Set and costume design is not exactly the most high-profile part of the theatre world, but those who can do it well are some of the more in-demand individuals working onstage. At the top of this particular game is Santo Loquasto, whose work is so revered in theatre and opera circles that, in a recent week, he had four show openings in three cities in two countries.
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A Dream Deferred, Not Necessarily Denied
“Henry Villierme was on the fast track to becoming one of the new painting stars emerging from the Bay Area Figurative Group in the late 1950s. He was so promising that he took a first prize at a 1957 art exhibition in Richmond while future famed artists Richard Diebenkorn, Nathan Oliveira and David Park received just honorable mentions. But unlike his contemporaries, Villierme never made that leap to worldwide recognition. Instead, he moved to Southern California to be closer to his wife’s family and raised his four children while earning money in different odd jobs.” Now, Villierme is enjoying a career renaissance in San Francisco, thanks to his agent son and an enthusiastic gallery owner.
Who Wants A Free Comic Book?
It may seem unbelievable to those of a certain age, but comic books are not terribly popular with today’s youth. Still, comics are a $500 million a year industry, with some savvy marketers behind them, and this coming weekend, “for the fourth year in a row, stores across the United States, England, France and other countries will be giving away 2 million comic books” in an effort to get more of us hooked on the increasingly diverse genre.
Making A Push For Cultural Tourism In Minneapolis
“If you’ve got it, flaunt it. And what Minneapolis has right now is cultural palaces, a whole raft of them, designed by some of the world’s leading architects. With about $500 million worth of museums, libraries and theaters nearing completion, the city’s arts groups are banding together to launch a national marketing campaign promoting the Minneapolis ‘arts explosion’… [Already,] European tour directors are adding Minneapolis to their itineraries, and architecture schools nationwide are making plans for their students to visit the city and its new buildings.”
Poetry On Demand, Then & Now
Remember Dial-A-Poem? That wonderful little phone number with a New York area code that you could call at any time of day and hear rants, songs, and straight poetry from some of the biggest names of the era didn’t last too long (it was active, on and off, from 1969 to 1971,) but it lingers in the collective memory of the ’60s generation like so many other icons of the time. Now, Dial-A-Poem has been reborn as a web site, archiving all the old content from the phone service, as well as bonus material that never made it on the line.
Horror Grows Up
Horror movies aren’t supposed to be particularly good. After all, the camp value in a slasher flick is often more of a draw than the thrills and chills. But in the last few years, horror has become an upmarket genre in Hollywood, with high-profile actors and actresses clamoring for a fright pic of their very own. Not only that, there’s been a demographic shift in the audience for horror: young women, traditionally used as cheap sexual props and helpless victims in the blood-‘n-gore fests of old, are an increasingly enthusiastic percentage of ticketbuyers.
CBC To Invest In Programming
The CBC says it will invest $33 million to add 100 more hours of Canadian drama and entertainment programming. “Everything from high-impact drama — the miniseries we do now — traditional series, comedies, soap operas, movies of the week, the lot. We would like CBC Television to be overwhelmingly the place that you go for Canadian entertainment programming.”
Danielpour’s Margaret Garner Comes To Stage
“Inspired by a true story, composer Richard Danielpour and Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison tell the tale of a fugitive slave who kills her children in order to save them from a return to bondage. The A-list creative team and cast, including mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, has the opera world buzzing. But the opera is also galvanizing newcomers and financial supporters within Detroit’s black community.”
Clear Channel – Maybe Mega-Big Is Too Big?
Clear Channel – the radio and entertainment giant, is spinning off its concert business. “Clear Channel said the IPO of the outdoor advertising unit and spinoff of the entertainment unit will result in greater financial muscle for future acquisitions, because the separately listed stocks will provide clear valuations of the two businesses. The company also said that the spinoff of the entertainment unit will allow it to operate as a largely unregulated public company, as opposed to the company’s heavily regulated radio business.”
NBC Gives In, Will Start Rating Its Shows
NBC, which has refused to rate its programs for content, says it will now do so. “The ratings system was developed in 1997 in response to the V-chip section of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, but NBC refused to run the descriptors — V for violence, S for sexual content, L for vulgar language, D for suggestive dialogue and FV for fantasy violence — because of First Amendment concerns and the fear that the onscreen clutter would confuse viewers.”