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Plagiarism Charges Haunt Stegner’s Legacy

Did Wallace Stegner, the “dean” of American Western writers, get “more credit than he deserved for a book he wrote based on the life of fellow Western writer Mary Hallock Foote? Stegner had lifted large amounts of Foote’s writing nearly verbatim from her lifetime of correspondence for his most famous novel, ‘Angle of Repose.’ Stegner’s biographers and others long ago conceded his heavy reliance on the Foote material, but for the most part they dismissed the concerns as misplaced. Recently, though, the issue has again begun seeping into public debate. Many new voices are not so forgiving.”

Houston Mayor To Get Involved In Symphony Strike

It worked in New York with the Broadway musicians strike. Now Houston mayor Lee Brown has decided to get involved in the Houston Symphony musicians strike. He’s appointed a special representative to work with the two sides and “said his action is aimed at helping the parties come to an agreement and return the Symphony to the Jones Hall stage, since a prolonged dispute is not only detrimental to the orchestra, but also to the entire city of Houston.”

America’s Asia Connection

Asian art is everywhere in the US these days. “This week 10 or more sizable exhibitions devoted to Asian art are under way or about to open in American museums. The Puritans, who saw the devil’s hand in almost anything foreign, would have run for their torches. But if they saw the U.S. museum calendar these days, they would not have known where to run next. Immigration has produced larger Asian-American communities all over the U.S., which have not only heightened the demand for their cultural patrimony but also produced the prosperous donors and collectors who slap the money down for the shows.”

Looking at What Matters In Art

Art magazines are full of stories about how communication between artists, the art establishment and the public have broken down. That leads to lots of bristling opinions, often without much thought. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel invited a group of “artists, curators, critics, a museum director and his visiting farmer friend, art students and art teachers – one Saturday morning to tackle some tough but fundamental questions about contemporary art. Why does art even matter? What’s ‘good’ or ‘relevant’ anyway? Who gets to say so? Should art be beautiful, expressive, dense with ideas, easily understood, a perfect match for the sofa?”

Denver Center Cancels Premiere

The Denver Center Theatre cancelled its opening show of next season – “Diner Stories” – with book, music and lyrics by Nancy Shayne. “It would have been the only musical in the new season and, more important, the only world premiere. Apparently, the author withdrew the show, and it’s unlikely she will take it to another company. Denver Center, which has eliminated its literary department, has few resources for discovering new works by new talent” for a replacement.

Try To Remember…

“Trying to be important is a zero-sum game for artists,” writes playwright Jon Robin Baitz. “To be a blocked artist is to have a disease: Almost blind, often numb, you don’t stop wanting to make art. And you don’t want to find yourself staring at others’, riven with rage like Rumpelstiltskin tearing himself asunder. I have seen that loss of direction and rage imprinted into the visages of so many artists I admire; this strange admixture of terror and bluster, the need to be loved, in combination with the need to dominate.”

Theatre Of War

“While pop music critics wonder at the dearth of anti-war anthems (the Beastie Boys’ ‘World Gone Mad’ may be the first major exception) and films and non-news TV churn out their usual comfort-food diet, theatres nationwide are doing what theatre does best: awakening us to our present condition, with live bodies on the line, in real time and shared space, and challenging us to dialogue, reflection, even action.”

Is “Guys & Dolls” The Next “Chicago”?

So what’s the next “Chicago”? How about “Guys and Dolls. “Chicago” studio Miramax has settled on G&D for its next musical project. “Nearly half a century after Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra and Jean Simmons starred in the original screen version, Nicole Kidman and Vin Diesel are being mentioned as possible contenders. Rumours are sweeping Hollywood that A-list actors are clamouring for parts even before the new script and score surface. ‘Actors are emerging who we never knew had good voices or who were capable of dancing. They are saying to their agents, ‘Hey, put me in a musical’.”

Return Of The Blacklist?

Can the blacklist live again? Absolutely, writes Linda Winer. “Lest anyone think I overstate the danger to artists who use their media access to penetrate the drumbeats of war, consider what already exists on the Internet – ironically, a phenomenon that thrives on the gift of free speech.”