Last year when “The Vagina Monologues” came to Sacramento, the Sacramento Bee carried ads for the play – no problem. But evidently the “p” word is a bigger deal. The paper has refused ads for “Puppetry of the Penis,” the hot Australian show currently touring the US.
Tag: 02.06.03
Out From Behind The Curtain – A Russian Export
When Boris Eifman started his dance company in 1977, he was spurned by Soviet authorities. ” ‘Back then, the authorities looked on me as a pornographer, not a choreographer.’ His crime was not to dissent from Soviet politics, but to choreograph in a style that challenged the orthodoxies of Soviet ballet. Today, Eifman Ballet Theatre is one of Russia’s prime cultural exports, and Eifman, its 56-year-old director, cuts an engaging ambassadorial figure.”
Moscow Theatre Reopens After Last Year’s Siege
The Moscow theatre where 170 people were killed during a siege by Chechen rebels has reopened. “Moscow’s city government has given $2.5m (£1.5m) to repair the Dubrovka Theatre which now has a high-tech security system. Nord-Ost’s producer and co-writer, Georgy Vasilyev, himself a hostage, had always vowed the show would go on despite 18 cast and crew members being killed.”
Poets Uprising
“Poets may rightly grumble that they aren’t read or paid enough, but in times of crisis it’s the poets, of all the artists in all countries, who suddenly seem the most important. Robert Lowell was a face of protest during the Vietnam war. Rupert Brooke and Robert Graves were among those who, writing from the trenches in World War I, best conveyed the anguish of war in what was not protest but patriotic poetry. So now, hardly surprisingly, we have our poets stepping forward to protest war, at what appears a fairly late moment. Why are poets the leading dissenters?”
Chill Out Dude
Classical chillout albums are a curious phenomenon. The numerous albums that visit this territory do very well: Virgin’s Classical Chillout was the bestselling classical compilation of 2001, shifting 400,000 units, and those who bought it were younger than the usual classical fans. Chillout as an idea has become as good as a brand. And, as EMI’s research shows, many potential customers associate classical music with, above all, relaxation. More stimulating compilations, such as Euphoric Classics, sell less well.”
Harry – A Record Cover Price For A Children’s Book
The new Harry Potter book could weigh in at more than 1000 pages. But it will also sport a heavy price. “Scholastic Children’s Books, the U.S. publisher of J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’, announced Thursday a suggested retail price of $29.99. ‘That’s definitely the highest price for a children’s novel we’ve ever seen’.”
Instant Messaging – Why UN Covered Its Guernica Reproduction?
So the UN covered up Guernica this week. Was it sensitive to the message? “The continuing sensitivity to Guernica exemplified by the U.N. cover-up may remind us that modern art is poor in images glorifying just military action, though rich in images of the horrors and injustices of war. Further back in history, of course, there are numerous celebrations of the triumph of righteous might.”
Censorship Or Convenience?
Pablo Picasso’s striking anti-war painting ‘Guernica’ hangs at the United Nations in New York, a sobering tapestry greeting visitors to the offices of the U.N. Security Council. But yesterday, as U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to the Security Council, ‘Guernica’ was nowhere to be seen, concealed behind a blue curtain and a row of flags. The U.N. insists that the cover-up was in reponse to the needs of television cameras, but Peter Goddard reports that it “may have been prompted by U.N. realization that images of the mural’s vivid anti-war message were televised world-wide when it appeared as a backdrop to the Jan. 27 interim report by chief weapons inspector Hans Blix.”
Czech Republic – Where Artists Lead
Playwright Vaclav Havel has stepped down as president of the Czech Republic. So is the country ready for another artist to lead it? Musician Karel Gott, who has topped the Czech charts for much of the last four decades, has been proposed by a group of rock musicians, and he says he’s interested in running for the job.
Welser-Möst At Work
When the Cleveland Orchestra selected the young phenom Franz Welser-Möst as the man to succeed Christoph von Dohnanyi as music director, some in the orchestral world expressed surprise that the ensemble many consider the best in America would take a chance on a relatively unproven talent. But Welser-Möst is reportedly working out quite well in Cleveland, despite the incredibly heavy workload music directors are expected to take on in this country. “With utter resolve and politeness, Welser-Möst has proved that he sticks to his artistic guns. And he’s delighted to be working with an orchestra that is so open-minded.”