Category: people

“Richard had a real pulse on the public and an ear to the ground, a trait often used against him in the press. I never quite understood that. What did they want him to be – an elitist thinker? He had a popular touch and taste, along with an enormous love of Shakespeare and the classics. But it’s too soon to say what his legacy will be. I don’t think we’ll know that for another five or 10 years.”

During his tenure with Opera Colorado, Merrill induced such old Met colleagues as Placido Domingo and Eva Marton to perform in his stagings at Boettcher. Renowned set designers and conductors also were convinced to try opera in the round.

Maurice Sendak has had a rough year, and at 80, seems to be considering what could be called the Norman Rockwell legacy question: “was he a great artist or a mere illustrator? …That Mr. Sendak fears that his work is inadequate, that he is racked with insecurity and anxiety, is no surprise. For more than 50 years that has been the hallmark of his art.”

“BarbraStreisand joins actor Morgan Freeman, dancer-choreographer Twyla Tharp, country music singer George Jones and British rockers Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of the Who as the 2008 recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors.”

“A writer ought to be the best possible source about their work, but the writing instinct doesn’t come out of self-examination. That part of yourself in your work is expressed willy-nilly, without your cooperation, motivation or collusion. You can’t help being what you write and writing what you are.”

“Opened 60 years ago by the feted, unpredictable Muriel Belcher, the Colony Room was where Bacon made his second home; and soon Belcher had made it a gin-soaked refuge for most of London’s artists, poets, drunks.” Now “the smoking ban, ruinous rents, trouble with licences and hard finance, mean Michael is considering selling: so while Bacon lives exuberantly again, in the Tate retrospective, his home is troubled.”

“Veteran actress Anita Page, whose career dated back to the silent movie era, has died… in Los Angeles. Page counted Buster Keaton, Lon Chaney and Joan Crawford among her co-stars during an 84-year career which saw her start out as an extra in 1924.”

It’s no real surprise that filmmaker Spike Lee is supporting Barack Obama for president, and Lee describes Obama’s possible inauguration as the next logical step in America’s long and troubled history of healing the wounds of slavery. “That’s the way the world works, you do something, you die, but somewhere down the line, we’ve moved the ball forward because of what you did.”

“Robert Giroux, an editor and publisher who introduced and nurtured some of the major authors of the 20th century and ultimately added his name to one of the nation’s most distinguished publishing houses, died on Friday in Tinton Falls, N.J.”

The 65-year-old Levine had a kidney removed in July because of a malignant tumor. The Boston Symphony Orchestra says no further treatment is needed.