Just noticed the following promotional item for a new play here on Broadway, a nice follow up to Jason Covell's 2006 post (see below):
>It's 1929. Two ambitious visionaries race against each other to invent a
>device called "television." Separated by two thousand miles, each knows
>that if he stops working, even for a moment, the other will gain the edge.
>Who will unlock the key to the greatest innovation of the 20th century: the
>ruthless media mogul, or the self-taught Idaho farm boy?
>
>The answer comes to compelling life in The Farnsworth Invention, the new
>play from Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing. Tony nominee Hank Azaria
>and newcomer Jimmi Simpson head the cast of this electrifying new drama.
>Book your tickets today-and stay tuned.
>
At 2:30 PM +1000 9/28/06, "Covell, Jason" <Jason.Covell@???> wrote:
<snip>
>
>This piqued my interest at once. I know at least a little bit about Tesla early 20th century inventor, electrical pioneer and sometime cult science figure but he seemed an odd kind of person to namecheck, as there was no obvious connection with anything we knew about the characters so far. It was almost as though the film had been a documentary about whelk-farming or something equally obscure.
>
>A little digging on the internet found the answer. It appears that Nikola Tesla is the situational stand-in for none other than Utahs (and Idahos) very own Philo T. Farnsworth, another early 20th century inventor. And the subject of an aborted film project by Sorkin and director-collaborator Thomas Schlamme that was first announced in 2004:
>
>"'The Farnsworth Invention' tells the story of Philo Farnsworth, a boy genius from Rigby, Idaho who, at 22, 'invented television only to become involved in an all or nothing battle with David Sarnoff, the young president of RCA and America's first communications mogul. [Thomas] Schlamme described the movie as 'a classic American tale driven by the conflict between a Mormon farmer and a Russian immigrant over the ownership of the most influential invention of the 20th Century.'"
>
>Although the film has been cancelled, Sorkin has reportedly adapted the script as a play, to be produced at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego in early 2007. Although I will have zero chance of seeing the play, I'd be most curious to hear if anyone in San Diego is able to catch it when it premieres. And of course, I am even more intrigued to learn how it might compare to the similarly themed play _A Love Affair with Electrons_ by our very own Eric Samuelsen. Eric, are you still there? Are you likely to schlepp it out to San Diego for a gander?
>
>Jason Covell
>Sydney, Australia
>
>
