Author: ArtsJournal2

Nero Rock Opera Is Not So Welcome In Rome

So state officials allowed a 3,000-person theatre to be constructed smack dab in the middle of one of Rome’s main archaeological sites so the opera could run this summer. “This may not be the first grave abuse perpetuated against Rome’s monuments, but it is certainly the most serious.”

Is L.A. Really Going To Get – Finally – An Oscars Museum?

Maybe. It might take some superhero-sized money to pull it off, though: “Originally slated to open this year, the Renzo Piano-designed project has run into repeated snags and is now expected to open in 2019. And the academy is borrowing heavily to pay for the museum project — according to its most recent annual report, the organization’s debt leaped to $354.4 million from $61.6 million the previous year.”

Will ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ Clean Up At Tonys?

Peter Marks of Washington, DC: “It comes down to the two shows with Washington pedigrees, both of which I feel great affection for. They’re both exciting, superbly staged and have powerful emotional cores. ‘Come From Away’ is a heartbreaking production about an extraordinary incident; ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ is an extraordinary production about a heartbreaking incident. In the end, the more award-worthy achievement is the show that wrecked me more.”

Adam West, The Funny ‘Batman’ Of 1960s TV, Has Died At 88

West was both frustrated by the limitations of having played Batman and embracing of the humor of the show – though he didn’t like newer, dark versions of the Caped Crusader. “With its ‘Wham! Pow!’ onscreen exclamations, flamboyant villains and cheeky tone, ‘Batman’ became a surprise hit with its premiere on ABC in 1966, a virtual symbol of ’60s kitsch. The half-hour action comedy was such a hit that it aired twice a week on ABC at its peak.”

The Knitting Spies Of WWI, WWII And Beyond

For instance: “Phyllis Latour Doyle, secret agent for Britain during World War II, spent the war years sneaking information to the British using knitting as a cover. She parachuted into occupied Normandy in 1944 and rode stashed bicycles to troops, chatting with German soldiers under the pretense of being helpful—then, she would return to her knitting kit, in which she hid a silk yarn ready to be filled with secret knotted messages, which she would translate using Morse Code equipment.”

Taking ‘Great Comet’ From Cabaret To Broadway

First there was the experimental 87-seat Hell’s Kitchen theatre, then the specially constructed tent in the Meatpacking District, then a 540-seat theatre in Boston, and finally Broadway’s Imperial Theatre – and the designers had to figure out how to replicate, or imitate, or alter, the original design for each venue. Director Rachel Chavkin: “I can say with confidence that we never would have made this if it had started in a Broadway house, or even with that as our intention.”

Can A Novelist Save The Struggling – But Formerly Influential – Sewanee Review?

“The journal, which once published works by literary giants like Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, T. S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath, Cormac McCarthy and Wallace Stevens, was nearly moribund. When [novelist Adam] Ross was approached to apply for the position, the review had just a few hundred subscribers, and virtually no web presence. Its plain blue cover hadn’t changed since 1944. Reviving it seemed daunting.”