dirac

Also: "Right now, Nissinen says, he has more interest from the men." Well, yes. The question is what underlying factors may be involved in the disparity of (displayed) interest. I realize he's got a lot of things on his mind, but the degree of incuriousness is striking.

Where are the women in ballet running things, that is. A re-posting of the Luke Jennings article to which the NPR piece refers.

A quote from the article: The piece also includes the observation that the role of Othello is becoming increasingly off-limits to white actors. In opera it would doubtless be the same, except that there are very few singers of any shade who can sing a proper Otello, as the article also notes.

I understand Ferri is in fine shape, but 52 is not 42 or even 45. I'd love to see this but I just hope no one involved is fooling himself or herself.

Thank you for reviving this thread, AshtonFan, and your comments on the Guardian piece. A bit of both, I should think.

I didn't mean to suggest that the disappearance of the paying jobs was a good thing, sorry. It has never been easy to make a living from writing, particularly writing on a niche subject. I recall that in "Play It Again, Sam," the central character has a very nice apartment even though his only apparent source of income is writing film criticism for a little magazine. I could never figure out how that worked.

Perhaps the true situation is more like "the death of the American dance critic who gets pay and benefits for writing about dance." Hmmm. The New Yorker's critics do get fewer pages than previously, but I note there's still space to fit in movie reviews every week. I liked this comment from the NPR link: I have also read that some regional papers are surviving by focusing more on area happenings that other outlets don't cover. Local arts events would seem to be ideal objects for this kind of coverage.

I just saw it on DVD. It didn't last long enough to be truly boring for me, but I certainly wasn't gripped. There's a fair amount of familiar ballet documentary footage of dancers in class, warming up, doing things to their feet and shoes, etc. and way too many shots for a movie that lasts a little over an hour of Peck trudging up and down hallways, stairs, and walking down the street. The Wiseman method may well have been the model, but it doesn't always work for Wiseman and it doesn't work particularly well here. (I think both of Wiseman's ballet documentaries would have been improved if he had departed from his customary approach and let us know more about who and what we were seeing.) I think it would have helped to hear from Peck and the dancers directly. Apart from the few bits of difficulty in rehearsal that others have mentioned, there isn't much in the way of drama. I'm not suggesting Lipes should have manufactured it, but if this is all he had and if for whatever reason he couldn't show us a meaningful amount of the ballet we're watching these people work on -- well, it gets harder to see the point, in all honesty. It is a nice memento of Albert Evans, who is most engaging, and I would have loved to hear him talk about his work on Peck's ballets. I liked him a lot.

Ilona Landgraf reviews a biography of Anita Berber, “Anita Berber; Ein getanztes Leben” (“Anita Berber; A Danced Life”) in her blog.

Well, at least they're not doing the play itself. "Haply, for I am black......Oh, wait."

Thanks very much for this, Quiggin. His playing is wonderfully characterful and refined, not always qualities associated with the phrase "Russian piano virtuoso."

You have a point, canbelto:

Very true, KarenAG.

I had the same take on it, vagansmom, so you weren't alone. Thanks for the clarification, California.

Flaemmchen is one of my favorite Crawford performances and she looks great in Adrian's working girl frock. Check out this minx. However, the Garbo-Barrymore scenes referenced by pherank also make the movie worth watching IMO.

Good points. The Eagles lasted longer at the top, their history as a band is far less convoluted, and yes, they had many more hits. They're also still touring and the recent documentary about them got a fair amount of attention.

Hepburn would seem a natural Ondine. MGM tried to borrow her for the musical film of "Gigi" and ended up with their own contract player, Leslie Caron (who was just fine). I agree, the Eliza Doolittle casting was bad for her and bad for the movie. She gets off to a horrible start, even allowing for the fact that it is hard for even the best Elizas to get through the character's earliest unvarnished phase, thanks to her creator. However, Hepburn did get better as the movie went on (and on). By the end I certainly found it easier to watch her than Harrison. His reading had not improved with repetition and I guess Cukor could find no way to refresh the performance. It should also be said that Eliza is a tough part without music and hugely demanding with music. For the original production, they needed a young actor-singer who could cope with the dramatic requirements, a score that called for her to carry most of the singing, and also hold the stage with a big senior star - in that particular production, the man who was arguably the best light comedian in the world. Enter Miss Andrews.

It seems fairly pointless to make any vast generalizations or reconsiderations of "To Kill a Mockingbird" on the basis of what "Go Set a Watchman" appears to be. I haven't read it and have no plans to do so, but it sounds as if those readers past and present who thought it unpublishable are probably right. I agree with vipa - sad business all around. As for the Gopnik piece - meh. I'm inclined think the distance between the character of Finch as we know it and the Citizens' Council types is longer than he does. Thanks for starting the topic, canbelto.

Thanks for posting this, lmspear. Moreno studied dance from an early age. I think it's fair to call her an actress-dancer-singer and I'm willing to let her in on a pass. Anita was an important dance role in a legendary dance musical. Glad she's getting the nod.

I had the same thought, abatt. It seems to have happened so fast.

Roger Rees has died at age 71. I was never sorry to see him. A wonderful actor and man of the theater. Related. Broadway's lights will be dimmed in his honor on Wednesday.

Patti LuPone is mad as hell and she isn't going to take it any more: Related.

It is sad news, but given that he had been suffering from Alzheimer's, as the ROH link notes, and in a nursing home for some years, I expect it was a release, and I like to think that his great spirit is now free. Godspeed to a unique artist with an awesome instrument. Another of whom we can say: We won't see his like again. I remembered reading this by Jon Tolansky for Opera on the occasion of Vickers' 85th birthday. Thanks for posting, volcanohunter.

Strictly speaking Hepburn's time as a star wasn't that much longer than Garbo's. From Roman Holiday through Wait Until Dark is about fourteen years. Garbo quit at 36, Hepburn was pushing 40, not unusual retirement ages for female stars back then. About the same amount of time as that between The Torrent and Two-Faced Woman. Doesn't seem like a long time but actually a very good run at the top for female stars of that era (and this one, for that matter), even though both careers ended prematurely. And I should note I don't mean to knock the DVDs or the internet - TV would likely have moved away from the Late Late Movie programming model anyway, and at least this way the material is out there and accessible. But there's a difference between "accessible" and "unavoidable."

Yes - as mentioned, it's jazz and classical. Gershwin said specifically that his goal with Rhapsody was to show that jazz had a wider range and more facets than it was credited for having at that time. In the end, he came up with something different. I certainly agree it's fair to say that it's a classical piece with a powerful jazz influence as opposed to being a jazz piece with a classical influence -- although as a classical piece it's still very much the work of a newbie -- a newbie of genius, but still. It also has pop elements. "Sui generis" sums it up, I think.