Great Theatre Sites
As the performing arts critic for this magazine, and a life-long theatre professional, I often
"cruise the web" in search of information concerning the theatre and have spent many, many
hours happily jumping from link to link in my searches. Herewith, some of the results of my
gleanings:
For one of the most comprehensive sites and the one with the most links to other sites, check
out Theatre Central (theatre-central.com/). From this site one can find info on every theatre in
America that has a website, links to info on important theatre personalities from Arthur Miller
to Shakespeare (did you know that Shakespeare's entire body of work is downloadable? (the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare), and classified ads for jobs, both on and backstage, and bookstores
for theatre books and scripts (Dramatists Play Service: http://plaza.interport.net/dramatists).
It was from Theatre Central that I found David Spencer's excellent New York review page,
Aisle Say (escape.com/~theanet/Aisle Say.html). Not only does Mr. Spencer, a children's
theatre lyric writer, review all of New York's theatre openings, from Broadway to Off Off, he
also publishes reviews by others of theatre offerings in Washington, DC, Boston, Philadelphia
and L.A. His is an alternative point of view from that of the major reviewers, i.e., The New
York Times, and always more comprehensive.
For general theatre news of the entire world, nothing beats Playbill Online
(http://piano.symgrp.com/playbill). A general store of theatre info, Playbill Online's news
releases are Varietylike in their conciseness. One can peruse Broadway grosses, download
song clips from the latest musicals (right now one can hear musical selections from the pre-Broadway blockbuster, Ragtime, now packing them in in Toronto), read about the latest gigs
of "divas" (they're partial to Betty Buckley), or order discounted tickets to Broadway and Off
Broadway shows.
One of my favorite cruisey sites is the newsgroups: rec.arts.theatre.misc or musicals or plays
or stagecraft from which one can glean a wealth of knowledge or, if one is already
knowledgeable, impart it to others who post all sorts of questions, answers to the
questions,advice, for sale ads (smoke machines, lighting equipment, puppet theatres, an entire
New England summer stock theatre, etc.), news of productions around the world and, most
important, jobs in every aspect of theatre.
Whatever your interest, the web is a bottomless source of information and an invaluable
research tool. Happy cruisin'!
Two Outstanding Spanish Painters on the Internet
Barcelona - Ideco Art Gallery
announced today the open
ing of two new painting exhibitions: "Mediterranean Landscapes" by Concha Ibanez, and "Cats" by Cristina Fonollosa.
Concha Ibanez is a renowned Spanish painter who has done, since her artistic debut in 1960, over 200 exhibitions in Europe and America. Her works are found in public and private collections worldwide. Ibanez is well known for her unique approach to landscape painting, which confers her art a particular atmosphere of mystery and silence, and makes it project a feeling of serenity.
For this her first exhibition in Cyberspace, Ibanez has contributed a collection of fourteen oil on canvas paintings, all representing landscapes found by the artist in various Mediterranean countries. Works like "Greece", "Morocco", "Ibiza" or "Montjuich", to name a few, immediately show the special atmosphere which is common to Ibanez' art.
Cristina Fonollosa is a fine artist with a unique approach, whose paintings are an important part of numerous collections and are consistently exhibited in fine galleries and exhibitions worldwide. Her style, which at first look appears to be naive, strongly indicates acquired knowledge of an academic foundation. A pleasure to contemplate, Fonollosa's art is known to convey a feeling of perfect balance, harmony and completeness.
"Cats" is a charming collection of Fonollosa's most recent works. As the title indicates, cats -but also New York to a lesser degree- are the leitmotifs of these oil on canvas paintings, which conserve a strong appeal even when viewed on a computer screen.
These exhibitions can be visited at http://www.ideco.es/iag until March 3 0, 19 97 .
Ideco Art Gallery is a Web shopping site devoted to fine arts and handicrafts by recognized Spanish artists and artisans. The site, which opened in November 1996, is operated by IDECO S.L., a company based in Barcelona, Spain. Current exhibitions include paintings by Concha Ibanez and Cristina Fonollosa, silversmithing works by Miguel Moreno, sculptures by Juan Rodriguez, tapestries by Maruja Rodrigo, and paintings on silk by Rosa Tarres.
Bad Advice from Shrink-Link
[from the GLAAD Newsletter]
Shrink-Link, a Web site that supposedly provides "direct e-mail access to a staff of top clinical psychologists ready to review and comment on almost any important question or conflict in your life" for the price of $20 a response, has proven you don't always get what you pay for.
In order to entice people to use the service, Shrink-link offers a few sample queries and responses. One of the queries is from a fourteen-year-old girl who is attracted to a female classmate, recognizes that she has never been attracted to boys, and is seeking advice about what to do. Shrink-link replied, "Fourteen is a pretty young age to decide whether you are a lesbian. You have a lot more experimenting and exploration of sex ahead of you. You probably will want to give boys a chance-not to force yourself on them-but to try them out. Boys have a lot to offer in ways other than sex, and you may find that you like their company. It doesn't sound as though you are ready to make such an important decision. There are also important consequences to choosing life as a lesbian. Unfortunately, your parent's viewpoints are typical of our society with regard to homosexuality. Although attitudes are somewhat more enlightened now, and many have 'come out of the closet,' homosexuals are regarded as outcasts and encounter discrimination and hardships."
The Internet has become a lifeline to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth, many of whom are just coming out and looking for a safe place to find out more information about their sexual orientation. This kind of bad advice can really confuse a person and add to her sense of isolation. It would be unthinkable for a therapist to reply to a boy-crazy girl that she should "give girls a chance" because she is not ready to "choose life" as a heterosexual. The same, of course, is true for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. What they need is support, not implications that their sexual orientation might be a "phase" or a "choice."
Write Shrink-Link and let them know that their commentary is ill-advised, potentially harmful and insensitive to yhouth who do not fit the hererosexual mold. Contact: Shrink-Link, c/o Cyberlink Consulting, Inc., fax: 914.833.0144, e-mail: Shlink@Westnet.com
