“On Monday, after nearly 200 performances, the monologuist Mike Daisey was to release a theatrical transcript of his latest one-man show … through his Web site, mikedaisey.blogspot.com. It will be free to download and in a rare twist, if an aspiring performer should want to mount a production of the show, Mr. Daisey will not ask for payment.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Lloyd Dykk, Admired And Feared Vancouver Critic, Dead At 67
“Dykk was one of the last of his breed, a classic old-style Critic, with a capital C. His reviews were impeccably written, incredibly witty, and often utterly withering.”
David Finckel Leaves Emerson String Quartet After 33 Years
The 60-year-old cellist, “who has been multitasking of late in ventures with his wife, the pianist Wu Han – as co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center … and Music@Menlo in California, and as co-producer of the record label ArtistLed – is leaving to pursue ‘his personal artistic endeavors’.”
Spotting The Anachronisms In Downton Abbey‘s Dialogue
“The post-Edwardian period décor, costumes, and sumptuous scenery all seem just right. But with drama that is so dependent on dialogue, one aspect of the show has come in for particular attention from sharp-eared fans: the accuracy of its language.”
How Charles Dickens And America Fell In And Out Of Love
“On his first visit to America in 1842, English novelist Charles Dickens was greeted like a modern rock star. … But a visit which had started so well quickly turned into a bitter dispute, known as the ‘Quarrel with America’.” (It seems author and country loved each other not wisely, but too well.)
Faith Ringgold Removes Her Name From New Harlem Children’s Museum
The artist and author, known for her painted story quilts, had been enthusiastic about the planned Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling attached to an affordable housing development in her old neighborhood. Then, two months ago, she cut all ties with the project, saying that the developers hadn’t provided for art insurance, security or storage. The developers counter that it’s too early in the process – construction hasn’t yet begun – to finalize such arrangements.
Pygmalion In Rhodesia
“In Pygmalion, Henry Higgins takes a poor flower girl named Eliza Doolittle and teaches her to speak the king’s English. In [Zimbabwean-American writer Danai Gurira’s] The Convert, Jekesai, a young woman from the Shona people, runs away from an arranged marriage and is taken under the wing of a black Catholic missionary named Chilford.
Ban On Tintin In The Congo Thrown Out By Belgian Court
“A Belgian court has rejected a claim that Tintin In The Congo is racist and tossed a request to withdraw the controversial comic book.”
Craigslist’s Missed Connections Ads Become Mother Lode Of Source Material
“A surprising number of writers, poets, comedians and illustrators have come to regard missed-connection classifieds for what they truly are – an inexhaustible treasure chest of heartbreak, longing, obsession and hopefulness, waiting to be ransacked and appropriated.”
Why Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ Makes People Cry: A Scientific Explanation
Based on existing neuropsychology studies and an analysis of the Grammy-winning song, it seems that the answer involves crescendos, appoggiaturas, and dopamine.