NY Pols: Turnbull Must Quit Harlem Boys Choir

New York Congressman Charles Rangel and former NYC Mayor David Dinkins have stepped into the middle of the dustup over the future of the Harlem Boys Choir, telling founder Walter Turnbull that it is time for him to step aside and turn the organization over to someone with better management skills. “Haunted by a sex scandal, the choir is battling eviction from its rent-free space in a city school as well as accusations of shoddy bookkeeping and financial ruin so severe it owes roughly $3 million in unpaid taxes. At least 59 liens and judgments have been filed against the choir by federal, state and local governments since 1988.” Rangel and Dinkins are attempting to raise $500,000 to forestall the eviction, but are making it clear that Turnbull’s ouster will be a condition of their continued assistance.

Two Countries Separated By A Common Musical?

There was a time when, if a musical was a smash hit on London’s West End, it was soon to be a similar hit on Broadway, and no one bothered asking whether the action and staging would “translate” well to an American audience. But increasingly, the biggest hits in London are falling flat in America’s leading theatre cities. Part of the problem is simply the London audience’s affection for a specific style of theatre from which American audiences long ago moved on. But the larger issue may be the incredible specificity of recent London productions: shows which require an offhand knowledge of recent UK political and social history are likely to meet with blank stares across the pond.

Barenboim The Crusader

Say this for Daniel Barenboim: he’s never boring. The celebrated conductor/pianist may not have the youthful sheen that once added to his stardom, but his controversial involvement in Mideast politics and his outspoken opposition to America’s near-constant use of music as background noise make him one of the era’s best interviews. These days, Barenboim is on a lecture tour of three continents, and he is taking seemingly everyone to task: Americans for their short attention spans, Germans for being unwilling to accept the unpleasantness of their own history, Britons for allowing music education to decline precipitously, and Israelis for their seeming inability to differentiate between power and strength.

Where Is The Singing?

Singing seems to have disappeared from British public life. “The main reason people don’t sing is that it’s a very exposing thing to do. In Britain we’re especially good at using the voice to cover our real thoughts and feelings. But in singing you can’t help revealing yourself. It’s like suddenly going naked, vocally speaking.”

Norman Foster Takes New York

“In the city that perfected the skyscraper then repeated the formula endlessly, Foster is the European who has taken on the apparently impossible task of rescuing the high-rise from creative exhaustion. His just-completed new headquarters for the Hearst magazine empire, on Eighth Avenue, close to Central Park, succeeds in doing that, and deservedly is getting astonishingly enthusiastic coverage.”

Needed: A Smithsonian Showplace

Some of the Smithsonian’s museums suffer from a lack of physical prominence. What’s needed? A central exhibition facility, and Blake Gopnik nominates: “The Smithsonian’s glorious 1881 Arts and Industries Building, shuttered since early 2004 and neglected or underused for many years before. In architectural terms, it is one of the most important landmarks in Washington.”