I think I did. He was one of my Chicago stringers at Back Stage and I sorely wish I could give him some shows to reviews. And I met him for the first time during my trip to the O'Neill. Oh, to be young. Then again, I feel groggy and weary and tragic. Punchy and bleary and fresh out of magic -- but alive. But alive! But alive!
Sphere: Related ContentI got back tonight from teaching in the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. This is one year when I wish I could review the play I saw -- and I mean that in the positive sense. That's all I can say. The list includes a new play, Magnolia, and two new musicals: Iron Curtain and Max Understood. (Yes, the same Iron Curtain that ran here some time ago.)
But I got back to learn that I'd been quoted in an article about Mamma Mia! in the New York Daily News. How bloody cool! I'd forgotten completely that Lewis Beale had interviewed me. Good piece, too.
If that's the case, read this simple and clear explanation. And be sure to take action regarding what you can do to make it a reality in New York City.
Sphere: Related ContentTo those who have it in for my friend, the attorney Howard Blau -- listen up. Howie is a friend of mine and he's never done anything to me at all. When I've needed him for certain things, he has always been there and I know he's been there for many, many others as well. Few people, in my view, are as generous with time and expertise as he is.
Maybe as a lawyer he did something (or some things) that were legally questionable -- that's for bar associations, judges and other attorneys to hash out, not for me. I am absolutely not going to judge him badly just because some bat-shit idiots out there are intent upon trying, over and over again, to post comments on my blog that trash-talk him.
You got something to say about Howard Blau? Go create your own goddamn blog. The more you try to post comments defaming him on my blog, the more I'm going to reject them. Especially when you try to comment anonymously. What colosally stupid cowards you are. Please, spare us all and step in front of a loaded gun where you belong. Or get yourself a friggin' life. Or at least go the hell away.
So Councilwoman Melinda Katz won't fully get behind the Demolition Review Amendment (and where is Andrew Berman in this?), but she'll ask to circumvent how she receives and when she spends campaign finance contributions from the real estate industry. Is that what I'm reading in this Times article? (Not the part about the Demolition Review Amendment.)
Corruption. Thy name is Katz?
Well, maybe not everything they deserve, but something good -- a stop work order.
Yes, that right: the people at Greystone Property Development, who despite their commitment to a very green structure at 180 E. 93rd Street turn a blind, aggressively antagonistic and blithe eye toward preservation, have had to stop digging and working and whatever else they're doing. I got lots of emails on this today from Susan Hefti. Among them:
And:My three favorite words in the English language (next to "God, you're beautiful!)have become STOP WORK ORDER.
On Wednesday, July 9, 2008, 180 East 93rd Street was shut down again: the entire job, the entire site. The Borough Commissioner's order cites the developer for violating Section 28-1051...
A STOP WORK ORDER [has been] slapped across the face of the plywood construction wall, right next to Greystone Development's sign advertising their multimillion dollar co-op units which they call 180e93rd (can you spell pretentious?).
I don't know how dramatic this is, but you CAN see that Greystone is digging WAY below the foundation of the historic home on the left.
Greystone wants to drill below even as we are all on a rock ledge here on this - the steepest slope in Carnegie Hill, and one can NOT blast. Without drilling, they can't get deep enough to install their Buck Rogers air conditioner (you know, the one they claim will singlehandedly cool down the planet...when in actuality it will gobble up way more kilowatts then ever used previously on Marx Brothers Place because if Greystone's project succeeds it will exponentially increase the residential density on the block and, in turn, increase the demand for electricity use - thereby negating any environmental benefit they purport to provide from their land-rape experiment).
Big Foot Leaves Deep Impression on Marx Brothers PlaceAnd:
There is not a shoe size big enough to measure the enormity of the carbon footprint Greystone Development is leaving on the fragile urban ecosystem of historic Marx Brothers Place in Carnegie Hill.
(See these links for more on the devastating environmental effects.)
But, at least, Greystone Development's spin doctors are certain to pay off their Hamptons mortgages with the creative canards they pump out like cookies on a baking sheet, all designed to whitewash their reportedly $30 million condo proposal green. After all, these days paying off a mortgage is nothing to sneeze at.
And certainly no one can say these demolition darlings haven't earned their keep. Just like the construction site itself, now known as 180 East 93rd Street (recall Mark Giller's horrifying pics of Greystone's trucks smashing into a street sign and tearing off a tree limb in the middle of the night on our quiet little residential block), these public relations gurus must be hooked up to an intravenous supply of Red Bull as they work around the clock.
Neighbors here were stunned that while on that 24-7 clock of theirs, Greystone Development's PR people managed to spin the irreparable harm they've done and continue to do to our fragile urban ecosystem (by demolishing 2,640 square feet of species habitats and green space, and now digging well below the depth of the original 19th century house foundations into virgin earth - all without ever having done an environmental impact statement) into a good thing for the environment (if it were, wouldn't Greystone have submitted an environmental impact statement and really strutted its green-stuff?).
In the recent NY Times story about the developer's endeavor to carve out a significant portion of the earth in order to install a subterranean air conditioning system, Greystone Development brags that all this digging and backfilling of virgin earth with concrete and metal is really good for the environment.
The developer argues that demolishing century-old gardens, trees and species habitats is great & green because burrowing into the virgin earth will eventually reduce the use of killowatts gobbled up by Greystone's proposed condo complex, and spare the neighborhood from having to see an air conditioning unit set back on the roof of the same proposed condo complex.
Oh yes, the neighborhood would much prefer to see a huge pit (or ultimately a huge condo complex) where once there were 3 ornate 19th century homes housing fewer than 4 people, along with the adjoining contiguous century-old gardens and trees (2,640 square feet of green space which did more to help sustain the city's fragile ecosystem than Greystone Development's air conditioning unit ever will). Not !
Too bad no one at the Times asked the developer the obvious question: wouldn't it have been best for the environment, the neighborhood and the city to simply recycle the historic homes, and leave the historic trees & green space intact?
And what about the other obvious question: how much will electricity use be increased anyway by the simple fact that the developer's proposed condo complex, if approved, will increase the residential density on this tiny block exponentialy, adding far more demand for electricity and thereby negating any possible environmental benefit from Greystone's massive air conditioning unit?
And what about the carbon footprint left behind from all of the heavy machinery and the contractors' SUVs and Pick-up trucks driving in and out from New Jersey as they do every day?
The 19th century Gornsey houses, also known as the sister houses, were razed to rubble without a thought to the ecological impact on the Carnegie Hill neighborhood or the city.
And as if that senseless demolition weren't enough of a carbon footprint, the developer is now trying to shoehorn a cooling system deep below ground (where he intends to drill even much deeper than he's already dug) without any ecological study of the impact and without any archaeological survey of the site.
Significant historic remnants have been found around most historic sites and structures all throughout NYC. Those recovered historic remains (e.g., ceramic shards, bones, etc.) are now the subject of numerous studies at college and university archaeology departments (including those in the CUNY system where many of these remnants have been painstakingly indexed and catalogued) as they hold valuable truths to our collective past, truths that are not recorded in any ledger.
These historic remains provide the intimate, often unspoken, details of how people lived, socialized, prioritized, survived and died. Any remnants of the Native Americans who lived and hunted on these lands long before Gornsey ever drew his first sketch for the sister houses are being carted off by Greystone Development, snuffing out the voices of these indigenous peoples, once again.
Here on Marx Brothers Place, the City of New York has given free rein to Greystone Development, not even requiring that the developer account for what is removed from these ancient properties, the site of some of the first houses ever built in Carnegie Hill.
It has been said that civilizations that are not sustainable tend to collapse. And a city that is willing to give away the keys to the bulldozer without blinking an eye, and without a thought to the effect on our collective history and our fragile urban ecosystem, is clearly not promoting any kind of development that is sustainable.
So while the developer's spin doctors are laughing all the way to the bank, the carbon footprint here on Marx Brothers Place gets wider and wider, and deeper and deeper. Soon, only Big Foot himself will be able to fit his outsize paw into the glass slipper that is the carbon footprint left behind by Greystone Development's wrongheaded project on East 93rd Street.
Sadly, along with the treasures it has robbed from our fragile urban ecosystem, Greystone Development continues to heave whole chapters of our city's incomparable history, choosing instead to blindly plunder ahead, gouging the earth, demolishing historic gardens and trees, and tossing away tons of previously undisturbed earth without so much as a thought to what historic narratives might have been told if they simply looked before they leaped.
For more information contact: Susan Kathryn Hefti, Co-Chair, 93rd Street Beautification Association, 93rdst.beautification@gmail.com, or visit our blog at www.savemarxbrothersplace.wordpress.com.
As you can see from this photo, taken by our architectural historian, the house that Greystone demolished in order to make room for its big underground air conditioner was in fine shape as were the details of its extraordinary carved cornice, ornate lintels and window casings.Sphere: Related Content
E.D. Gornsey built this house at 182, along with the previously demolished sister houses at 180 & 178. They had beautiful stepped-down roofs which reflect the unique steep topography of our hill. These three 19th century houses along with their historic gardens, trees and bird flyways have been thrown away to make room for
Greystone's 30 million dollar condo-complex.
The house pictured here was bought by the well known New Yorker William Orth in 1882. What a loss. What a shame.
Just who IS minding the store?
I had another phenomenal opportunity last last week before the holiday break -- to interview former Alaska senator and 2008 presidential candidate Mike Gravel on the occasion of his new book, A Political Odyssey, coming out. He was a scream -- and brilliant.
The content below is from Americans for the Arts' Cultural Policy Listserv, email blast of June 18, 2008:
Putting the Arts back into the Arts
Utne Reader, July-August 2008
"During his stint at the NEA, [former chairman Bill Ivey] dreamed up an unofficial Cultural Bill of Rights, which he fleshes out in his book 'Arts, Inc.: How Greed and Neglect Have Destroyed Our Cultural Rights' (University of California Press, 2008). [He] argues that arts policy has long targeted two issues, arts education and increasing funding for nonprofit organizations, that aim to 'bring more fine art to the American people' without encouraging more people to actually create. Amateurs who might like to dabble in photography or the guitar, for instance, aren’t empowered by our society (or our schools) to do so. 'Utne Reader' talked with Ivey about why we’re making less art and what public policy’s got to do with it."
Because creativity is threatening to Republicans?
Economic impact of arts more than $105 million
Jacksonville Daily Record (FL), 6/26/2008
"A study by the Northeast Florida Center for Community Initiatives at the University of North Florida found that in 2007, Jacksonville’s nonprofit arts and culture industry contributed more than $105.6 million to the local economy. The research study was commissioned by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville and measured the economic contributions of 38 nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in Duval County. The report summarizes data from a wide variety of cultural organizations representing music, dance, visual arts, theater, history, and arts education. The groups reported total expenditures of over $54.5 million, primarily in the areas of personnel, rent, advertising, and artistic fees. Using a multiplier developed by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the economic impact of the arts and culture industry was determined to be more than $105.6 million."
And the cost of counting all the ballots in the 2008 presidential election: priceless. Seriously, this is good news.
The proposed new law is a nightmare for artists
The Art Newspaper, 6/19/2008
Artist Frank Stella criticizes the proposed "Orphan Works" legislation, saying, "[I]t would give carte blanche to infringers even if they wished to exploit an artistic work for commercial advantage. Under the proposed legislation, if a copyright holder finds out about an infringement after the fact, his only remedy would be to bring a lawsuit in federal court where a judge could order the payment of what he determines would have been paid by “a reasonable willing buyer and reasonable willing seller” before the infringement took place. This is in sharp contrast to existing law where a copyright holder may obtain a halt to the infringement, the destruction of infringing copies, and damages that may be up to $150,000 for each work of art infringed. This would remove the deterrent that keeps piracy rates at a manageable level. . . . Few artists can afford the costs of federal litigation: attorneys’ fees in our country vastly exceed the licencing fee for a typical painting or drawing."
Again, we live in a society profoundly hostile to artists. If Bill Ivey wants to know why amateurs are not encouraged to be creative, perhaps it has something to do with a mentality like the one described in this legislation.
ADAA President Resolves to Secure Donation Pledges in Return for Tax Code Changes
Maine Antique Digest, 2008
"Year after year, artists, art dealers, and art museum directors have called upon Congress to enact legislation that would permit artists to receive a full, fair-market deduction on their tax returns when they donate their own artwork to museums. (Since 1969, artists making donations of artwork are permitted only to deduct the cost of materials, rather than the full value of the art.) Year after year, legislation authorizing this change in the law has failed even to come up for a vote. Roland Augustine, a New York City art gallery owner and president of the Art Dealers Association of America, has a new idea, a sort of carrot to hold before legislators. 'I plan to secure pledges from fifty living American artists for one important work from their own collections that they would donate to a museum if legislation is passed,' he said."
I'd love to see the names on this list.
Arts budget cuts add up to a $3M victory
Star-Ledger (NJ), 7/1/2008
"The state Council on the Arts will receive $19.2 million -- $2.7 million less than last year -- as part of the $32.9 billion spending plan signed into law Monday. Despite a 12 percent cut, the arts council budget exceeds by $3 million the amount proposed by Gov. Jon Corzine at the start of the budget process." The approved budget also cuts or eliminates annual funding to numerous state arts organizations.
Interesting information in this article.
Hollywood East costly act
Boston Herald, 6/28/2008
Massachusetts state Rep. Steven D’Amico argues against a bill that provide a state subsidy for 20 percent of the costs of building movie studios, because "[o]nce studios are built it will be impossible to sunset the production tax credits, which are scheduled to end in 2013. Like New York, we will be forced to defend our studios with ever-escalating subsidies. . . . [W]e will be committed to funding 25 percent of their operating costs. Forever."
People are never goddamn happy. There's runaway production in Canada in the early part of this decade and people scream that we've got to bring it back. A few states get the bright idea of tax incentives to lure production back stateside and then everyone starts complaining that incentives are forcing states to compete against each other (that's the point). Suddenly states compete against each other for production via tax incentives and when economic times turn tough, people like this dude turn on tax incentives. Vicious goddamn cycle, and dumb.
Portland's arts funding should increase
The Oregonian, 6/29/2008
Although Portland currently ranks No. 23 per capita among U.S. metropolitan regions in arts funding, art advocates anticipate "[t]hat will likely change with Mayor-elect Sam Adams and newly elected City Commissioner Nick Fish in office. Portland now has perhaps the strongest arts and cultural advocates since the days of Commissioner Mike Lindberg in the '80s and '90s. But the road to arts heaven will be hard-earned. Adams, Fish and other arts and culture leaders say Portland will move up the arts-funding chart only if the city doubles the arts budget and encourages support from private businesses. Most of all, they say, the arts community must learn how to master the political system for its own ends in the way that the affordable housing and sustainability movements have."
There's a beer running Portland?
Report: Out-of-state actor salaries help trigger big tax credits in Mass
Malden Observer (Medford, MA), 6/28/2008
In Massachusetts, "[l]egislators moved to advance a tax credit bill for film studios late last Tuesday, hours after a Patrick administration analysis showed tax credits are subsidizing millionaire actor salaries and raised questions about the economic prudence of additional incentives for the industry. The Department of Revenue report released quietly late Monday, which hypothetically analyzes film industry spending, estimated the state collects under 18 cents in budgetary revenue for every dollar it furnishes in tax credits, and that roughly one-third of the spending so far in 2008 has paid actors earning over $1 million per film, virtually all of whom live out of state. Most of the hefty salaries are likely spent or saved out of state, the report said."
So modify the incentives, but don't get rid of them. Also, which specific actors? Very, very, very few actors make millions on a film -- it should be easy to figure out these individuals might be. Mark Wahlberg? Ben Affleck?
Giving's Tough Climate
Chronicle of Philanthropy, 6/26/2008
"The sluggish economy is showing its effects on charitable donations, which rose just 1 percent last year after inflation, according to Giving USA, the annual tally of American philanthropy to be released this week. . . . Charities report that donors of all types have recently delayed or reduced gifts — or stopped giving altogether. But not all charities faced trouble last year. Organizations that increased donations in 2007 tended to be large, sophisticated institutions and those that have worked hard in recent years to expand and diversify their fund raising and develop other sources of revenue that can offset the effects of a shaky economy."
Get ready -- these numbers are going to get worse next year, especially if the market continues to tumble.
I had a great opportunity -- to interview the great literary raconteur Sidney Offit on the occasion of the publishing of his second memoir, Friends, Writers, and Other Countrymen. One of the things I told him is that he was one of the first people I ever interviewed -- back when I was in high school, for my school paper. That was back in the day when he was still doing regular on-air debates opposite Dr. Martin Abend on the Channel 5 News.
Here's the Q&A, published on Metromix.com (and perhaps AM New York).
Here's a teaser/spoiler -- but do click over and read the whole thing.
How did you decide these anecdotes would make a new memoir?
I was told to write this book by my son Ken, who’s in his 50s, and though I have paranoia around name-dropping, I realized how fascinated I always was by my encounters. When I was a baseball reporter, my most meaningful experience was with Jackie Robinson and my conversations with Willie Mays. Those snippets of conversation put together a life. Years ago I had sort of a histrionic perception of myself as an introverted writer, but my wife Avodah said to me “You need people” and moved me to go to the New York Public Library to write, where I met so many other writers. Profound people to me were solitary, reserved and thoughtful. Eventually I learned it was people themselves who were always my major adventure.
For New York Press. I rarely point to what other colleagues write, but I thought Aaron Riccio's take on the play was pretty on the money, too. Here's a link to that, but only after you read my New York Press piece.
Speaking of which, here's a tease:
The following review is brought to you by our sponsor, the International Association of Professional Spoilers, always dedicated to the ruination of your evening.
In the final scene of Stitching, Anthony Neilson’s two-hander about a couple that should never have been a couple, the female, Abby, played by spitfire Israeli actress Meital Dohan, reveals that she’s done something to her privates that’s a horrific form of genital mutilation. Not that there’s any genital mutilation that isn’t degrading and demoralizing, but Abby’s is disturbing to an exponential degree—among the worst of the tribal rites you read about in U.N. reports and news accounts.
And not only that, if you want to write a review of it, visit this link.
Sphere: Related ContentI kind of figured it might happen -- someone in a public way would take on Mike Daisey and his belief (and monologue) How Theater Failed America. It's odd for me because I consider them both friends and I also think the world of both of them and I also think they both have a learning curve in terms of issues surrounding institutional and nonprofit and regional theatre (if I may trifurcate). But I'm very glad that Mike has posted a long, dramatic and well-reasoned reply to Teresa's editorial in the current issue of American Theatre.
I am myself going to take some time to reread both Teresa's essay and Mike's reply and then post some thoughts. In the meantime, does anyone want to take a side? Or offer a third way?
Comments?
Got an email over the weekend from Susan Hefti. Here it is. Do click on the link...
Dear Friends, Neighbors & History Lovers,
Many of you know that Michael Devonshire, who teaches in the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture & Historic Preservation, has been an outspoken supporter of the 93rd Street Beautification Association's campaign to help protect historic Marx Brothers Place in Carnegie Hill.
In today's Sunday NY Times, Devonshire unequivocally endorses the extension of the Carnegie Hill Historic to include the remarkable collection of houses on this block, "not just to satisfy the local residents, but to save a gem for all New Yorkers."
Please click on this link and scroll down to read Devonshire's wonderful Letter to the Editor of the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/nyregion/thecity/06lett.html?_r=1&ref=thecity&oref=slogin
The 93rd Street Beautification Association is grateful to Michael Devonshire and all the other distinguished Preservationists who continue to so enthusiastically embrace our ongoing preservation campaign !
with best regards,
Susan Kathryn Hefti
Co-Chair, 93rd Street Beautification Association
93rdst.beautification@gmail.com
Received this press release today:
MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB
ANNOUNCES
THE FIRST RECIPIENTS OF THE
BANK OF AMERICA PLAYWRIGHT COMMISSIONING PROGRAM
DAVID LINDSAY-ABAIRE, NOAH HAIDLE AND LIZ FLAHIVE TO BE COMMISSIONED
New York, NY (July 2, 2008) -- Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer; Daniel Sullivan, Acting Artistic Director 2007-2008) has announced the recipients of its first Bank of America Playwright Commissioning Program. The three recipients are David Lindsay-Abaire, Noah Haidle and Liz Flahive.
Bank of America has provided a grant to Manhattan Theatre Club to support this three-year program. Commissions will be issued each June. This program is being overseen by Lynne Meadow and MTC’s new Director of Artistic Development Jerry Patch. The commissions will directly support contemporary playwrights by providing the resources needed to create new work -- work that will be nurtured and developed with the goal of being presented on one of MTC’s three stages.
“We are thrilled to be able to commission these deserving American writers and so grateful to Bank of America for making this possible,” stated Jerry Patch. “We look forward to working with our commissioned playwrights and are hopeful we’ll see the Bank of America commissions on our stages.”
“Bank of America is dedicated to helping the arts flourish, particularly American arts and artists,” said Rena DeSisto, global arts & culture executive for Bank of America. “We are pleased to present this opportunity for new American plays to be developed and to contribute to the canon of American theater.”
DAVID LINDSAY-ABAIRE was most recently awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Rabbit Hole, which premiered on Broadway last season at MTC’s Biltmore Theater. The play also received five Tony Award nominations, including Best Play and the Spirit of America Award. His other plays include Fuddy Meers, Kimberly Akimbo, Wonder of the World and A Devil Inside, among others. David is also currently writing the book and lyrics for the Broadway-bound musical Shrek. In addition to his work in theater, David wrote the screenplay for the Newline feature Inkheart, and is currently at work on screen adaptations of his plays Rabbit Hole for 20th Century Fox, starring Nicole Kidman, and Kimberly Akimbo for Dreamworks.
NOAH HAIDLE’s play Persephone opened at the Huntington Theater in April of 2007. His play Vigils premiered at Chicago’s Goodman Theater and later at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. Mr. Marmalade had its New York premiere at the Roundabout Theatre Company. His play Princess Marjorie received its world premiere at South Coast Repertory. Haidle’s Rag and Bone played at the Long Wharf Theatre as part of the New American Voices Festival under the direction of Tina Landau. His latest play Saturn Returns will premiere this fall at the Mitzi Newhouse Theater. He is the recipient of three Lincoln Center Le Compte Du Nuoy Awards, the 2005 Helen Merrill Award for emerging Playwrights, the 2007 Claire Tow Award, and an NEA/TCG theatre residency grant.
LIZ FLAHIVE’s play From Up Here recently premiered at Manhattan Theatre Club and received the John Gassner Playwrighting Award from the Outer Critics Circle. It was also nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. Her plays have been produced, workshopped and read at NYU, Williamstown Theater Festival, Naked Angels and Ars Nova. Liz also volunteers with The 52nd Street Project, an organization that pairs inner city kids with professional theater artists to create original theater.
First drafts of all commissioned plays will be given an in-house reading at MTC’s Creative Center, to be followed by feedback sessions between Artistic Development staff and the playwright. All final scripts will be evaluated for potential production at one of MTC’s three performance spaces.
