“[T]he sun has set on the Empire, we’re rubbish at football and banks, but we really can and should be proud of the way we present opera. I would even claim – not altogether idly – that penny for penny, night by night, we perform it as well if not better than anyone in the world, without the high levels of public subsidy that obtain in France, Germany and Italy.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Prince Charles’ Chelsea Barracks Letter To Qatari Released
“Complaining that ‘my heart sank’ when he saw the proposed plans, the Prince appears to admit that he is ‘interfering’ in the development and puts forward an alternative scheme based on a sketch by his favourite architect, Quinlan Terry, which he says would have the added benefit of uncovering the river Westbourne, a long-buried tributary of the Thames.”
Accomplished Rare-Book Thief Convicted Again
“William Jacques, nicknamed ‘Tome Raider’ after stealing hundreds of rare books in the late 1990s, drew up a ‘thief’s shopping list’, targeting the most expensive books that he could access. He used a false name to sign in to the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley library in London before hiding valuable books under his tweed jacket, Southwark Crown Court was told.”
Artists Gear Up To Protest BP Sponsorships
“A group calling itself Good Crude Britannia, made up of artists, poets, writers and filmmakers, will picket Tate Britain’s summer party next Monday which is billed by the gallery as celebrating 20 years of BP’s sponsorship. … The planned demonstration follows protests this week by a group of artists calling themselves the Greenwash Guerrillas….”
‘The New Normal’ For Many: The Ever-Tighter Budget
“Locally and nationally, as large arts organizations plan for their next fiscal year — which for many begins in July — some are cutting deeper than they have even the previous year. They’re reducing hours, eliminating positions, freezing or cutting pay, and halting employer matches for retirement funds.”
Publishing Sees An Explosion Of Books For LGBT Teens
“Reads that speak to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning teens have traveled light years since John Donovan’s ‘I’ll Get There. It Better be Worth the Trip’ led the way in 1969…. Still, until now few LGBT titles became blockbusters. That changed with two boys named Will Grayson and a very large, very GLEE-ful linebacker named Tiny.”
Why Do We Think Of The Tempest As A Farewell Play?
“When Prospero gives up the ‘art’ of magic and says he’ll ‘retire me to my Milan, where every third thought shall be my grave’ in the final scene … generations of critics have imagined Shakespeare similarly tottering off to Stratford-upon-Avon to putter in the garden. But not everyone is as soft-headed.”
Netflix Gives Its Blessing To End Of Saturday Mail Delivery
“The approval of Netflix, which has more than 14 million subscribers, follows that of Time Warner Inc., publisher of more than 20 U.S. magazines including Sports Illustrated and People. The Postal Service, which says eliminating Saturday delivery would save $3 billion a year, wants to reduce the service to five days a week.”
Michael Wilson To Step Down As Hartford Stage A.D.
“Michael Wilson, the energetic artistic director of Hartford Stage who embraced the works of Tennessee Williams, Horton Foote and new playwrights during his 13-year tenure, will leave the theater at the end of its 2010-11 [season]. … Wilson’s activities increasingly took him to New York, often waving the banner of Hartford Stage.”
Art Fraudster Lawrence Salander Won’t Go To Jail Yet
The “$120 million art swindler” on Wednesday “got yet another free pass from a generous judge,” who “declined prosecutors’ vehement demand that he be thrown in jail immediately.” This “followed a prosecutor’s nearly half-hour long listing of Salander’s broken promises to the court in the three months since he pleaded guilty to a massive, decade-long swindle.”