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Try To Remember... "Trying to be important is a zero-sum game for artists," writes playwright Jon Robin Baitz. "To be a blocked artist is to have a disease: Almost blind, often numb, you don't stop wanting to make art. And you don't want to find yourself staring at others', riven with rage like Rumpelstiltskin tearing himself asunder. I have seen that loss of direction and rage imprinted into the visages of so many artists I admire; this strange admixture of terror and bluster, the need to be loved, in combination with the need to dominate." Los Angeles Times 03/23/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 11:46 pm
Art & Auction Magazine Sold Louise Blouin MacBain, former CEO of auction house Phillips has bought struggling "Art & Auction" magazine from LVMH Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton, with plans to "redesign the 25-year-old magazine and develop a sister newsletter on art market data and investment trends. She plans to nearly double the magazine's circulation of 22,000 over the next three months by expanding into Germany, France and England." Crains New York Business 03/23/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 11:59 pm
Brit Galleries Take To New York The theory is that more Americans will be staying at home for awhile instead of travelling out of country. Reluctant to give Americans up as customers, "a growing number of British dealers are establishing a more formal presence by opening galleries in New York. The logic is simply that if the customers are not coming to you, then you must go to them." The Telegraph (UK) 03/24/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 9:44 pm
Art For Smart Investors There are some signs that art is currently a better investment than stocks and bonds. "Since London shares were last at present levels, seven years ago, the painting segment of the art market, as measured by Artprice.com, has provided an annual return of 6.8 per cent. A painting pays no dividend, is expensive to insure, and will cost you fat commissions to buy and sell. But if you put your 1996 nest-egg into a well-chosen work of art, rather than a selection of FTSE 100 blue-chips, you could afford to be pretty smug." The Telegraph (UK) 03/24/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 9:41 pm
The New Irish Architects "Paradoxically, despite the fact that architecture now seems more than ever to be dominated by that flying circus of the perpetually jet- lagged who get to build everything, architecture is one of those areas in which, given the right circumstances, the differences between the metropolitan and the provincial count for much less than they do in most other cultural forms. The new names that are beginning to attract international attention in architecture are as likely to be from Croatia, Iran or China and Ireland as they are from America or Japan." And now Irish architects are making their move. The Observer (UK) 03/23/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 9:28 pm
San Francisco Opera Cuts Staff, Budget Struggling to solve its financial situation, San Francisco Opera has cut $5.2 million from its budget. Six jobs were cut, and production cutbacks were made. "In addition to the $2.8 million in savings projected from the staff cuts, SF Opera director Pamela Rosenberg has approved $1.8 million in savings in production expenses, including travel, material and construction costs." San Francisco Chronicle 03/22/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 8:37 am
Margaret Atwood Sees Her Word Turned Into Music Writer Margaret Atwood was suprised when she was approached with the idea of turning her book "The Handmaiden's Tale" into an opera. "I was aware of the problems the creators of the opera must have faced. The novel has much internal monologue: how would they handle that? How to convey the back-story to the plot? Would the costumes look not strange and ominous, but merely silly?" The Guardian (UK) 03/23/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 9:13 pm
Happy Talk From The Podium It used to be that conductors proved themselves with their music. Nowadays, writes Sarah Bryan Miller, many conductors seem more at ease schmoozing with their audiences than showing insight in their music. "The younger ones, in particular, have grown up with the idea that they should be as comfortable chatting - on radio, on television, to an audience - as actually leading an orchestra. Besides, conductors are not, as a breed, short on ego. Nattering from the podium seems, for many of the more egregious practitioners, to be just another way of hogging the spotlight." St. Louis Post-Dispatch 03/23/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 7:09 pm
The Sound Inside Your Head HyperSonic Sound is something entirely new in sound reproduction. It sounds like it's coming from inside your head. "It is no exaggeration to say that HSS represents the first revolution in acoustics since the loudspeaker was invented 78 years ago - and perhaps only the second since pilgrims used 'whispering tubes' to convey their dour messages." The New York Times 03/23/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 6:55 pm
Return Of The Blacklist? Can the blacklist live again? Absolutely, writes Linda Winer. "Lest anyone think I overstate the danger to artists who use their media access to penetrate the drumbeats of war, consider what already exists on the Internet - ironically, a phenomenon that thrives on the gift of free speech." Newsday 03/23/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 11:04 pm
Artists - Activism In Slow Motion "Art-world activism is everywhere, however, albeit at rather low volume." But where it does penetrate the public conciousness, it seems not many people care. Reasons? The Art Newspaper 03/21/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 6:34 pm
Denver Center Cancels Premiere The Denver Center Theatre cancelled its opening show of next season - "Diner Stories" - with book, music and lyrics by Nancy Shayne. "It would have been the only musical in the new season and, more important, the only world premiere. Apparently, the author withdrew the show, and it's unlikely she will take it to another company. Denver Center, which has eliminated its literary department, has few resources for discovering new works by new talent" for a replacement. Rocky Mountain News (Denver) 03/23/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 12:06 am
Theatre Of War "While pop music critics wonder at the dearth of anti-war anthems (the Beastie Boys' 'World Gone Mad' may be the first major exception) and films and non-news TV churn out their usual comfort-food diet, theatres nationwide are doing what theatre does best: awakening us to our present condition, with live bodies on the line, in real time and shared space, and challenging us to dialogue, reflection, even action." Backstage 03/21/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 11:26 pm
Is "Guys & Dolls" The Next "Chicago"? So what's the next "Chicago"? How about "Guys and Dolls. "Chicago" studio Miramax has settled on G&D for its next musical project. "Nearly half a century after Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra and Jean Simmons starred in the original screen version, Nicole Kidman and Vin Diesel are being mentioned as possible contenders. Rumours are sweeping Hollywood that A-list actors are clamouring for parts even before the new script and score surface. 'Actors are emerging who we never knew had good voices or who were capable of dancing. They are saying to their agents, 'Hey, put me in a musical'." Sydney Morning Herald 03/24/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 11:15 pm
Top Oscar Goes To "Chicago" "Chicago" wins best picture at the Oscars, Roman Polanski wins best director. "The telecast walked a tight-rope. Splashy song-and-dance numbers and a biting monologue delivered by host Steve Martin had to compete with some of the most bracing news of the day." Los Angeles Times 03/24/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 10:20 pm
On The War - Hollywood's Divided House? There is an impression that much of Hollywood opposes George Bush's war on Iraq. But it's more divided than that. "Producers, directors, writers and executives report heated disputes on sets, a sudden uptick in the use of the term 'blacklist,' an industrywide sense of confusion and a huge number of people changing their minds daily. There are not many conservative voices in Hollywood, certainly among the stars. But if you're backstage, you hear a lot of sound people, makeup people and grips who are mostly supportive of President Bush. Even if they're making $100,000 a week, actors like to think of themselves as rebels." Los Angeles Times 03/22/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 9:56 pm
Bollywood Works To Become Profitable India's Bollywood is the largest film industry in the world, but it hasn't been profitable for years. "Although revenue in Bollywood has increased during the last five years, losses have also increased, reaching three billion rupees last year. The number of films made annually is expected to fall from 1,200 to below 1,000, leading to an increase in the average revenue per movie." BBC 03/23/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 7:17 pm
Why "Chicago," Why Now? No one expected "Chicago" to become this big a hit. "But the movie's domestic box office is now double that of 'Moulin Rouge,' the only other movie musical to fly in years, and, unlike that predecessor, 'Chicago' didn't have to throw in David Bowie and Beck to entice the musical-phobic youthful demographic thought to spurn show tunes by John Kander and Fred Ebb. Young audiences have turned up anyway. Everyone has. The film has touched a nerve this year as no previous incarnation of Watkins's play (there were two previous film versions) ever did." Why? Even though the musical traces its roots back to 1926, its themes are timeless. The New York Times 03/23/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 6:48 pm
Rediscovering Dance There are so few original ballet scores - music written specifically for dance. "So when a lost ballet by Prokofiev — one of the greatest of all composers for dance — is rediscovered, it’s cause for rejoicing." The Times (UK) 03/24/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 9:51 pm
So You Wanna Be A Choreographer There's a lot more to creating a dance than just throwing on some music and making up steps. Choreography is a finely adjusted blend of research, flair, and precision, and the thought of creating a scriptable dance is an awfully daunting one for those who have never seen it done. But if you'd like to give it a try, famed choreographer Mark Morris would be happy to tell you how he does it. The New York Times 03/23/03
Posted: 03/23/2003 9:17 am |
