“The approval … came in spite of strong objections from the Hollywood lobbyists who have mounted a vigorous campaign to block the exchange.” The victory may “be short-lived: the MPAA and other opponents could still block the exchange if they can convince the US Congress to pass a measure banning the contracts.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
LA Phil Impresario Ernest Fleischmann Dies At 85
“His accomplishments left a lasting imprint on the city’s cultural landscape: He brought a young Esa-Pekka Salonen to Los Angeles as the Philharmonic’s music director, championed the building of Walt Disney Concert Hall, revived and refurbished the Hollywood Bowl, and, as early as 2004, recognized the abilities of Gustavo Dudamel….”
2010 Tony Winners Are Packing Up To Leave Broadway
“Broadway once had many homegrown stars who committed to working on a show for a year, as Nathan Lane has for the ‘The Addams Family.’ This year … several Tony Awards were given for productions that were always intended to be short-timers on Broadway, given that many of their film-star performers had to move on to other commitments.”
LA Should Say Yes To Eli Broad’s Downtown Museum
“[T]he City Council and other agencies of local government should base their decisions not on what is best for Broad but on what best serves the public. And they should approve this deal.”
Frank W. Ballard Dies at 80; Started UConn Puppet Program
“Considered one of the most eminent puppeteers in the country, Mr. Ballard was long associated with the University of Connecticut, which through his work became — and remains — a Mecca for puppeteers in training. … It is beyond rare for an institution of higher learning to grant degrees in puppetry.”
Why Emmys Should Nominate Series, Not Individual Writers
“The case for nominating programs as opposed to single episodes goes as follows: Comedies are generally gang-written. … For everyone but the chosen series, moreover, there’s really no nice way of saying what results like last year’s imply: The fourth-best episode of ‘Mad Men’ is more deserving than the best of ‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘Damages’ or ‘Big Love,’ to name a few.”
Will Gompertz: I’m Giving The Culture Sec’y A Novel
The title of Sam Lipsyte’s “The Ask” “is American fund-raiser-speak for the quarry: the banker, the rich widow, the beneficiary of a will…. Mr Hunt might be interested in The Ask because he has said he wants to import American-style philanthropy to help mitigate against autumn’s government cuts in what he describes as ‘a horrible period for arts and cultural funding’.”
Swapping Pro Musicians For Students Riles Chicago Union
“‘Destructive and hurtful to the professional musicians and the marketplace of Chicago’ is how Gary Matts, president of the Chicago Federation of Musicians, characterizes the Harris Theater’s electing to replace the Chicago Sinfonietta with [a university orchestra] for the Chicago premiere of [Mark] Morris’ ‘Romeo and Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare’….”
Do Online Opera Clips Help Or Harm?
“One reason to link to the videos at all is that opera companies themselves are putting them out there more and more as a way to promote what they’re doing. Which is well and good; but it’s a mistake to equate them with a movie trailer in terms of giving you a sense of what to expect when you get into the house.”
The Challenge For Small Arts Organizations
Michael Kaiser: “Smaller organizations have a harder time developing the large transformational projects than larger organizations. That is why they tend to remain small. If they take the time to plan large, exciting programs four or five years in advance, they would be far more likely to find the resources they require to mount these programs.”