Good News About Arts & Entertainment:
May 2009 Archive
Piano Man, Winning Russian Hearts and Minds
(Clifford J. Levy, New York Times) It was his last night in Russia, and the American pianist Daniel Pollack had just finished a performance at the American ambassador’s residence that was thronged with Russians. He was addressing the audience, speaking of his affection for this land, of its enduring musicality, of friendships dating from Khrushchev’s time. He then paused. "It’s happening now," he said, smiling and choking up a little. "I get filled with so much emotion when I’m leaving."
For R& B Star, Day Job's the Real High Note
(J. Freedom du Lac, Washington Post) Today will unfold just like all the other days for Herb Feemster, the suave "Reunited" and "Shake Your Groove Thing" singer from Southeast Washington who rose to international fame in the 1960s and '70s with Peaches and Herb. The 67-year-old soul man with the sweet falsetto will scrape himself out of bed and push off from his suburban Maryland home in the still of the night. He'll pull into a Penn Quarter parking lot between 4:30 and 5. He'll put on his patent leather shoes, gray slacks, white shirt, red tie and blue blazer. And by 6, he'll be on the clock at the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, where he works as a deputized court security officer for the U.S. Marshals Service.
Pixar's Small Wonder
(Sarah Ball, Newsweek) There's a brief scene in the back half of Pixar's Up in which 8-year-old Russell recalls how, years before, his estranged father used to take him out for ice cream. Butter Brickle was Dad's favorite flavor, Russell's was chocolate, and the pair would sit together, slurping their melting treats and counting passing red and blue cars. "That might sound boring," says Russell, pink-cheeked with embarrassment. "But I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember most." If anything sums Pixar's modus operandi, it's loving the boring stuff.
US Army offers literary lessons for warrior writers
(Rhea Wessel, TheLocal.de) It’s no surprise many US soldiers stationed in Germany often have unique stories to tell, so Rhea Wessel sat in on a recent writing workshop with best-selling author Daniel Wallace in Heidelberg. Wallace, who wrote “Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions,” was the second author to tour in the “Conversations” series of literary discussions sponsored by the US Army Europe libraries. Wallace followed Andrew Carroll, who spent three weeks with soldiers and family members in September 2008. And in August this year, Gary Shteyngart, the author of “Absurdistan” and “The Russian Debutante’s Handbook,” will tour garrison libraries in Germany. “The idea of the programme is to bring over published writers from a variety of different fields, not just fiction, and really create an environment where they’re not just talking at our audience, but there’s actually an interaction,” said Christina Kruger, the director of acquisitions and programming for Army Europe Libraries.
Van Cliburn 2009: Piano is a passion for blind competitor
(Michael Granberry, Dallas Morning News) He has been here only a week, but from the moment he arrived, Nobuyuki Tsujii has had an impact on the neighborhood.Each day, the ritual is the same: He eats breakfast with his host family, John and Carol Davidson, who live in a town home near downtown Fort Worth, and then begins to play: Chopin, Debussy, Liszt, Beethoven. Molly, the Davidsons' tiny Cairn terrier, nestles under the Steinway for a closer listen. A mom walking an infant circles the door repeatedly. Rather than complain, other neighbors have asked the Davidsons to please keep the front door open.
No Doubt is planning to have some fun
(Denise Quan, CNN) If a kewpie doll sang in a band and had two kids, she'd be Gwen Stefani. The pop star and style icon turns 40 this fall, but she still uses words like "you know" and "like" at least five times a minute. That's part of Stefani's charm, and her carefree teenybopper mentality is one of the many reasons fans are excited about her first tour with No Doubt in half a decade.
Susan Boyle catapulted to finals of 'Britain's Got Talent'
(CNN) Singing sensation Susan Boyle breezed through to the finals of the television show "Britain's Got Talent" after the audience on Sunday voted her semi-finals performance the best of the night. Her performance of "Memory" from the musical "Cats" earned her a standing ovation and a spot in next Saturday's finale. The 47-year-old from Scotland wiggled her hips in a little jig when she heard the results.
'Ledger and Friends' Present Actor's Final Role
(AP) Heath Ledger's zeal roused his co-stars to up their game in his final film, and his death inspired them - and three A-list friends who completed his role - to carry on with a story the late actor had wanted to see, director Terry Gilliam said Friday. As Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, the filmmaker said Ledger almost co-directed the film.
Hollywood eyes $70 zombie movie wowing Cannes
(Tom Foster, CNN) A budding British director is enjoying success on a shoestring at Cannes with "Colin," a new zombie feature that cost a scarcely believable $70 to make. Japanese distributors are currently in negotiations for the rights to the film and buzz around the no-budget zombie chiller has attracted interest from some major American distributors -- all of which is a very nice surprise for the team behind "Colin."
Back to school for grandad Fonz
(Kevin Courtney, Irish Times) The dyslexic Henry Winkler’s school years were not happy days, but the actor formerly known as Fonzie is back in class in Dublin with a positive story to share. HEEEYYY! Listen up, kids. The Fonz is back, and he’s coming to your school. Happy days! Actor Henry Winkler, known to a generation as Fonzie, the leather-clad rebel in 1970s sitcom Happy Days, is in Dublin this weekend to launch the latest in his series of books for children, Hank Zipzer: Help! Somebody Get Me Out of Fourth Grade! . The Hank Zipzer series, about a 10-year-old boy with dyslexia, addresses issues of learning difficulties with a mixture of zany humour, gentle empathy and an understanding of what grabs a young person’s imagination.
Manuel Alguacil, 9, publishes his first book Thok, the Vain Dragon
(Graham Keeley, Times Online) At 6 years old, Manuel Alguacil could barely hold his copy of The Lord of the Rings but the hefty tome was enough to get him hooked on writing. Three years later, Manuel has become one of the youngest authors in the world with the publication of his book Thok, the Vain Dragon. The 38-page fantasy tale, inspired by J. R .R. Tolkien’s book and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, has made Manuel, 9, the toast of the Spanish literary set. Next week he will take a day off primary school to sign copies of the book at the Madrid Book Fair, where he will mix with authors such as Ken Follett, Javier Cercas, the author of Soldiers of Salamis, and Ildefonso Falcones, the author of the bestseller Cathedral of the Sea.
Hubble's Last Visit To Be Relived in 3-D
(Robert Pearlman, Space.com) Eight pairs of eyes were trained on the Hubble Space Telescope on Tuesday as it was released into orbit after spending a week berthed in space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay. Seven of those stares belonged to the crew of STS-125, who worked to upgrade the satellite during that time. The eighth captured the view for the rest of us: an IMAX 3D camera. The 70 mm camera, best known for producing the large format movies that museums and science centers project on giant screens, was flown on the orbiter to document the fifth and final crewed mission to service the telescope for "Hubble 3D", to be released by Warner Brothers in the spring of 2010.
Drummer's son picks up sticks
(Jon Bream, Minneapolis Star Tribune) Springsteen fans can probably imagine the introduction from the Boss: "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, ye of great faith and ye without any faith: Tonight I've come to tell you that the E Street Band is pulling a rock 'n' roll first. Never in the history of this great calling has a band replaced one of its living members with that man's -- or woman's -- own progeny. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, in the spirit of Wally Pipp to Lou Gehrig, Pete Best to Ringo Starr, Richard Nixon to Gerald Ford, we are making the switch on the drums -- from Mighty Max Weinberg to Joltin' Jay Weinberg."
Echo And The Bunnymen's 'Ocean Rain' Headed To Space
(Michael D. Ayers, Billboard) Seminal British post-punk group Echo and The Bunnymen are going to space. Well, their critically acclaimed album "Ocean Rain" is, at least. The group was recently contacted by NASA astronaut - and huge Bunnymen fan - Timothy Korpa about taking some of the group's music on his next mission, citing the 1984 record as his favorite of their catalog. Korpa plans to take snapshots of the crew in space with the album during their voyage. "Now it's official. We are the coolest band in the universe," said vocalist Ian McCulloch in a released statement.
Teen Tunes His Family Tradition To a Modern Key
(Ian Shapira, Washington Post) To students and teachers at Woodbridge High School, senior Sulaiman Azimi is known as the toboggan-wearing, raspy-voiced singer/guitarist whose songs even the teachers like. Word is out that he has a music producer -- in New York. Unbeknownst to many, however, is the musical history Sulaiman carries in his genes: His father, Habib Azimi, 51, was a pop/folk singer in Afghanistan in the late 1970s and early 1980s and a regular on the country's national radio and television stations. He sang at private parties with Jalil Zaland, the godfather of the country's music scene. After fleeing Afghanistan's Communist-backed regime in 1983 with his wife, Habib moved to Northern Virginia, gave up the music profession, began working at a taxi company and started a family.
Kenny Chesney Plays Free Dallas Concert
(Ray Waddell, Billboard) Kenny Chesney played a free show last night at Pizza Hut Park in Dallas that drew about 25,000 people. The free concert came in the wake of a rain-shortened May 2 performance, though Chesney was not contractually obligated to come back and play again. The considerable production tab for last night's three-hour-plus show was "on Kenny's dime," says promoter Louis Messina, president of TMG/AEG Live. "In my whole career no other artist has ever done that," he tells Billboard.com.
Beam me up? Already here. NASA astronauts watch Star Trek in space
(Sophie Tedmanson, Times Online) Captain Kirk really was beamed up to space last week when astronauts living on board the International Space Station enjoyed a movie night - appropriately watching the new Star Trek film which was wired up to them from Nasa headquarters on earth. The station’s resident Trekkie, American astronaut Michael Barratt, had specifically requested the film after realising that orbiting the earth in a space module was the perfect environment to watch the early adventures of Captain Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest of the crew on board the Starship Enterprise.
The Art and Heart of Blind Photographers
(Matt Kettman, Time) Blind photography: the very concept sounds like an oxymoron. But an intriguing and often striking exhibition of photographs in Riverside, California, argues that it emanates from the core of contemporary art. The show "Sight Unseen," at the California Museum of Photography until Aug. 29, features everything from underwater scenes off Catalina Island, transvestites in New Orleans and Braille-enhanced black-and-whites as well as portraits, nudes, landscapes, travel shots, abstracts, collages, and everything else you might expect from a "sighted" photographer. Except the subtext and context is blindness: the photographers are legally blind, some born without sight or with limited vision, and others who have lost their vision over time. And that is why, argues the man who organized the show, they are at the very heart of art.
Unlikely artist eyes world carving title
(Alanah May Eriksen, New Zealand Herald) Deborah Lloyd seems an unlikely carving artist - she stands just 158cm tall and used to be afraid of chainsaws. But the Rotorua mother of two will represent New Zealand at the Chainsaw Carving Team World Championship in Dresden, Germany, next week. Ms Lloyd, the only woman in the competition, was put off chainsaws when she was a little girl after an accident left her with a gash in her leg. She had been holding firewood for her dad while he cut it when his hand slipped and the instrument struck her. She wasn't seriously hurt but the experience was enough to put her off using chainsaws. But years later, while watching her former partner sculpt a piece of wood with a chainsaw, her thinking changed.
Danny Gokey Sees Music, Charity Work Ahead After 'Idol'
(Gary Graff, Billboard) He may be off "American Idol," but Danny Gokey has big plans that he can't wait to get underway in the wake of his success on the show. "I would like to start a movement with my music," the Top 3 finisher told reporters on a conference call Thursday, the day after he was eliminated from the show. "I didn't get in this thing for the money. I didn't get into it so I could live this glamorous lifestyle. Does that come with this career? It will...But I feel like my vision is a little different. Maybe it didn't line up with the goals of what ('Idol's' producers) see as a pop star. I'm OK with that. I was a nobody, and this show turned me into somebody. I do believe the best is yet to come for me. This is not the end of the road." Gokey said his first order of business now is to get back to his home town of Milwaukee and start work in earnest with his Sophia's Heart Foundation, named for his late wife who passed away in July after her third heart surgery.
Alicia Keys asks `Idol' fans to text for charity
(Sandy Cohen, AP) Alicia Keys wants $5 from every "American Idol" fan. The Grammy-winning singer appeared on the hit Fox show Wednesday to urge viewers to support the Text ALIVE Challenge, which aims to bring medicine and medical care to children and families with HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. Keys asked fans to text the word "alive" to 90999 to donate $5 to Keep a Child Alive, the charity she co-founded and for which she serves as global ambassador. She also introduced a beneficiary of the charity, 15-year-old Rwandan rapper Noah, who performed on the show."
Apollo Theater Turns 75 With Gala Concert, Ceremony
(Mariel Concepcion, Billboard) The Apollo Theater will celebrate its 75th anniversary with a benefit tribute concert and an awards ceremony, among other festivities, on Monday, June 8h beginning at 6:30 p.m., to be held at the historic venue. Hosted by comedian, actor and radio personality Steve Harvey, the gala will feature the induction of Quincy Jones and Patti LaBelle into the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame, who will be presented with their awards by Jamie Foxx and Mariah Carey. Past inductees into the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame include Smokey Robinson, James Brown, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Little Richard and Ella Fitzgerald.
Theater organ undergoes revival
(Tom Beyerlein, Dayton Daily News) Just before King Wrecking Co. crews tore down Dayton’s RKO Keith’s Theatre in 1967, David Bowers and a couple of friends went there on a mission to save a precious artifact. "Pipe organ? We don’t have an organ!" a worker told them. "Uhh, we think you do," Bowers said. Bowers and his friends, Roy Haning and Neal White, found a 1922-vintage Wurlitzer Style 210 pipe organ, "a gem of an instrument," in Bowers’ estimation. Haning and White bought the organ and its nearly 1,000 pipes on the spot. Four decades later, the RKO Keith’s Mighty Wurlitzer is being restored in Medford, Mass., for use in Medford’s Chevalier Theatre. If all goes as planned, it’ll be played for the first time since 1986 sometime next year.
Leno takes stand-up to jobless Ohioans
(James Hannah, AP) In a region stung by layoffs and the pullout of a major employer, comedian Jay Leno was good for a few laughs yesterday. The host of The Tonight Show put on a free stand-up performance for 4,000 people as part of his "Comedy Stimulus Plan& tour. "I don't think Jay Leno can do anything about our local economy or the situation here, but at least he empathizes with us," said John Porter of Wilmington.
Movie stars help Titanic survivor
(BBC News) Movie stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio have helped pay towards the nursing home fees of the last Titanic survivor, the fund's chairman said. The actors, along with director James Cameron, are thought to have donated $30,000 (£22,000) after being asked to help 97-year-old Millvina Dean. Miss Dean from the New Forest was nine weeks old when the liner sank in 1912. She is struggling with monthly bills of £3,000 and is in danger of losing her room at her Southampton nursing home.
The Role of Their Dreams
(Sarah Kershaw, New York Times) While preparing for her role as Addison Montgomery Shepherd, or the villainous Mrs. Dr. McDreamy to fans of the hit series "Grey’s Anatomy," Kate Walsh reached into the depths of her dream life. Working with an acting coach and in workshops with other actors, using an increasingly popular technique influenced by Jungian psychology in which actors study and play the characters in their dreams, Ms. Walsh mined her unconscious for clues to understanding her character.
Gretchen Wilson Is Education Inspiration
(Gayle Richardson, TheBoot.com) Gretchen Wilson took the mic before a very different type of audience this week. The country star, who proudly earned her GED last year after a 20-year hiatus from school, traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify in a hearing before the Subcommittee on Higher Education. Gretchen used the opportunity to detail her own personal struggle to support herself without an education. She also spoke of the positive turn her life has taken since receiving her GED.
Dedicated to a poetic Korea
(David McNeill, Irish Times) In his courting days, Kevin O’Rourke once walked the 17-mile journey from Cavan town to Clones, in nearby Co Monaghan, in pursuit of a girl. Adventures like that, in the countryside that inspired W Percy French, Patrick Kavanagh, Patrick McCabe and other writers may unwittingly have prepared him for his unusual path: becoming the world’s greatest translator of Korean poetry. O’Rourke (70) gave up girls, Ireland and much else besides to achieve his task. "I set out to put out the entire Korean poetry tradition in English," he says from his home in the Korean capital, Seoul. Nearly 45 years later, the job is almost done.
Iggy Pop, Perry Farrell and Tom Morello Join a Huge Supergroup at "Road Recovery" Benefit
(Rolling Stone) "It’s about putting the smack down, so we gonna put the smackdown," joked Boots Riley before Friday night’s New York City benefit for Road Recovery, an organization that steers kids away from substance abuse by using the stories of entertainers and musicians who have been there and done that. The bar at Nokia Theatre was closed for the night and the choice of "Love Is the Drug" as the house music probably wasn’t an accident, as artist after artist took the stage to spread messages of clean living and to play a few songs.
Fort Worth 12-year-old grabbing national attention as a pianist
(Deborah Fleck, Dallas Morning News) Lewis Warren Jr. started plunking on a beat-up old piano when he was 3. That one-finger tinkering soon turned into melodies. Then harmonies came together. By 5, he was composing. Today, at 12 years old, he plays like a virtuoso and is well on his way to becoming a celebrity. His talent is quickly drawing attention, but almost accidentally. "It's amazing how so much has fallen his way," said his mom, Shirlett Warren. "Opportunity just comes to him."
It's the dawn of the zombie zeitgeist
(Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune) People of Chicago, while you sleep, the Zombie Readiness Task Force worries, with admirably straight faces. In the event of an outbreak of the dead, should bodies of the deceased rise from their graves and stalk the streets of Chicago muttering for a bite of brain, the Zombie Readiness Task Force has a plan of action. Its members have even written it down -- or rather, they have mostly written it down. The Zombie Readiness Task Force began at the University of Chicago as an act of speculative procrastination. Junior Justin Hartmann and some friends, punchy after long hours of study at one of the most famously studious universities in the country, began to play a game of "What would you do if ... ?"
Coldplay Reward Fans With Free Live LP "LeftRightLeftRightLeft"
(Rolling Stone) Starting with their May 15th show in West Palm Beach, Florida, Coldplay will give all fans that attend a gig on their North American Viva la Vida summer tour a free live album, the band revealed on its Website. Fans who aren’t holding tickets to any of those performances can get the nine-song collection, LeftRightLeftRightLeft, as a free download on the band’s official Website starting May 15th. Physical copies of the album will only be available at Coldplay’s concerts, however.
Music students meet up with blues performers
(Bennett J. Loudon, Democrat & Chronicle) East High School band director Louis Wilson Jr. wants his students to get the blues — as in music. They got a crash course Thursday morning from Rochester bluesman Joe Beard and his band, the Blues Union, in the form of a 45-minute set in the school auditorium. The performance was part of the Blues in the Schools program, which started March 30 with Beard, singer Debbie Kendrick and trumpet player Herb Smith working with small groups of music students for several weeks at East High, School of the Arts and School 3.
Holy promotions, Batman! Free Comic Book Day hits New York this Saturday
(Patrick Montero, New York Daily News) It's Christmas, July 4th and Thanksgiving all wrapped into one day for comic book fans. This Saturday is the eighth annual Free Comic Book Day, an event where thousands of comic book shops worldwide give away free comic book issues to customers in a massive industry-wide promotion. Free Comic Book Day has become an annual event that takes place on the first Saturday of May, and is usually tied to the premiere of a comic film - this year it's the movie, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."
BGT Pizza man beats stage fright
(Mirror) A pizza delivery man overcomes crippling stage fright to wow Britain's Got Talent judges with a song from Les Miserables on the next show. Jamie Pugh, 37, attended the Cardiff auditions, and revealed that he was so terrified that he had not slept for three nights. He explained: "I suffer from severe stage fright, it has totally crippled me, and I've come today to see if I can get through three minutes." He continued: "I'm just a simple bloke from the Valleys, but my dream is to sing at the Royal Variety in front of a live orchestra."