FIRST VIEW

First View (www.firstview.com) is by far the largest fashion website with the most viewership.  It is a database of collections from international fashion designers and the first to ever facilitate such access. 

This site filled a void in the quest to view top fashion designer shows.  Due to such elite status, it is highly difficult to even be considered to attend such prestigious affairs. These shows, being only presented twice a year (Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter), would eventually be featured in magazine spreads or news briefs but only in a much edited form.  First View was able to offer each and every look such designers would send down the catwalk would the ability to zoom in on one particular picture at a time. 

First View also presents a fashion calendar of major upcoming international fashion shows.  Every other season a city’s fashion week will be featured which will give it free global awareness.  The site also consistently works on featuring more designers from every other fashion city.  Although past collections (going back almost ten years) are free to view, the most recent ones can be seen for $5.95 per hour. 

They have been able to offer the most dedicated of clients the ability to actually purchase shows on video.  This option was yet another revolutionary act for a website to carry.  For their latest feature, they are now going wireless and mobile phone ready.  First View is a website that has kept current with the times and that in itself is a secret to its success.

Reviewed by Library staff member – Francisco Murillo

“LA Weekly” is known as “…the premier source for award-winning coverage of Los Angeles music, arts, film, theater, culture, concerts, events…” and the list goes on and on and on. Want to know what’s going on in and around Los Angeles? Forget about paying for the Los Angeles Times, pick up a free copy of the LA Weekly (available throughout the Los Angeles area, including your truly, the FIDM library) and you will have at your fingertips everything that you need to know about what’s happening around town.

Listings are comprehensive, and run the entertainment gamut, including but certainly not limited to:

• Movies
• Stage and theater
• Music (concerts on the small, large and grand scales)
• Political events
• Restaurant recommendations

Make it a habit to scan the variety of weekly listings and you will have a smorgasbord of event from which to choose for your itinerary of fun.

Not to be ignored is the editorial content of LA Weekly. Many of the staff writers and guest contributors provide a unique look at the people, places, and events that shape LA’s image projected to the rest of the world. Each week the paper brings a fresh, new and different perspective of the southland that even natives could not have imagined. For example, in the issue reviewed at press time, the weekly feature focused on “LA People: Who We Are.” Writers familiarize readers with the people that make this city what it is – from regular LA Times columnist, Steve Lopez, to independent film director, Nicole Holofcener, to celebrity surf-school instructor, John Philbin, just to name a few.

And if you missed out on the last copy of the latest issue, don’t panic. LAweekly.com provides visitors with online access to the full edition, also for free! The website also maintains a digital archive of the newspaper. It’s informative, it’s fun and the price is right. What more can you ask for?

Reviewed by library staff member – Lucy Bellamy

Broadway – The American Musical is a companion piece to the acclaimed six-part PBS Series.  This is a comprehensive and concise history of over 100 years of Broadway magic. The book is divided into six distinct chapters, all placed in chronological order. Each chapter also contains a point of reference for the reader such as: who’s who, which musical typifies the era, and some of the great lyrics of that time. All the greatest legends of the great white way are covered from Fanny Brice (Funny Girl), Fred Astaire and Ray Bolger (the scarecrow from the Wizard Of Oz) to today’s crop of luminaries, Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin and Nathan Lane.      

Added features at the end of the book include:

• Exit Music
• Broadway: A selected chronology
• Selected Bibliography
• Maps Of The Theater District
• Photo, Lyric And Text Credits 

Broadway – The American Musical contains 310 black and white and 200 color images from the most memorable moments in theater history. From the Phantom of the Opera to Carousel to Hairspray, they’re all here. The authors have also provided interviews such as: Lorenz Hart on Richard Rogers, Tommy Tune on a dancer’s life, and Mel Brooks on Musical Comedy. Theater lovers and history buffs alike will find something to enjoy in this wonderful book.

Reviewed by Library Staff member – Monika Earle