The Detroit Symphony Orchestra made a new conditional offer late Wednesday to striking musicians that could narrow the financial gap between the two sides and lead to the end of a bitter 15-week-old strike.
Tag: 01.13.11
A New Cultural Hub for Vancouver?
“Vancouver city council is considering creating a ‘cultural hub’ in the downtown core … [at] the same location used as a live concert site during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. … The site is the same swath of land the Vancouver Art Gallery wants for its new location.”
Jazz and Cabaret Singer Margaret Whiting, 86
“Blessed with a distinctive voice and a warm, insightful singing style, Whiting had a career that stretched over seven decades. She recorded for the first time while she was still in her teens and was still performing as a cabaret artist in her 70s and 80s.”
N-Word Brouhaha Spreads to August Wilson’s Plays
“The schools superintendent in Waterbury, Conn., is seeking to shut down a production of one of August Wilson’s great dramas, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, because some of the teenage actors would have to utter the word ‘nigger’ as called for in the script.”
Funder: Dance In (Musical Theatre Out?)
“BBC charity the Performing Arts Fund is to award bursaries to dancers for the first time in its seven-year history, but has revealed that its funding for musical theatre students is in jeopardy.”
Study: People Hang On To Theatre More Than Pubs, Restaurants In Recession
“Of those who go to the pub, 43% said they had already cut spending, compared with only 21% of theatre audiences. In addition, 5% of theatre-goers said they intended to go more, compared to just 1% of pub-goers.”
Orange County Performing Arts Center Changes Its Name
The new name, Segerstrom Center for the Arts honors the area’s biggest champion for the arts.”The change went into effect Wednesday with a late-afternoon ceremony on the center’s plaza in Costa Mesa. The name honors the family that provided a home and support for Orange County’s leading arts district by making periodic donations of land and money since 1974 that now total 14 acres and $75 million.”
Is Competition The Way To Get Audiences For Dance?
“Specifically tailored for contemporary choreographers, the show-cum-contest grants $10,000 to a winner toward the creation of a new work and has stirred up some lively debates about the financing and subjectivity of evaluating the often underfunded medium of contemporary concert dance.”
Why Suddenly Famous People So Often Crash And Burn
“When you’re a celebrity, anything that emerges from your mouth that vaguely resembles a joke is cause for gut-busting laughter from everyone within earshot.” All that praise can lead to what Wilson calls “imposter syndrome”–the secret feeling that you don’t deserve all the attention.”
The Great Recession’s Chilling Effect On Architecture
It is impossible to exaggerate the chilling effect of the economic slowdown on the architectural profession. Gone are the extravagances and hubris that dominated just a few years ago.