2007 Verve Awards
2006 Verve Awards Best Arts and Culture Blog
2005 Queer Day Awards Best Gay Blog Nominee
2004 Weblog Awards Best Arts and Culture Blog Nominee
Friday, February 26, 2010
Stage Addiction: August: Osage County Moves To Hollywood
One of Modern Fabulousity's most-linked posts, from 2008, dreamt about a possible cast for the movie adaptation of Tracy Letts' Tony-winning masterpiece August: Osage County. Tracy himself recently spoke about the film's slow-but-steady progress; he's finished the screenplay, but no cast or crew have been signed yet. For theatre purists out there who'd like to see the original stage cast reunited on film, don't hold your breath; based on this interview, it seems very unlikely we'll see the clan (including Rondi Reed and Amy Morton, pictured at left) immortalized on celluloid.
ModFab favorite Tracey Thorn has a new album due this spring, and the first preview of it -- an acoustic, pristine slice of heartbreak called "Oh, The Divorces" -- has been making the rounds of the music blogs this week. Here in NYC, where we are (again) buried under mountains of snow, this track seems perfect for staring out the window and watching the world in white. One of the greatest pop voices of all time.
If you follow the photoblog community at all, you know there are some big guns in the field -- Chromasia, Mute, DoubleCrossed, Daily Dose of Imagery, etc. -- who are among the most perceptive photographers in the world. What continually astonishes me, though, is the depth of the field online...new photographers appear every day who dazzle us with iconic imagery. Today I'm happy to present five photobloggers for the first time in the ModFab Gallery: the sharp-edged fantasies of Veiled Exposure, the intimate captures of Wordsnlens, the tortured romanticism of Giampiero Cialini, the digital fantasies of Sirius 2, and the stylish urbanity of No Sauce. New to me (and perhaps to you), but already earning their spots in the Gallery. Enjoy.
Yeah, that's the snowstorm. Last Wednesday. Outside my house. And yes, it's digitally manipulated to be dark, gloomy...very Narnia. It's how I (and most of the East Coast of the U.S.) are feeling about winter these days. I'm not one of those "snow is so beautiful" people; I'm more of a "I hate freezing to death" person.
So it's probably no surprise that I've avoided the avalanche (pun intended) of snow pictures covering the photoblogosphere for this week's ModFab Gallery. Give me the blanched beauty of "Finally Rest," the cheeky romance of "Happy Valentine's Day," or the sass of "Fussball/Socker" anyday. Great work this week, and all of it reminding us of one essential truth: spring is on the way. Hallelujah.
I'm throwing a party at my job. I'd save you all a seat, but we're packed to the absolute brim. I'll be sure to tell Bernadette, Audra and the gang hello for you.
Tell you all about it once I've recovered. (Don't tell Mr. ModFab, but I plan to drink just a little bit.)
Stage Addiction: Spring is Awakening (All Over Again)
Here's the TV spot for American Idiot, hands down the most interesting of the dozen or so new offerings bound for Broadway this spring. Based on the landmark album by Green Day, it shares a sensibility and sound (not to mention a director and a lead actor) with 2007's Tony winner Spring Awakening? Can lightning strike twice? Tell me what you think in the comments. (Hey, wanna go to opening night and meet the band?)
Musicals not your thing? Let me suggest two hot properties to warm up your spring ticket frenzy: A Behanding in Spokane, the celeb-stuffed world premiere beginning February 15 by Martin McDonagh (The Pillowman, The Lieutenant of Inishmore), and Red, which my London connections tell me is the most astonishing play they've seen in years. By John Logan (Never The Sinner, the screenplay of Sweeney Todd), it begins previews at the Golden in March.
Maybe it's the week I've been having, but looking as these selection for TMFG, I'm smacked with my own moody preoccupations with joy and pain, light and dark, elation and sadness. Some of them, like Chromium's magnificent "Singing," Mute's cheeky "More Umbrellas," and my photo "Applause" are caffeinated bolts of positive energy. Juxtaposed against that energy, though, is the uneasy mood of Polydactile's "Metamorphosis Doll," the aging workers of Panopticon's "Matanza," and the literal needle-and-skin of "No Pain, No Gain" by Tageswerk. Somehow, it all fits together for me. But I suspect that reveals more about my frame of mind than I want to admit.
Via EQ, I came across this fascinating quote from dance diva Billie Ray Martin, who is releasing her latest, "The Crackdown," for free via official, legal download on torrent sites:
"Torrent sites are no longer the enemy. All music has basically become free. If a label holds on to their file for dear life, the minute they release it, it will be out there free. It’s a fact and you can’t get away from it. So there’s no point in fighting it. Distributing your music more or less for free might be a bit of a hard-to-grasp concept—it certainly is for me still—but the way it works now is simply that the money is no longer in sales, but in live gigs and licensing. So MP3s are merely there to create interest now. So they’re given out for free really. In a couple of years, all music will be free. Don’t ask me if I am pleased, I’d rather have the $100,000 advances that I used to get from record companies. On the other hand, this process is more democratic. Kids download the files if they like them, you’ve just reached your audience."
At the risk of parroting EQ's post, I'm ecstatic to hear an artist discuss music this way. Just the idea of being open about the torrent system, and someone taking steps to holistically co-opt it into the business model of pop music, is a huge step forward. I was so happy, in fact, that I bought Billie's most recent record as thanks. (That wasn't wholly altruistic; I own all of her others, and her first record, 1996's Deadline For My Memories, is one of my favorites of all time.) I realize there are kinks to be worked out, and artists need to be compensated. But technology is not the enemy, and neither are those kids who are (enthusiastically) downloading your product. There's gold there, it just needs to be mined.
Here's the video for "The Crackdown" (thanks again, Raj!) and, just for fun, a rare performance of an old song that I've always felt was Billie's great undiscovered track, "Hands Up To Amen." Thanks Billie, for your vision!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=0aba16d8-d23e-4e23-86ef-d73539dacf6a)
