On the whole, Franco Zeffirelli’s 1979 remake of the 1931 Hollywood movie The Champ didn’t get much respect. (Its Rotten Tomatoes rating is 38%.) But the film’s final scene “has become a must-see in psychology laboratories around the world when scientists want to make people sad.”
Tag: 07.21.11
Merce Cunningham, Optimized For iPad
2wice “is a reimagining and reconfiguration of a print project in which choreography legend Merce Cunningham created a series of dance events that were recorded by some of the most talented dance photographers in the field.”
The Pearly Kings And Queens Of London, Now Dwindling And Quarreling
“They are groups of mainly aged ‘Cockney’ Londoners who sew mother-of-pearl buttons on their clothes in lavish designs and sing sentimental pub songs. Begun in the 1870s by an orphan London street sweeper, the Pearlies are mostly known for raising money for charity. But all is not well in their world.”
Of China, Art, Ethics And Taste
“China’s ever-higher profile as global arbiter of matters artistic–commissioning major work from international architectural stars; giving the nod to a booming market in contemporary Chinese art; and all the while drastically restricting the freedom of artists and writers–leaves us honor bound to explore the tangled old alliances and misalliances between artistic power and political power.”
The Dark Heart Of Ealing’s Comic Films
“Decades of rainy-Sunday screenings have blinded us to the true nature of postwar British cinema – freedom, naughtiness and a very black humour indeed.”
Painter Lucian Freud Dead At 88
“Over a career that spanned 50 years, Freud became famous for his intense and unsettling nude portraits. … [In] 2008, his portrayal of a large, naked woman on a couch – Benefits Supervisor Sleeping – sold at auction for £17m, a record price for the work of a living artist.”
The Staggering Cost Of Producing On Broadway (Versus London)
As a (cautionary) example, the current London revival of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, starring Kristin Scott Thomas, cost £350,000 (about $565,000) to mount, with weekly running costs of £65,000 ($105,000). Producer Sonia Friedman estimates that a Broadway transfer would cost $2.8 million to mount, plus $260,000 or so to run each week.
At The Bolshoi’s First-Ever Open Auditions
“With hundreds of applicants whittled down to a shortlist of 50 – 23 women and 27 men – simply getting through the doors was a major achievement. But having got so close to what, for many dancers, was a lifelong dream, the pressure was starting to tell.”
Australian Ballet Expands Its In-School Program
“The company says its Out There program is expanding this year to reach more than 9000 students aged five to 12 in NSW, Victoria and, for the first time, Queensland, with interactive lessons that move from movement skills and rhythm to language and Australian wildlife.”
Alex Steinweiss, 94, The Man Who Invented Album-Cover Art
“The record sleeves and album artwork we know and love, and have come to take for granted, owe their existence to the iconic designer, who in 1940 created the first illustrated 78 rpm album package as a young art director at Columbia Records. The company took a chance on his idea – to replace the standard plain brown wrapper with an eye-catching poster-like illustration – and increased its record sales eightfold in mere months.”