“Of course it used to be that audiences were kept safe from physical harm (although not of course from mental suffering) by the fourth wall. But theatre performances are increasingly blurring the boundaries between performers and audiences.”
Tag: 01.30.08
New UK Culture Minister – Big Plans, But…
“Hardly one minute into the job and he is already talking of local film festivals all over the country, of artists, actors and musicians being appointed to the boards of our nation’s great arts institutions. And who can forget, since he himself repeatedly reminds us, that he was one of the architects of free admissions to museums when special adviser to Chris Smith in the 90s. Perhaps Burnham will even rustle up some government money to buy new art to put into those museums. Likely? Of course not.”
Fans Running The Arts? Really… That’s Hardly The Problem
“The problem is not a lack of artists and fans on arts boards as how much say they get in governance. In the case of artists, very little. I am forever being rung by creative souls who are about to resign from arts boards that treat them as window dressing.”
Dallas PAC Boosts Funding Goal Just Because It Can
“The board of directors of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts announced this week that the project is being expanded, triggering an increase in its fundraising goal from $275 million to $338 million.” The project’s CEO said that the decision to boost the goal came after the realization that the center would easily meet the lower goal, and could afford to aim higher.
de Montebello: I’m Not Retiring
He is leaving the Met Museum, where he’s worked since 1963. “But I am not retiring from the field. At some point in the future I will continue, I hope, to be a voice for the major issues that concern me in the field of art and museology.”
If Only New Music Could Be More…
“Did composers ever think that newness consisted in simply more of something: more dissonance, more dynamic contrasts, more chance, more determination, more whatever? More is a bottomless pit. This kind of newness is closer to fashion.”
Tiny Tenure – Director Quits Canadian Stage After Only A Few Months
After just six months, actor and director David Storch has resigned as the artistic director of Toronto’s Canadian Stage Company. “It has become clear to me that the demands of artistic director of this company are not ones which I feel are in my creative interests to pursue.”
3 Locations, 3 Casts, One Play Connected
“In theory, it’s an almost revolutionary idea. There are three live audiences in three separate locations. There are three separate casts (about 30 actors on total), in complementary costumes. They’re all linked in real time using state-of-the art gadgetry and Internet2, a much faster version of the Internet available to higher-education institutions. If it all works as it’s designed, audiences in three locales would share a novel theatrical experience.”
Doris Lessing Collects Her Nobel
“There isn’t anywhere to go from here, is there?” she said, before thinking of one more accolade: “I could receive a pat on the head from the pope.”
Chicago MoCA Director Steps Down
“Robert Fitzpatrick, director and CEO of the Museum of Contemporary Art since 1998, has become international managing director of Haunch of Venison, a 6-year-old gallery for contemporary art with spaces in London, Zurich and Berlin.”