observations 4/16

Now here's a book that Haglund couldn't pre-order fast enough on Amazon after reading this morning's NYT review of it in the Music section. Reynold Levy, who left his job in 2014 as President of Lincoln Center after a dozen years has written a tell-all book. Look out.

"They Told Me Not to Take That Job: Tumult, Betrayal, Heroics, and the Transformation of Lincoln Center" comes out on May 12th. Amazon claims that it can deliver on that date. If that happens, Haglund won't be picking up the office phone for a day or so – unless something earth-shattering happens, which is always a possibility, but he'll probably let the cats handle it.

Mr. Levy has a few things to say about a lot of people. He takes aim at Boards of Directors of New York City Opera and New York Philharmonic, and probably Boards in general judging from a brief and to-the-clear-point article he penned for Crain's last February.  "In search of accountability: Non-profits gone astray"  is worth a read.

So far, Haglund's favorite quip from Mr. Levy is about a bungling Board chairman: "He failed to lead, and he failed to leave." That's going to be on a lot of people's lips around town.

But according to the NYT article, Levy has some respect for New York City Ballet's fiscal managers. That's good.

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ABT's Works & Process Gig at the Gugg is this Sunday and Monday.

Three different presentations: Sunday afternoon, Sunday evening, and Monday evening. Here's a glimpse of some of the casting that came through in an email a few days ago:

Part 1:
1940–1965
Sun, Apr 19, 3 pm EDT
Panelists: Kevin McKenzie, Alex Ewing, Lupe Serrano
Principals and Soloists: Gillian Murphy, Xiomara Reyes, Joseph Gorak, Roman Zhurbin
 
Part 2:
1965–1990    Sun, Apr 19, 7:30 pm EDT
Panelists: Robert La Fosse, Ric Burns, Eleanor D’Antuano, Martine van Hamel
Principals and Soloists: James Whiteside, Stella Abrera
 
Part 3:
1990–2015    Mon, Apr 20, 7:30 pm EDT
Panelists: David Hallberg, Julie Kent, Kevin McKenzie, Ethan Steifel
Principals and Soloists: Marcelo Gomes, Julie Kent, Hee Seo, Cory Stearns

Watch it on line from the comfort of your couch via these links:

http://www.guggenheim.org/video/channel#upcoming-live-broadcasts

http://www.guggenheim.org/video/works-process-livestream-american-ballet-theater-at-75-1940%E2%80%931965-april-19-3-pm

http://www.guggenheim.org/video/works-process-livestream-american-ballet-theater-at-75-1965%E2%80%931990-april-19-730-pm

http://www.guggenheim.org/video/works-process-livestream-american-ballet-theater-at-75-1990%E2%80%932015-april-20-730-pm

We probably don't need to remind folks that the Gugg's livestreams have a certain reputation for not always being absolutely perfectly A-1 spiffy when it comes time to deliver. So, we recommend patience and a good supply of wine unless 3pm on Sunday is too early to drink. If they encounter problems, hopefully they will communicate via their Twitter feed like they did in the past.

Note that Robert LaFosse is on the panel Sunday evening. That sounds like it could be a lively and interesting discussion.

Comments

[angelica]

Thanks for the links, Haglund. The dates and times are on my calendar. Wouldn't it be nice if Stella and Whiteside were to do an excerpt from Giselle?

[Haglund]

Yes, Angelica, a good reason to be sure to tune in Sunday night.

[Michael Noga]

I'm glad that you identified the dancers because McKenzie had a hard time identifying his own dancers.

[Haglund]

Hi, Michael. Thanks for stopping by H.H. It was a little weird when John Meehan, the moderator, didn't identify the dancers during Part I on Sunday afternoon, but he did much better on Sunday evening and Monday evening.