“The premiere party used to hold great sway in Los Angeles nightlife. In a town whose occupation is looking good, it was a hallowed kind of faux-civic event — celebrities showing up to watch themselves on-screen and then repairing to a party to discuss themselves. The premiere was a win-win for Janie in Peoria and Hollywood both. Janie got her fix of Hollywood meta-existence, sure that all anyone in L.A. did every night was go to premieres, and Hollywood got Janie. Things have changed.”
Blog
Denver Contemporary Looks To Step Up
The Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver is only 10 years old. But it is looking to break into the big leagues with a new $15 million building. “Perhaps most important, the museum hopes to gain the participation of top-level international artists it simply could not approach before because of the deficiencies of its facility and the institution’s lack of stature.”
Canadian Book Chain Banishes Harper’s Mag From Its Racks
Canada’s largest book chain has pulled this month’s issue of Harper’s magazine off its shelves. “Indigo Books and Music took the action this week when its executives noticed that the 10-page Harper’s article, titled Drawing Blood, reproduced all 12 cartoons first published last September by Jyllands-Posten (The Morning Newspaper). The article also contains five cartoons, including one by Art Spiegelman and two by Israelis, ‘inspired’ by an Iranian newspaper’s call in February for an international Holocaust cartoon contest ‘to test the limits of Western tolerance of free speech’.”
Rocky Business – The Movie Statue And The Museum
The clunky statue of Rocky from the Sylvester Stallone movie franchise is coming back to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Critic Edward Sozanski thinks that’s just fine. “Copenhagen has its little mermaid and New York has its library lions. So why can’t the citizens of Philadelphia and their paying guests have their Rocky? As Michael Corleone observed, it’s strictly business. The only thing wrong with Rocky Reborn is the intended placement.”
Pacific Northwest Ballet Revives Under Boal Regime
Peter Boal has completed his first season running Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet. “Boal has brought youthful energy to the company, as well as a dance bag full of new-to-PNB works, many chosen from choreographers for whom Boal himself danced. Among the dancers, new faces are emerging from the corps de ballet as future stars, while the veterans are dancing with renewed vigor. And that energy isn’t just up on the stage: People are talking about PNB, in a way that they haven’t for a long time.”
Remembering Spalding Gray In His Own Words
It’s been more than two years since Spalding Gray killed himself (likely by jumping off the Staten Island ferry). Now he’s being remembered in readings of his work. “It feels like the first time we’re opening the book again and going, ‘It’s O.K. to talk about Spalding.’ It was such a harsh end. But all those beautiful, graceful moments that he recognized in his work, they still stand. They don’t get negated by that last moment.”
“Real World” Soho-Style…
What happens when you put out a call for artists to be in a “reality” show about artists? You geet 400 people lining up around the block to participate…
The Dance Of Form And Function (In An Airline Terminal)
Want to design a public space that works well? One where the flow of people is practical, yet pleasant to be in? A place that gets the job done, but also one where people like to come? Hire a choreographer to think about the way people will move in it. That’s what architect David Rockwell did when he consulted choreographer Jerry Mitchell…
Classical Music Blues? Yeah, Right!
“Moaning about the state of classical music has itself become an industry. But as pervasive as the conventional wisdom is, much of it is based on sketchy data incorrectly interpreted. Were things better in the old days? Has American culture given up on classical music? The numbers tell a very different story: for all the hand-wringing, there is immensely more classical music on offer now, both in concerts and on recordings than there was in what nostalgists think of as the golden era of classics in America.”
Live-Ad – Come-To-London Comes To Pittsburgh
The live theatrical ad for London comes to the stage of Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre. “We thought it was a joke at first. Then we told them we wouldn’t do it unless they compensated us. They said tell us what you have in mind, we threw out a figure and they said ‘OK.’ They made it worth our while.”The Post-Gazette sent its theater critic to watch a dress rehearsal, and I can report that, at just over five minutes, it feels long, and the acting is better than what you can only call the product placement dramaturgy of the writing.