Marissa Jaret Winokur, who won a Tony for playing the hefty, happy Tracy Turnblad in the John Waters-inspired musical, is returning to the show Dec. 9. Harvey Fierstein, who drew raves as Tracy’s very downscale mother, came back earlier this month.
Tag: 11.18.08
Royal Concertgebouw Tops Gramophone‘s List Of World’s Best Orchestras
A poll of critics from Europe and North America named Amsterdam’s favorite band no. 1 in its list of the globe’s 20 best symphony orchestras. The U.S. has seven orchestras on the list (with Chicago, Cleveland and L.A. at nos. 6, 7 and 8); Germany has four (including the second-place Berlin Phil), and Russia has three.
Yo-Yo Ma Musical America‘s 2009 Musician Of The Year
The musically peripatetic cellist takes the honors on the 10th anniversary of his Silk Road Project. Other Musical America “Of The Year” winners include Marin Alsop (Conductor), Christopher Rouse (Composer), Stephanie Blythe (Vocalist) and the Pacifica Quartet (Ensemble).
Kimbell Art Museum Plans Extension By Renzo Piano –
“The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth will unveil preliminary plans today for a $70 million addition designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. The plans call for a separate two-level building west of the original 1972 structure, a revered design by the late Louis Kahn. Final blueprints should be in hand by late 2009 or early 2010, with construction to begin shortly after and opening expected in 2012.”
– And It’s Going In Front of Louis Kahn’s Original
“As anticipated, or dreaded, the Renzo Piano-designed facility is going to be built on the west lawn, directly in front of the existing building.” But he’s leaving 180 feet between them – and creating the sort of entrance Kahn wanted. “Kahn did not understand Texans’ desire to park as closely as possible to a door, so almost all of the Kimbell’s visitors enter by way of the parking lot and through what is ostensibly the garage door of the museum. Piano is going to fix that.”
Academy Releases 15-Film Shortlist For Documentary Oscar
Leading the pack is the post-Katrina doc Trouble the Water, the odds-on favorite; other semifinalists include Werner Herzog’s trip to the Antarctic, the Philippe-Petit-skywalks-the-Twin-Towers film, and Errol Morris’s examination of Abu Ghraib.
– And Andrew O’Hehir Says It’s A ‘Goddamn Travesty’
Of the Documentary Oscar shortlist, Salon.com’s “Beyond the Multiplex” columnist fumes, “Margaret Brown’s wonderfully nuanced and profoundly personal film about the racially segregated Mardi Gras traditions of Mobile, Ala., The Order of Myths, was left off, as was Laura Dunn’s gorgeous The Unforeseen, which I’ve described as the Chinatown of Texas real-estate documentaries. Those were two of the best examples of American filmmaking to be seen on screen all year … It’s a complete and total goddamn travesty, is what it is.”
Orlando Ballet’s Artistic Director Resigns Unexpectedly
“In an abrupt upheaval at the Orlando Ballet, artistic director Bruce Marks quit Saturday night and was replaced Monday morning by Robert Hill, a former principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre.”
AD Of Cleveland’s Verb Ballets Departs Suddenly, Evidently Fired
“Hernando Cortez, the former member of noted New York dance companies who raised Cleveland’s Verb Ballets to national status, is stepping down immediately as Verb’s artistic director.” The company’s board president says Cortez is leaving “to follow other artistic interests,” but an internal e-mail suggests otherwise.
Manchester Gets £1.7M In Settlement Over Failed Sculpture
“Mancunians nicknamed it Kerplunk after the well-known 1970s children’s game — an apt description for a £1.42 million sculpture of giant spikes that began to fall off soon after it was completed. Now, the creator of B of the Bang has agreed with subcontractors to pay £1.7 million in damages to Manchester City Council over the failure of what was supposed to be one of the country’s most exciting pieces of public art.”