dirac

Thank you, Farrell Fan, I missed that March 16 note. It's good to see that Farrell has support out there willing to speak up.

A good point, miliosr. I think you may be on to something.

I add my thanks to Mme. Hermine's. That's so true. You look at some of those photos and you could swear they were action shots. 'Conspiring' with the camera is a neat way to put it. I'm reminded of Mailer's remark about Monroe that she had 'a witch's skill in relation to the still camera.'

I was just listening to his Trovatore with Callas, and Karajan conducting. A pleasure.

Thank you for reviving this thread, innopac. I have absolutely no idea, but perhaps there's someone out there who does....

Well, if you dislike it, you dislike it. But you can’t demand of sport and competition what you do of art. That’s not what it’s for, finally. Although in future if you change your mind you probably shouldn’t try ABC. The sport has sunk so low in popularity that ABC is losing interest and I understand it may be moving to NBC (international events are already mostly on ESPN).

I've sometimes wondered how much di Stefano's lifestyle really had to do with his vocal decline, or perhaps his voice would have gotten shot early even if he'd been in bed by nine o'clock every night?

Thanks, sidwich. I had thought of that in connection with skating but it never occurred to me to apply it to ballroom dancing, too. (I'm one of those who looks at the costumes on television and thinks, 'Yuck.' So it's good to be reminded of these considerations.) sidwich’s points are excellent and many also apply to skating. Back in the day the competition was less intense and there was less attention paid to costumes and choreography. In fact, if you were too daring in the matter of costuming the judges would whack you for it. As competition increased, skaters had to find different ways of distinguishing themselves. This was actually a net plus, because programs became musically and choreographically more sophisticated and hence more interesting to watch.

An article published by Ismene Brown recently suggested strongly that Mason is just keeping the seat warm for a year or two until Johan Kobborg, a Man with Vision, takes over.

The musical version of “The Lord of the Rings” is closing after losing a fortune. Sign of the times? http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/theatre/2008/0...isnt_every.html

Well, the pop music tends to appear mostly in the professional shows (which are thinner on the ground than they used to be since the rules were relaxed about “amateur” skaters earning money). I don’t mind pop music as long as it’s decent pop music – in fact, I prefer it to the often hackneyed choices of ballet music sometimes used in competitions. The costumes are actually less campy in some respects than they have been in the past. It’s usually the ice dancers who are the most vulgar. I suspect it’s because most of them are doing pretty much the same moves and they become desperate to distinguish themselves from the crowd any way they can. What does trouble me is the amount of skin shown by the female skaters these days. The girls wear dolly dresses until they reach a certain age, and then it’s skin and more skin. Makes one nostalgic for the modest wool dresses worn in the old days. It’s kind of creepy – even though the women are often in their late teens or early twenties the net effect, with all the heavy makeup, tends to be very JonBenet Ramsey. I remember in the last Olympic cycle a male sportswriter who doesn’t usually follow figure skating remarked on how beautiful and strong the women looked in their practice gear, and then they went out on the ice for their programs in these little outfits. I enjoy skating but the sport could certainly use a Navratilova or two, and maybe she’d insist on being referred to as a ‘woman’ and not a ‘lady.’

Nightingale also opined for the other Times: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle3592225.ece I remember reading that on occasion Kingsley gets testy if people don't use the 'Sir.'

Yes, Mrs. Kelly isn't so bad at expressing herself, either.

Thank you, popularlibrary, and welcome to the forum ( I don't think you've posted on Other Arts before, excuse me if you have and I missed it.) I haven't seen either movie. You are so fortunate to have seen Scofield onstage. I have recordings of his Hamlet and Lear.

I agree – I watched and I thought her remarks were very acute and helpful. (There are important similarities between dancing and skating, but there are also major differences which tend to get slighted.)

Patricia Ward Kelly writes to the Times in response to a column by Maureen Dowd. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/opinion/...amp;oref=slogin Handsome, talented, a wonderful dancer, and smart as paint. I just hate guys like that.

Thank you for posting this unhappy news, MakarovaFan. Another great one has left us. As this obituary points out, Scofield did not have much of a film career – the camera did not take to him – but he can be seen in the film of Peter Brook’s production of ‘King Lear’ a movie I don’t much like but should be seen, a film adaptation of Melville’s ‘Bartleby the Scrivener.’ He would also pop up in supporting roles now and then, playing Mark Van Doren in ‘Quiz Show.’ His performance on stage in ‘The Power and the Glory’ was legendary. I have mixed feelings about ‘A Man for All Seasons’ and his performance in it, but there is no doubt they are both exceptional. He turned down a knighthood.

Thanks for the link, kfw.

I know what you mean, vagansmom. Sigh. Some years ago I was talking Callas with an acquaintance on the job and rattled off a compare and contrast of the Callas Normas in my possession and he said, "You must really like Norma," with an odd expression on his face. You know, there are fans and there are fans. I didn't know about the Jonathan Cott book, vipa, thanks. I'll check it out at some point. Cott did one of the best interviews with Balanchine I ever read.

Thanks, sidwich. I enjoyed reading that. Instructive, too.

NYT obituary. I’m sure he would have done more work with opera, and of course in film, although I admit that hunk of brazen Oscar bait “Cold Mountain” was not a good sign.

I think the subject of the NYT article is stereotypes. As both Weir and Lysacek are projecting a certain image and style, and consciously so, it seems fair comment.

Thank you for posting this sad news, SanderO. An important talent gone much too soon. Reuters story I have great affection for one of his smaller scale efforts, the wonderful “Truly, Madly, Deeply” with Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman, which I think was his first picture.

My only complaint – actually, it doesn’t really rise to the status of status of ‘complaint’ -- is that Money sometimes tries a little too hard to soften some of Pavlova’s rough edges (and she did have them, what with slapping partners, and all). She’s like Sarah Bernhardt, who was also considered too thin in her day – a forerunner of the coming change in taste. Thanks for starting this thread, canbelto. I'm going to go take the book off the shelf.

I seem to remember that early on Jones became unhappy with the show and his part but agreed to stay until the opening in order to avoid any negative publicity that might have resulted from his leaving during the out of town tryouts. sidwich or others may know more (or better). I’m sure Kert was terrific but Jones was certainly perfectly cast. I think it was standard procedure at the time to record the album the weekend after the opening.