Elizabeth Blair

Familiar Folks Make Up A Play's 'Good People'

Elizabeth Blair — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 04:48:00 +0000

How we end up in life has a lot to do with where we came from. That theory gets a good workout in the play Good People, from Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lindsay-Abaire. When the show was on Broadway two years ago, the trade magazine Variety proclaimed that "If Good People isn't a hit, there is no justice in the land."

As it turns out, justice has been served: Good People is the most produced play in America this theatrical season.

In Moscow, Scandals Shake A Storied Ballet

Elizabeth Blair — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:58:00 +0000

It's a story right out of the movies: The artistic director of one of the most prestigious ballet companies in the world is violently attacked. His attacker and the motive are shrouded in mystery. But behind these sensational headlines is a ballet company that is both legendary and plagued with scandals and infighting.

Last month in Moscow, Sergei Filin, the Bolshoi Ballet's artistic director, was attacked by a masked man who threw acid in his face, causing severe burns and nearly blinding him.

For Would-Be Sundancers, Kickstarter Can Fuel Films

Elizabeth Blair — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 07:46:00 +0000

If you want to make a movie, you generally need a lot of money. And filmmakers have to be creative about raising it.

Just ask the filmmakers at the Sundance Film Festival, taking place this week in Park City, Utah.

Etsy Crafts A Strategy For Staying Handmade And Profitable

Elizabeth Blair — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 08:21:00 +0000

Etsy has gotten very big, very fast. This year, sales are at about $800 million.

"Their growth on all the major metrics you want to look at has accelerated really consistently," says journalist Rob Walker.

Walker recently wrote a story for Wired Magazine with the headline, "Can Etsy Go Pro Without Losing Its Soul?" Here's why: Etsy makes money from its sellers: 20 cents every time they list an item and 3.5 percent of every sale.

When 'Unfilmable' Books Make Memorable Movies

Elizabeth Blair — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 08:23:00 +0000

The centerpiece of the film Life of Pi is a boy adrift on a lifeboat with a tiger in the middle of the ocean. That's easy enough for Yann Martel to describe in his novel — but hard to make happen on the set of a movie. As it happens, Pi is in theaters with another movie based on an "unfilmable" novel: Cloud Atlas, with six different plots in six different time periods.

Some books are challenging to film because they're challenging to read.

Impersonating The President: From Will Rogers To Obama's 'Anger Translator'

Elizabeth Blair — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:14:00 +0000

Political commentators will be working overtime in the countdown to the presidential election. So will political comedians, including the candidates' impersonators.

Impersonators have been part of the political landscape for so long, it's hard to imagine a time without them: Rich Little, Dana Carvey, Will Ferrell, Dan Aykroyd, Darrell Hammond, Tina Fey and other comedians have all famously done their turns as candidates. Remember "I can see Russia from my house"?

But if you go back further in history, you won't find much. At one time, impersonating the president was a no-no.

The Strange Story Of The Man Behind 'Strange Fruit'

Elizabeth Blair — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 07:24:00 +0000

One of Billie Holiday's most iconic songs is "Strange Fruit," a haunting protest against the inhumanity of racism. Many people know that the man who wrote the song was inspired by a photograph of a lynching. But they might not realize that he's also tied to another watershed moment in America's history.

The man behind "Strange Fruit" is New York City's Abel Meeropol, and he really has two stories.

Comedy's Self-Deprecating Pioneer Phyllis Diller Dies

Elizabeth Blair — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:59:00 +0000

A queen of comedy has died. Phyllis Diller had audiences in stitches for more than five decades with her outlandish get-ups and rapid-fire one-liners. She died at her home, where she had been in hospice care after a fall. She was 95.

Diller was glamorously outrageous — or at least the character she created was glamorously outrageous, the one who wore wigs that made her look like she had her finger in an electrical outlet, who wore gaudy sequined outfits.

Marvin Hamlisch, Movie And Broadway Composer, Has Died

Elizabeth Blair — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:41:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyZeGOsR9IA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyu--xC72jg

For Olympic Committee, Marketing Is No Game

Elizabeth Blair — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 07:03:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3TSnH6souM