Theatre world lumninaries gather on Broadway to celebrate the life of playwright Arthur Miller, who died in February at the age of 89. “Some of the most poignant words spoken at the memorial were, not surprisingly, Mr. Miller’s own. Daniel Day-Lewis, who is married to Mr. Miller’s daughter Rebecca, read from an essay in Mr. Miller’s collection “Echoes Down the Corridor,” and Estelle Parsons read the speech Linda Loman gives at her husband’s funeral in “Death of a Salesman.” Joan Copeland, Mr. Miller’s sister, read from “The American Clock,” a Miller play inspired by Studs Terkel’s “Hard Times,” in which she starred on Broadway in 1980.”
Blog
Billionaire Cancels Plans For Paris Museum
“François Pinault, a billionaire who is France’s wealthiest art lover, announced Monday that he was abandoning plans to build a $195 million contemporary art museum on the outskirts of Paris and would instead present part of his vast collection in the Palazzo Grassi, an elegant exhibition space on the Grand Canal in Venice that he recently acquired.”
Spamalot Cleans Up At Awards
“Monty Python’s Spamalot,” based on the cheeky British troupe’s film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” won four Outer Critics Circle Awards on Sunday, including the prize for best Broadway musical.
Did Schiller Lose His Head?
“As Germany prepares to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of the literary giant Friedrich Schiller this week, the celebrations are overshadowed by an embarrassing row over whether the skull inside Schiller’s coffin is really his. Schiller, the author of Wilhelm Tell and other celebrated plays – died on 9 May 1805, aged 45. His body was put in a mass grave in the local cemetery. Some 21 years later, Weimar’s mayor, Karl Leberecht Schwabe, decided to dig him up. Faced with a choice of 27 skulls, Schwabe put them all on a table and picked the biggest, declaring: ‘That must be Schiller’s.’ “
Is Vinyl Making A Comeback?
“According to Neilsen Soundscan, about 1.2 million vinyl records were sold in 2004 — not overwhelming considering total CD sales approached 767 million last year. But that number is skewed because most vinyl records are sold by small independent stores and labels, and their sales are not reflected in Soundscan data. And those uncounted sales, while still a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things, are significant, vinyl aficionados say. Together with the Soundscan numbers, they represent an uptick for serious collectors and audiophile purists.”
Hall: An Honest Opera House
Peter Hall is directing at Glyndebourne: “I think this is a much more honest opera house now than Covent Garden. I just went to see Rheingold and paid £175 for my ticket. That’s a disgrace. This is our national subsidised opera. They should have double the subsidy and cheaper prices. Here, it’s a private enterprise and people pay what it needs to charge, but no one’s making money out of it. The artists work here for less than they normally get because the conditions are the best.”
What To Make Of Colorado Ballet’s Woes?
“What started the recent exodus of administrators and board members was the company’s shelving of Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice in Wonderland as the season-opener at the new Ellie Caulkins Opera House. A flurry of finger-pointing followed and soon Executive Director Rick Tallman was gone, along with his ticket-manager wife Angela, prominent board members and others on the payroll or board.”
Some Poetic Advice From Walt Whitman
An interview with the poet has been found in which Whitman gives aspiring poets some advice: “First, don’t write poetry; second ditto; third ditto. You may be surprised to hear me say so, but there is no particular need of poetic expression. We are utilitarian, and the current cannot be stopped.”
Isaac Stern’s Children Win Estate Case
“The children of the late violinist Isaac Stern have won their case against a man they accused of squandering their father’s legacy. William Moorhead III, who acted as executor to Stern’s estate, was ordered by a judge in the US to pay back more than $500,000.”
Renaissance Painters “Corrected” Portrait Features
If you could afford to have your portrait painted, wouldn’t you want the artist to “correct” some of your imperfections? “Renaissance artists acted like plastic surgeons by changing the shape of noses, chins and jaws in their portraits, new forensic technology has revealed.”