Time for links to my latest contributions to the Tucson Weekly. First, some advice about the latest ATC production:
Be honest: Would you really want to spend an evening with an advice columnist? By definition, she would be a know-it-all and maybe even a scold, dispensing opinions in such a steady stream that somehow, the whole encounter would revolve around her, rather than the people she would advise.
Yet Ann Landers, or at least the version of her onstage courtesy of Arizona Theatre Company, turns out to be a more than tolerable companion. She's frank and extroverted and funny, but never so full of herself that she forgets that her job is to provide comfort and guidance to other people--people whose troubles may initially seem peculiar, but who have a great deal in common with each other, and with Landers herself.
The famed, deceased advice columnist, whose real name was Eppie Lederer, is the subject of a one-woman show by David Rambo. ATC's production, which opened last week, is deftly directed by Samantha K. Wyer and boasts a splendid scenic design by Tom Burch, but the prime attraction is the woman on stage, Nancy Dussault.
The term "veteran actress" is too often merely a euphemism for "old-timer," but Dussault is a veteran in the true sense: a deeply experienced performer who can slip into a role like this and bring it fully to life without displaying a single little actorly trick. Dussault is so engaging and believable that the play, _The Lady With All the Answers_, often seems more substantial than it really is.
The full review is here. Meanwhile, over in the Chow section, I scout out a Chinese restaurant:
I'd heard mixed reports about Ba-Dar Chinese Restaurant on East Broadway Boulevard. Ten years ago, Rebecca Cook, then the Weekly's able restaurant critic, paid one quick visit to the place and remarked, "On first impressions, the restaurant maintains a solid 'as it should be' with something extra in terms of variety." Since then, I've come across comments declaring that Ba-Dar offers the best Chinese food in Tucson, and that it offers the worst.
Ethnic restaurants usually go wrong when they pander to bland middle-American tastes, so on a recent visit to Ba-Dar, my dining group (including a China-born friend) pretty much shied away from the standard menu (fairly extensive, but not overwhelming) and instead ordered items mainly from the Chinese menu, which is available only by request.
This has nothing to do with the blog’s usual subjects, except perhaps its broadcasting connection, but this article from that most indispensable publication, The Onion, reports that Microsoft’s notorious bugginess is reaching ever farther:
WASHINGTON—According to an FCC report released Monday, a new $300 million Microsoft ad campaign is responsible for causing televisions all across the country to unexpectedly crash.
Enlarge Image Microsoft Ad
Users have reported a number of failures resulting from the defective commercials, ranging from inability to change channels to "couldn't finish Heroes."
The Microsoft ads, which began airing earlier this week, are being blamed for generating critical system errors in more than 70 million televisions. In addition, thousands of frustrated Americans said that the ads have caused their TVs to become unresponsive, their screens to turn blue, and a small box with the message "terminal application error" to suddenly appear.
"I was in the middle of watching Monday Night Football when, all of a sudden, that stupid ad comes on and my TV freezes up," said Scottsdale, AZ resident Michael Chaplin, adding that he never wanted to see the commercial in the first place. "The next thing I know, all these numbers and symbols show up and I get an error message saying 'invalid file format' or something. Now my TV is ruined."
You’ll find the full article here. Perhaps I should point out to the uninitiated that The Onion is satirical.
The proprietor of Vineography, a wine blog I read, has explained why he rarely writes negative reviews. The world of wine criticism is rather different from that of performing-arts criticism, but there are times when I elect not to review something if the evaluation is going to be negative.
First, can the subject of the review, by its very nature, withstand critical scrutiny? Any professional performance is fair game, but student and amateur efforts can’t be held to the same standards. If I review an amateur performance favorably, I try to make it clear that I’m working on a sliding scale, and an impressive performance by a community orchestra wouldn’t be so impressive from the Tucson Symphony (unless the amateur performers really outdo themselves). But if the amateur performance doesn’t cut it, what’s the point of calling attention to this fact, rather than passing over the performance in silence? Amateur orchestras and theatrical troupes exist to give non-professionals a creative outlet; unless the artistic director is overly ambitious and misrepresents the company, these people aren’t trying to compete with the professional and semi-pro groups—they’re simply performing for their own amusement, for an audience dominated by their families and friends. If it’s clear that’s what the group is, and it isn’t putting itself forward as a real alternative to the pros, what’s the point of damning the results? Best to let them go about their worthy business without worrying about public criticism.
The case against negative reviews of books and CDs is quite different. There are a great many books and CDs coming out every week, and fewer and fewer venues for reviews. Space is limited, so why not focus on calling people’s attention to the best that’s out there, rather than condemning crap that they wouldn’t want to buy? In this instance, the focus is on the good of cultural consumer, not that of the producer. Of course, a book or recording by a high-profile artist deserves attention even if it’s bad, because of the heightened public interest. Otherwise, if space is limited, we should focus on the criticism that will do the public the most good.
Last week, embroiled in radio fundraising, I didn’t have a chance to note the 85th birthday of Ned Rorem, one of America’s finest composers but a fellow perhaps better known as a sometimes disturbingly frank diarist. It’s Elliott Carter who’s getting all the attention these days because he’s turning 100, and because he’s long been the American poster boy for the Modernist establishment. But frankly, Rorem’s music is the more attractive and, yes, meaningful, if you go to the trouble to hear it. (It does require some effort; I’m not aware of any Tucson performances of Rorem’s music this season, and we have precious little of his music in the KUAT-FM library.)
Frank Oteri wrote a good overview of Rorem’s chamber music for the latest issue of Chamber Music America’s magazine, but that is not yet online. Right now, you can read a good interview with Rorem here, courtesy of the South Florida Classical Review. The author is Lawrence A. Johnson, a fellow I tried to hire as my successor as classical music critic at the Arizona Daily Star more than 10 years ago. Larry had other fish to fry, though. Turns out he got fried by his Florida newspaper not long ago—he is one of the latest of many classical critics to get dumped by America’s increasingly irrelevant daily newspapers. I’m glad he has an online outlet for his work.
If you have an Early Ballot for the November 4th election and haven't mailed it in yet, time is running out.
The deadline to return the ballot by mail is this Friday, if you want it to be counted. You can return the ballot to any polling place on election day, but isn't that what you were trying to avoid by getting the ballot in the first place?
I don't know about you, but it will be great to finally have this LONG election season behind us. Although from a newscaster's perspective, it may be harder to find enough news to fill a newscast. Oh well, something always happens.
That reminds me of a quote I saw recently somewhere (I can't remember where)...
"Isn't it funny how the day's news always fits exactly into the size of the newspaper?"
