The struggling Tacoma Actors Guild theatre loses a $25,000 NEA grant for producing Shakespeare. A production of “Comedy of Errors” was canceled after the theater announced $350,000 in debt and laid off its staff in December, reopening with a scaled-back production cycle that includes, instead, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).” That disqualified TAG from the competitive Shakespeare for a New Generation program. TAG was selected as one of 22 participating theaters in the nation. These have to be full productions of Shakespeare’s work.”
Tag: 03.11.05
Rare Victory For Classical Radio
In a reversal of the way these things usually go, Cincinnati’s all-classical public radio station, WGUC, has purchased WVXU, the city’s powerful public news and information station, along with the three-state network it was attached to. The merger has the potential to make WGUC a major force in the increasingly ratings-driven world of public radio, but unlike in so many other markets, where classical stations have been eliminated or converted to news/talk, the consolidation would seem to strengthen the place of classical music on Cincinnati’s air.
Levine in Boston: The First 100 Days
It is foolish, of course, to try to judge a music director’s tenure with an orchestra after only six months, but the immediate effects of a new arrival on both ensemble and audience can have a significant impact on the evolution of the relationship between maestro and musicians. In Boston, where James Levine is now firmly ensconced as music director, observers have begun to notice a distinct shift in how the orchestra is perceived. More young people have been showing up at concerts, and a number of musical heavyweights who couldn’t be bothered with the waning years of the Ozawa era are back in the fold as well. “Clearly, Levine’s programs are sparking all this interest. They are long; they are challenging. He is striving to create concerts that are at once provocative to the musically trained, yet not off-putting to the more casual concertgoer.”
David Byrne: PowerPoint As An Instrument Of Art
Rocker David Byrne is touring with his current instrument of choice – a computer loaded with PowerPoint. “Byrne is most interesting when he goes off on flights of fancy that illustrate why he is called the Renaissance man of rock. “PowerPoint is a symptom of a long train of thought that started picking up steam during the Enlightenment,” he says. “The idea was that we could name everything and draw lines that connect them.”
What’s Next For Weinsteins Apres-Disney?
“According to insiders at Miramax, the Weinsteins envision a new company, with a net worth of about $2 billion, with its own theatrical distribution and home video label. The Weinsteins want to raise a deep war chest so that they do not have to hustle for money and presell foreign territories to raise production coin. They hope to lure employees by promising to share the wealth when the company goes public within five years. But raising money is one thing. Structuring a new company in a way that satisfies investors is another.”
Cleveland Goes Looking For Big Money
Cleveland arts organizations are looking for big money. Can they find it? “Three of Cleveland’s nonprofit institutions have campaigns that together hope to raise more than $700 million. The Cleveland Museum of Art’s $300 million effort is the newest, seeking money to expand and renovate the University Circle museum.”
Whose History Of 20th Century Art?
A new history of art of the 20th Century suggests a new narrative, writes Eric Gibson. “Indeed, “Art Since 1900” is less a historical narrative than an extended piece of art criticism arguing for a particular point of view. In this one respect the book has something in common with Paul Johnson’s recent “Art: A New History.” The difference is that Mr. Johnson’s approach is traditional and art itself is, for him, front and center; his insights grow out of his close look at the works of art that he is writing about. In “Art Since 1900” works of art are subordinated to one theory or another, reduced to little more than illustrations. And most of the theory itself is tendentious in the extreme, pushing a political “reading” of culture that amounts to a tired paean to Karl Marx and Walter Benjamin.”
A Model Orchestra Built On The New
You don’t build an orchestra by playing contemporary music. Or do you? Michigan’s Plymouth Symphony is “an orchestra on the make with a growing budget, expanding menu of concerts and education programs, bulging attendance and, significantly, the most progressive programming of any orchestra in southeastern Michigan, including the Detroit Symphony. No one locally does more to promote living composers, present thematic programs laced with intellectual pop and unusual repertoire and create a sense of adventure when the lights go down.”
The New 24/7 Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center is growing. “With jazz after midnight and late-morning, breakfast concerts of classical music, Lincoln Center is evolving into an almost “24-7″ performing arts hub. As it adds edgy creativity to its mainstream fare, the centre is expanding culturally and physically. It also has enlarged its board of directors to include leaders in non-artistic fields raising money from donors who might never before have given to the arts.”
When Documents Are Digital, Where’s The History?
“When all our documents are generated by digital means, the nature of what consists of an “original” becomes fuzzier and fuzzier. (Is it the first copy from the printer? The electrons on the hard disk?) And if search companies like Google succeed in their mission to get all human knowledge online, available to everyone, we’ll have the power to peruse existing documents like those in the Christie’s auction from the comfort of our dens.”