| |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
03 September 2010
You might think that at age 84, Tony Bennett has sung those old standards so many times that there’s not much nuance left to wring out of them. You’d be wrong. Bennett, a legitimate American icon in world littered with too many phony ones, returned to do the old songs one more time on Thursday as part of the American Music Festival in Daytona Beach
02 September 2010
Rep. Alan Grayson, left, and Dan Webster last month in these photos by Joe Burbank of the Orlando Sentinel. We’re off to the congressional races! In a light-hearted but meaty report tonight, WESH-Channel 2’s Greg Fox tonight weighed the veracity of an oft-repeated commercial for Rep. Alan Grayson. Democrat Grayson uses the Led Zeppelin classic “Stairway to Heaven” to bash Republican opponent Dan Webster’s time as speaker of the Florida House. Fox put the ad to WESH’s Truth Test and found that Grayson sometimes missed the factual target. “Grayson claims Webster wasted $32,000 of our tax money on a spiral staircase for his office,” Fox said. Webster did build a spiral staircase in 1997 when he renovated as part of a $350,000 renovation on his House speaker’s office, Fox agreed. The $350,000 figure was more startling than the focus on the stairway. The staircase actually cost $22,000 in the end, WESH confirmed. The actual staircase looked nothing like the one in the Grayson ad. Webster had a basic metal staircase put in, not the more lavish one in the Grayson ad. But Grayson accurately complains in the ad that it’s “a stairway to nowhere,” because Marco Rubio had it taken out a decade later. And Webster did bill taxpayers for 68 private jet flights, Fox said, confirming another Grayson claim. The bill came to nearly $12,000, Fox added, and most of those flights were between Orlando and Tallahassee when Webster was Senate majority leader. Yet how wise is it to use “Stairway to Heaven” in a commercial? Fox didn’t go there. Fox noted the irony that the Grayson commercial appeared shortly after the congressman used $73,000 in taxpayer money to send out a DVD touting his accomplishments to 100,000 voters. How unusual was the report? Fox ended by singing a line from “Stairway to Heaven”: “ooooh, it makes me wonder.” Will the report be another prize winner for Fox? Stay tuned.
02 September 2010
Shepard Smith. Fox News Channel Hurricane Earl has shaken up the Fox New Channel lineup tonight. “Hannity” will be preempted at 9 o’clock for a Shepard Smith special. The hour ”Hurricane Earl Special” will offer updates on the storm and its projected path.
02 September 2010
Dorothy and her friends are off to see the wizard at Pinocchio's Marionette Theater. (photo from Pinocchio's) Here’s a peek at the theater-page spotlight from Friday’s Calendar section: WHAT: Pinocchio’s Marionette Theater at the Altamonte Mall is going down the yellow brick road to kick off its 2010 fall season with children’s classic “The Wizard of Oz.” Based on the beloved American tale by L. Frank Baum, Pinocchio’s 45-minute version has been staged by the theater’s longtime puppet master, Richard Hudnall, with elaborate string marionettes made by Central Florida artists John Corbitt and Tom Blasco. Kent Smith composed the musical score. WHEN: Showtimes are 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays; 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. On Wednesday, Sept. 22, there will be a special 1 p.m. performance for toddlers and moms groups. The show runs through Oct. 10. WHERE: Pinocchio’s Marionette Theater, Altamonte Mall’s lower level (next to Sears), 451 E. Altamonte Drive, Altamonte Springs COST: $5 for anyone age 2 or older RESERVATIONS: E-mail boxoffice@pinocchio’s.net or call 407-834-8757 ONLINE: pinocchios.net
02 September 2010
Laurence J. Ruggiero (left), director of the Morse Museum, and conservator John Griswold stand on the Daffoidil Terrace installation. Marble columns and part of the wooden ceiling can be seen. (photo by Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel) Anytime a museum adds a work of art to its collection, there’s a buzz of activity. But when the artwork in question is a 32-by-18-foot structure with 850-pound marble columns topped by delicate glass flowers, the buzz grows to a roar. Laurelton Hall’s Daffodil Terrace, designed by glass artisan Louis Comfort Tiffany, is the centerpiece of a 12,000-square-foot expansion at the Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park. The museum is home to the world’s most comprehensive collection of Tiffany works. The permanent Morse installation marks only the second time in more than 50 years that the terrace will be on view to the public. “This was the major missing leg” of the museum’s Tiffany collection, said Morse director Laurence J. Ruggiero of the terrace. “It’s jaw-droppingly beautiful, and it has to be seen.” Wednesday at the museum on Park Avenue, officials showed off the new glass gallery that houses the terrace, rescued from Tiffany’s fire-damaged Long Island estate by Morse founders Hugh and Jeannette McKean. John Griswold, the California-based conservator overseeing the terrace work, said the installation should be complete in about two weeks. “It’s a cross between building your own treehouse … and doing what I’ve always wanted to do — working on a world-class masterpiece,” he said of the intricate conservation-construction project. Griswold first was enlisted by the Morse four years ago to supervise the reassembly and conservation of the terrace for an exhibition in New York, organized with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At that time, no one was even sure exactly how much of the terrace had been rescued and packed up in crates after Laurelton Hall burned in 1957. “We started unpacking the terrace and said, ‘That’s confusing,’” Ruggiero said. “But it turned out we had quite a bit. That convinced us that a permanent exhibit was possible to do.” Among the challenges Griswold and his team faced: missing pieces that had to be reconstructed, wood that had warped with time and wasp nests among the ceiling pieces. Just figuring out how all the wooden ceiling pieces fit together was a challenge, Griswold said. “We were guided by a set of fortuitous historical photographs,” Griswold said. “It was like a jigsaw puzzle without the lid. Those photographs were our lid.” At the Met, the terrace’s space was condensed. In the Morse’s permanent installation, the original dimensions are preserved. Installation work here began in mid-June and included construction of a hidden overhead structure that will support the weight of the terrace and contain modern necessities such as a sprinkler system. The terrace’s glass gallery, designed by George Sexton, offers views of an expanded outdoor garden area the Morse is cultivating, representative of the terrace’s position at Laurelton Hall. Painted walls, with metal gates from Laurelton, will shield the garden area from nearby streets. “It would be a shame to put this wonderful terrace in, and then you’re looking at a 7-Eleven,” Ruggiero said. The entire project, which will cost about $5 million, is expected to be completed by February, when the terrace will go on public display. Along with the Daffodil Terrace, the expansion will also house leaded-glass windows, lamps, furnishings, artworks and more from Laurelton Hall’s dining room, living room and reception hall in a series of galleries. Total new gallery space will be 6,261 square feet, increasing the museum’s exhibition space by about half. The museum already displays Tiffany’s chapel, once part of Laurelton Hall, in a gallery that opened to the public in 1999. “Over the years, people have become terribly interested in Tiffany,” Ruggiero said. “We really want to convey to visitors the sweep of his life and work.” For more photos click here: Morse Museum expansion photos
02 September 2010
Here’s news of a job opportunity from the Orlando Shakespeare Theater: The Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF, an AEA regional theater company celebrating its 22nd season seeks a well-seasoned Director of Development who demonstrates the passion, motivation, and business expertise required to achieve continued success for the company. The Director of Development will be responsible for generating, directing and supervising day-to-day development activity including: leading, planning, implementing, and tracking the fundraising process for the Theater. The desired candidate will cultivate community support, research and write grants, create and execute individual giving and major gifts campaigns, produce special events, secure corporate sponsorship, supervise volunteers, and work closely with the Board of Directors. Candidates should demonstrate orientation to profitability while also demonstrating knowledge of market, budgetary, and organizational skills; possess solid interpersonal skills, including the ability to speak and write clearly and persuasively; be able to collect and research data; and possess proactive community building and fundraising skills. Email PDF attachments of resume, three work-related references, salary history, and a brief cover letter describing interest, qualifications and experience to: Director of Development Search, shannonl@orlandoshakes.org . Job profile and detailed information available at http://www.orlandoshakes.org
