The Art Gallery of Ontario is getting ready for its grand reopening following a major renovation and reinvention courtesy of architect Frank Gehry. “Even a quick walk-through preview makes it thrillingly clear that the AGO has scored a breakthrough, leaping into the front ranks of North American art museums.”
Author: sbergman
Broadway Crossing Its Fingers
“Nearly every show had its audience shrink last week, with 14 productions experiencing more than a 10 percent drop in ticket sales. So musicals and plays are trying to hang on until the holidays bring an influx of cheer-seeking visitors to New York, looking to be entertained. After the new year they will try to hang on again, through January and February, traditionally two of the industry’s slowest months.”
FCC Approves New Wireless Broadband Spectrum
“The Federal Communications Commission voted Tuesday to open up unused, unlicensed portions of the television airwaves known as “white spaces” to deliver wireless broadband service. The vote is a big victory for public interest groups and technology companies such as Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. that say white spaces could be used to bring broadband to rural America and other underserved parts of the country.”
Bollywood Legend Dies
“Veteran Bollywood filmmaker and producer BR Chopra has died in the western Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay)at the age of 94… He became a household name with such films as Naya Daur (1957), Humraz (1967) and Insaf Ka Tarazu (1980).”
Canary In The Coal Mine? Pasadena Sym In Big Trouble
“Caught in a budget crisis, the Orchestras of Pasadena have laid off their two top executives, [and] issued an emergency fundraising appeal to save three remaining classical concerts and an 11-show outdoor summer pops series… Whether the remaining music will be played by the Pasadena Symphony and the Pasadena Pops depends on how the fundraising push fares in the face of a wounded stock market and a foundering economy.”
Opera Laid Bare
A slew of performers and backstage workers at London’s Royal Opera House have posed nude for a calendar raising funds for charity. “The Royal Opera House expects sales to outstrip the more sedate Royal Ballet calendar, which features photos of the performers fully clothed.”
Minnesota Arts/Outdoors Tax Passes
“Minnesota voters approved an increase in the state sales tax for the next 25 years to fund clean water, the outdoors and the arts. The amendment to the state constitution increases the state sales tax by three-eighths of a percent beginning next July and will raise about $275 million a year.” The arts will be in line for around $54m of that pot each year.
Dramatic New Theatre Sprouts In UK’s East Midlands
“Rising… from the heart of Leicester’s new cultural quarter, the Curve makes the powerful, dramatic statement that here is a city that can think outside the box. What the new building doesn’t shout, in any obvious way, is “theatre”. Yet a theatre is exactly what this £61 million architectural dazzler is.”
Rethinking Watts As An Intersection Of Life And Art
LA’s infamous Watts Towers, an architectural landmark that has been the scene of some of America’s worst race rioting, is getting another makeover, and artists are playing a major role in rethinking the whole neighborhood. “Much of the project is about… the nuances. It’s what gets lost in the overview: the day-in, day-out stories of a section of L.A. that has seldom had a chance to define itself for itself — let alone to the world.”
Tough Times For Aussie Film
“In a sign of how Australia’s independent film industry is struggling, the best film nominees at this year’s AFI Awards – The Black Balloon, The Jammed, The Square and Unfinished Sky – took a combined AUS$3.9 million at the box office.”