Click here for more Ideas stories...

Bolshoi Theatre Won't Reopen Before 2011 "The reopening of Russia's famed Bolshoi Theatre has been pushed back to 2011 due to delays in a costly renovation project, a spokeswoman for Russia's culture ministry said Monday. ... Located near Red Square, the theatre closed in 2005 for a 700-million-dollar renovation project that was originally expected to be finished this year, but the end date was later pushed back to 2009." - Agence France-Presse 12/01/02

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@03:44AM

Click here for more Dance stories...

NEA: Women Artists Earn Less Than Men "As a follow-up to its report 'Artists in the Workforce, 1990-2005,' released in June, the National Endowment for the Arts is releasing today the results of a closer examination of the gender pay gap between men and women artists discovered by the original study. Surprise -- women artists earn less." - Los Angeles Times 12/01/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@03:50AM

Bad Reviews Can Shake Even The Thick-Skinned Artist "Harsh words from critics, now and forever a click away on the Internet, can harrow. This seems pretty plain, I know. But, amazingly, I had never really given this much thought until one day last spring when I wanted to put my head in the oven and kill myself because of a wretched review. ... What had become of my poise?" - Dance Magazine 12/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@05:42PM

Understanding The Critical Mind -- Or Trying To "Dancers and choreographers often love to hate critics, especially when they've been subjected to a direct hit. Whether it's the print or web equivalent of a spitball or a spear toss, the sting tends to linger, as does the resentment at being publicly humiliated. ... A dancer who has been so stung might well ask, 'Why are they so mean?'" Well, why are they? - Dance Magazine 12/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@05:39PM

Click here for more Issues stories...

Report Links Media Use With Kids' Obesity, Smoking, Sex "The National Institutes of Health and a nonprofit advocacy group, Common Sense Media, have another reason for President-elect Barack Obama to keep urging parents to 'turn off the TV.' In what researchers call the first report of its kind, a review of 173 studies about the effects of media consumption on children asserts that a strong correlation exists between greater exposure and adverse health outcomes." - The New York Times 12/02/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@03:53AM

Angling For An Oscar Nomination? Here's How To Get One. "Every year, entertainment reporters rattle off the type of roles that are usually Oscar bait: Alcoholics-druggies, people with mental or physical afflictions, etc. ... But the last decades have offered proof that there are subtler things that can help steer actors into a surefire nomination, and maybe even a win." - Variety 11/25/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@06:35PM

Foreign Exchange Program: Hollywood & The Middle East The recently announced Qatar branch of the Tribeca Film Festival makes sense "when you consider that [Robert] De Niro created the original festival to bring business back downtown after the attacks of September 11. But it makes even more sense if you consider what's happening with Qatar's next door neighbor, the United Arab Emirates," which is pouring money into TV and Hollywood films. - KCRW 12/01/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@04:46PM

Click here for more Media stories...

Belatedly, Boston Symphony Launches Download Service "After waiting on the sidelines as other orchestras leapt online, the Boston Symphony Orchestra launched a download service yesterday that will allow customers to buy new and historical recordings through the organization's website, www.bso.org." - Boston Globe 12/02/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@05:13AM

Strike Averted, La Scala Gala Will Go On "Milan's La Scala opera house and a union representing about half of its orchestra agreed on a new contract, averting an additional strike that threatened the Dec. 7 gala opening night of Verdi's 'Don Carlo.'" - Bloomberg 12/02/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@03:43AM

Koch To City Opera: I Already Gave! "David Koch is funding a renovation of New York City Opera's home, and that's enough. His $100 million donation will transform the New York State Theater--home to City Opera and New York City Ballet--into the David H. Koch Theater, and he feels bad about the opera's financial and administrative mess. But he isn't planning to bail it out." - New York Magazine 12/08/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@06:20PM

Now Playing Everywhere: YouTube Symphony Orchestra "Traditionally, auditioning for an orchestra means appearing alone onstage in a nerve-jangling performance before grizzled veteran musicians. In the Google way, it means posting on the company's video-sharing site, YouTube, for online judging by the professionals and then, ultimately, the YouTube universe." Winners of Google's YouTube Symphony Orchestra project, announced Monday, will play at Carnegie Hall. - The New York Times 12/02/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@05:16PM

Click here for more Music stories...

Condi Plays Brahms For Queen At Buckingham Palace "Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, gave a piano recital for the Queen yesterday during her visit to Buckingham Palace. Dr Rice performed music by Johannes Brahms accompanied on violin by Louise Shackleton, the wife of David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary. Three members of the London Symphony Orchestra offered backing to the high-profile duo." - The Times (UK) 12/02/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@06:40AM

Click here for more People stories...

Not Everyone Has Ceded Digitized Books To Google "Google executives sound like they are doing the world an immense favor by digitizing books, rarely mentioning that they are in business to sell stuff, not give it away." One early alternative group devoted to open access, the Open Content Alliance, "is morphing into the Open Knowledge Commons, now supported by the Sloan Foundation, which will hold an organizational meeting at the Library of Congress next week." - Boston Globe 12/02/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@05:29AM

Economic Watch: Save $$$ By Reading Your Own Books! "My self-imposed challenge this week was to save money by reading a book that I own but have never read. ... Try it yourself and see how many pitiful excuses you can find for not reading a book you own." - Wall Street Journal 12/01/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@04:22AM

Ugly Memoirist Wins Libel Suit Brought By Her Mother "The mother of a prominent barrister faces a legal bill of £500,000 after losing a High Court libel action against her daughter over allegations of abuse in Ugly, the bestselling memoir. ... The verdict is both a triumph and a relief for [author Constance] Briscoe, a criminal barrister and one of Britain's first black part-time judges. Her career was at stake had she lost." - The Times (UK) 12/02/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@07:12PM

Click here for more Publishing stories...

Is England's Free-Ticket Initiative Brilliant Or Barking Mad? "Later this month the Arts Council will announce which theatres across the country will be giving away a million free tickets to under-26-year-olds to every show in their programmes, starting in February." Britain's youth must be delighted. "And with a government subsidy of £2.5 million to deliver the free ticket scheme, theatres themselves must be feeling equally festive. Or are they?" - The Times (UK) 12/01/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@05:55AM

RSC Looks Frowningly On Phony Hamlet Tickets "The Royal Shakespeare Company is to reissue some tickets to its production of Hamlet, starring David Tennant, amid fears counterfeits are circulating. Concerns were raised after forgeries were presented at London's Novello Theatre where the show opens this week." - BBC 12/01/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@07:38PM

Shubert Board To Pick Schoenfeld Successor "The Shubert Organization's board of directors is scheduled to meet tomorrow to select a new leader, who will oversee its 17 Broadway houses and $300 million foundation. Directors will 'implement the succession,' Lee J. Seidler, a Shubert director and former Bear Stearns Cos. partner, said in a telephone interview." - Bloomberg 12/01/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@05:54PM

Click here for more Theatre stories...

Turner Winner: Enough With Hirst, Emin, And Shock Art "The Young British Artists (YBAs) who drove the contemporary boom were a bad thing for British art, the new Turner Prize winner said last night." From the podium, artist Mark Leckey criticized the artistic discourse: "'I kind of hate the relationship the press in Britain has towards art,' he said. 'I hate the way it's all Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin and Banksy.'" - The Times (UK) 12/02/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@06:45AM

Even Renoir & Degas Go Unsold At Paris Auction "A benchmark Paris sale of Impressionist and Modern paintings that belonged to French fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin fell well short of pre-sale expectations Monday.... Christie's auction house said in a statement it raised $9.67 million at its evening sale of works by artists including Pablo Picasso and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It had originally valued the collection at $25.2 million." - San Francisco Chronicle (AP) 12/02/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@06:33AM

$300K Sculpture Crushed, Ruined En Route To Art Miami "Carole Feuerman's artwork, Survival of Serena, is a haunting, vivid sculpture of a woman clinging for dear life to an inner tube. But Survival of Serena, which traveled to Venice and Beijing, did not survive the trip to Miami. The sculpture, estimated at $300,000, was destroyed and crushed into pieces on its way from Venice to Miami International Airport, where it arrived Wednesday." - Miami Herald 12/01/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@06:07AM

Visitor Center Disfigures The U.S. Capitol "The 'truth to power' side of the Capitol, the East face, has been demolished by the new Visitor Center, a tragically misconceived and overscale addition, which opens today. The East face has become something entirely new, with a false and slick pomposity created by an impressive promenade over an imposing bridge, which seems to cross a kind of moat. It is a historical and aesthetic jumble, a nonsensical place and a gross disfigurement of one of this country's most important and iconic buildings." - Washington Post 12/02/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@04:41AM

At Capitol Visitor Center, (Big) Mistakes Have Been Made "In principle, the Capitol Visitor Center -- the vast underground addition to the U.S. Capitol that opens today -- has something for just about everyone. ... And yet the CVC, the most important addition to the Capitol in nearly 150 years, is fundamentally misconceived." - Wall Street Journal 12/02/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@04:31AM

It Won't Be Business As Usual At Art Basel Miami Beach "While the world's flashiest art fair tries to put on a brave face, the grim financial picture worldwide has cast a pall over the festivities and sales prospects" at Art Basel Miami Beach. "The fair's main sponsor, Swiss bank UBS AG, has recorded about $50 billion in writedowns and losses." - Bloomberg 12/02/08

email this story | Posted 12/02/08@04:12AM

Museum Director's Challenge: Living With A Patron's Ghost "Alex Nyerges is no stranger to working 16-hour days and wearing multiple hats. As director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, his domain ranges from the art blogosphere to the VMFA's $130 million construction site -- with countless travel obligations, fundraising opportunities and donor visits thrown in for good measure. Oh, and then there's the ghost." - NPR 12/01/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@06:40PM

Miami Beach Draws The Line At Art Basel's Ink Fountain "Art Basel Miami Beach is known for its aestheticized hedonism. But city officials have barred the installation of artist Cooper's Roman-style, black-ink-spewing Dark Fountain, which was commissioned for the fair, from a public park. 'The ink stains,' says Max Sklar, the city's tourism honcho. 'Clothing, cars, the sidewalk--everything.'" - New York Magazine 12/08/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@06:23PM

Leckey Wins Turner; Controversy Is Conspicuously Missing "A witty meditation on the nature of film in popular culture taking in Felix the Cat, Homer Simpson, Titanic the movie and Philip Guston, tonight helped Mark Leckey win what is still acknowledged as the country's most important contemporary art prize." As Leckey received the award and the accompanying £25,000 check, "the most controversial thing about this year's Turner prize was its lack of controversy." - The Guardian (UK) 12/01/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@05:44PM

Napa's Copia Files For Bankruptcy Protection "Copia, the ambitious food, wine and art museum in Napa, Calif., today filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. In addition to the bankruptcy filing, Copia announced that it had secured a $2 million line of credit to fund its day-to-day operations while it looks for other ways out of a financial crisis that had been mounting for years." - The New York Times 12/01/08

email this story | Posted 12/01/08@05:30PM

Click here for more Visual stories...