The Whitbread Prize for Book of the Year won’t be announced until the end of the month, but the list of finalists (one winner in each of the Whitbread’s sub-categories) is out. DBC Pierre won Best Debut Novel for his biting satire of Texan/American culture, Vernon God Little, and Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was named Best Novel. A detailed portrait of George Orwell won the biography category, and the children’s book prize went to David Almond for his story, The Fire-Eaters, “a tale set in Newcastle at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
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David Denby On The Rocks
New Yorker movie critic has a new book out about his losses in the tech diving stock market of 2000. And what did he learn? “Dishearteningly, Mr. Denby’s coda – the lessons derived from his humiliating loss of friends, money and dreams – stumbles when it could soar. Toting up what caused the mania, Mr. Denby cites unquenchable greed and rank materialism, turning preacher instead of penitent. As for his own day-of-reckoning reflections, he edges up against death, morality and spirituality but ultimately retreats into boomer cliché. Love conquers all. Live life more slowly.”
San Francisco’s New Arts Mayor?
San Francisco has a new mayor, and the city’s cultural community is optimistic. “As Gavin Newsom takes center stage in City Hall with his swearing in Thursday, San Francisco’s panoramic arts world awaits the new perspectives and conceptual shifts that may come with a new mayoral administration. Fingers are crossed – with some eyes skeptically rolling at the idea – that a kind of arts renaissance could be in the works for San Francisco in 2004 and beyond.”
Kirov Returns To America
The legendary Kirov Ballet returns to America. Tobi Tobias: “Granted, today’s Kirov corps is not the ensemble it once was, with every head inclined just so, every wrist angled exactly, every leg raised in arabesque to some preordained height, the uncanny unison work not mechanical but buoyed by the music. Still, the current group resembles the corps de ballet of the old days in kind if not degree, and it is a fine sight to behold. The rest of the dancing was dispiriting.”
Theatre Hit Producers Will Be Made Back Into Film
The Broadway hit The Producers is adapted from a 60s movie. Now the stage update is being adapted further…as another movie. The movie will star Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, the thea production’s original stars.
Writer’s Guild President Resigns
The head of the Writer’s Guild of America has resigned after a 13-hour meeting with the union’s board of directors. “The upheaval at the union comes on the eve of critical negotiations with Hollywood studios and television networks over a new three-year contract on conditions for entertainment industry writers. The current contract expires in May.”
Report: Australian Theatre Crisis
An Australian government report declares that more than half of the country’s mid-size theatres are in financial difficulty. “The report warns of “a coming crisis, unless action is taken” to prevent a negative spiral of declining quality, audiences and sponsorship.”
Threats Deter Turks From “Ararat”
“Terrorist-style threats in Turkey are preventing people there from seeing Atom Egoyan’s Ararat and learning the truth about the country’s violent past, the Armenian National Committee of Canada says.”
What Defines A Blockbuster?
More than 25 movies grossed more than $100 million at the box office in 2003. A hundred mil is the traditional mark for declaring a film a blockbuster. But some of these “blockbusters” didn’t even recoup their production costs. “Many analysts and even studio executives say that it’s time to redefine the term “blockbuster” — or throw it out. Some argue that the label should be reserved for movies that take in $200 million because that remains rarefied air: Six movies topped that mark in 2003.”
Broadway Gets A Mid-Winter Perking Up
Broadway had a particularly tough autumn. But “as the New York theatre world welcomed in 2004, it seemed to have popped a couple of hits of Viagra, putting a temporary spring in its step from big Christmas and New Year’s weeks, supported by last-minute rushes for tickets to shows closing out their long runs. Cabaret and Take Me Out shuttered on Sunday, and Urinetown will follow on Jan. 18.”