“Elton John’s Rocket Pictures is developing a new spin on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, this time featuring a nefarious seven-foot extraterrestrial with hideous mandibles and a penchant for human blood. Yes, it’s Pride and Predator.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
It’s Not Just Aliens: Elizabeth Bennet To Battle The Undead
“Hollywood studios are bidding to turn a radical reworking of Austen’s most popular book, now called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a parody to be published in April, into a blockbuster movie. […] It has been made possible only because Austen is out of copyright.”
Rude Guerilla Theatre’s Final Act: Lobbing Caryl Churchill’s Gaza Bombshell
“As the often-confrontational Santa Ana storefront troupe makes its final bow,… the last script Rude Guerilla will perform is Seven Jewish Children, a play for Gaza,” Caryl Churchill’s very controversial 10-minute play. “It will be staged once, as a reading, on March 22.”
– And Said Bombshell May Go Off In New York As Well
“Three years after New York Theater Workshop drew protests for canceling My Name Is Rachel Corrie, a play sympathetic to Palestinians, it is considering mounting a production of a new piece by Caryl Churchill, Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza, that at times contains images of heartless Israelis.”
Norman Foster To Design London’s New Double-Decker Bus
A proposal by Foster and Partners and manufacturer Aston Martin (better known for sports cars) has won the New Bus for London design competition run by mayor Boris Johnson. The rounded red double-deckers should be on the roads in 2011.
But Generally, We Shouldn’t Let Architects Do Motor Vehicles
“The fact is, while architects are fine at designing chairs, tableware, even earrings, when it comes to automobiles, their efforts are usually flawed, if not just plain laughable.” Steve Rose offers examples by the likes of Zaha Hadid, Frank Lloyd Wright, Jan Kaplický (“an octopus on roller skates”) and Buckminster Fuller.
Ben Blank, 87, The Man Who Invented TV News Graphics
“As graphics director for CBS and later ABC television news introduced the concept of using logolike images behind anchors as signatures for major news coverage… and in so doing helped transform the appearance and content of network evening news.”
Not-For-Profit Newspapers: The Only Way Forward?
“Most journalists probably find something vaguely creepy about this idea; it’s a little too high-minded, abstract and self-congratulatory to fit with their self-image as regular Joes and Jills. There are also legitimate concerns whether foundations or other public supporters would influence editorial content or direction. But the alternative is disturbing.”
Angry at Management, Peoria Symphony Musicians Unionize
Less than a month after the PSO board declined to renew the contract of music director David Commanday, the orchestra’s players have decided to join the American Federation of Musicians. A statement cites as factors “the board’s lack of consultation with the players regarding this decision, their lack of recognition for the players’ overwhelming support of Commanday, plus statements by Board Chairman John Day regarding the future direction of the Peoria Symphony.”
Charleston Symphony Players Say, Make Us Work More!
The board of the perpetually-strapped CSO wants to cut the core group of contracted musicians from 46 to 35 or even fewer. But the musicians themselves say that they’re underutilized and that “more shows, either through a larger orchestral season or in private contracted gigs, would help increase revenue and eliminate the urge to purge.”