dirac

Thanks for the reports, canbelto. How'd she do with "Before the Parade Passes By" ? I see "Penny in My Pocket" is back in the score. I always like Hyde Pierce.

Speaking of A Confederacy of Dunces, after seeing Dominic Burgess as Victor Buono, I'm wondering if Burgess might make a good Ignatius for TV.

Well, they're getting paid to read. It's not exactly fruit picking in the Imperial Valley.

I agree that the Simon & Schuster chapter is better, but then rising to the top tends to make a livelier tale than life at the top. I enjoyed the photo section of memorable book covers, which made me wonder how important book covers are in today's publishing - do they still put as much thought and energy into them, or have they mostly gone the way of album cover art? Great Moments in Gender Relations: Gottlieb informs his new wife, Maria Tucci, that his ex was an excellent cook and he's used to good food, so she better get cracking at the stove. He also gives her a copy of Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking.' Tucci seems to have accepted the book politely instead of beaning him with it. Times have changed somewhat. I was impressed that Gottlieb can rattle off the apostolic succession of Three Girls on the Make movies. My only quibble is that he left out The Greeks Had a Word for Them, starring Joan Blondell, lovely Madge Evans, and the great stage star Ina Claire. Also How to Marry a Millionaire, and of course there would have been no Girls without Sex and the City. I will also see his Helen Twelvetrees and raise him an Ann Harding.

Thanks for the comments, all. Yes. For real change to come about, companies, whether led by men or women, will likely have to go beyond just hiring (some) of the women who manage to make their way to the pool of employables. It's disturbing that these guys are supposed to represent the vibrant present and future of the art form, which in a sense they do, and plainly nothing of the sort has even crossed their minds. Maybe Birdsall is right and the ladies are going to have to start a little rock throwing to get the point across.

Three of the younger hotshot male choreographers answers to the "woman question:" Most of the major choreographers in classical dance are men. Why is that? PECK There needs to be more encouragement and support for women — at an impressionable age — to explore that choreographic side of their brains. WHEELDON There is such an obvious imbalance. I’m not sure why it exists and persists. In my experience, directors today are seeking diversity and would love to present the work of female ballet choreographers, so I don’t think overt misogyny is at work. RATMANSKY I don’t see it as a problem. Besides Crystal Pite, Jessica Lang and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa are among the very best now. And Graham and Nijinska are still performed. I’m sure that if new, interesting talent arrives and is a woman, she will have equal opportunities. Peck's reply is the best of a rather disappointing lot, probably not coincidental that he's the youngest of the three. I'd be interested to know what he means by an "impressionable age." Wheeldon just seems to want the question to go away and Ratmansky....wow. Maybe it's not such a bad thing that he isn't running a company.

Currently available On Demand for Comcast users. The Moira Shearer - James Mason segment comes first. It's not much of a story but you can feast your eyes on Shearer and what this contemporary review in Variety terms her "beautiful terping." Ashton made a very nice solo for her to the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. (I don't much like her white costume.)

Agreed. Given Alonzo King’s roots in the area, it’s good to see him on the list. With regard to female choreographers – no, 2 out of 12 is not adequate. I hope they tried harder. That said, how about developing someone in-house? We know it’s harder for female dancers to find the time, among other obstacles, but is Tomasson doing anything to encourage them?

Still watching. The Zeta-Jones and Kathy Bates commentary was dispensed with for a bit and is back, unfortunately. Show, not tell, pretty please. Also, while I am in sympathy with the desire to show how tough it was and is for older women in Hollywood, I kind of wish they’d ease up on the preaching and change up the subject a bit. Lange’s Crawford is still rather soft and vague. I miss Dunaway’s feral energy, which would have come in handy during the episode in which Crawford maniacally sabotages Davis’ chance to win the Academy Award. Sarandon is still better but getting slightly less screen time or so it seems. Also: I doubt that Crawford would say, “A woman director? Is that what it’s come to?” (from memory). She was no stranger to the concept. Crawford worked with Dorothy Arzner on “The Last of Mrs. Cheyney” and “The Bride Wore Red;” later Arzner was hired to direct Pepsi-Cola commercials at Joan’s behest.

Nice little piece on the elegant Lisa Fonssagrives in connection with an Irving Penn exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photos.

When you're hot, you're hot.

From Drew's link (thank you, Drew). I can see why dancers who see which way the wind is blowing might choose to leave. Not necessarily because they're refusing to adapt, but maybe it's better to determine your own fate rather than have some new AD announce he had to can you because you don't fit in with His Vision.

True. And there's an awful lot of my-great-friend-Nora-Ephron sort of thing. I was curious to see what he would say about his rejection of A Confederacy of Dunces, which was not much, as it turned out. He didn't quite get the book then and still doesn't, one gathers. Thank heaven Toole's mother found that dusty copy. Also not at home with experimental fiction, as he admits. I enjoyed reading about his back-and-forths with Robert A. Caro - he's right, Caro is fond of repetition, which makes you wonder what he'd be like if he didn't have Gottlieb arguing back.

Gottlieb's memoir is helpfully organized for skipping around (there's an index, too), so I skipped right to the “Dancing” chapter. If you’ve read Gottlieb’s writings on the subject over the years you will not find a lot that’s new and I for one was hoping for something a little more detailed and candid – okay, juicier - about backstage occurrences at NYCB and MCB, but it’s still worth checking out. It's also a pleasure to read about the great dance books that Gottlieb shepherded to publication. I have all the books he writes about here and wouldn't be without any of them. I am now attending to the rest of the book. So far, mixed feelings, but reading with interest.

Thank you for posting, Cygnet. Very funny man and gifted improviser. A few years ago John Landis made a fine documentary, "Mr. Warmth: the Don Rickles Project." RIP.

The incoming director of the Royal Opera House asks patrons not to boo. I'm interested to hear what BAers think. Do you now or have you ever booed? Do you think that booing is justified? Have you wanted to boo but refrained, and if so, why? Would you say boo to a goose? Etc. Thoughts, views, experiences with booers or booing?

Interesting. I recently did the same after a long hiatus. I'm going to give it a year. Good point, and she is within her rights to pick and choose (and fortunate to have the option). I only wish there was someone else to pick up the slack. I think so too, Stecyk.

True, but I tend to think, as Drew suggests, that one reason people outside New York are reading a magazine called The New Yorker is to learn about what’s going on in New York, no? (It's definitely a motivation for this reader.) Croce was filing pieces almost weekly back in the day. The magazine’s national readership hadn’t a hope of seeing most of the troupes she wrote about regularly, even the big ones, without making a trip to NY. However, Croce had Shawn and Gottlieb as her editors for much of that time, men who were committed to dance coverage. (No idea if that is the difference.) I should note that The New Yorker critics today don’t have the space Croce did and I can understand Acocella not wanting or needing to write as frequently.

Yes, that's likely part of the problem.

Absolutely, Stecyk, the WSJ is not only about business and politics. It also publishes the ballet reviews of Robert Greskovic and in recent times it has expanded its lifestyle sections, which tend to be attractive to advertisers. However, such changes aren’t always welcomed by the readership, and sometimes the readership has a point. I do this as well and I agree. It’s very true, sometimes commenters can provide a gloss on the article that’s better than the article, or they can engage in a back-and-forth that’s interesting and/or illuminating.

That’s been the case for years, alas. As Joan Acocella has said, most recently to Ballet Review, for a long time she couldn't find much to engage her in what was going on. While I understand that some dance eras are less inspiriting than others, I often wished that if such were the case, the magazine might consider making room for a dance critic who was actually interested in the dance beat. Of course, the editor in chief has a lot to do with such things, and perhaps David Remnick is just not that interested in dance.

They may well be longtime readers, and probably subscribers, to the WSJ who are familiar with the paper’s traditional focus on business and politics. You seem to be saying that readers aren’t allowed to complain when they think their publication of choice is becoming a slave to clickbait and their only option is “If you don’t like it, don’t read it."

Trump lost the popular vote by a huge margin - almost three million. Considering that might make you feel a bit better. Arts groups are seeking out those Republicans who may be open to pressure and persuasion. Most of these are in the Senate, but there are also some representatives, as well. (Note that the article to which I linked is a few weeks old; Trump's budget, which proposes eliminating the endowments altogether, had not yet been announced.)

I saw and enjoyed both episodes. Looking forward to seeing more of Dominic Burgess’ Victor Buono. Also Alison Wright of the eloquent eyebrows. While I’m always happy to see Kathy Bates gainfully employed, the “testimony” of Blondell and de Havilland seems unnecessary, underling points that have already been made, and none too subtly (“Feuds aren’t about anger. Feuds are about pain,” Zeta-Jones informs us earnestly). We don’t need them to tell us that Davis and Crawford were manipulated by their male Hollywood bosses or that the rivalry among women which arises because of their inferior power position prevents them from teaming up for their collective benefit, because we just saw these things graphically depicted. The first episode was laden with some awkward exposition – maybe Ryan Murphy and company were a little too eager to show off their homework. On the other hand, old movies and their stars are not as ubiquitous on the tube as they used to be; they can’t assume that viewers just dropping by or tuning in out of curiosity will know who these people are. Overall, however, I’m enjoying it, and I love details like Crawford reclining seductively on a slipcovered bedspread and her Teutonic “Mamacita.” Lange doesn’t really evoke Crawford for me and her performance is familiar if you’ve seen some of her other TV work, but she’s fine, although not convincingly younger in the flashback sequences. Sarandon does better – the poppy eyes help – even if she can’t quite spit out “What a dump!” with the authority of Davis (or Hagen, or even Elizabeth Taylor). I have the feeling the originals would have had both of them for breakfast. I also wonder a bit about the series subtitle. It is true that goddesses don’t have last names, but perhaps there’s a bit of unconscious condescension – what’s wrong with “Feud: Davis and Crawford”? Just a thought.

OT: I will speak up for Antiques Roadshow, especially the British version with the half-hour format. They had 2 episodes at the Royal Ballet School, featuring objets made by Pavlova and Fonteyn's makeup box.