Getting Older? So What! You here it everywhere - we're getting older, and society will be the worse for it. "Even as we reap the benefits of longevity and vitality, we are becoming more anxious about the social and economic effects of ageing upon society. Demographics has turned from a peripheral issue into a major source of concern. We are told we need to confront some pretty big questions. Can society cope with having so many more old people? Can we really afford our future? But just because the mood of social pessimism is so ubiquitous does not mean we should simply accept it." spiked-online 04/21/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 7:19 pm
Trading Up "In 1972 the Anderson Fine Arts Center in Anderson, Ind., which has about 25,000 visitors a year, was given "Damage," one of Mr. Ruscha's signature word paintings, by the American Federation of the Arts. At the time it was valued at $3,000. Now the Anderson is offering the painting at Christie's sale of contemporary and postwar art on May 11. It is estimated at $1.8 million to $2.5 million." The New York Times 04/23/04
Posted: 04/23/2004 7:38 am
Art By Plastic Surgery French performance artist Orlan practices her art by altering her body cosmetically with plastic surgery. "For Orlan, plastic surgery isn't tummy tucks, liposuction, breast reduction or lip augmentation. It's an expression of the sublime and grotesque, eccentricities carved into human flesh and sculpted in living bone." Miami Herald (AP) 04/23/04
Posted: 04/23/2004 5:51 am
Brit Art Plays Well In Teheran You might have thought that a show of contemporary edgy British art in Teheran might have set off a few fundamentalist fireworks. But "the mullahs kept quiet, and the show ended last week after a noisily popular run. Thousands crowded in during the first few days; thereafter it drew a record 600 visitors a day on average." OpinionJournal.com 04/23/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 7:30 pm
Schwarz: Was I too Adventurous In Liverpool? American conductor Gerard Schwarz says his choice of music when he first arrived as music director of the Royal Liverpool Orchestra may have scared off some audiences. Players of the orchestra recently voted not to renew Schwarz's contract with the orchestra. "In my first season's programme, I didn't think I was stretching the audiences. Obviously, everyone doesn't agree with me." Liverpool Echo 04/23/04
Posted: 04/23/2004 6:16 am
Sanitary Music "The prevalence of swearwords in modern pop has led to the rise of 'radio friendly' versions of singles, in which obscenities are muted, leaving only either the initial consonant or an isolated vowel. When swearing is the very point of a record, this approach results in a quite bizarre stop-start patchwork of noise and silence. Perhaps this is a cunning marketing ploy." The Telegraph (UK) 04/23/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 10:51 pm
Killing The iPod - Try The Celestial Jukebox "By using licenses, the labels and their download sites are secretly transforming music into a service—something to which you subscribe, and about which they can change the rules any time they want. But it's a particularly crappy service. Who wants to 'own' this sort of pseudo-property, these annoying, stubborn, mulelike music files? In contrast, a music-streaming site advertises itself as a service, with an entirely different sort of consumer logic and much more satisfying results." Slate 04/22/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 7:47 pm
But Dahhhh-ling, Say It Isn't So Workers at a UK opera company have been banned from using the theatrical greeting 'darling'. The English National Opera confirmed they had issued staff new guidelines on using the term of endearment. They fear use of the word 'darling' could constitute sexual harassment in the workplace." BBC 04/22/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 7:34 pm
Going For Economic Diveristy In School? The top American universities are now more than ever filled with children of the wealthy. "Experts say the change in the student population is a result of both steep tuition increases and the phenomenal efforts many wealthy parents put into preparing their children to apply to the best schools." Now some schools are trying to diversify the economic makeup of their students. The New York Times 04/22/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 7:08 pm
Scotland To Undertake Major Review Of Arts Policy "A 'once in a generation' review of the arts, which makes widening access to arts and culture a cornerstone of public policy, was announced by Scotland's culture minister yesterday" The Guardian (UK) 04/23/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 7:02 pm
- Scotland: Culture Review Short On Specifics What will Scotland's year-long culture review consist of? "The culture minister, Frank McAveety, called the review the start of a 'new era' and a "once-in-a-generation opportunity". But there were few specifics in the "cultural policy statement" that the executive produced yesterday in a glossy brochure. Mr McAveety talked repeatedly of changing a "20th- century" arts infrastructure in Scotland and of "trimming unnecessary bureaucracy" to achieve 'best value'. But the document offered no concrete working proposals." The Scotsman 04/23/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 7:01 pm
Where Is Fleeing Arts Patron? Where is arts benefactor Herbert Axelrod? He reportedly fled to Cuba to avoid tax charges. But "Cuba's foreign minister yesterday denied knowing anything about multimillionaire Herbert Axelrod, who fled here to avoid tax fraud charges. 'Cuba has never been a refuge for those fleeing justice'." NJOnline.com (AP) 04/23/04
Posted: 04/23/2004 6:48 am
- Previously: Never Saw It Coming With Herbert Axelrod on the lam, New Jersey has lost arguably its most dynamic and generous arts supporter. "People in the arts world were stunned. To tell the truth, they said, they had not seen him in months. And perhaps oddly, considering Axelrod said that he wanted to hear his instruments played in New Jersey, Axelrod and his wife were not current subscribers to the NJSO." Newark Star-Ledger 04/22/04
Shooting Presidents - A Hit? More than a decade after they first surfaced to critical shudders and head-scratching, the unhappy have-nots of "Assassins" — the glitteringly dark musical by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman about Americans who dream of killing their country's presidents — have finally made it to Broadway...The frightening title characters of "Assassins" are restating their demand to be noticed in the Roundabout Theater Company production, which opened last night at Studio 54. And under Joe Mantello's direction, they are doing so with an eloquence and an intensity that makes a compelling case for a misunderstood show." The New York Times 04/23/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 10:55 pm
- Barnes: Assassins Shoots Blanks Clive Barnes appreciates Assassins is Sondheim. But Assassins isn't necessarily good Sondheim: "There's more ironic style here than theatrical substance, and the total effect is like a master marksman shooting blanks." New York Post 04/23/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 10:52 pm
- Marks: A Sondheim Classic Does Assassins belong with other Sondheim classics? Peter Marks says yes: "Joe Mantello's spectacular production for the Roundabout Theatre Company reveals it at long last to be one of Stephen Sondheim's most original, disturbing and exquisitely scored shows." Washington Post 04/23/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 10:51 pm
- An Assassins Tony? They're already talking about "Assassins for a Tony. But will it be in the new musical category or revival? "If "Assassins" is ruled a revival, it is almost certain to snatch the award from "Wonderful Town," which is limping at the box office and will be sunk if it doesn't win. But if "Assassins" is deemed a new musical, it will elbow "Bombay Dreams" and "The Boy From Oz" out of the field of nominees - which, in addition to "Assassins," will surely be made up of "Wicked," "Caroline, or Change" and "Avenue Q." Sondheim will be eligible for his score, and will probably win." New York Post 04/23/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 10:50 pm
Acting Students - Are There Jobs? What happens to the young acting students schools turn out each year? "It is an oft-quoted cliche that acting boasts a permanent 90% unemployment rate. And while David Cox, drama administrator at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, is at pains to insist that '90% of our students work professionally within 12 months of graduation', he does admit: It is very rare that they'll be able to make a living during the first year or two." The Guardian (UK) 04/23/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 10:45 pm
Gypsy Closing On Broadway Producers of Broadway's "Gypsy" have decided to close the show. "Starring Bernadette Peters as the hard-driving stage mother Momma Rose, "Gypsy" posted a closing notice in early February, only to extend its run after sales improved. Part of that improvement might have been linked to warmer weather and heightened tourism, but cast members had also taken an active role in promoting the show with daily personal appearances outside TKTS, the half-price ticket booth, in Duffy Square." The New York Times 04/22/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 7:23 pm
LA - Land Of Small Theatres Los Angeles is a hive of "almost 100 self-sustaining, not-for-profit, professional theater ensembles." It's a theatre community quite unlike that anywhere else, a decidedly un-New York. "These largely volunteer (often dues-based) organizations are quasi families — which are sometimes authoritarian, sometimes collaborative, sometimes bickering, often leaving, just as often returning — homes to thousands of actors lured by and often working in Hollywood while sustaining a legit-stage subculture." LA Weekly 04/22/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 7:15 pm
Football Club Hires Poet-In-Residence "Sarah Wardle, 34, has become poet in residence at Premiership club Tottenham Hotspur, in north London. The published poet and university lecturer produces pieces which are inspired by the club, its ground and the supporters." BBC 04/23/04
Posted: 04/23/2004 6:00 am
The Electronic Paper Book (Wow!) A new electronic book reader mimics the look of paper. "The quality of the display will come as quite a shock to any seasoned user of mobile devices; it looks more like paper than the computer screen it is. The closest comparison is to think of old-fashioned ink on pulp you're likely holding now, unless you're reading this online, in which case the Librie looks far better. In fact, as it's a reflective screen, it looks the same whether you read it indoors or out." The Guardian (UK) 04/23/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 7:39 pm
Grrl Power Teens Start Their Own Dance Company Four years ago, two Berkely teenagers started their own dance company, recruiting their own dancers. "They did it all by themselves: choreographed the dances, sewed the costumes, even raised the funds and called around for publicity -- grrrl power elevated to fine art." San Francisco Chronicle 04/23/04
Posted: 04/23/2004 5:44 am
How Do Dancers Communicate? "Unlike the actor's, the dancer's body inevitably resists being given away. The more fully a dancer throws themselves into dancing a part, the more they come across physically as completely themselves. It is a paradox, not just of dance, but of our own existence, that often when physical being is at full tilt, the human essence seems most visible. When a dancer is giving it all they've got, what we see is no illusion, even if they are performing a "role": the animating spirit cannot be borrowed or faked, it is the dancer's own." The Guardian (UK) 04/23/04
Posted: 04/22/2004 10:48 pm
