Awarding high school theater?

Forgive the randomness of today’s posting. I’m in a clearing-my-desk frenzy before taking off tomorrow afternoon for a family trip to the Jersey shore. (Thank goodness I have some LA Theatre Works plays on tape to get me through the 12-hour drive. More on the great work of LATW in a future blog or column.)

* In case you haven’t seen them, I’m now offering A&E previews every Thursday morning on Fox59. About an hour or so after they are on the air (circa 8:15), they are posted here: www.ibj.com/arts. And feel free to send feedback to lharry@ibj.com on anything from event selection to wardrobe advice. It’s always good to hear from you.

* The American Scholar has posted a smart, interesting, passionate speech by critic Steve Vineberg. I hadn’t heard of the guy, but after seeing this, I want to read more. “Bad writers and directors…” he says, “always want to offer us the easy way out—the lie that we’re superior to the characters on the stage or the screen; put another way, they create false, two-dimensional characters we can only feel superior to. It’s the genuine artists who bind us to great sinners like Lear and Othello…”

* A shout out to a useful new-ish site: Indylit.com offers updated listings of author booksignings in the area. Check it out if you’re looking for the next read for your book club.

* Arts groups: E-mail your upcoming season schedules to me at lharry@ibj.com. These are enormously helpful not only for scheduling reviews and previews (including IBJ’s upcoming Arts and Entertainment Preview) but also to spark ideas for blog posts.

* Everyone else is forwarding it. I might as well, too. So here’s The Onion’s very funny High School Tony Awards video. Feel free to share any memorable high school theater moments of your own below…