Archive for the ‘Interview’ Category
Michael Lewis
“How some of Wall Street’s finest minds managed to destroy $1.75 trillion of wealth” – that is the shorthand version of the new book coming out this week by celebrated author Michael Lewis, on The Music Hall stage Wednesday April 7 as part of the Writers on a New England Stage series. Lewis was interviewed on CBS’ 60 Minutes Sunday March 14. Here from 60 Minutes:
If you had to pick someone to write the autopsy report on the Wall Street financial collapse 18 months ago, you couldn’t do any better than Michael Lewis. He is one of the country’s preeminent non-fiction writers with a knack for turning complicated, mind numbing material into fascinating yarns. He wrote his first bestseller, “Liar’s Poker,” about his experiences as a young Wall Street bond trader when he was still in his 20s and has since followed up with seven more bestsellers on subjects ranging from Silicon Valley in “The New New Thing” to big time sports in “Money Ball” and “The Blind Side,” (made into a motion picture with Academy Award winner for best actress, Sandra Bullock.) His new book, called “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine,” comes out later this week and it explains how some of Wall Street’s finest minds managed to destroy $1.75 trillion of wealth in the subprime mortgage markets. Check out the link below.
Tags: Michael Lewis, performance, writers, yankee, yankee magazine | 
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by Writers on a New England Stage Executive Producer PATRICIA LYNCH, and Associate Producer MARGARET TALCOTT
Just in time for the holidays, the folks behind the celebrated writers’ series at The Music Hall share why they buy books, especially signed books, and why you might too…
Mmmm...books
In this age of “kindle” why is a signed book or any book a great gift?
Margaret: I love hardcover books. They feel good in your hands, and they hold meaning in the way a print-out or a computer screen never will. Throughout my life I’ve been collecting books. As time moves on, I move different books to the front of my bookcases. Right now, the Writers on a New England Stage authors’ books are in full view…they are today’s most-talked-about bestselling books and I want them close at hand! I also want my friends to have them so I typically buy a few copies and have our guest author sign them.
Patricia: I like giving friends signed copies of books from the series as it feels very personal to me. I also enjoy giving people I’m getting to know a few of my very favorite books, one a cookbook featuring the grande dame playwright Lillian Hellman and her friend Peter Freiblmen called Cooking Together, and another from the Dalai Lama called The Art of Happiness. Of course if you’re a girl between ages 9-14, I’m going to get you a copy of Jane Eyre which I pretty much memorized as a girl myself.
A signed Dan Brown book sold for $1,000 on Ebay. What do you think about books being traded like baseball cards or antique cars?
Patricia: I think anything that promotes the idea that books and reading are cool is a good thing.
I’ve noticed that at Writers on a New England Stage nights you have a copy of the book signed with the date and The Music Hall.
Margaret: I have been asking authors to sign this way because its adds a further element of personalization or personal meaning to me. For me, this signature captures not just a name and a place but also the spirit in the room, which is always so good on a Writers on a New England Stage night. I also have the future in mind. Truly, I look forward to coming across these special signed books in the years ahead. I’m also thinking of my children – how, decades from now, they might open a book and look back on a time in life. For me, a signed book is not simply a memento of a night, but tangible evidence of time well spent.
Any advice for fellow readers?
Margaret: If you like an author buy their book, especially, if you can, an autographed copy. Better yet, buy one or two to give away. A signed book is a special gift. It signals to friends and family you’ve been thinking about them even when you’re out on the town. In this time of busy-ness and multi-tasking that’s the highest compliment you can give!
To ensure you get an autographed book by an upcoming Writers on a NE Stage author, buy a voucher today at the box office or RiverRun Bookstore. Purchase in advance for a 10% discount.
by KATHLEEN SOLDATI, Director of Marketing
Kenneth Kiesler
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Tell us about the conductor’s life.
I think people have the impression that conductors arrive at a hall in black tails and white tie and in chauffeured limousines and live very detached and isolated lives of luxury but actually people might be interested to know we spend most of our lives studying music alone, we work hard, we rehearse many, many hours, and the performing part is a very small part of what we do. Right now I’m in rehearsal for the extraordinary opera, Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. And, there is always a great deal of musical work to do and administrative organizational work to do.
How do you keep the Pops fresh?
Holiday Pops is one of my favorite things to do. People who know me as a conductor of symphonies and operas find it hard to believe. But it’s true. I love the audiences, I love the music and always have. It’s fresh because although I do it every year, I only do it for a short time. And I try to do new arrangements, new versions. While I can’t afford the rehearsal time to do a completely brand new concert every year, I always mix in some new things to keep it fresh – for me and for the audience.
What role does the audience play?
No question the audience plays a really significant role; the performance is at least half created by the people who are there – how they receive us, how they welcome us on stage. I have a warm place in my heart for Portsmouth which is why I do the work on the Holiday Pops and return there every year and why I’m delighted to be asked. I started coming to Portsmouth when I was eight years old. Then I lived on Marcy Street before I went off to graduate school and to a career in conducting. I also have a warm spot in my heart for Music Hall audiences in particular. It’s just a joy to be there and to see everyone and to be greeted at holiday time, to see the warmth and enthusiasm of the audience.
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by Boston Indie Movie Examiner, Joel Bocko:
Originally posted here:
For the Love of Movies: Interview with director and critic Gerald Peary
Posted using ShareThis
By: KATHLEEN SOLDATI, Director of Marketing
As we watch SummerFilm and get ready for MIFF @ The Music Hall, we thought about a key person who makes it all happen for us – our projectionist. Kathleen Soldati caught up with Elizabeth Antalek recently at the Hall to ask about how she got into this job and what she’s looking forward to the most in July and August…
Was it always a dream of yours to run movie projectors?
My becoming a projectionist was pure happenstance – I loved the experience of cinema but hadn’t really given much thought to what went on in the booth. It was a magical room, and magical light streamed out through its windows.
Did you sacrifice the magic when you learned how things worked?
Thankfully, no. If I lost anything by learning the mechanics – and I don’t think I did – having the opportunity to create an experience for others has been ample compensation. We show films that are worth seeing, and I enjoy sharing them. Especially when a film is well attended, the collective experience is palpable. I like to slip downstairs and watch a few minutes of film with the audience. You can feel people watching. And the beauty of light through film, all that color and luminosity – nothing compares.
You also work for the Telluride Film Festival?
Out in Colorado, yes, every Labor Day weekend. It’s a cinephile’s paradise, truly. Despite the many honored guests each year, it’s not about celebrity – it’s about art, and everyone from the editors to the archivists is recognized along the way. I feel lucky to be part of it – but in a way, it’s even more fun to come home again and show films for Telluride by the Sea. I love to see this community excited about film.
Are you looking forward to anything in particular in the July and August lineup?
I’m looking forward to all of it. Every title has something to recommend it, and most of them are new to me. American Violet was a crowd-pleaser in Telluride last year, so I hope we’ll have a good house for that. Revanche was one of my favorites at the festival, remarkable for its depth and direction.
So, how did it actually happen that you ended up in this job?
I moved to New Hampshire, sight-unseen, for graduate school, and before I even knew how to say “Piscataqua” I was at The Music Hall watching movies. I was here so often that someone at concessions asked, “Are you the new projectionist?” Without hesitation, I said, “Yes!” After that I was trained, and after that I was interviewed. It was all a bit topsy-turvy – but that just seems like proof that it was fated.
Chris Botti
BY JORDAN BLACK, Special to NOW @ The Music Hall
He was all of about 11 years old when he made the mature decision that, no matter how hard he dreamed, he would never be “the best second baseman in the world.”
Then Miles Davis came into Chris Botti’s life, via a recording of “My Funny Valentine,” and his future seemed clear.
Having taken up trumpet at 9, the Oregon native began to see the instrument as a way to do “something meaningful with my life.” His mother, a classically trained pianist and part-time piano teacher, was his earliest musical influence.
“Every kid at a point in his life realizes they aren’t going to become Michael Jordan, and their dreams of being a professional athletic are rudely interrupted (by reality),” Botti says, chuckling. “All of a sudden you’ve got to figure out something meaningful that separates you from the rest of the kids. I happened to play trumpet and was pretty good at it, and it made me feel like I was doing something original.”