“Burnsville is about to embark upon a $20 million experiment: Can a publicly funded suburban arts center fill enough seats, and generate enough economic activity, to justify the cost?”
Tag: 01.18.09
Giant Piano From Big Goes To Philly
“The Please Touch Museum has gotten a big acquisition: the 16-foot light-up keyboard used in the 1988 Tom Hanks movie Big, upon which the Oscar-nominated Hanks and Robert Loggia danced/played ‘Chopsticks’ and ‘Heart and Soul.'”
The New Classical Musician Gets Around
“This new generation of classical artists possess all the technique necessary to tackle Brahms or Beethoven, but they would rather perform innovative repertoire that blurs into genres from hip-hop to electronica, rock and beyond.”
Putin Painting Fetches $1.14M (At Least It Was For Charity)
“Vladimir Putin’s first painting fetched 37 million rubles ($1.14 million) at a charity auction in his native St. Petersburg last night. The Russian prime minister’s picture of a frosty window made the highest price of 30 works on offer.”
The Difficult Case Of Andrew Wyeth
“Andrew Wyeth disappeared behind his reputation many years ago, and since then it has been all but impossible to sweep away the haze of words that hides his paintings from view.”
How Hollywood Helped Prepare Us For President Obama
Dargis and Scott: “Of course, we had seen several black presidents already, not in the real White House but in the virtual America of movies and television… in the 47 years since Mr. Obama was born, black men in the movies have traveled from the ghetto to the boardroom, from supporting roles in kitchens, liveries and social-problem movies to the rarefied summit of the Hollywood A-list.”
Jeanne Dielman – The Power Of One Little 34-Year-Old Belgian Movie
“Today the film’s observational strategies – its long takes and scrupulous framing – practically amount to a lingua franca of international art film… Nothing can quite prepare the first-time viewer for the force of [director Chantal] Akerman’s concentration, for the film’s overwhelming concreteness or the horrifying logic of its ending.”
Why Are We So Fascinated With That Awful Gabler Woman?
“A more repellent personality would be hard to imagine, and yet Hedda Gabler is one of the eternal fascinators of the world stage… So what is the mystery of her attraction? Probably her mystery itself. No matter how many times we encounter her, how many new angles we view her from, Hedda remains strangely inscrutable.”
Marilyn Horne Gets Hands-On
“Once, while explaining the vital importance of firm diaphragm support to a young singer who feared that her strapless gown might fall down if she pressed too hard, Miss Horne literally took matters into her own hands. ‘I’ll hold up your dress,’ she said. ‘You get your support going.'”
New Ballet Company Debuts In Utah
The Salt Lake City Ballet Company, “which is the performance branch of the Salt Lake City Ballet Conservatory, features dancers ages 14-20.” Artistic director Cristobal Marquez says that “We decided to make the company a ‘pre-professional’ company that would give the dancers a taste of what a real company is like.”