ALUMNI ARTISTS IN THE NEWS
Backstage at the Tony Awards
Variety, CA – June 8, 2009
"Next to Normal" creatives Tom Kitt (‘96CC) and Brian Yorkey (‘93CC) managed to throw a wrench in any potential "Billy Elliot" sweep, picking up the trophy for score. (Kitt also scored a shared kudo for orchestrations.) "Normal," a risky, small-scale tuner about a ...
'Billy Elliot' dances to the top of Broadway
Chicago Tribune, United States – June 8, 2009
As was widely expected, Diane Paulus’ (’92SoA) revival of the musical “Hair” took the best revival Tony, beating out “West Side Story” and “Guys and Dolls.” With producers coming out of the woodwork like dinner-jacketed head lice, ebullient hippies celebrated ...
Get Smart: Away We Go
New York Press, NY – June 8, 2009
Away We Go was written by McSweeney's/The Believer duo Dave Eggers and his wife Vendela Vida (‘96SoA). Too bad they're not TV buffs as the title, recalling Jackie Gleason's motto, suggests. But Eggers and Vida don't reference Gleason's The Honeymooners, ...
Ensemble Studio Theatre's One-Act Festival Returns
Village Voice, NY – June 2, 2009
2009's Series A delivers another engaging grab bag of actor-driven works by new and established playwrights. Kia Corthron's (‘92SoA) Trickle is an Odets-like series of schematic but well-acted vignettes demonstrating the consequences of corporate ...
Spoleto Festival USA opens in tough economic times
Forbes, NY – June 8, 2009
... Peter Lorre's 20th Century," an operetta bringing together director Jay Scheib (‘02SoA) and World/Inferno Friendship Society, a New York punk band. Britain's Kneehigh Theatre is staging "Dear John," a theater production inspired by Mozart's "Don Giovanni. ...
Sandra's Sources | 'Every Thing Must Out Going!'
New York Times, United States – June 2, 2009
Over 30 artists and performers have contributed printed matter, limited-edition sculptures, drawings, records, accessories and T-shirts to the project, including Olivier Mosset (‘83GS), Kembra Pfhaler, Liam Gillick, Neckface, Matthew Brannon, Oliver Zahm, ...
Review: The Saatchi's art exhibition Abstract America is stupid ...
guardian.co.uk, UK – June 2, 2009
It looks like they unwrapped a painting, then hung the packaging and threw the art away. But no: this is a work by Gedi Sibony (‘02SoA), and the whole thing is a kind of drawing. I actually like Sibony's art, not least because it is so unlike what you expect ...
Goings On About Town
New Yorker, United States – June 1, 2009
Fifth Ave. at 89th St. (212-423-3500)—“Intervals: Julieta Aranda (‘06SoA).” The museum inaugurates a new series of projects by emerging artists with four works by the Mexican-born Aranda, installed in a cramped stairwell off the rotunda. ...
A taste of America's past
May 28, 2009 - LOS ANGELES TIMES
When Zora Neale Hurston (BC) -- then author of three books, including a highly respected novel, and an experienced anthropologist with a prestigious Columbia anthropology degree -- found herself without money, she went to see fellow Columbia graduate Henry Alsberg, who ran the writers project. Alsberg, recognizing that she was better qualified than most of the project's writers, sent her to her native Florida to be a supervising editor. But the Florida group found it unthinkable for a black woman to be in charge and gave her the lowest-level job.
Art For The '...Age'
Hartford Courant, United States – May 14, 2009
Barnard College author and dance historian Lynn Garafola speaks on "Serge Diaghilev and the Adventure of Ballet Modernism" Sunday at noon at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, in connection with the Ballets Russes exhibition. On Friday at noon, ...
Backstage at the Tony Awards
Variety, CA - June 8, 2009
"Next to Normal" creatives Tom Kitt (‘96CC) and Brian Yorkey (‘93CC) managed to throw a wrench in any potential "Billy Elliot" sweep, picking up the trophy for score. (Kitt also scored a shared kudo for orchestrations.) "Normal," a risky, small-scale tuner about a ...
'Billy Elliot' dances to the top of Broadway
Chicago Tribune, United States - June 8, 2009
As was widely expected, Diane Paulus' ('92SoA) revival of the musical "Hair" took the best revival Tony, beating out "West Side Story" and "Guys and Dolls." With producers coming out of the woodwork like dinner-jacketed head lice, ebullient hippies celebrated ...
Get Smart: Away We Go
New York Press, NY - June 8, 2009
Away We Go was written by McSweeney's/The Believer duo Dave Eggers and his wife Vendela Vida (‘96SoA). Too bad they're not TV buffs as the title, recalling Jackie Gleason's motto, suggests. But Eggers and Vida don't reference Gleason's The Honeymooners, ...
Ensemble Studio Theatre's One-Act Festival Returns
Village Voice, NY - June 2, 2009
2009's Series A delivers another engaging grab bag of actor-driven works by new and established playwrights. Kia Corthron's (‘92SoA) Trickle is an Odets-like series of schematic but well-acted vignettes demonstrating the consequences of corporate ...
Sandra's Sources | 'Every Thing Must Out Going!'
New York Times, United States - June 2, 2009
Over 30 artists and performers have contributed printed matter, limited-edition sculptures, drawings, records, accessories and T-shirts to the project, including Olivier Mosset (‘83GS), Kembra Pfhaler, Liam Gillick, Neckface, Matthew Brannon, Oliver Zahm, ...
Review: The Saatchi's art exhibition Abstract America is stupid ...
guardian.co.uk, UK - June 2, 2009
It looks like they unwrapped a painting, then hung the packaging and threw the art away. But no: this is a work by Gedi Sibony (‘02SoA), and the whole thing is a kind of drawing. I actually like Sibony's art, not least because it is so unlike what you expect ...
Goings On About Town
New Yorker, United States - June 1, 2009
Fifth Ave. at 89th St. (212-423-3500)-"Intervals: Julieta Aranda (‘06SoA)." The museum inaugurates a new series of projects by emerging artists with four works by the Mexican-born Aranda, installed in a cramped stairwell off the rotunda. ...
Spoleto Festival USA opens in tough economic times
Forbes, NY - June 8, 2009
... Peter Lorre's 20th Century," an operetta bringing together director Jay Scheib (‘02SoA) and World/Inferno Friendship Society, a New York punk band. Britain's Kneehigh Theatre is staging "Dear John," a theater production inspired by Mozart's "Don Giovanni. ...
Art For The '...Age'
Hartford Courant, United States - May 14, 2009
Barnard College author and dance historian Lynn Garafola speaks on "Serge Diaghilev and the Adventure of Ballet Modernism" Sunday at noon at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, in connection with the Ballets Russes exhibition. On Friday at noon, ...
Even High Above Those Clouds, You Can Never Escape From the Gods
New York Times, United States - Apr 14, 2009
Still, Mr. Conlon lavished attention on the music, drawing rapturously colorful and confident playing from the orchestra. The director, Darko Tresnjak (‘98SoA), was restricted, it would appear, by having to stage the opera atop the same highly raked platform ...
Richard Price, TC Boyle elected to arts academy
The Associated Press - Apr 13, 2009
Richard Price ('76SoA) and T. Coraghessan Boyle, two authors generally not fond of honors or distinctions, are among the newest inductees of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, The Associated Press reported. On Monday the academy announced that Mr. Price (left, whose novels include "Clockers" and "Lush Life") and Mr. Boyle (below left, author of "Drop City") would be among the nine artists added to its 250-member roster.
Sam Mendes, Dave Eggers, and Vendela Vida screen new film at 826LA
Decider, Los Angeles - Apr 13, 2009
On Thursday, May 7, 826 will host yet another fundraiser, this time in advance of the new film Away We Go, penned by 826LA founder/author Dave Eggers and his wife, author/publisher Vendela Vida ('96 SoA).
Seattle 5th's next season opens with a world premiere of musical ...
Examiner.com - Apr 13. 2009
Four-time Tony Award-winning Terrence McNally (‘60CC) (whose musical drama credits range from Kiss of the Spider Woman to the Heggie opera Dead Man Walking, among others) is writing the book for the musical, collaborating with the Hairspray crew (which also premiered at the 5th) that includes five-time Tony Award-winning director Jack O'Brien, Tony Award-winning choreographer Jerry Mitchell, and Tony Award-winning composing team Marc Shaiman (music and lyrics) and Scott Wittman (lyrics).
Re-enactment of meeting of Wampanoag tribesmen and a settler (WEBB ...
Hartford Courant, United States - Apr 13, 2009It wasn't an easy process, says documentary filmmaker Ric Burns (‘78CC ‘83GSAS), who co-directed "Tecumseh's Vision," a film about the Shawnee leader. "From a non-native point of view, the challenges, as I see it, were really principally in two categories," Burns says ...
The Week Ahead: April 12-18
New York Times, United States - Apr 10, 2009Julieta Aranda's (‘06SoA) "Clear Coordinates for Our Confusion," in the Guggenheim's Intervals series of solo presentations of emerging artists. The blues are belted in a recording studio in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," and there's no denying the crucial role ...
Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed Perform Together May 1 in Benefit ... - Art Daily
Art Daily, Maine - Apr 9, 2009
On Friday, May 1, 2009, American artists Laurie Anderson (‘69BC ‘72SoA) and Lou Reed make a rare appearance together at a benefit concert in support of The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. The evening kicks off at 6:30 pm with an exclusive dinner in the ICA ...
Parker Posey on Playwrights Horizons Calendar
New York Times - Apr 9, 2009
The actress Parker Posey will take a break from her schedule of what seems like 50 movies a year to appear in a new stage work at Playwrights Horizons, the theater company announced. Ms. Posey, of "Best in Show" and "Waiting for Guffman," will be featured in "This," a new comedy by Melissa James Gibson (‘91GS) about a widow and her circle of friends. The play, directed by Daniel Aukin, will make its debut as part of Playwrights Horizons' 2009-2010 season.
IFC.com > Blogs > The Daily > Shorts, 4/8.
IFC – Apr 8, 2009
"Tze Chun (’02 CC) doesn't just write and direct his own films," writes Michael Tully. Yes, another interview, this one at Hammer to Nail: "He's also an accomplished visual artist, editor, cinematographer, as well as a screenwriter-for-hire. ...
RCGA, Symphony are in NY blowing St. Louis' horn
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO – Apr 4, 2009
Robertson and his wife, pianist Orli Shaham (‘97CC P:’12CC) have been in a national radio ad linking the regional brand, "St. Louis: Perfectly Centered and Remarkably Connected," to the Carnegie Hall event. The spot has aired for months on CNN, MSNBC and ESPN, ...
Howie Snyder: What can we learn from China?
Merced Sun-Star, CA - Mar 26, 2009
Headlines about China scream across our papers every day, and China has arguably become our most important bilateral relationship. Close cooperation with China will be a key in tackling the pressing problems of the day -- the financial crisis, ...
Literary Nominees and Honors Galore - New York Times
New York Times, United States, Mar 21, 2009
The finalists for the Man Booker International Prize, a lifetime achievement award given every other year, have been announced. They include E. L. Doctorow (NDG ‘53GSAS), V. S. Naipaul, Joyce Carol Oates, Mario Vargas Llosa and Alice Munro. A winner will be announced in May.
Renowned musicians to receive arts and humanities medals
Media Newswire (press release), NY, March 24th, 2009
The 2009 Institute for the Arts and Humanities Medals for Distinguished Contributions to the Arts and Humanities will be awarded to world-renowned pianist Emanuel Ax (NDG ‘70CC), violinist Itzhak Perlman and cellist Yo-Yo Ma on March 30. ...
Washington Performing Arts Society annonces 2009-2010 season
Examiner.com, March 24th, 2009
This season's performers are Alisa Weilerstein (‘04CC), cello, and Inon Barnatan, piano, who perform works by Beethoven, Britten, Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff on February 6; violinist Julia Fisher performing Bach Partitas on April 3, and pianist Yuja Wang, ...
Washington Performing Arts Society annonces 2009-2010 season
Examiner.com, March 24th, 2009
The Kreeger String Series began in 1987 and features the world's finest emerging string musicians who follow in the footsteps of renowned Kreeger Series alumni, including violinists Gil Shaham and Hilary Hahn, many of whom have gone on to perform main ...
Ramin Bahrani's Quietly Profound Goodbye Solo
Village Voice - March 24th, 2009
"Goodbye Solo," the third feature co-written and directed by Ramin Bahrani (‘96CC), who, at 34, has quietly emerged as one of the major figures in the American independent film scene.
Denver Center Will Stage Premieres by Schmiedl, Myler, Wheetman and Martinez in 2010
Playbill.com - March 24th, 2009
Mama Hated Diesels, a new musical by Randal Myler and Dan Wheetman (who co-created Fire on the Mountain and It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues); Eventide, the sequel to DCTC's popular Plainsong; and Rogelio Martinez's (SoA) When Tang Met Laika, seen in a reading in the DCTC New Play Summit, are the trio of premieres.
Land of Promise, Home of the Bedeviled and Bewildered
New York Times - March 24, 2009
In Wells Tower's ('02 SoA) sad-funny-disturbing stories, the world is a precarious place, where the innocent have bad dreams, and even the not-so-innocent worry about ''the things the world will do to them'' and their loved ones.
Eileen Quinlan's art at ICA pushes photographic boundaries
Metro Daily News - March 22, 2009
Eileen Quinlan (‘05SoA) photographs illusions that challenge viewers to wonder not just what they're seeing but how to make sense of it. In her first solo museum exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art, she is showing 32 color photos taken in her studio that transform everyday objects into meditative scenes.
Arts, Briefly ‘Push' Joins Lineup
New York Times - Feb 27, 2009
The program, which begins on March 25, will open with Cherien Dabis's (SoA '94) film "Amreeka," about a Palestinian single mother and her teenage son who move to ...
Art Review | The Art Show Rewards and Clarity in a Show of Restraint
New York Times - Feb 26, 2009
Sometimes the discussions stay in the booth, like the one among Lynda Benglis, Lucio Fontana and David Altmejd (SoA'01) at Andrea Rosen. From here take in Ms. Benglis's new cast stainless totems, in concert with lush paintings on paper by Bill Jensen at Cheim ...
Film Series and Movie Listings
New York Times - Feb 26, 2009
(Dave Kehr) FILMMAKER IN FOCUS: RAMIN BAHRANI (CC'96) (Wednesday and Thursday) This overview of the developing career of Mr. Bahrani, a young independent filmmaker, includes his first two features, "Man Push Cart" (2005) and "Chop Shop" (2007), and a preview ...
[Special Screenings] Local Showings of 'Hania,' 'Nothing Like the ...
OC Weekly, CA - Feb 25, 2009
Mexican-born filmmaker Alfredo De Villa's (SoA) flick is about Puerto Rican family members from all over descending on mami and papi's house in west Chicago for Christmas. You've got your damaged Iraq combat-vet son (Freddy Rodriguez), ...
Artnet News
Artnet, NY - Feb 24, 2009
First up is an installation of films by Derek Jarman, a 35-sculpture "mise en scène" installation on the ground floor by New York artist Mika Tajima (SoA '03), and a recreation of Christian Holstad's homage to the gay leather scene, Leather Beach, on the roof. ...
Monstrous Success for Barnard Alum
CU Columbia Spectator, NY - Feb 24, 2009
At the center of a male-dominated profession, Tesori (BC) hopes to organize a free lecture series for students interested in music at Barnard. She aims to show that while there is no prescription for success, composing is in fact a viable career option. ...
Theater Listings: Feb. 20-26
New York Times - Feb 20, 2009
Playing a money manager armored head to toe in cynicism, David Wilson Barnes (SoA '99) gets the choicest of Ms. Gionfriddo's acerbic observations about love, sex and ethics, but the whole cast, including Annie Parisse as the shrinking violet with sharp thorns, ...
Bell's Theorem and the Physical World
Scientific American - Feb 18, 2009
David Z Albert and Rivka Galchen (SoA'06) both teach at Columbia University, one on how physics tells the story of the world, the other on how to write stories. Albert is Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia and author of Quantum ...
Book review: They is us
Scotsman, United Kingdom - Feb 15, 2009
FOR her latest novel, Tama Janowitz (SoA '86) leaves behind the catwalks, cocaine and clubs of Manhattan to explore a grotesque America 100-odd years in the future. New Jersey with her two daughters, Tahnee and Julie. Julie has started a summer internship at the ...
Ideas in Concrete
The Weekly Standard - Feb 14, 2009
... the architect's correspondence with his mother, to whom Weber had unique access. And because she died at nearly 100 years old, those letters cover most of Le Corbusier's career. The abundant citations have been ably translated by Richard Howard (CC'51 SoA Fac) ...
Kohle Yohannan and Mary McFadden
Women's Wear Daily - Feb 14, 2009
"I think all designers today are celebrities," declared Mary McFadden (GS NDG), whose ex-husband Kohle Yohannan's book on Valentina accompanies the exhibit's opening ...
Normal' set for Booth Theater
Variety, CA - Feb 14, 2009
Start date for "Normal" remains the same, with the Tom Kitt (CC'96)-Brian Yorkey tuner beginning previews March 27 ahead of an April 15 opening. Show is produced by David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo and Second Stage Theater.
Book news: Lions and authors and movies, oh my
Los Angeles Times Blogs - Feb 18, 2009
The winner will get $10000, possibly from the hand of Ethan Hawke, who founded the award with Rick Moody (SoA'86) and other supporters of the New York Public Library. The prize is named for the marble lions that guard the library's central branch at 42nd Street ...
Get on Their Marks
New York Times, United States - Feb 3, 2009
As for the rest, he said the producers [of the Oscars], Bill Condon (CC'76) and Laurence Mark, had asked him to "tell them to stay alert." Mr. Ganis spilled no details, ...
Samuel Goldwyn Films warms to ‘Cold Souls'
MSNBC - Feb 2, 2009
Sophie Barthes (SIPA'03) wrote and directed the film, in which Giamatti, playing an actor named Paul Giamatti, comes upon a service that can store and transplant ...
Primary Stages Announces 25th Anniversary Season
Broadway World, NY - Feb 3, 2009
Under the direction of Liz Diamond (SoA'93), Happy Now? Concludes the 25 th Anniversary Season when performances begin January26, 2010 for a limited run through March ...
Taking a good long look in the funhouse mirror
Globe and Mail, Canada - Feb 2, 2009
Tonight, EL Doctorow (Non-degree) and the historian Robert Dallek will discuss the importance of that year in a discussion moderated by Dick Cavett. ...
2 unexpected gigs remind us that Kahane plays too
Denver Post, CO - Jan 31, 2009
Composer Nico Muhly (CC '03), who wrote the score for the movie "The Reader," is still working on the third contemporary piece, "Short Stuff (Etude No. ...
The dark (and funny) side of Hollywood
Connecticut Post - Jan 27, 2009
Alison Gaylin (JRN'91) recently published a book, "Trashed," based on her own experience as an entertainment journalist. Like Ms. Gaylin, the protagonist in her novel is a Columbia University School of Journalism graduate.
Renaissance and Medieval Hues in a Modernist Work
New York Times, United States - Jan 26, 2009
By ANTHONY TOMMASINI "Time Regained," the title of Charles Wuorinen's (CC'61 GSAS'63) new fantasy for piano and orchestra, is taken from Proust's novel of that name. ...
Hope and change weren't only in DC
USA Today - Jan 25, 2009
In Cherien Dabis' (SoA'04) Amreeka , a Palestinian mother and son give up on the West Bank and come to America, believing it will be a lot easier to make it here than ...
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis Presents Gedi Sibony: My Arms ...
Art Daily, Maine - Jan 23, 2009
The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis presents the first monographic museum exhibition with New York-based artist Gedi Sibony (SoA'00): My Arms Are Tied Behind My ...
Portrait of Darwin as a young (flatulent) scientist: Natural ...
Scientific American - Jan 20, 2009
Playwright Jason Grote imagines the voyage of the HMS Beagle as an adventure tour for the upper classes, a Victorian-era jaunt organized by the likes of ...
Well-Versed: The Inaugural Poets
CBS News, NY - Jan 19, 2009
But poet David Lehman (CC'70 GSAS'78), the editor of "The Oxford Book of American Poetry" (Oxford Univ. Press), says lyrical speech used to be commonplace, ...
The Whole Point Of Peter Lorre
Forbes, NY - Jan 12, 2009
Jay Scheib (SoA'02) directed the show. He's an improbably decent and handsome 30-something prodigy from Iowa. He teaches theater at MIT in between trips to Austria ...
Well-anchored design
Baltimore Sun, United States - Jan 5, 2009
The architects are working with designer Edwin Schlossberg (GSAS '71) to come up with exhibits for the interior. They have to decide exactly how the new structure will ...
For director Mendes, family matters
Boston Globe, United States - Jan 5, 2009
"Away We Go," an original screenplay by author Dave Eggers and his wife, Vendela Vida (SoA'96), follows a young couple as they travel the country in search of the ...
DSO program features banjo, tabla
Detroit Free Press, United States - Jan 5, 2009
Related projects include Regina Carter's performances of David Schiff's (CC'67, GSAS '74 P:CC'01) jazz violin concerto, "Four Sisters," and concerts featuring symphonic scores by ...
14 WAYS TO WHILE AWAY THE WINTER: Arts highlights in early 2009
Atlanta Journal Constitution, USA - Jan 3, 2009
Tamy Ben-Tor (SoA'06). The Sarah Silverman of the art world, Israeli performance and video artist Tamy Ben-Tor wields a wit as sharp as a samurai sword in her first ...
In Memoriam: Playbill.com Remembers Those We Lost in 2008
Playbill.com, NY - Jan 2, 2009
Nina Foch, 84, a Dutch-born actress of stage and screen, who often played worldly women of cool, controlling instincts (see MGM's "An American in Paris"), ...
Will Big Names Lure Readers?
Wall Street Journal - Jan 1, 2009
Leonard Riggio, chairman of Barnes & Noble Inc., has already warned his 40,000 employees that 2009 will be grim and that the chain is intent on slashing expenses. . . . Still, a rush of big books is on . . .Also in March, Martha Stewart (BC) offers her loyal do-it-yourselfers the highly anticipated title "Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts.". . . Other literary offerings next year include "Noah's Compass," a new novel from Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Tyler (GSAS), which is being published in September, and Richard Powers's "Generosity: An Enhancement," due in the bookstores in October. . .
Columbia Films Selected for 2009 Sundance Film Festivals
Arts Initiative - Dec 11, 2008
28 films selected for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival were made with the contribution of 35 alumni, faculty, and students.
Heidi Julavits featured in January 2009 Harper's
Harper's Magazine - Dec 16, 2008
Heidi Julavits (SoA '96 and adjunct faculty) published her short story, "The Santosbrazzi killer", in the first 2009 issue of the magazine.
The Young Old Master
New York Magazine - Dec 14, 2008
"Cellist Alisa Weilerstein (CC '04) needed no more than a few measures of music to reveal the full depth of the evening ahead, her Zankel Hall recital debut. ..."
Helen Levin receives Chenven Foundation award
Helenlevin.com - Dec 12, 2008
Helen Levin (SoA '63 and CAAL member) won a monetary award from the LHCF Chenven Foundation for Art. Helen Levin is a painter who has had solo exhibitions of her paintings in New York, and in Europe. She is past recipient of NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs and Artists Space exhibition grants.
Vampire Weekend Performs at Terminal 5
New York Times - Dec 4, 2008
One of the year's hottest bands is composed entirely of CC '06 grads: Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Christopher Thomson, and Chris Baio.
Two books by alumni in Best 10 Books of 2008
New York Times - Dec 3,2008
Unaccustomed Earth , a novel by Jhumpa Lahiri (BC '89) and Dangerous Laughter , a short story collection by Steven Millhauser (CC '65), were rated among the best of the year by editors of the Times' Book Review.
Earthly Delights again finds life on stage
San Francisco Chronicle - Nov 25, 2008
Out of the darkness, gracefully bent in half and lumbering slowly on all fours, comes a herd of seemingly nude creatures. These are the talented dancers of The Garden of Earthly Delights , in the latest off-Broadway incarnation of Martha Clarke's theatrical interpretation of Hieronymous Bosch's 1503 triptych about the progression of sin. . . . Marjorie Folkman (BC ‘91) is memorable as a shy, slight figure whom the others repeatedly single out for torment. Whitney F. Hunter is a credibly primitive Adam, ...
Groundbreaking PBS series nears completion
Indian Country Today, NY - Nov 21, 2008
After almost five years of planning and production, a groundbreaking television series depicting more than 350 years of history from an American Indian perspective is scheduled to premiere next spring. . . . Wounded Knee was produced and directed by Stanley Nelson (Revson Fellow), a recipient of a 2002 MacArthur Fellowship, a Sundance Special Jury Prize, Peabody Award ...
Restless Composer, Desperate Concerto
New York Times - Nov 21, 2008
The dynamic cellist Alisa Weilerstein (CC’04) played the difficult solo part with almost savage intensity on Thursday at Avery Fisher Hall, during a fine ...
Bowie, Pixies Star in Furnas’s Show; Koh Goes White: Hot Art
Bloomberg - Nov 20, 2008
Barnaby Furnas (SoA ’00) returns to Chelsea with new paintings of rock bands, Civil War heroes and post- apocalyptic landscapes.
Carl Capotorto's new memoir
Gothamist - November 17, 2008
Last month Carl Capotorto’s (SoA’92) Twisted Head hit the bookshelves. The memoir traces his life in the Bronx decades ago, from his father's "Pizza and Sangwheech Shoppe" to the Summer of Sam. This week he told us a little bit about what life was like in New York back then, how the Son of Sam killed his childhood friend, and his role as Little Paulie Germani in The Sopranos .
A major reboot at HBO
Lower Hudson Journal news, NY - Nov 15, 2008
Novelist Jonathan Ames (SoA’95) has written the pilot for a quirky comedy about a frustrated young New York writer who moonlights as a hard-boiled detective--just one of nine pilot shows being considered for production by HBO.
Miguel Syjuco has won the second annual Man Asian Literary Prize for his debut novel Ilustrado
The Gazette ( Montreal) - November 14, 2008
Montreal-based author Miguel Syjuco (SoA’04) has won the second annual Man Asian Literary Prize for his debut novel, Ilustrado . The award, which is worth $10,000, goes to an outstanding book as yet unpublished in English, by an Asian author. In accepting his award on Wednesday night in Hong Kong, the Manila-born Syjuco, 31, described the win as a "life-changing experience."
Gov't decorates 3 Nobel winners, Seiji Ozawa, Donald Keene, 3 others
Japan Economic Newswire - Oct 28, 2008
The Japanese government decided Tuesday to decorate three Japanese Nobel laureates in physics and chemistry this year, conductor Seiji Ozawa, scholar in Japanese literature Donald Keene (CC ’42, GSAS ’47, ’50) and three others with its highest honor for their contributions to the nation's culture.
Those Who Traffic in Spin Can Get Caught in the Cycle
New York Times – Nov 14, 2008
“The projected images that flicker and fade like pale fireworks between scenes of Farragut North — Beau Willimon’s (CC ’99, SoA ’93) . . . play about spinmeisters on the campaign trail — are so immediately and overwhelmingly familiar that sensitive, CNN-watching theatergoers may flinch.”
Theater Review: 'Happy Now?' Married, With (Offstage) Children ...
New York Times – Nov 5, 2008
“This American premiere production, nimbly directed by Liz Diamond (SIPA ’81, SoA ’83), is exceptionally well cast and skillfully acted.”
McMartin and Rebhorn Star in Off-Broadway's Saturn Returns
Playbill – Nov 04, 2008
“Noah Haidle's Saturn Returns makes its New York debut at Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater Off-Broadway. Nicholas Martin directs the production featuring Rosie Benton, Robert Eli, John McMartin and James Rebhorn (SoA ’72).”
Music Review: The Cerebral Onstage, Not Without Wit
New York Times – Nov 3, 2008
“The first thing a visitor to the composer Charles Wuorinen’s (CC ’61, GSAS ’63) web site sees is a colorful caricature of Mr. Wuorinen by Arnold Roth. . . .The picture, at charleswuorinen.com , says a lot about Mr. Wuorinen, a composer whose music and program notes can seem brainy and abstruse but who is actually fairly personable and says he wants people to enjoy his work. . . .”
Rick Hilles wins Whiting Writers' Award
Vanderbilt University - Nov 3, 2008
Rick Hilles (SoA ’96 ), an acclaimed poet and assistant professor of English at Vanderbilt University, was named one of 10 recipients of the 2008 Whiting Writer’s Award, which carries a $50,000 prize.
Matthew Brannon featured in the November/December issue of Frieze
Frieze – Nov/Dec, 2008
In the latest issue of the prominent British art journal, Jennifer Higgie reflects on Matthew Brannon’s (SoA ’99) paintings and sculptures, “whose elegant aesthetic belies a witty, acerbic take on the human condition.”
Rivka Galchen Among Nominees for Canada Governor General’s Literary Awards
Canadian Press – Oct 21, 2008
The 2008 Governor General's Literary Awards have been announced, and “Atmospheric Disturbances” by Rivka Galchen (SoA ’06) is an English-language finalist.
The Alcoholic and The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard
Miami Herald - Oct 21, 2008
“Jonathan Ames (SoA ’95), is a successful performer, essayist and novelist of mostly noirish detective fiction. Aided by artist and American Splendor stalwart Dean Haspiel, he recounts his life of sexual ambiguity, substance abuse, and affairs of the heart and other organs.”
Columbians nominated for 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards
Variety – Oct 20, 2008
Columbia alumni nominees for the indie film awards are Courtney Hunt (SoA ’94), director of Frozen River ; Maureen Ryan (SoA ’92 and FAC), producer of Man on Wire ; Carl Deal (JRN ’94), co-producer and director of Trouble the Water ; and Ramin Bahrani (CC ’96), director of Chop Shop.
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck Release Second Feature Film
New York Daily News – Oct 13, 2008
“ Sugar , the second feature from Half Nelson directors Anna Boden (SoA ’02) and Ryan Fleck, impressed audiences at Sundance with its story of a Dominican baseball player recruited into the minor leagues.”
Gummer to Make Stage Debut in Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents
Playbill – Oct 8, 2008
“Neil Blackadder has translated Swiss playwright Bärfuss' work, which is set to run Nov. 6-22 at the Wild Project under the direction of Kristjan Thor (SoA ’06).”
Tony Kushner Announced First Recipient of Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award
Broadway World – Sep 18, 2008
Tony Kushner (CC '78) wins the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, created to honor and encourage artistic achievement in the American theater.
