“The current revival of Grease has become the latest Broadway show to announce that it will close soon after the new year; it will play its final performance at the Brooks Atkinson Theater on Jan. 4.”
Author: sbergman
A Bit Of Good News In Charleston
“The Charleston Symphony Orchestra announced Wednesday that it had received a challenge pledge worth up to $75,000 from anonymous supporters… Last month, the CSO announced it could be forced to declare bankruptcy if it failed to raise a total of $250,000 by the end of January.”
Grammy Nominations Out
In the jazz categories, nominees include Terence Blanchard and Chick Corea. In classical, the Chicago Symphony scored multiple nominations for Best Orchestral Performance, and John Corigliano’s setting of seven “poems” by Bob Dylan is up for best contemporary composition alongside concertos by George Tsontakis and Marc-Andre Dalbavie.
Broad Has No Restrictions On MOCA Offer
“When Eli Broad announced recently in a Times opinion piece that he wanted to help bail out the financially woebegone Museum of Contemporary Art by making a $30-million ‘investment’ in its rescue, his choice of words made some wonder what he might want in return.” But Broad said this week that he isn’t attaching any strings to his offer.
Speaking Each Other’s Language
“Toronto composer Dean Burry’s newest creation, Pandora’s Locker, is a provocative one-act opera aimed at teenage audiences and commissioned by the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School.” The work is scored for piano, string quartet, and two DJs with turntables, and aims to do crossover in a whole new way.
Another Orchestra Looks To Educate Its Audience
The Toronto Symphony has launched one of the the early-evening, words-and-music concert series that have been gaining popularity across North America, and judging by the nearly sold out debut, “it looks like the TSO has found a new niche in our crowded calendars.”
What The Heck Is “Bel Canto,” Anyway?
“Quite a bit about the concept of bel canto has long been open to interpretation, including the meaning of this loose term itself, which literally translates as beautiful singing… Opera buffs today use the term bel canto all the time. Yet we each seem to bring a different set of assumptions to the concept.”
Thinking Big
What are the big ideas that will carry the arts into the future? What impact has the internet had on live performance, and how will audiences used to interacting with every type of entertainment evolve with performers used to passive crowds? A UK newspaper asks a collection of prominent artists and performers the big questions…
The Turner Prize? Never Heard Of It.
“Despite a shortlist featuring a film about broken crockery, a mannequin sitting on a lavatory, a photo collage and an installation featuring, among other things, Felix the Cat, this year’s [Turner Prize,] the winner of which will be announced tomorrow, has raised barely a murmur… The standard of work showcased is so bad that some claim the future of the Turner Prize itself, regarded as one of the world’s most prestigious contemporary art awards, is in question.”
Is Shakespeare Falling Out Of Favor In Schools?
The scrapping of a standardized test on Shakespeare in UK schools was meant to give teachers the freedom to approach the Bard’s plays more creatively. “However, one of the unintended consequences of the announcement seems to be that Shakespeare is falling off the curriculum by default.”