“Angry at Warner Brothers over images of cigarettes in the comedy ‘He’s Just Not That Into You,’ an arm of the American Medical Association is demanding that the studio step up its policing of tobacco images on screen. The American Medical Association Alliance said it intends to lodge an official complaint on Thursday with Warner Brothers and its corporate parent, Time Warner, over ‘disturbing images of specific cigarette brands in this youth-rated movie’….”
Tag: 02.26.09
Small Publisher Of Translations Finds Niche, Turns Profit
“It does not sound like a recipe for publishing success: a roster of translated literary novels written mainly by Europeans, relying heavily on independent-bookstore sales, without an e-book or vampire in sight. But that is the formula that has fueled Europa Editions, a small publisher founded by a husband-and-wife team from Italy five years ago.”
For Kimmel Center’s Acoustic Challenges, Help Is Coming
“The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts has chosen a sound doctor to fix what ails Verizon Hall” — the consensus being that the home of the Philadelphia Orchestra is rather badly afflicted. “[V]arious critics, instrumentalists, administrators, and even [hall designer] Artec have said that the 2,500-seat Verizon falls short of its potential. Sound presence greatly varies from seat to seat, and with the size of the ensemble on stage.”
Walters Art Museum Lays Off Staffers, Cancels Exhibition
“Faced with a 27 percent drop in the value of its endowment funds and expected cuts in state and local government grants, the Walters Art Museum announced yesterday a restructuring plan that includes laying off seven of its 150 employees, imposing a salary and limited hiring freeze and staff furloughs, and canceling an exhibition that was to have had the museum collaborating with the Musee d’Orsay in Paris and the Getty in Los Angeles.”
If NYC Limits Auto Traffic, What’s The Fallout For B’way?
“The city plans to close several blocks of Broadway to vehicle traffic through Times Square and Herald Square, an experiment that would turn swaths of the Great White Way into pedestrian malls” — and do what, exactly, to Broadway theatres? “A theater industry executive who was briefed on the plan this week said the reaction among Times Square business leaders was largely favorable” but noted that “one worry was whether taxis and other vehicles would have difficulty leaving people in front of theaters.”
Audience Head Count At Joe The Plumber Book Signing: 11
“Joe the Plumber (no longer a plumber; first name actually Samuel) popped into our town yesterday evening to sell his new book and to remind people that he’s still a plain and simple guy. Mission accomplished, on at least one of his missions. About 11 people wandered into the rows of seats set up hopefully in the basement of a downtown Border’s bookstore to hear Joe speak.”
Joseph O’Neill Wins PEN/Faulkner Award For Netherland
“Joseph O’Neill has won the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction for his widely praised novel ‘Netherland.’ Set in New York after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the book has drawn repeated comparisons to ‘The Great Gatsby’ while managing to overcome American readers’ indifference to cricket, the game around which much of its narrative is built.”
At Auction, YSL’s Was Highest-Grossing Private Collection
“The biggest auction ever held in Europe ended last night with Yves Saint Laurent’s two Qing bronzes as the star lots, after objections from the Chinese government and a legal challenge failed to halt their sale. Christie’s International’s six-session sale in the Art Nouveau exhibition hall of Paris’s Grand Palais raised a combined 374.4 million euros with fees ($477 million), beating estimates….” Dealers naturally hope this has positive implications for the market in general.
New York City Center Board Hard Hit By Madoff
“One of the largest venues regularly presenting dance and musicals, the 2,750-seat City Center has more Madoff investors on its board than any other major New York performing-arts group. Madoff himself was a director for at least a decade, until his arrest on Dec. 11, according to City Center tax returns. … The contracting economy and the Madoff investments could clip the wings of [City Center’s president,] one of the city’s cultural leaders.” NOTE: A spokesperson for New York City Center has said that the original renovation budget was $150 million (not $300 as stated by Bloomberg), and that the renovation plans were modified several months before the Madoff situation was revealed. City Center also says that plans for the renovation have not been affected by Madoff
China Plays Hardball After Christie’s Auctions Bronzes
“China said it will tighten control on Christie’s International’s activities in the nation, hours after the company auctioned a pair of Qing Dynasty bronzes in Paris, ignoring China’s calls to return the allegedly looted items. In a statement today, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, or SACH, ordered officials to scrutinize artifacts the London-based auction house imports and exports from China.”