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From: H-NET List on Italian-American History and Culture
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Subject: H-ITAM Digest - 25 Jun 2004 to 27 Jun 2004 (#2004-153)
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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: No IA theatre companies in USA?
Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2004 08:13:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Lawrence Tamanini
To: D-Candeloro@govst.edu
The question WHY there is an absence of Italaian
American theatre companies is a good question. When
you consider what is taking place on the boards right
now, it adds to your question ten fold.
I have stated and have proved beyound a shadow of a
doubt that Italian Americans do not support their
artists. The only artists that receive any reconition
are ones portraying Italian Americans in the most
negative light. (Please, don't waste any time trying
to prove this statement wrong.) It all comes down to
that the powers that be make TONS of money !
Furthermore, the taste of Italian Americans has now
sunk to a low that is equal to, or worst then , the
general population.
As far as the Italian American organizations are
concerned they are equally at fault and their taste
for the arts is almost non exsistent. Yes, every year
they'll honor some flat singing tenor but 99% of the
time they, the leaders of these organizations, don't
have a clue and it gives me the impression that
frankly, they don't care. Yes, they'll wait and come
out with statements against the portrayal of Italian
Americans as gangsters et al . Stick their hands in
their pockets....please, thats whats truly needed but
then they have to form a committee composed of people
whose knowledge of the arts can be written on the back
of a match book cover.
If the past actions of Italian Americans and the
organizations are any indicator then the future for
Italian American artists as it pertains to FINANCIAL
support from their own Italian Americans community
will be as it is...lip service only, whinning about
the explotation of Italian Americans in films, the
theatre and litature.
Lawrence E. Tamanini
host
"THE ITALIAN AMERICAN HOUR"
WNWR 1540 AM
on the web WNWR.com
SATURDAY 5:00pm
WBCB 1490 AM
on the web WBCB.com
SUNDAY 12:07 pm
--- Dominic Candeloro
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: a message from LindaAnn Loschiavo, who
> writes for FRA NOI, etc.
> Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 20:06:27 EDT
> From: NonstopNY@aol.com
> To: undisclosed-recipients:;
>
>
>
> .
> There is no Italian American Theatre group in the
> entire USA. Not one.
> Irish Americans have 8 drama non-profits that help
> Brian Friel, et al to
> win Tony Awards.
> Jewish non-profits have more than 70 groups that
> fund + support theatre.
> [One group funded plays by 66 Jewish dramatists last
> year.]
> Blacks have over 80 non-profits dedicated to theatre opportunities for
> African-Americans.
> Hispanics have more than 90 groups to fund + support
> Latino performers +
> theatre.
>
> My article, that analyzes why other ethnic groups
> win all the writing
> awards and lists 20 of the major writing awards
> that NO Italian
> American author has ever won [since 1917], will
> appear soon in FRA NOI
> [published in Chicago]. Please tell colleagues to
> order and read my
> article. (Subscriptions to FRA NOI are encouraged
> and appreciated.)
>
> Since not one Italian Amer organization has seen
> fit to dedicate
> itself to encouraging playwrights, this is what gets
> produced in New
> York City instead:
> NOW IN ITS 8TH YEAR!
> "MURDERED by the MOB" Has an offer you
> can't refuse!
>
> "It's a HIT! No pun intended."
> FOX TV
>
> "...this interactive murder mystery is obviously a
> hit by any
> definition... funny and worth seeing..."
> ZAGAT Theater Guide
> .
> MURDERED BY THE MOB is an interactive mystery comedy
> dinner theater. NOW
> IN ITS 8TH YEAR! Mingle with mobsters and molls,
> meet the new "Boss of
> Bosses", break bread and heads with Wiseguys and
> Mafia princesses. Sure
> you'll be rubbing elbows with goodfellas and ducking
> bullets over
> Broadway, but it won't stop the fun!
>
> Eat, Drink, Dance, and be Merry, for tonight you
> could die... laughing!
> The two and three hour comedy mystery features a 3
> course sit down
> dinner, dancing with a professional DJ, and
> surprises at every turn.
> Aaay!
>
> >
> > Aaay! You even have the chance to solve the case
> and win some
> > fabulous prizes. There are seven prizes in every
> performance,
> > including a collector's item any crime solver
> would cherish and
> > "Academy Awards" for the best actor & actress
> chosen from the audience.
>
>
> Arno's Restaurant
>
> >
> > $59.00 per ticket includes Dinner, Dancing, &Show.
> >
> > Special promotion:
> > Through August receive a $10.00 discount on . . .
>
mercoledì, giugno 30, 2004
FW: H-ITAM Digest - 25 Jun 2004 to 27 Jun 2004 (#2004-153)
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2 commenti:
Thanks for the comments [by Lawrence E. Tamanini, host,
"THE ITALIAN AMERICAN HOUR"]. Please pick up a copy of FRA NOI, Chicago's respected news magazine [FRA NOI, 3800 Division Street, Stone Park, Illinois 60165], which has been published monthly for the past 30 years, edited by Paul Basile.
In the next issue of FRA NOI, you can read an article that has conclusions based on research that will astonish most Italian Americans.
Here is a brief excerpt from this article. Read it and weep, paisano mio.
= = = = = = = = = SEE BELOW = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I researched America's top literary prizes: who is getting them, the groups that stage-manage this process by funding emerging or established authors, and which types of nonprofits are leaders when it comes to reputation building.
In other words, how EFFECTIVE are Italian American organizations when it comes to fueling the creation of literary capital, a legacy that comes from empowering writers?
Here's where the Subtlety Train completely leaves the station and exposes a few facts:
FACT: So far, NO Italian American has ever won a Nobel Prize in Literature, an award established in 1901 that five ITALIAN writers have won - as well as 104 additional writers. (Several times, two authors shared this prestigious annual prize.)
FACT: So far, NO Italian American has ever won a Pulitzer Prize for drama, an award established in 1917. [Number of dramatists who have won a Pulitzer: 73.]
FACT: So far, NO Italian American has ever won a Pulitzer Prize for poetry [estab. 1917].
FACT: So far, only two Italian Americans have won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction [estab. 1917]. One was Michael Shaara [1928-1988], who was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of Italian immigrants whose surname was originally spelled "Sciarra," and whose novel The Killer Angels won in 1975. The second man is Richard Russo, born in 1949 in Johnstown, NY, whose national bestseller Empire Falls won a Pulitzer in 2002 as well as other honors.
FACT: So far, the only female Italian American screenwriter who won an Oscar for "Best Original Screenplay" is Sofia Coppola. The Oscar was founded in 1927 and Sofia Coppola won in 2004 for her indie film "Lost in Translation." [Oscars for screenwriting have been awarded 154 times.]
FACT: So far, NO Italian American writer won a NY Drama Critics' Circle Award [estab. 1935].
FACT: So far, NO Italian American dramatist has won a Tony Award [estab. 1947].
FACT: So far, NO Italian American playwright has won a Drama Desk Award [estab. 1949].
FACT: So far, only three Italian American males have won a National Book Award [estab. 1950]. The first was Bernard A. De Voto [1897-1955], who was born in Missouri to a Mormon mother and Floreen DeVoto, an Italian American; DeVoto won for his nonfiction title The Course of Empire in 1953. The second was Robert Vincent Remini [born in 1921], who lives in Wilmette, Illinois; Prof. Remini won for his nonfiction presidential study Andrew Jackson & the Course of American Democracy, 1833-1845 in 1984. The third was Don DeLillo [born in 1936], who grew up in the Bronx; DeLillo won for his novel White Noise in 1985.
FACT: So far, the only Italian American playwright who has won an Obie Award for "Best Play" is Louis A. Lippa [born 1927 in Philadelphia]. The Obie was founded in 1956 and Louis Lippa won for his drama "A House Remembered" in 1957.
FACT: So far, one Italian American has won an Ernest Hemingway Foundation/ PEN Award [estab. 1975]: Rosina Lippi-Green [born 1956 in Chicago], whose father has Italian heritage. Her debut novel Homestead, on a century of life in an isolated Austrian village, won in 1998.
FACT: So far, only one Italian American has won a National Book Critics Circle Award [estab. 1976]: Robert Polito [born 1951 in Boston]. Polito's title Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson won in 1995. Though two-time NBCC winner Robert A. Caro has a surname that sounds encouragingly Italian, he is Sephardic and Jewish.
FACT: So far, only one Italian American has won a PEN/ Faulkner Award [estab. 1981]: Don DeLillo won for his novel Mao II in 1992.
FACT: Italian-American personalities have spawned box office bonanzas. For example, “Fiorello!”, a musical dramatizing the life of New York’s former Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (1882-1947), ran for two years on Broadway, and successfully toured the United States. Moreover -against all odds - “Fiorello!” won Broadway’s Triple Crown: a Tony Award, a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and a Pulitzer Prize. Snagging a Pulitzer for drama is the ultimate prestige for theatrical achievement and, though musicals rarely win it, “Fiorello!” scored. Recently, "Nobody Don't Like Yogi," a solo show about the legendary former Yankee Yogi Berra, delighted sold-out crowds in three cities. Though Fiorello LaGuardia and Yogi Berra have many admirers, neither book bore an Italian American byline.
Che vergogna! Not even a dozen writing awards have been presented to Italian Americans since 1901 - and, of these, females make the slightest impact. Such a poor track record for literary laurels accepted by Italian American authors seems astonishing in light of the rich pedigree of Italian literati we yearn to claim kinship with. Che successa? What did Roman and Renaissance writers have that today’s Italian American authors lack. In a word: patronage.
The . . .
= = = read the entire article in FRA NOI = = =
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