New York Times theater critic Neil Genzlinger: “Back in 2001 I was sent to review a play at the Fringe, a two-hander called Hustle that left me underwhelmed. … I took in a few other Fringe shows that year as well, and I soon came to this conclusion: ‘Heck, I could write better plays than this’.” (He tried, twice.) “Since then I’ve absorbed a bit more of the Fringe culture … and now know the keys to mounting a successful Fringe show:”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Can They Still Do This? In Sicily, Church Officials Ban A Production Of Cavalleria
“The plot of Pietro Mascagni’s tragic opera Cavalleria rusticana is ‘immoral’ and unsuitable for performances while the Sicilian city of Caltagirone holds its religious festival, the local church said on Wednesday.”
Arts Orgs Join In The Health Care Debate (Uh-Oh)
Christopher Knight: “Today, a coalition of 21 national arts organizations entered the healthcare reform debate with three really good prescriptions – and one really bad one.”
Miami’s Ballet Gamonet To Disband
“Ballet Gamonet dance troupe filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in Miami on Wednesday, the second major South Florida dance company to enter bankruptcy this summer.”
Rashied Ali, Pioneering Free Jazz Drummer, Dies At 76
His “expressionistic, free-jazz drumming helped define the experimental style of John Coltrane’s final years.” His playing was described as “a multi-rhythmic, polytonal propellant, helping fuel Coltrane’s flights of free-jazz fancy.”
How The Guggenheim Museum Was (Almost Not) Born
On the 50th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright’s icon, “not much is made of the fact that [it] almost went unbuilt.” Not only did Robert Moses have to ram the project through New York City’s permit process, but “[a]fter seeing the blueprints, 21 prominent artists signed a petition protesting that the building, especially its curved walls and continuous ramps, would be unsuitable for displaying paintings.” (For the first couple years, they were right.)
What’s A Bride To Do When Her Wedding Pianist Is Stuck In Traffic? Grab The Nearest Famous Conductor.
Scene: Norwich, England. “Disaster was imminent: The bride was due to arrive at any moment and the pianist called to say he wasn’t going to make it to the wedding in time.” (Stuck in London traffic.) So “the groom hit the panic button – with stupendous results.” It happened that Bramwell Tovey, the Vancouver Symphony’s music director, was on the way into town for a gig. He got a call from a colleague on the scene, drove right to the wedding hall, and …
A Giant Public Cancan For Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s 70th
“The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is inviting members of the public to kick up their heels in a cancan line to kick off celebrations of the ballet’s 70th birthday. The public cancan will begin a year of special events that includes the premiere of a new ballet, Moulin Rouge, choreographed by RWB dance instructor Jorden Morris.”
3D Shakespeare Movie Musicals For Tweens (Yes, You Read That Right)
A film company “is producing a 3-D musical Hamlet targeting the Harry Potter and High School Musical market. The movie will be the first of six adaptations of William Shakespeare’s plays, based on musical versions created by U.K. theater company Shakespeare 4 Kidz.”
Les Paul, 94, The Granddaddy Of Every Rock ‘n’ Roll Guitarist
A “virtuoso guitarist and inventor whose solid-body electric guitar and recording studio innovations changed the course of 20th-century popular music, … Mr. Paul was a remarkable musician as well as a tireless tinkerer.” In addition to the electric guitar, “he built the first eight-track multitrack recorder. Each track could be recorded and altered separately, without affecting the others. The machine ushered in the modern recording era.”