Archive for August, 2008

News: Nichols Helping Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim (pictured) told Playbill.com recently that, in addition to preparing the revised version of his musical “Road Show” for the Public Theater in New York this fall, he’s been working on a book. Although he told Playbill that the project was ostensibly about lyric … Read more »

Obama Out-Draws The Olympics

In the media focus today on McCain’s VP pick, it is easy to lose sight of just how inspiring Obama’s speech was last night. And just how popular: 38.4 million American TV viewers watched the coverage from the Denver stadium. That compares to the average … Read more »

Second Quotation of the Day

“Can anyone say with a straight face that [Sarah] Palin would have gotten picked if she were a man?” That’s from conservative commentator Ramesh Ponnuru, writing in the National Review. (I think we can say with assurance that this is not a question that would … Read more »

Political Quotation of the Day

“Voting for a woman who is anti-choice, to me, would be like voting for a black person who is pro-slavery.” That’s from an unidentified, Hillary Clinton-loving Democratic delegate, reacting to the news that John McCain may put a woman (Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, … Read more »

Life Imitates Art Imitates Sex

David Duchovny (pictured), who plays a sex-obsessed womanizer on the Showtime series “Californication,” has been admitted to a rehab clinic for sex addiction. (Details here.) The actor, 48, who is best-known from his years on the “X-Files” TV show, is married to the actress Tea … Read more »

Wainwright Dropped by the Met

I’m sorry to hear that “Prima Donna,” the new opera by Rufus Wainwright (pictured), won’t be produced at the Metropolitan Opera. The stated reason is that the pop star is composing the piece in French and the Met wants English. Like the Met doesn’t mostly, … Read more »

Could Winslet Win Oscar Gold?

Variety is reporting that, after a successful screening in New York, the Weinstein Co. is planning to release “The Reader” before the end of the year. Could this be Kate Winslet’s Best Actress Oscar at last? Reasons to think so: 1) She’s been nominated five … Read more »