“The Met is selling $100,000 boxes for its opening-night presentation of ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ with soprano Natalie Dessay and tenor Marcello Giordani, the company said Tuesday. That comes to $12,500 a seat, more than double last year’s opening-night high of $5,000.”
Tag: 03.13.07
Male TV Drama Leads Lack Color
Why has there neve been a successful TV drama series with a black male lead? “There is a feeling that the vast majority of the audience is not black, and having a black lead dominating the show makes most viewers feel shut out since they don’t work with an African-American in a dominant position in their daily life.”
Artists Rally Congress For NEA Increase
Artists testified before the US Congress for an increase in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. Committee chairman Norm Dicks “said in an interview Friday that he would like to restore arts funding to its $176 million peak but House Democratic leaders will determine how much the subcommittee can spend.”
LA Arts Critics Sweep Pulitzer Nominations
According to insiders, this year’s Pulitzer finalists are: the LA Times’ art critic Christopher Knight and classical music critic Mark Swed. The third finalist is believed to be food writer Jonathan Gold of LA Weekly.”
Viacom Sues YouTube (Google) For $1 Billion
“Viacom claims that the more than 160,000 unauthorized video clips from its cable networks, which also include Comedy Central, VH1 and Nickelodeon, have been available on the popular video-sharing Web site.”
SF Opera Goes Back On The Radio
“The San Francisco Opera will broadcast its performances once a month beginning April 1 on classical radio station KDFC (102.1 FM) — the first time in 25 years that the company’s offerings will be heard regularly on the air. … In addition to the KDFC deal, the Opera has joined a coalition of opera companies whose performances will be broadcast nationally and internationally by the WFMT Radio Network in Chicago.”
Nice Design, Mr. Calatrava. Now, What About Traffic?
“Two weeks from disclosing their final plan for the nation’s tallest building, the project’s developer and architect offered fresh details Monday night, trying to calm fears about traffic and presenting their own plan for a nearby park to honor Chicago’s founding father. ‘We have given a lot of importance to the relationship to the city,’ said the skyscraper’s architect, Zurich-based Santiago Calatrava….”
Live From Vatican City, It’s Pope TV
“Days after Pope Benedict XVI criticized the media for its ‘destructive’ influence, the Vatican on Monday announced plans to launch its first television network by the end of the year. H2O will broadcast news and original entertainment programming worldwide in seven languages….”
Talking Arts In DC, Sans Conservative Caution
As Americans for the Arts gathered in Washington, “the guest of honor was Robert MacNeil, the journalist, who gave a bold and perhaps even controversial speech that included sustained criticism of religious fundamentalism.” He decried “‘the swing to Puritanism’ that ‘gained energy when political consultants and lobbying organizations discovered the catnip (and the fundraising power) of pandering to those who could be persuaded that art is decadent, or immoral, or homosexual, and destructive of finer values.'”
LA Opera Chief Edgar Baitzel, 51
“Edgar Baitzel, chief operating officer of Los Angeles Opera, who contributed mightily to the artistic and financial success of the company, died Sunday of cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.”