“The head and shoulders winner at this year’s awards was the Royal Court theatre – it dominated the shortlists with 11 nominations and won four with awards for two of the most-talked about plays of the year, Jerusalem and Enron. … Unusually, there were no wins for west end commercial theatre or the National Theatre.”
Tag: 11.23.09
Artists’-Rights Vendor’s High Line Arrest Is His 42nd
Robert A. Lederman “was arrested 41 times during the Giuliani administration, in part because he liked to bait the mayor. … In 2001, both state and federal courts ruled that New York City could not require permits for artists in parks,” a point Lederman made before he was arrested Saturday on the High Line for vending without a permit.
Kiki Smith, Deborah Gans To Redesign Synagogue Window
The Lower East Side’s Eldridge Street Synagogue, a National Historic Landmark built in 1887, “reopened in 2007 after a 20-year restoration, but there were no available records of the original window.” So, with the blessing of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the duo “will reimagine the window.”
Christmas Carol That Flopped In Hollywood Cancels Tour
“Other dates on the original five-city tour had already fallen through, but [producer Kevin] Von Feldt says he had sold more than $200,000 in tickets in Chicago, the last hold-out. ‘We’re going to come back,’ said Von Feldt, comparing himself to Max Bialystock….”
To Keep Shelter Open, Vt. Church To Sell Tiffany Window
“The church considered selling its pews; it had an appraiser value its bell. It also has three other stained-glass windows that church records say are Tiffany designs but which are not signed and are difficult to authenticate. The St. John window with its Tiffany Studios insignia was by far the most valuable and seemed the logical choice.”
LACMA Budget Woes May Mean No $25M Koons Sculpture
“The proposed sculpture would consist of a 70-foot locomotive suspended from a 161-foot-tall crane. Three times a day — at noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. — the train will blow its whistle, puff steam and move its wheels, first accelerating and then slowing down.”
Objections To Moving Camus’s Remains
President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to transfer the remains of the writer Albert Camus to one of the most hallowed burial places in France, but the plan has run into opposition from the Nobel laureate’s son, who does not think his father would have wanted the honor.
Reinventing The Piano For The 21st Century
“Geoff Smith believes he has come up with the first multicultural acoustic piano – what he has trademarked as a fluid piano – which allows players to alter the tuning of notes either before or during a performance. Instead of a pianist having a fixed sound, 88 notes from 88 keys, Smith’s piano has sliders allowing them access to the different scales that you get in, for example, Indian and Iranian music.”
UK TV Looks To Books For Its New Shows
Looking for built-in audiences TV is increasingly adapting literature for the small screen.
How Our Brains Learned To Read
“Evidence suggests that reading – which depends on an alphabet, writing materials, papyrus and such – is only about 5000 years old. The brain in its modern form is about 200,000 years old, yet brain imaging shows reading taking place in the same way and in the same place in all brains.”