CELEBRATING SIR PETER USTINOV
TO SAY that actor, writer, dramatist, filmmaker, opera director and stage designer Sir Peter Ustinov was a renaissance man does him a disservice. None of the renaissance men I’ve read … Continue reading
A “SPRUCE GOOSE” FANTASY
HOWARD HUGHES disliked the term “Spruce Goose” for what he preferred to call the Hughes Flying Boat. And indeed, spruce was only one of the woods used in the Hercules … Continue reading
LISTENING TO VINYL
ARE YOU back into vinyl yet? Or were you ever into vinyl? B.C.D., Before Compact Discs, the vibrations of sound that we call music were shared by a wiggly spiral … Continue reading
MRS. THORNE AND ORSON WELLES
AN ODD synergy exists between a wealthy Chicago woman, Mrs. James Ward Thorne, and the theater/film/radio great, Orson Welles. It’s all the more curious in that Welles has been called … Continue reading
OPERA CHAOS, ACT III
YES, LADIES and gentlemen, the curtain is going up for Act III of Opera Chaos. Even the most high-toned audience enjoys a snicker, not to say the occasional full belly … Continue reading
MY BOBSLEDS
BOBSLEDDING WOULD be my ideal sport. Run for only a short distance, hop into the bobsled, go like hell and have gravity scare the bejesus out of me. Plus, I … Continue reading
ORCHESTRIONS
IF YOU’VE ridden a carousel, you’ve heard the music of an orchestrion. Think of this pneumatically controlled collection of pipes and percussion as sort of a high-level music box, but with … Continue reading
AESTHETICS OF JAPAN
IT SEEMS to me there are contrasting sides to Japanese aesthetics. The same fellow who appreciates the simplicity of rocks in carefully raked sand also derives pleasure from art forms … Continue reading
FREBERG’S U.S.A.
HAPPY JULY 4TH! A great way to celebrate our nation’s 237th birthday is with the satire of Stan Freberg. His two-volume CD set, Stan Freberg Presents the United States of … Continue reading
LA CREATION DU MONDE
LET’S CELEBRATE the art of theater set design. Here’s a wonderful book on the topic, together with focus on one of its subjects, artist Fernand Léger, and one of my favorite pieces … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 