Sunday September 30 BRIGHT FUTURE FOR BROADWAY? One of New York’s senior theatre critics thinks that the doomsayers are overstating the crisis facing Broadway. “During World War II in London, I recall watching theater while Hitler’s doodle-bug, pilotless missiles droned and spluttered overhead. Later, von Braun’s rockets plopped down and caused indiscriminate devastation. There was nothing … Continue reading “Theatre: September 2001”
Sunday September 30 WHEN IN DOUBT – BLAME THE FUNDERS: The Toronto Symphony’s near-bankruptcy is just the highest-profile difficulty facing Canadian orchestras. Many are on the brink. Could it be the funders’ fault? “What we have now is the blowback from the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council building up the funding levels [during the … Continue reading “Music: September 2001”
Sunday September 30 FORCED SUBTLETY: As America struggles to avoid persecution of its Arab citizens in the wake of the September 11 disaster, a film festival in Boston is seeming awfully timely. The “Festival of Films From Iran” provides a unique look at the film industry in a nation where heavy censorship and strict moral guidelines … Continue reading “Media: September 2001”
Friday August 31 DMCA HERE TO STAY, SO FAR: Despite acknowledging concerns from libraries, politicians, and consumers, the U.S. Copyright Office has decided to let 1998’s Digital Millenium Copyright Act stand as is. DMCA was the legislation that paved the way for the recording industry’s assault on services like Napster, and led to new forms of … Continue reading “Issues: August 2001”
Friday August 31 THE AUCTION WARS: Amid rumors of a possible sale of Sotheby’s to Phillips, the auction house wars heat up. Competition and scandals have squeezed profits at Sotheby’s and Christie’s, while costly aggressive maneuvering by No. 3 Phillips has cost a small fortune or two. It’s possible in the not too distant future that … Continue reading “Visual: August 2001”
Tuesday July 31 WE REAP WHAT WE SOW: Artists in China can have a hard time pushing the envelope, what with the political repression, the torture, and all. So many have turned to a completely apolitical form of “shock art” based on visually disturbing images. “They reflect the bizarre direction in which Chinese art has moved … Continue reading “Issues: July 2001”
Tuesday July 31 PENNY PINCHING: Just how bad are Canadian book superstore Indigo/Chapters’ finances? The company has pulled its annual sponsorship of this year’s Word on the Street literary festival, held in four cities. CBC 07/30/01 CLASSIC IGNORANCE: the absence of classical studies from contemporary education is a bad thing, and it is time to argue that they … Continue reading “Publishing: July 2001”
Tuesday July 31 PORTRAIT OF THE YOUNG COMPOSER: Stuart MacRae is only 24, but his career as a composer is thriving. But ‘when you have been touted as the next big thing in British classical music, the weight of expectation becomes almost impossible to bear.” The Guardian (UK) 07/31/01 DUBUFFET AT 100: Americans are generally protective of their … Continue reading “People: July 2001”
Tuesday July 31 GETTING KIDS INVOLVED: Classical music hasn’t been cool some time now. A night at the symphony might seem like a good way to impress a date with one’s sophistication, but other than that, most of the younger generation has little interest in Beethoven and Mozart. But is it possible that the blame lies … Continue reading “Music: July 2001”
Monday July 30 LONGEST FILM: A Scottish artist has taken John Wayne’s film The Searchers and slowed it down so it will take five years – the length of time the film’s story covers. It has been “digitally slowed, real-time version, which runs at one frame every 24 minutes rather than 24 frames a second.” Sunday Times (UK) 07/29/01 … Continue reading “Media: July 2001”
