MORE STRINGS ATTACHED

From the desk of James Reel on Friday, August 31st 2007 at 8:42

    I keep forgetting to link to my articles in Strings magazine, at least those that are posted at the Web site. Here’s one from the latest issue, but I’m afraid it will be of interest only to beginning and intermediate string players; it starts like this:

    Have you ...

ARTICLE ADDENDA

From the desk of James Reel on Friday, August 31st 2007 at 8:37

    It occurred to me this morning that there’s one very consistent exception to my rule about applying the definite article to names of performances spaces, and I unconsciously alluded to it in my last post. Seems that if a space is called “hall”—just “hall,” not “music hall” or ...

DEFINITELY

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, August 30th 2007 at 7:57

    On my way to the studio this morning, I heard C24’s John Zech introduce a piece being played “by Combattimento Consort of Amsterdam.” Apparently, C24 has banished from its satellite feed the use of the definite article (as well as the names of conductors; Zech pointedly omitted them from ...

NEW PLAY, HOORAY

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, August 30th 2007 at 7:26

    Critics never review plays before the official opening night, except when they attend that oddity called the “press preview” (which does not exist in Tucson). Nevertheless, I accepted an invitation from some people putting on a play who hoped for some coverage before the end of the show’s two-weekend ...

AND HIS TOYS WERE PAINTED IN CHINA

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, August 28th 2007 at 7:15

    Viennese forensic scientist Christian Reiter, after analyzing strands of Beethoven’s hair, has concluded that the composer died prematurely because he was inadvertently poisoned by his physician, Andreas Wawruch. Cause of death: lead poisoning:

    A dramatic spike in the concentrations follows each of the doctor's five treatments between Dec ...

LATINO PLAYWRIGHTS NEWS

From the desk of James Reel on Saturday, August 25th 2007 at 8:19

    This information comes straight from Arizona Theatre Company:

    Arizona Theatre Company announces the selection of Fantasmaville by Raul Garza as the winner of the 2007 National Latino Playwriting Award. Garza was awarded $1,000. Guillermo Reyes’ Allende by Pinochet and Caridad Svich’s Lucinda Caval  were lauded as finalists for ...

LESSONS, ANYONE?

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, August 23rd 2007 at 7:24

    My latest contribution to the Tucson Weekly begins like this:

    The Uzbekistan music-education system has established an outpost in Oro Valley.
    This weekend, the Oro Valley Music and Dance Academy will celebrate its grand opening with an instrument petting zoo, dance and music demonstrations, balloon art and the customary ribbon-cutting ...

OFF BROADWAY

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, August 21st 2007 at 10:51

    This terse e-mail just arrived from the PR guy at Broadway in Tucson:   

    As of August 20, 2007, Mark Rasdorf is no longer with Broadway in Tucson.
   We are excited to announce that our new General Manager is Lendre Kearns, formerly of the La Jolla Playhouse in Southern California.

CUBBY-HOLES

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, August 21st 2007 at 7:18

    Via On an Overgrown Path, here’s an interesting remark by former BBC Proms director and BBC Radio 3 controller John Drummond: “There's no such thing as ‘the music audience.’ They like the organ, or they like chamber music, or they like symphony concerts, or they like opera, or ...

ROTTEN TOMATOES

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, August 21st 2007 at 7:15

    A friend alerts me that Connie Tuttle has besmirched my culinary reputation in her latest contribution to the Tucson Weekly:

    James Reel inspired this column. I recently ran into the Weekly arts editor at Trader Joe's. We exchanged the usual social chatter and then went on our separate shopping ...

BLUE LEAVES

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, August 16th 2007 at 7:13

    Maybe I’m an absent blogger these days, but I do still drag myself out to review plays. Here’s the beginning of the latest effort in the Tucson Weekly:

    The older John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves gets, the less funny it seems.
    Around 1970, it started ...

WORDS OF WISDOM

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, August 13th 2007 at 10:40

    Oboist Patricia Mitchell has this to say about performing with an ensemble that’s hovering below her own ability:

The important thing for a serious musician to remember is that lowering one’s standards when playing in a less-than-stellar group is only a reflection on that musician, not on the ...

CULTURAL PROVOCATEUR

From the desk of James Reel on Friday, August 10th 2007 at 7:42

    Oops! I forgot to post a link yesterday to my contribution to the latest Tucson Weekly:

    Performance artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña has been billed as a cultural provocateur and as a radical.
    Gómez-Peña is in Tucson right now, stirring up artistic trouble courtesy of the Museum of ...

WHAT'S COOKING?

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, August 6th 2007 at 7:57

    Courtesy of Sound and Fury’s AC Douglas, here’s a recipe I’m sure many of my musician friends would love to try, although they might choke on the result: How to Cook a Conductor.

HEAL THE PLANET

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, August 6th 2007 at 7:46

    Classical music may be better for the environment than rock’n’roll. So posits Greg Sandow. I’m willing to believe it, whether it’s true or not.

GONE FISHIN'

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, August 2nd 2007 at 7:42

    Well, not exactly fishing. I’m scrambling to finish up several writing assignments before departing Friday morning for a weekend of snorkeling, sea kayaking and cycling in La Jolla. Fine dining, too … mustn’t forget that. No doubt I’ll be writing some stray article in the car on the ...

ITCHY AND SCRATCHY

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, August 2nd 2007 at 7:41

    My contribution to the latest Tucson Weekly:

    Live Theatre Workshop has mounted a funny, well-acted and well-directed production of a play that really should be kept in mothballs for another 25 years.
    George Axelrod's The Seven Year Itch is not only missing a hyphen; it's lost any relevance ...