The Passion of the Christ opened on 4,643 screens in 3,006 theaters on Wednesday and took in $15-20 million at the box office, a remarkable feat for a movie based on religion that major studios were reluctant to finance.
Tag: 02.26.04
Getting The Arts Right On TV
Drama may be dying on Canadian TV, “but we’re very good at producing performing-arts TV. In fact, we’re brilliant at it, and Canadian productions in the genre regularly awe international audiences. There are complicated reasons for this, partly rooted in the CBC’s role in the Canadian culture. So many performers depend on the CBC for employment that the arts have become interwoven with the TV world. Thus, in Canada we make arts productions uniquely sensitive to television’s needs and nuances. We don’t just film arts performances for TV. We make and create television art…”
In RoadTrip: A Quick Stop In Scotland
Sam Bergman on tour with the Minnesota Orchestra: The orchestra swings into its last two stops, beginning with Glasgow. “Musicians, particularly orchestra musicians, tend to be competitive by nature. The process by which we audition for our jobs is far too harsh an difficult for anyone without at least a trace of competitive fire to make it through. Even after we have our jobs secured, we tend to constantly look over our shoulders, wondering how other bands are doing, and how we stack up against them. Playing in the home of another orchestra, with the conductor a familiar commodity, we have a lot on the line, and the desire to measure up to expectations is ridiculously high.”
The Uncommon Editor
“During her 46 years in the publishing business, Judith Jones has become the mouse that roared. If any single human being possesses unerring taste, it is possible that she is that person. Her publishing “finds” include a manuscript by an unknown teen-ager named Anne Frank, a cookbook by an unknown chef named Julia Child and a book of poetry by an unknown scribe named Sylvia Plath.”
America Gets Its National Opera Company
The US Congress has marked the changing of the name of the Washington Opera to the “National Opera.” Congress decided in June 2000 that the 48-year-old company whould be renamed. “According to Placido Domingo, the company’s general director, the new name is a reflection of “the fact that it is in the nation’s capital and therefore touches a wide national audience.”
Scottish Ballet Renews Bid For Controversial New Home
Scottish Ballet is making another bid to relocate to Tramway. “The ballet company, which has wanted to leave its home in Glasgow’s west end for many years, withdrew its bid for some £3.5m of funds in January. However, the ballet believes the Tramway site, in the city’s south side and owned by the city council, is still the best option for a new home and is expected to reapply for funds in October.”
Fiddler – Handle With Care
How do you freshen up a classic like Fiddler on the Roof without disturbing those finely etched images so many have of the show? One can “hardly ignore the special place the show holds in the public’s affections. ‘I told the whole team very early on that I wanted to take care of `Fiddler.’ That’s a phrase I’ve never used before. But there’s already a vast audience that loves the piece, people who will be bringing their children to the theater, perhaps for the first time. And it’s very important not to disappoint.”
Hollywood’s Color Divide
Why don’t African-Americans have more power in Hollywood? “In the history of the movie studios no African-American has ever had the power to green-light a film. Part of the problem is that the movie business is similar to the Italy of the Medicis; without a patron to offer favor, there’s no place to go but down.”
Plan To Double Size Of Uffizi
Florence plans to double the size of the Uffizi Gallery, and Italy’s culture minister boasts the new gallery will rival the size of the Louvre. “By the time work is completed, visitors to the extensively remodelled Uffizi will be able to see 800 new works, including many now confined to the gallery’s storerooms for lack of space.”
The Ballet Life On Screen
Most ballet movies get it wrong about what life is like in a company, writes Joan Acocella. “The fact is that most young ballet dancers are no more obsessive, work no harder, and have no less chance of being hired by world-class companies than other young people training for a career in the classical performing arts. Nor do most modern ballets look ethereal; they are often crotchy affairs dressed in spandex and set to rock music. But in general, people don’t know about ballet from seeing it. People know about ballet from the movies.”