dirac

Nice article and thank you for putting it up for discussion, papeetepatrick. I don't much care for opera singers doing pop but if they want to try something different and maybe make a little money, why not. Kern, with his roots in operetta, writes melodies that attract classical singers, sometimes with agreeable results. But I tend to think of such efforts they way I do of jazz-rock fusion: why fuse two things that were perfectly fine apart? I would be interested to hear what you think. I haven't listened to the album in years, but I thought it was an honorable and well meant effort to test her range. Without having heard Fleming's latest effort, I would agree with Tommasini that there is the matter of target audience - was there anyone asking for this?

Many of today's trailers go into such detail that they can make going to see the movie almost superfluous. The one for Woody Allen's Match Point gave enough away for me to decide to skip it, a wise decision as a later viewing of the movie on cable confirmed. Thanks for posting, ballet_n00b. My impression is that biopics today are as a rule held to a much higher standard of accuracy than they were back in Hollywood's golden age or even a few decades ago, and will generally try to keep close to basic facts even if the overall impression is not always accurate. It's unlikely, for example, that a biopic of Billie Holiday made today would disregard the facts with the brio demonstrated by the Lady Sings the Blues (as much as I enjoyed that film).

This story has been known in its general outline for some time - Meredith Daneman writes about it in her biography and it came up in the documentary "Margot" - but this does add some new details and information about the British diplomatic reaction to her involvement (which seems to have been quite deep), they were horrified, naturally. I do not know enough about the Panamanian political background to comment on it and would be interested to hear from anyone who does know.

Thanks for posting this, Mashinka. The article certainly does ramble but in fairness it should be pointed out that Thicknesse is an opera fan and he seems to be throwing his doubts and confusions out there feverishly like a religious wrangling with thoughts of unbelief. There is also a link to a piece that refutes some of his points, which observes that Glyndebourne gets relatively little in the way of Arts Council funding. The public funding question does seem worth looking into even if it's obvious that the less popular the art, the more public money it will need although the fat cats in the audience should be putting in their share.

Thank you for choosing to share that with us, Farrell Fan. A very kind gesture from Martins, and very generous of you to post it here.

Good points. There's also the quite recent example of the abrupt dismissal of several senior Cunningham dancers not long before he died. Some of those older dancers also had stories of getting pink slips in the mail. Probably the concept of family applies, if it ever applies, to a chosen few at the beginning. Perhaps all company leaders need a little ruthlessness in their makeup.

Thank you for starting the topic, innopac. I would be interested to know if others feel the same way Mackrell does. She seems to be speaking mostly of the current situation in contemporary dance.

Thank you for that link, cubanmiamiboy, and reviving the thread. Tschen-Fu is so pretty! One of my cats also takes an occasional interest in the television. He likes dancers because they’re jumping around and not long ago he was transfixed by a cooking show where they were preparing clam chowder. I did have such a cat when I was a kid. He was attached only to me. When I was away for more than a day or so he would have nothing to do with anyone else and not come into the house except to eat, which led to a sad accident which pains me to think about to this day. They really are a serious responsibility.

You're welcome. Tom Schiller was the writer responsible for this and other "Bad" atrocities.

That's an interesting selection, Rosa. The only du Maurier books I really liked were Rebecca, natch, and The Scapegoat. I did read Eric Ives' biography of Anne Boleyn, an excellent book and I'd like to try the Jane Grey (always liked Lady Jane). It's been years since I picked up a book by Georgette Heyer but I used to enjoy them.

As the original movie is a television production and barely ninety minutes, probably they are pairing it with a Royal Ballet movie or documentary as Natalia suggests. It'll be released in Blu-Ray, apparently.

Old timers will recall a recurring sketch from the early years of Saturday Night Live which featured a tuxedoed Dan Aykroyd as Leonard Pinth-Garnell, presenting abominable samples of the performing arts (“Bad Opera” “Bad Playhouse” “Bad Cabaret for Children” etc.), with commentary such as “Monumentally ill-advised!” and “Really bit the big one, didn’t it?” These were actually pretty sophisticated theater parodies – rare to see stuff like that on today’s SNL. Anyway, here is a link to “Bad Ballet.” The ballerinas are Laraine Newman, Gilda Radner, Shelley Duvall, and Garrett Morris; the danseurs are Bill Murray, John Belushi, and Aykroyd. I recall another segment called “Bad Red Chinese Ballet” but I couldn’t find it anywhere. There was also one skit with Steve Martin and Gilda Radner featuring them as the lead couple of “Le Spectre de la Rose,” in full costume, but I couldn’t find that one, either.

Hello, Canary. I don't think I've had the opportunity to welcome you to the board so let me do so now. Thanks for commenting. Do the New Yorkers out there have any thoughts(although many of you have commented in this thread already. Feel free to do so again, though )

Thank you for posting this, innopac. I didn't take much away from 'Call It Sleep' myself but it has had a powerful effect on many. It sounds as if the editor did a lot of stitching together:

Thanks for telling us what you're reading, vagansmom. Trevor is definitely worth it - he's a favorite of mine - and if nothing else you'll close the book thinking, You know, it could be worse. vipa, I couldn't get through Infinite Jest, but it was a long time ago and perhaps I didn't try hard enough. Anyone else?

Thanks for telling us about the performance, YouOverThere. Fierstein isn't my idea of Tevye either but I can't think of many 'name' stage stars who would be ideal.

A financial update.

The show passed its peak some time ago and no longer attracts a younger demographic. If the reruns went away tomorrow I doubt it would help much. Also, my dad is a big Gunsmoke fan so I'm pleased that the show's record will be shared but not broken. In the meantime we can all look forward to more spinoffs along with the new "Law and Order: Los Angeles." "Law and Order: Fresno." "Law and Order: Seat Belt Violations." The possibilities are endless. Tough luck for New York stage actors. This is a real blow. And access to all those well trained character actors was a huge asset for the show. Yes, indeed.

I saw this on cable recently. An in-depth discussion on the board isn't really possible, given the subject matter, but this is definitely worth seeing.

The television show "Law and Order." fights "Gunsmoke" to a draw and closes down. A new variant will be set on Los Angeles. Bad news for the New York acting community. Related article.

Do tell us about if if you see it, Jayne.

I'm sure these parents are perfectly respectable and well meaning people, which does make one wonder, perhaps. As mentioned, choreography along these lines is not exactly new in dance and cheer competitions and the girls tend to grow up fine, as a rule. Would I allow my nine year old to dress that way? I'd think twice about it. Do I think these parents are turning these girls into prospective Bad Women? Not hardly. I think that was true in the Ramsey case, too. People had seen Miss America, of course, but JonBenet's competitive world was new and strange (boy, was it ever strange). The sexualization of very young girls is not news in the worlds of figure skating or gymnastics, either.

Yes, American Masters is one of the best series on television, on PBS or anywhere else. You're welcome, richard53dog. I kept meaning to pick up a copy of the book but haven't gotten around to it.

Yes, indeed, they do have that right. But I don't think we should take the discussion in this direction, although I understand what you're trying to say. Thanks for posting, all.

The mainstreaming of activities like pole dancing and other tropes of pornography into pop culture and other areas of contemporary life may play a role here. You make an interesting point about reversing the sex roles. It is certainly hard to imagine a group of young boys in short shorts and mesh tops doing pelvic thrusts while everyone applauds, but then when we do encourage boys to dance it's to show off their athleticism and energy, not necessarily their bodies.