Sunday, November 07, 1999
Miniaturized mural on sale
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
And this for people hooked on Chris Payne's Playhouse in the Park mural and want to hang it at home but don't have 100 feet of wall space.
Problem solved. Thanks to some computer fiddling, the Payne mural is now a 38- by 20-inch horizontal poster.
Well, sort of. What they did “was build a matrix of cubes, then shoot excerpts, then re-combine them,” explains Playhouse spokesman Peter Robinson.
It's not the mural as it appears in the lobby, but it does include more than 20 key faces — Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, Cecily Tyson, Noel Coward and other biggies arranged yearbook style.
“We're thinking of it as "moments from the mural',” says Robinson, who is in the mural but not the poster. “Can you imagine? Left me out. Left Ed (Stern, artistic director) out, too. Chris is out, too.
“But it's true to the theatrical intent, and, I guess, never mind hurting our feelings.”
Elsewhere on the mural front, it's certain that Payne will add to the piece in seasons ahead but there's no timetable and no selection of faces. “It has more to do with his time than anything else,” Robinson says.
That's a problem, because Payne is one of the busiest illustrators in the country, regularly cranking out work for Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and other magazines.
The poster is $10 at the Playhouse (there's a small number of signed jobs, $30).
LOOKING GOOD: Well dang, Cincinnati, for having a reputation as an old frump, aren't you looking chic in the oh so august New York Times?
Specifically, Cincinnati was half the cover and a full open page in the Times' Weekend section last week. It's a travel feature, this, about getting away to Cincinnati with history and economic tidbits tossed in.
The piece by R. W. Apple Jr. calls Cincinnati a “site of uncommon beauty and a populace of uncommon civility” (he apparently didn't drive Fort Washington Way) and dwells on the “rich musical heritage, and its record of innovation in many fields,” as well as the recent spate of cutting edge architecture.
It even calls UC, site of much of said architecture, “one of the most architecturally dynamic campuses in America today.”
No locals are quoted, but Apple uses a number of local names to illustrate points: Maisonette chef Jean-Robert de Cavel as an example of adventurous dining spirit; zoo director Ed Maruska as an example of forward thinking in the conservation field; Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops as a musical crown jewel; the Taft family, including current governor Bob Taft, as an example of dedication to public service.
Well, OK, there's also that Robert Mapplethorpe black eye from 1990, and some choice Marge Schott quotes to balance things out, but all in all, the city comes out looking fine.
ALSO IN THE NEWS: Well would you look at this? Results of the 1999 Teen Awards are in the current Teen magazine and guess who finished way up there? None other than 98`, Cincinnatians Drew and Nick Lachey, Justin Jeffre and Massillon's Jeff Timmons.
The Lacheys won, says a story next to a full page photo, as “Fave Celeb Siblings,” but the group got so many other mentions (voting was on the teenmag.com Web Site) that Teen promises to put them on the December cover, out Tuesday.
It will come with a story about their new Christmas album (already reviewed in Tempo), plus an “exclusive scoop you'll never believe.”
Knip's Eye View appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
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