magazines had room anymore for fiction or literary work then and even fewer do today. … I recited our latest contributors’ names, too, at every opportunity, and described the pieces written – A S Byatt on John Donne, Jodi Picoult on Wonder Woman, Sherman Alexie on the Indigo Girls, new fiction by Margaret Atwood, Martin Amis, Maile Meloy.”
Minnesota Governor Speaks Publicly For First Time About Orchestra Lockout
Mark Dayton: “I’m hoping, and this is just my own assumption, that they both want to get it solved, and they have until basically Labor Day to do so. When you have this kind of dispute, both sides have to want to resolve it. No mediator can force a resolution.”
Did MinnOrch Management Plan Lockout? Hints In Domain-Name Controversy
About four months before talks broke down, the Minnesota Orchestra Association bought up more than a dozen URLs such as www.saveourminnesotaorchestra.org, www.savetheminnesotaorchetra.com, and www.saveourorchestra.com. What does – or doesn’t – this imply?
Sicily Relents, And Cleveland Museum Of Art’s Antiquities Exhibit Is On Again
“In a happy conclusion to a roller coaster of a summer, the museum announced Thursday that Sicilian cultural authorities, including Mariarita Sgarlata, the island’s highest official for the arts, have rescinded the cancellation. Sicilian authorities will allow the show to go on without attaching extra loan fees, as they had proposed in July.”
New York’s Museum Of African Art To Become Asia Society-Style Institute
“The institution’s plan to reinvent itself as the New Africa Center – with a museum, policy institute and members’ club for business executives, cultural leaders and policy makers interested in Africa – comes after the departure of the museum’s longtime president, Elsie McCabe Thompson, in October.”
How Do You Impress Lorne Michaels?
“Twenty-two Saturday Night Live cast members – and one who came close – share tales of the audition that can make or break a career.” Included are extended interviews with Chevy Chase, Dana Carvey, Molly Shannon, Will Ferrell, Kirsten Wiig and Jimmy Fallon.
Former Bolshoi Principal To Join National Ballet Of Canada
“Svetlana Lunkina has danced for Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre ballet troupe since 1997, but has resided in Toronto since fall 2012. In January, she announced her decision to stay in Canada instead of returning home, due to threats and blackmail she received there.”
Kansas City Ballet Launches Second Company
“The KCB II dancers will be selected from auditions around the country; they’ll receive professional experience, and hone their skills through public performances, demonstrations, daily classes and rehearsals … [as well as] providing outreach to schools, community centers, and other locations.”
Zubin Mehta To Conduct In Strife-Torn Kashmir
The Mumbai-born conductor, who has long wanted to perform in the Kashmir Valley, will led the Bavarian State Orchestra in a program of Beethoven, Haydn and Tchaikovsky at the fabled Shalimar Gardens on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar.