“Organizers of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival made their first programming announcement of the year on Tuesday,” with the programme including North American premieres by 101-year-old Manoel de Oliveira and Alain Resnais. In addition, the TIFF is launching a new sidebar: “City to City. The programme will examine the changing landscape of one featured metropolis each year by showcasing films from and about the chosen city. … Tel Aviv, which is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2009, was selected for the inaugural edition.”
Tag: 06.23.09
Patti LuPone Defends Her Enforcement Of Theatre Etiquette
“Do we allow our rights to be violated (photography, filming and audio taping of performances is illegal) or tolerate rudeness by members of the audience who feel they have the right to sit in a dark theater, texting or checking their e-mail while the light from their screens distract both performers and the audience alike? Or, should I stand up for my rights as a performer as well as the audiences I perform for?”
Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Library Sees $6.1M Deficit By 2014
“As the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh continues to serve more and more people and to renovate its aging branches, it anticipates a sharp decline in government support, including a $1.6 million cut in 2010 with more to follow, library leaders warned yesterday.” The library’s board chair “predicted a $6.1 million budget deficit by 2014 in an economic climate of declining revenue and rising expenses.”
Season Pruned, Philly Chamber Orchestra Rumors Blossom
“Normally a rumor-free zone, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia is the focal point of speculation about its future existence amid the announcement of a dramatically curtailed season and questions about the continued presence of music director Ignat Solzhenitsyn. The surprisingly well-circulated Solzhenitsyn rumor appears, at this point, to be unfounded….”
Sherman Alexie Book-Ban Effort Fails In Suburban Illinois
“Despite objections from several parents who find its language vulgar and racist, an award-winning book will be kept on the summer reading list at Antioch High School while an alternative will be offered for those who request it, officials said Monday. The book, ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian’ by Sherman Alexie is a coming-of-age story about a 14-year-old boy who triumphs over obstacles after leaving an American Indian reservation to attend an all-white school.”
Banksy Mural, A Tourist Magnet, Suffers Paintball Attack
“One of Banksy’s best-loved Bristol murals has been targeted by vandals as fans continue to arrive in their droves for his exhibition just up the road. … In 2006 the city council asked the public whether they wanted the mural to stay or go – 93 per cent of respondents asked for it to remain.” That vote, a city councilor theorized in the wake of the defacement, may have “destroyed [Banksy’s] street cred.”
Are Cave Carvings Sequoyah’s Syllabary In His Own Hand?
Sequoyah’s translation of the spoken Cherokee language into a written system, which he devised over a decade in the early 19th century, may be “the only known instance of an individual’s single-handedly creating an entirely new system of writing. An archaeologist and explorer of caves has now found what he thinks are the earliest known examples of the Sequoyah syllabary,” in a Kentucky cave.
A Musical Call And Response In Mice’s Mating Dance
“A few years ago, researchers determined that when male mice are courting, they produce ultrasonic vocalizations that have an elaborate structure, similar to bird songs. Left unanswered was the question of whether mice sing for a similar purpose — to mark their territory and attract mates.” New research says “male mice songs definitely elicit interest from the opposite sex.”
Aleichem Morphed Habits Of Faith Into Cultural Identity
“This season marks 150 years since the birth of Sholem Aleichem, whose appeal to ‘something more cheerful’ made him the most popular Yiddish writer at a time when more Jews spoke Yiddish than any other language. Known to modern audiences mostly through ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ — the Americanized musical adaptation of his stories of Tevye the Dairyman — Sholem Aleichem cast the Jews as a people who would live through laughter — or die trying.”
As NY Phil Clock Winds Down, Lorin Maazel Looks Back
“‘It’s not for me to assess whether or not I have lived up to the expectations that arise at the beginning of any music director’s tenure,’ he began. ‘The orchestra I found had a problem with self-esteem. Their reputation was not what it should have been. So it became my goal to restore their belief in themselves. And I leave feeling that I’ve been quite successful.'”