>>>>>>It is difficult to say where you might find long term employment, if such a thing still exists. As programmers we have our issues and an industry that is a bit similar is the Visual Effects Industry (VFX). People in that industry typically do not belong to a union and work long hours. Working in VFX takes a lot of training and experience.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Rhythm and Hues is a company that is well known for its VFX work, most recently for Life of Pi. About a month ago the owner said that paychecks would be late. On February 8th, the owner called everyone into a meeting and said that employees would be paid on February 15th. As usual, the employees worked long hours on Saturday and Sunday February 9th and 10th.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>At 9 PM that Sunday, hundreds of employees were telephoned and informed they were no longer employed. The next morning the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Some employees have been retained to work on committed movies, and as of this time no one has been paid.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>My daughter was watching the Academy Awards last night and noted that the scenes shown were the ones she helped to create. She was one of those discharged by Rhythm and Hues. Now she is looking for a new career. Her first career after receiving her degree in English from UCLA, was in teaching. That is not a stable career nor does it pay a decent salary. So she went into her second love – VFX. Now she is searching for her next career.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I told my son and daughter to always be prepared for a new career. I had to go from being an electronics engineer to a programmer. So always be ready for new things in your life.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/vfx-oscar-protest-workers-pound-the-pavement-to-plead-their-case/
>>>>>
>>>>>I think one of the winners was actually mentioning something about the financial situation of that company during their acceptance speech but got cut off... my daughter and I both heard it and were shocked.
>>>>>
>>>>>Found it:
>>>>>http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2013/02/25/rhythm-hues-gets-oscars-shout-out/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Thank you for finding that link. I will send it to my daughter, who told me about that event. It was interesting how Mr. Lee rambled (it seemed) longer than anyone in the history of the Academy Awards, stopping, looking up, down, to the side, and there was not once an attempt to get him off stage (loud music, etc.).
>>>
>>>Winners in the major categories, which Best Director certainly is, are always given a long leash with the length of their acceptance speeches. Ang Lee's didn't strike me as outrageously long. Maybe that was because I enjoyed it so much. The one that did strike me as long was Quentin Tarantino's. Maybe that was because I can't stand him.
>>>
>>>On that topic, here is a striking article from Sunday's Chicago Tribune by Christopher Borrelli (their best writer or very close to it IMO). The topic is "hate-watching," which means watching a show you can't stand, or maybe it's just a character you can't stand, for the perverse pleasure of disliking them.
>>>
>>>http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-borrelli-hate-watch-20130221,0,6157028.column
>>>
>>>I love the bit at the end of the article about Russell Crowe:
>>>
>>>Which … now that I think of it … not really — at least not by Russell Crowe in “Gladiator” — too somberly mediocre a display of angst to merit Grade-A hate-watching. But Russell Crowe in “Les Miserables”? Singing as the lawman Javert (“I am Javert!/Do not forget my name!”) delivering his low-register baritone with the bravura flatness of a Dakota road trip? A talented guy, pushing himself and way out of his depth?
>>>
>>>I dreamed a dream, and, astonishingly, Russell Crowe is set to sing Sunday night. As Javert. At the Oscars. On live TV. Alongside Anne Hathaway. Hope-watch all you want, but I have an idea where this is headed.
>>
>>Hi Mike,
>>
>>Perhaps I am biased because I love Les Miserables, Saw twice on Broadway and once as the film. The singing in the film has been oft panned but I look at it this way... the actors actually sang in their own less than stellar voices which made the movie more realistic to me.
>>
>>When I compare the stage production to the film, the music on stage is far superior but the film gave me a much better understanding of the story line. I enjoyed them both a lot and I actually enjoyed the presentation during the Oscars as well.
>>
>>To each his own I guess.
>>
>>Ken
>
>Ken -
>
>I haven't watched the Oscars on my DVR yet, but I think you are spot on about Les Mis - both the movie and the stage play.
>
>I saw it 6 times on the stage and can probably play the original London cast album in my head without a glitch. The movie was different from that and I think that was actually a good choice. They showed story and character you can't do on stage. Hathaway, Crowe and Hugh Jackman are great close-up actors doing small things on a very big screen. The visuals were stunning and the story really came through. The way they let them sing made the acting just right for the genre.
>
>That said, the music definitely suffered. Master of the House (and the reprise at the party), One Day More and Do you Hear the people sing and what should have been a really powerful counterpoint duet with Valjean and Javert were particularly disappointing. Just didn't have the power. Master of the House got lost in the visuals and the busy camera business and most of the lyrics were swallowed.
>
>I loved the movie, (my wife didn't) but I was very very careful who I recommended it to. If you already had seen and loved the stage production you were probably in a pretty good place to appreciate the additional stuff the movie brought. But if this was the first exposure to it, I think many people walked away wondering what the big deal was about the music.
>
>But compared to some of Hollywood's defiling of great musicals - Man of LaMancha for example - I think it was brilliant.
>
>They have started showing live opera from the Met and La Scala in HD at movie theaters. I'd love to see this done with stage productions of great musicals that are out of their first run. The world is poorer for so few people having actually seen Kiley and Diener in Man of LaMancha or Anthony Newley in Stop the Word or Roar of the Greasepaint. This stuff, like great ballet, should be preserved. Too much live performance is ephemeral.

I saw the stage production in downtown Chicago many years ago and really enjoyed it. The thing that unsettled me right off the bat in the movie was all the dialogue being sung.

From this point forward I don't think there is much chance of anything not being preserved ;-) In the digital age, even the smallest public event is forever.