“The honoree — clearly deeply moved by the event — said he was looking forward to his namesake venue ‘taking its place among the theater listings.’ … [T]he first show is yet to come. But here’s the listing: The Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago.“
Tag: 03.02.10
Playwrights Flock To TV? Yeah, They Have For Years.
Jack Shafer: “Would the [Wall Street] Journal have run this bogus trend story had it spent two minutes on a Nexis search on the topic? The archives teem with similar stories about playwrights migrating to the electronic form.”
On Historic Pianos, Channeling The Great Composers
“From old instruments, performers on modern pianos can get important insights into the sound image that Mozart, Schubert, et al., were aiming for. But music from the 18th and 19th centuries doesn’t just sound different now than on the original instruments; some of it can’t even be played as written on modern pianos.”
Esa-Pekka Salonen Composition Honors Late Trombonist
The work for solo piano, “composed in honor of Steven Witser, the principal trombonist of the L.A. Philharmonic who died of a heart attack last April,” will premiere in Los Angeles this month.
Printing Of ‘Last Train To Hiroshima’ Halted
“The publisher of a book about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima whose author relied on a fraudulent source has said it will stop printing and shipping copies because of further questions about the writer’s sources.”
All (Metaphorical) Roads Lead (From America) To Rome
Heard too many comparisons of an overstretched U.S. to the overstretched late Roman Empire? Well, observers (American and otherwise) have been comparing the country to Rome for well over two centuries.
Defending The Estate: The Issue Of Artists’ Executors
“Honoring the wishes of the dear departed is trying enough among friends and family. (Can we sell the house? Should we put the cash into a college fund or splurge on the vacation of a lifetime?)” David Jays considers the questions faced, the power wielded, the approaches taken by the heirs of such artists as Arthur Miller, Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Beckett, and Vladimir Nabokov.
All Britain Unites To Celebrate Shakespeare’s Birthday
“Shakespeare-themed events will be held from John O’Groats to Cornwall as part of the first Shakespeare United Day, to be held on the playwright’s birthday weekend. Events, including themed pub quizzes, Shakespeare’s Got Talent in Wales and a football match played by Shakespeare United will be held on April 23 and 24 across the country. Organisers also plan to stage Shakespeare in Cornish.”
What Do Women Want? Look At The Titles Of Romance Novels
“In a paper titled ‘The Texas Billionaire’s Pregnant Bride,’ … [two Canadian researchers] analyze the titles of Harlequin romance novels. … Coming from an evolutionary psychology perspective, they hypothesized these titles would reflect mating preferences that have evolved over the millennia.”
English-Language Book Sales Fall In US, UK
Elsewhere, however, English-language sales were up in 2009. “Despite the worldwide recession, booksellers in Australia, Ireland, and South Africa all saw the number of books sold grow.”