To The Moon, NASA: Space Agency Reveals New Rocket

NASA announced its new post-Space Shuttle vehicle today, called the Space Launch System (SLS).  They also released a cool animation of the new rocket blasting into space. This new mega-rocket will be made with parts familiar from the Space Shuttle, like the solid rocket boosters and the shuttle's powerful main engines, all super-sized for maximum thrust to get to the moon (maybe) and beyond.

The new SLS will be able to lift 70 tons of spacecraft and/or materials into orbit and, eventually, as much as 130 tons.  The question is when.  Estimates vary depending on the funding of NASA by Congress.  And, given the problems there, the first launch date of 2017 seems optimistic at best.  Hopefully, Congress can see this for the jobs program it could be, especially in Florida where the new craft would be based.

My Play WTC VIEW Is Being Published

Earlier this year, WTC VIEW, my play about life in NYC after 9/11, had its off-Broadway premiere at 59E59 Theaters in midtown. We had an amazing run with many sold-out houses, some great reviews, a feature in the NY Times and, in the end, it turned out that we were the highest grossing show in that theatre since it opened in 2004!

Now, WTC VIEW is going to be officially published by Dramatists Play Service, or DPS. They are the leading publisher of new plays and musicals in the U.S. and they will also be handling licensing for the show for future amateur and professional productions.  This is great news because the main reason we wanted to get the play out again was to get it out to a wider audience.  Now, theatre companies across the country will have the chance to put on their own productions of the show. It will be available in a bound "actor's edition" by the end of the year....and I will post details when that happens. 

Also, in the online realm, WTC VIEW has just become available on a new and unique website called Indie Theatre Now. Described by founder Martin Denton as "Netflix for plays", this service allows users to download a number of plays for a set fee...it varies depending on how many plays you want. It's another great way to help get the show out into the world and, already, it has garnered some attention for a possible international production next year!  Kudos to Mr. Denton for spreading the word about the vibrant Indie Theatre community here in New York.  

Cantor Fitzgerald & The Names On The 9/11 Memorial

The 9/11 Memorial opened to the public yesterday and there is one company whose names take up almost two entire walls on the north tower void, Cantor Fitzgerald.  On 9/11, they lost 658 employees which was more than two-thirds of the company, whose headquarters were on the top five floors of Tower 1.  They suffered the largest loss of life for any single entity on that horrible day and they account for nearly a quarter of all those who died in the terrorist attacks in NY, PA, and DC.

Because of this, Cantor played a unique role in the memorial. They strongly advocated for the names to be placed above ground (the initial plan had them underground) and they made sure that all the names were arranged in proximity to the the deceased's friends and colleagues at work, as opposed to alphabetical arrangement.  It took some work with computer algorithms to make this happen but in the end it is the most fitting and moving way for the names to be displayed.

For the last few years, I've been working as an Associate Producer on a feature-length documentary that tells the incredible story of this company's loss and survival. It's called OUT OF THE CLEAR BLUE SKY (directed by Danielle Gardner,whose brother worked at Cantor) and should be hitting the festival circuit in 2012.  I spent the 10th anniversary yesterday shooting their beautiful memorial service in Central Park, attended by Hillary Clinton and with music provided by the New York Pops.  When you see all those people, more than a thousand, gathered in one place to remember their loved ones, the loss is both overwhelming and inspiring.  It was a day, like 9/11 itself, that I will not soon forget...

New Video of The New World Trade Center

Silverstein Properties, the developer of the World Trade Center site, has released a new video that shows the site's progress and gives a tantalizing glimpse into the future. With some nifty computer graphics and time lapses, the video shows the new One World Trade Center rising up and even being occupied by office workers (though none of them look nearly as stylish as the Conde Nast employees who will arrive in 2013).

The video is a great tribute the progress that is finally being made at the site, 10 years after the entire WTC complex was destroyed.  Unfortunately, the estimates on the site's ultimate completion run anywhere from 2018 to 2030.  Hopefully it'll all be done sooner than later and this gaping scar in Lower Manhattan will finally be healed.

Flight Numbers From 9/11 Are Officially Retired

I was watching a piece on the CBS Evening News last night about Flight 93.  Due to that plane being the only one on 9/11 where data and sound recorders were recovered, there is a lot of information about that fateful flight and the passengers who fought back, possibly saving the US Capitol from a direct hit.

Curious about whether the airlines still use these flight numbers, I found out that the numbers of all four planes involved in the terrorist attacks had been officially retired by American and United Airlines in 2001.  However, in May of this year there was a system error at United in which the numbers 93 and 175 showed up in the system and were quickly removed.

Here's the CBS report from last night in it's entirety with Scott Pelly introducing it from the new Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA, opening this weekend.

THE GREAT GATSBY 5: This Time It's In 3D!

That's right--brace yourself for the 5th filmed adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic American novel, this time in glorious 3D!  Australian impressario Baz Luhrman starts filming  at Fox Studios in Sydney this week with a glittery cast headed by Leonardo DiCaprio as the title character and Tobey Maguire as the cutest Nick Carraway the screen has ever seen.  Carey Mulligan is playing Daisy Buchanan, which seems like it could be spot on.

I can only imagine the spectacular spectacle Baz has in mind with a reported budget of $125M.  When I first saw this story (and the pricetag!) on the Hollywood Reporter website, I thought that he was making a musical version.  But his innovation this time out is 3D, which doesn't seem like a such great idea for this particular story.  I can already see the camera zooming-in through the spectacles of Dr. T.J. Eckleberg. But other than that? 

Then again, I was impressed by his take on Shakespeare's overdone R&J (with more than 30 versions on IMDB). So maybe he can surprise us with this remake too.  Baz's glittery GATSBY will hit theatres in November 2012 in hopes of catching Oscar's attention.  

Could A Silent Movie Win An Oscar In 2012

There is big Oscar buzz for a silent movie that is making the festival rounds.  It's called THE ARTIST and is actually set in Hollywood during the silent era, telling the story of two actors who are awfully similar to Greta Garbo and John Garfield.  With the advent of sound, Garfield's career tanked due to his high voice and Garbo's career soared.

The film premiered at Cannes in May, was snatched up by the Weinstein's and recently play to strong audience response at Telluride.  There's a big write-up on the Hollywood Reporter about the film today and whether it just might be the first silent movie to get an Oscar nomination since 1929.  However, to be technical, there are apparently three instances in the film where sound is used to dramatic affect.  The article talked about these but also gave a Spoiler Alert so I didn't read it all the way til the end.

But the film certainly looks promising in its stunningly beautiful trailer, which you can watch below.  The big question is will audiences go to see a silent film?  The Weinstein's have their work cut out for them but they've surprised us before.

Top 6 Worst Excuses By Gay Politicians

So it's been a pretty big summer for political sex scandals.  It started with DSK and the hotel maid back in May, then Anthony Weiner's weiner blowing up all over Twitter in June.  And now in August, when these sort of things tend to flourish, we have two very juicy gay sex scandals entangling two very conservative Republicans.  Quel surprise!

One is a Congressman from Indiana who hired a teenage male hooker from Craigslist, but then tried to say that this was some sort of political takedown he was trying to expose (?!). The other is a senator in Puerto Rico who was on Grindr with some very explicit photos which he claimed had been taken to document his recent weight loss. Oh Mary please!

I have an article out today about some of these summer '11 sex scandals as part of NEXT magazine's end-of-summer yearbook issue.  (It should post to their site this weekend.)  And over at New York magazine, the scandals have inspired them to compile a brilliant list of the top 6 worst excuses by gay politicians.  To mangle Shakespeare--these ladies doth protest waaaay too much.

Hoisting Steel At The Top Of The World

This photo was taken by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Damon Winter. The NY Times commissioned him in July to take pictures of the men working nearly 1,000 feet in the sky as they together the steel of One World Trade Center.  Winter's black and white photos are reminiscent of Lewis Hines work back in the 1930's when he documented the ironworkers piecing together the Empire State Building.

You can see a lot more of these photos online.  There is an extraordinary multimedia slidshow on the Times website that posted today and there will be print versions of the photos in this Sunday's magazine.  These images are beautiful and breathtaking; a lasting tribute to their work on what will soon be the tallest building in America.

The Encyclopedia of 9/11

We're about a week and a half out from the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and the media coverage has begun.  Tonight, NatGeo is airing a doc on President Bush's recollections of the day.  Also this week, New York magazine came out with a cover story called "The Encyclopedia of 9/11".

It's an A-Z list of 100 plus words and phrases connected to the coordinated Al Queda attacks on NY and DC and what they wrought.  Though hardly as comprehensive as it sounds, the list is impressive and does bring back some memories of things forgotten (Green, Mark..mayoral candidate) and updates on where things stand today (Memorial, 9/11...opening next week).

However, I would like to point out that in the W's they missed my play "WTC View".  But they missed Neil LaBute's plays too (he's written 3 with 9/11 themes) so at least I'm in good company.