In the 17 months since he jumped to satellite radio from NPR, “Edwards has displayed more range and reportorial chops than some at NPR had given him credit for. As Howard Stern is learning from his new home at Sirius Satellite Radio, speaking to a much smaller audience takes some adjusting. But it’s also liberating: On XM, Edwards has produced full-hour documentaries, long-form profiles and lyrical tributes to musicians and other artists, along with the newsier interviews that were his coin on Morning Edition.”
Tag: 02.19.06
Of Dramaturgs And How Theatre Is Made
“I teach dramaturgy, and I spend a good two or three weeks with my students talking about what different dramaturgs think dramaturgy is. The problem is that the term is used to encompass so many things.” One of her favorite short definitions, she adds, is “information designer, [which tells people that] the dramaturg is part of the design staff. … I’m in charge of the text and context of the play.”
A Chicago Sullivan, Back In Focus
One of architect Louis Sullivan’s Chicago masterpieces is being restores. “For architecture lovers, the restoration is a revelation, like hearing the finale of a Beethoven symphony for which the music was long lost. But the job has implications that reach far beyond the southeast corner of State and Madison Streets. It proves that sensitive preservation architects and skilled craftsmen still can do this kind of thing, even though skeptics claim otherwise.”
Whom Cares
The word “whom” is heading off to join “thou” and “ye” in pronoun heaven. Should we care?
London’s Skyrocketing Ticket Prices
Theatre ticket prices have gone “mad” in London’s West End. It’s £127 for some seats? “These prices weed out the poor, the young and the would-be first-time theatregoer and ensure that the gilded auditorium retains its Victorian smugness and rows of white hair and glinting jewellery.”
Broadway’s Twist On The Casting Couch Scandal
“Like any great headlining play, the newest sex scandal to hit America’s acting profession has a fresh twist: the top producer accused of sexually harassing the cast of a Broadway play is a woman.
Her alleged victims are also far from being wide-eyed starlets. Instead they are some of the top names on Broadway, including Irish actor Gabriel Byrne.”
de Montebello: Art Patrimony Laws Backfire On Countries
Metropolitan Museum director Philippe de Montebello on returning artwork to countries of origin:”Perhaps those countries will realize that the tougher their patrimony laws, the more they are victims of illicit looting. Are you suggesting that allowing countries to prohibit the export of artwork they deem to be part of their national heritage needs to be re-examined? Of course. Can you imagine if every Rembrandt were in Holland and every Poussin in Paris? It is safe to diversify a stock portfolio; it is also safe to diversify the shared heritage of mankind.”
Deeply In Focus…
There seems to be a sudden interest in “deep focus” and its original Hollywood practitioners. It’s a simple cinematic technique, and yet its history and meaning are somewhat misunderstood…
Art With Incite
“Does art incite violence? Hardly; it’s the ideas espoused in the art that get people so worked up. But art magnifies those ideas. It focuses them, gives them a sharper point and the velocity to drive that point home.”
A Debate Over Paintings Said To Be Pollocks
A few weeks ago a scientific study of a set of paintings said to be by Jackson Pollock was released, contending that the paintings were not authentic. But other experts disagree with the findings. “By authorizing only journalistic summaries of Taylor’s work, the Pollock Krasner Foundation has prevented disinterested scholars from reviewing his analysis. Instead, it has bolstered a negative view of the newly discovered paintings without giving anyone else a fair shot at critiquing.”