Fame or Famine

If you’re not familiar with the story behind the creation of the musical "RENT", you should look it up.

"For every burst of applause and prestigious award, there is the reminder that its creator is not here to share in its glory. In fact, it was only one week before Rent’s first preview that Jonathan Larson felt the first thump of the aortic aneurysm that would take him away…"
–From the official  site.

And while his work has garnered many wonderful reviews, brought joy to many people and more than that, comfort where needed, I’m especially glad to hear that the Library of …read more

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I have kind of a love-hate relationship with butoh. I am fascinated by it, and admire the physical demands of it. The Japanese aesthetic has always been something I’ve loved, from kabuki through calligraphy through kinbaku, and so butoh is simply another aspect of that.
But…butoh is something different, too. Born out of the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there is a screaming, painful aspect to Butoh that hurts to watch, even as you are spellbound. But while the performers could play on the pity and sorrow, or even the regret of a nationalist policy that led to disaster for their …read more

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Thanks to some help from my wrangler, I’ve been able to figure out some more interesting aspects of this particular blog. For example, I can add links…ok, so that’s kind of obvious. What self-respecting blog doesn’t have a blogroll on their page.
Up until recently, this one, apparently.
However, that’s being fixed. And special cheers and thanks go to Doug Fox over at the Dance Blog at Great Dance. He seems to focus on dance and technology, a subject always near and dear to my heart.
It’s nice to make my first friend in the online performing arts blog community…
First benefit: He mentioned …read more

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She insists that I should review this performance:

That’s right. He’s walking a cabbage. It’s quite an impressive cabbage, really, much bigger than the bourgeois cabbage I’ve experienced here in the states. I’m also impressed with the care and attention he is giving his cabbage. Note how his head is turned with concern for its welfare as he turns around the corner; none of that capitalist selfish disregard for others in his mien! Speaking of mien, it almost rhymes with bing, which is his name: Han Bing. His work will be showing in Shanghai until November 19.
Those Chinese artists. What will …read more

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“Of all the characteristics which define Argentinian tenor Marcelo Alvarez, one shouts loudest: he had never been to an opera until he was 32.”
I love stories like this. At 37, and as a performer, I love hearing about people (especially people older than me) who came to their calling later in life and then succeeded. At age 44 now, Alvarez is heralded as the “next Pavarotti”. This article is fascinating–learning about how he moved to Italy with his family and only $8000 savings (can you imagine how much his wife had to believe in him to have that happen?), about …read more

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Tonight I’m going to be an ornament.
That is, my wife has some sculptural work that is going to be shown as part of a show called "Breaking the Habit". There are some other people I know who will also be showing work (videographer Christine Olson is a longtime friend and occasional collaborator of mine), but it’s hard to categorize the work.
My wife, now, she’s simple. It’s sculpture, right? Except it’s not your basic wood and stone and clay; no, her work is created using the leftover technology from our society, and the simple use of it as a medium makes …read more

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Full disclosure: I am a flaming liberal. I’m even almost a militant liberal, as I am not one of those willing any more to say "Oh, live and let live" to the far right. Personal reasons; they threaten my lifestyle and that of my family, and frankly, anyone who wants to take freedom away from my daughters will have my enmity…but I digress.
In theatre, and tv, of course, the liberal media rules. The West Wing had a great president (liberal) so did Commander in Chief, and even if they paid lip service to conservatism here and there, they really didn’t …read more

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This Onion cartoon, given to me by a friend, really cracked me up:

Why? You don’t get it? That’s ok, most don’t. But did you like Loony Tunes? Tom & Jerry? How about "A Fish Called Wanda", or Monty Python, or…or…the fact is, the Commedia dell’Arte is the root of all Western comedy. And some Eastern, as well, but not so much.
The Capitano, Scaramouche, was always my favorite–a bombastic warrior full of fake bravado who was full of tales of heroism but always seemed to disappear when the actual foe appears. The Dottore was also a fun one, full of …read more

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The Martha Graham Company performed in my town last night.
I’m very, very sad I missed it. It’s one of the curses of being a Real Person, as opposed to that glorified and totally unrealistic view of the American Artist. Me, I had a kid who was sick and needed to go to the doctor, a podcast that needed to be edited, a wife who needs my attention (since I’ve been spending so much time writing and such), and there really weren’t the finances to go and see it anyway.
I shouldn’t feel bad–there was a time when no one was seeing …read more

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Say hello to Sara Michelson. I have an instant affinity for her dancework, since she made her debut at PS 122 in NYC, which was also the site of my first semi-pro gig (I was only a technical advisor, but it was NEW YORK, baby!).
The woman is making quite a splash in the dance world with some pretty unusual pieces–when Baryshnikov commissioned her to do a piece for his White Oak Project, for example, she responded by choreographing a piece where he was shackled and (mostly) stripped. Her P.S. 122 piece actually hid the dancers for a good portion of …read more

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