Celebrating Saul Bass

A very good doodle from Google.  Read more.

Shorts #7

Shorts or 5 Things to Know This Week is a weekly posting that features short blurbs on interesting topics related to film and theatre studies, research and resources, theatre goings on in New York City, lots of library-related news and other stuff.

1. Beginning in September, Yahoo! will be the exclusive online home for the massive archive of Saturday Night Live. Clips, comedy scenes and musical performances from the show will be available from the first season in 1975 through the current season. 

2. Lil Bub & Friendz wins Best Feature Film at online Tribeca Film Festival. She is a superstar and an inspiration!

3.  "The Lunatics are on the Loose : European Fluxus Festivals 1962 - 1977"  -- exhibition catalog edited by Petra Stegmann and published by Down with Art!

4.  The London stage adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time won seven Olivier Awards. Hope this follows Matilda to Broadway.

5. NEW YORK THEATRE GOINGS ON -- Pippin is brilliant - loved everything about this production. Giulio Cesare at the Metropolitan Opera is a knockout. And, Bull at 59E59 takes a daring look into office politics and bullying.

Shorts #6

Shorts or 5 Things to Know This Week is a weekly posting that features short blurbs on interesting topics related to film and theatre studies, research and resources, theatre goings on in New York City, lots of library-related news and other stuff.


1.  In honor of the runners in yesterday's Boston Marathon -- peace be with you. In the spirit of all marathon runners -- a few recommended films: Chariots of Fire (1981), Gallipoli (1981), Run Lola Run (1998), and Without Limits (1998).

2.  To Boston with love -- Good Will Hunting (1997).

3.  I recently acquired an interesting work published by McFarland -- better than their typical thematic filmographies -- Tudors on Film and Television (2013).

4.  Thank you Yoko Ono for "Imagine No Fracking" -- a poster art installation in the windows of ABC Carpet and Home.

5.  NEW YORK THEATRE GOINGS ON -- Always a treat to see Austin Pendleton -- he is currently starring in Robert Brustein's The Last Will at the Abingdon Theatre Company. The play is the last installment in Brustein's trilogy examining the life of Shakespeare. Also on stage -- Breakfast at Tiffany's.  Do yourself a favor -- stay home and read the novella.

Shorts #5

Shorts or 5 Things to Know This Week is a weekly posting that features short blurbs on interesting topics related to film and theatre studies, research and resources, theatre goings on in New York City, lots of library-related news and other stuff.

 1.  Acclaimed documentary maker Les Blank dies at 77.  Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers -- Blank was a true original.

2.  Elaine Stritch left New York City! Doesn't that sound like a bad dream? If you are already missing her -- check out the new documentary Elaine Stritch: So Shoot Me at the Tribeca Film Festival on Monday, April 22.

3.  A Late Quartet available on DVD -- members of a world-renowned string quartet learn that the cellist may soon have to retire -- news that challenges the group to get past their egos and work through long-held resentments.

4.  Journal of American Folklore is the official journal of the American Folklore Society. In publication since 1888, this quarterly journal publishes significant research findings on folklore, U.S. and the world, and related fields. In the "Notes and Queries" section from Volume 1, Issue 1 -- "the credit of originating the term 'folk-lore' belongs to a  correspondent of  'the Athenaeum,' London, 22d August, 1846, who signed his article Ambrose Merton. The object of the communication was to urge the collection, to quote the writer's words, 'of what we in England designate as Popular Antiquities, or Popular Literature (though by-the-bye, it is more a lore than a literature, and would be most aptly designated by a good Saxon compound, 'Folk-Lore,' the lore of the people)." The journal is available online through JSTOR.  For more on the man who invented the word "folklore" -- see OUPblog.

5.  NEW YORK THEATRE GOINGS ON --  Shaheed: The Dream and Death of Benazir Bhutto onstage at Culture Project. Written and performed by Anna Khaja, this one-woman play recreates the world surrounding Benazir Bhutto just minutes before her death. The play has been extended through April 21. 

Shorts #4

Shorts or 5 Things to Know This Week is a weekly posting that features short blurbs on interesting topics related to film and theatre studies, research and resources, theatre goings on in New York City, lots of library-related news and other stuff.


1.  NEW YORK THEATRE GOINGS ON  --  The Testament of Mary is indeed a daring play. I think seeing it during this past Easter weekend truly intensified the drama. The play was written by Colm Tóibín and stars Fiona Shaw as Mary. Her performance is riveting. 

2. Happy 50th Anniversary to General Hospital.

3. Less than one week until Mad Men returns on April 7th!

4. Check out the new DVD -- Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away.

5. The New York Times reports that the Oregon State Hospital in Salem is now the Museum of Mental Health. The movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, was filmed there. Click here for the article.

Shorts #3

Shorts or 5 Things to Know This Week is a weekly posting that features short blurbs on interesting topics related to film and theatre studies, research and resources, theatre goings on in New York City, lots of library-related news and other stuff.


1.  NEW YORK THEATRE GOINGS ON  -- I recommend Jackie at City Center. The play is scheduled to close on March 31. Tina Benko gives a powerful performance as Jackie Kennedy Onassis in this complicated telling by "Jackie" about Jackie. Written by Elfriede Jelinek.

2.  The documentary Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness by Joseph Dorman is now available in DVD format. The film uses archival footage and features enactments of excerpts from Aleichem's stories. I will be viewing it this week.

3. Youtube never ceases to amaze! I was surprised and delighted to find a radio performance of Dodsworth with Walter Huston and Bette Davis (1943). I will be posting a Feature later this week on the film Dodsworth -- which also starred Huston with Ruth Chatterton and Mary Astor -- one of my favorites.

4. It's a Bird...It's a Plane... It's Superman -- thanks to Encores! I caught this musical this past week. The first 35 minutes were amusing -- then it became tiresome. The question is -- will this musical find a stage in New York City -- I think it could attract a cult following!

5. The Bowery is one of the most interesting streets in New York City -- try to imagine several of the 2,000 seat theatres that lined the street in the 19th century -- for a time -- it was the center of popular entertainment. 

Watch Lucy this Spring Break!

Lucille Ball (1911-1989) was an American actress on stage, screen and television -- she was also a brilliant comedienne and television executive. Her role in Stage Door (1937), one of her best performances on film, helped her to achieve star status however she was often miscast or put into roles that never tapped into all of her talents. She made pictures for RKO and MGM but the real turn in her career came in 1940 when she married Desi Arnaz. More than a decade later, the couple would find that their marriage would lead them to producing and starring in one of the most successful sitcoms in television history. The show -- appropriately titled I Love Lucy --  focused on the married life of Ricky and Lucy Ricardo -- played by Arnaz and Ball. Ricky Ricardo was a Cuban bandleader and Lucy played the housewife who dreamed of a career in show business. They lived in New York City. The sitcom premiered in 1951 during the early years of television -- when television was beginning to offer more varied programming. The show was a hit for CBS -- staying on the air for six more years. Ball's comedic genius was given full rein. The show also starred Vivian Vance and William Frawley as Ethel and Fred Mertz. There were frequent celebrity guest stars who played themselves on the show. One of the many famous episodes starred Harpo Marx.

Early television was performed before a live audience and generally not recorded. I Love Lucy made television history by shooting the program on film -- using three cameras -- in front of a live audience. The show enjoyed continued success in syndication decades later.

I Love Lucy: the complete series is available on DVD from the Butler Media Collection -- all 34 discs!

Enjoy.

Opening Film at Cannes Film Festival

Baz Luhrmann's 'Great Gatsby' will open the Cannes Film Festival.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire, as his friend, Nick Carraway, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, and Joel Edgerton, as her husband, Tom.

For more information, see the New York Times article. 

Shorts or 5 Things to Know This Week!

Welcome to the second issue of Shorts.


Shorts or 5 Things to Know this Week features short blurbs on interesting topics related to film and theatre studies, research and resources, theatre goings on in New York City, lots of library-related news and other stuff.


1.  NEW YORK THEATRE GOINGS ON -- Get yourself to 59E59 for All in the Timing. Written by David Ives, All in the Timing is a collection of one-acts which premiered at Primary Stages in 1993. Twenty years later, Primary Stages has brought it back featuring an excellent cast and expert direction by John Rando. The material -- smart, snappy, and hilarious. Extended through April 14.

2. FEATURED JOURNAL -- WINTERTUR PORTFOLIO -- is an outstanding journal for learning about the American past through the study of material culture.  First published in 1964, the journal is published three times a year and the complete run is available in e-format from JSTOR.

3. FEATURED DOCUMENTARY -- COLUMBIA REVOLT -- is a 50 minute documentary about the Columbia University protests in 1968. The film features interviews with students who were involved in the takeover of university buildings. Columbia affiliates can view a streaming version of the film through American History in Video -- which includes ability to make clips and provides a running transcript. It is also freely available through the Internet Archive.

4. FEATURED BOOK -- DIRECTORS CLOSE UP 2 -- published by Scarecrow Press Inc. (2013) -- this volume includes interviews with directors nominated for best film by the Directors Guild of America 2006-2012. The volume is available from Butler Library.

5. FEATURED DVD -- FLIGHT -- from director Robert Zemeckis -- the film is about an alcoholic pilot -- is that scary enough? Denzel Washington is brilliant in the role of Whip Whitaker. Washington is one of our greatest actors today -- his range is amazing. Don Cheadle and John Goodman are both excellent in supporting roles. Let's just say -- it is a long and difficult path to salvation! The DVD is available from the Butler Media Collection.

Victorian Popular Culture

Victorian Popular Culture is an essential resource for the study of popular entertainment and culture in the 19th century and the early 20th century. From Adam Matthew Digital, the database is a portal for several collections including:

• Spiritualism, Sensation & Magic 
• Circuses, Sideshows & Freaks 
• Music Hall, Theatre & Popular Entertainment 
• Moving Pictures, Optical Entertainments & the Advent of Cinema 

The database includes full-text reproductions from a variety of printed materials, still and moving images, slideshow presentations, essays, bibliographies and more. The collection of materials are drawn from an impressive list of participating libraries.

Each section can be searched by keyword or by an advanced search option. You can also choose to browse the list of entries. The content is expansive and each time I use this database -- I discover something new and sensational. I love the pictures of the kinora, reproductions of postcards, full-text of "Opportunities in the Motion Picture Industry," published in 1922, includes a wonderful entry on the role of the costume designer, and  "The Sphinx: a monthly magazine for magicians and illusionists." 

If you are interested in early popular entertainments such as vaudeville, magic, circus and the advent of cinema -- this is an essential resource.

Access to this resource through Columbia University Library is limited to current affiliates.