| The last word
Although belatedly, please allow me to comment on the current production of the Kansas City Lyric Opera, "The Pearl Fishers." As a veteran of many operas and many opera houses I found the production of this rarely performed work exciting, to say the least. Yes, there are always things to nitpick, but in my opinion it was an excellent production and the pluses so greatly outweigh the negatives that we need not comment on any small shortcomings. Attending the Lyric is a 200-mile round trip for me, but this was worth it. Judging from the applause I am certain most of the audience felt the same way. Thanks, Paul Kudos to Paul Horsley for his coverage of the wonderful and often complimentary-admission musical presentations from many of the churches in the Kansas City area.
Sex Sells Itself at the Aurora Theater in Berkeley
When she was released from jail for transgressing indecency laws with her 1926 play Sex, Mae West told reporters that her play about a street-smart prostitute's adventures in love was "a work of art." This was a bit of a stretch. West based her slapstick comedy on Following the Fleet, a melodrama by New Jersey author Jack Byrne. West scholar Lillian Schlissel dubs Byrne's creation "a third-rate sex play set in a Montreal brothel" in her introduction to a collection of West's plays. Schlissel's backhanded description of Byrne's work could be applied to Sex as well. The plot, concerning hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold Margy LaMont's journey from the gutter to the stars via a Montreal flophouse, a Trinidad nightclub, and the mansion of a wealthy Connecticut family, is flimsy and farcical. But the true creativity of Sex isn't in the aesthetics of its composition.
Broadway Strike Talks Break Down
Seeing as it took them a week just to get to the bargaining table, did anyone think they'd have everything solved in two days? After a weekend of apparently tense negotiations at the Westin Times Square, the League of American Theatres and Producers and Local One's stagehands were, in fact, unable to reach an agreement, meaning that the Broadway strike which began Nov. 10 is on for another week. Even the most cynical prognosticators had been predicting a resolution in time for stuffing and cranberry sauce. But hours of talks on Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 17-18) seemingly failed to get the parties past the biggest sticking point, which reportedly centers on ''load-in'' i.e. the number of stagehands required to physically load a show into a Broadway house. Both sides walked out on the talks, and the League canceled all performances through Sunday, Nov.
Theater dispute talks to resume
NEW YORK -- Facing the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday week, striking Broadway stagehands and theater producers go back to the bargaining table Saturday in an effort to settle their protracted labor dispute that has shut down more than two dozen plays and musicals. Further spurring the talks between Local 1 and the League of American Theatres and Producers will be the presence at the negotiations of two high-powered observers: Robert Johnson, a veteran Disney executive with extensive labor-negotiating experience, and Tom Short, the head of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the parent union of Local 1, said an official from another union who has knowledge of the negotiations but declined to be identified because the official was not authorized to comment. Short has sat in before -- the local needed the parent union's authorization to strike -- but Johnson, who will be sitting on the management side, hasn't.
Bearcat band returns from NYC trip
By David Lazenbydlazenby@cullmantimes.comCullman High School Marching Band members took a big bite of The Big Apple during a trip to New York City this week.The ensemble that was invited to strike up the band at the Nation's Parade held Sunday missed a different musical event because of a strike by Broadway producers and stagehands that started Saturday.The walkout shut down 27 Broadway plays and musicals, including two shows band members planned to attend, "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Wicked.""We had to make some changes," said Band Director Christopher Smith.Although the band missed the shows, Another show became a highlight of the trip.Smith said the band got to perform on "The CBS Early Show.""They came out and filmed our band and we performed a little bit for them and got to be on national TV," said Smith.
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