Word: sir
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...hand are corporate raiders and many economists, who argue that takeovers and mergers help to make businesses more efficient. The threat of a takeover can be an effective way of dislodging inept managers. To Carl Icahn, the typical chief executive is merely "a nice guy, a good drinking buddy." Sir James Goldsmith, a feared acquisitor who gained control of the Crown Zellerbach paper company last summer, told Congress that he has freed firms from "the dead hand of the bureaucrat" who produced only "complacency, ossification and decline...
With his lively autobiography, Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) ensured his lasting fame. Yet that book has convinced many that the Renaissance man was more inspired as a boaster and self-promoter than as an artist. In Cellini (Abbeville; 324 pages; $85), Sir John Pope-Hennessy corrects this impression. Although much of Cellini's early work in precious metals vanished, enough sculpture survives (and is photographed here in careful detail) to convince anyone of its creator's genius. From the exquisite gold and enamel of The Saltcellar of Francis I to the muscular bronze of Perseus, the impression grows: Cellini...
Well, what does it really matter? Hamlet is Hamlet whether it was written by the shadowy figure known as Shakespeare or by Sir Francis Bacon or even by one of those lesser claimants like the Earl of Oxford. For that matter, we know hardly anything at all about the creator of The Odyssey, whether he was a man or a woman, one poet or many. Still, any printed work is a reproduction, one of many. And though even a reproduction of a great painting can have a powerful effect, there is something magical about the uniqueness of the original...
...cast pared-down from 28 to just eight, one pianist instead of an orchestra, and less than extravagant costumes. These measures give focus to Camelot's story, nicely highlighting its comic verve and the lusty love triangle between King Arthur, his Queen, Guinevere (usually referred to as Jenny) and Sir Lancelot. The cast conveys such high spirits and passions that their performances overcome any bothersome sense of the play's datedness...
...strongest and must amusing numbers is "C'est Moi," the entrance tune of Sir Lancelot (Andrew Gardner), a self-proclaimed "French Prometheus unbound." Gardner deftly embodies a ridiculous paragon of self-confidence and self-righteousness. He has a handsome easy manner and he uses his mobile (and bushy) eyebrows to great comic effect. From France, Lancelot has travelled to join Arthur's new order, the Knights of the Round Table, a chilvalrous fraternity dedicated to Arthur's new Machiavellian philosophy that might should be the weapon of right. Arthur welcomes him readily while the rest of the court initially...