“Sardi’s was the ‘unofficial nerve center,’ as Edward Murrow once called it, of the theater world. Sardi was known to give out-of-work actors a prominent seat in the restaurant to lift their spirit and job prospects. Sardi took over the eatery in 1947 after buying it from his father.”
Tag: 03.14.07
The UK/China Connection
China and England are getting close-ups of one another’s culture. “The First Emperor exhibition may well be the biggest eye-opener London has ever seen, and it is just the tip of a momentous trip of mutual discovery that Britain and China launched together last week in Beijing. The end of that process cannot be foretold, but the beginning is nothing less than historic.”
Record Print Run For Final Harry Potter
First printing for this summer’s final installment of the Harry Potter frnachise will be 12 million copies. “The previous Potter book, ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,’ was released in 2005 with a first printing of 10.8 million copies and sales of 6.9 million in the first 24 hours.”
NBC Jumps Into Mobile Phone Delivery
The American network will offer shows to be played on phone screens. “NBC’s new service will be delivered through privately-held MobiTV, allowing viewers to stream full episodes of top-rated shows starting at $1.99 for a 24-hour period after the show airs. But prices will also depend on how much wireless service providers want to charge.”
Seattle’s Experience Music Project Drops Admit Price
“Beginning March 31, combined admission to EMP and SFM will drop from $26.95 to $15 for adults, and from $19.95 to $12 for kids and seniors. The price cut comes after six years of criticism from some community members who felt that the cost of admission made the museum a tourist destination, rather than an educational and recreational resource for locals.”
When Jazz Becomes An Institution
“If the jazz-as-classical-music model is ever to work, jazz musicians will have to find the same sort of balance classical musicians achieve when they deliver a performance that is both true to the score and also a reflection of themselves. And as difficult as that may be when dealing with Beethoven or Mahler, it’s even tougher in jazz, since the soloists are not only expected to play the music properly but to improvise at the level of jazz’s greatest geniuses. It’s a lot to ask.”
Iranians Protest Hollywood’s “300” Movie
“Iranians were clearly offended at the way their ancestors were portrayed in the film, inspired by the tale of 300 Spartans under King Leonidas who held out at Thermopylae against a Persian invasion led by Xerxes in 480 B.C. The government, lawmakers and Iranian Web logs (blogs) denounced the movie, which depicts the huge Persian army as ruthless but repeatedly outsmarted by the Greeks who are only defeated in the end by treachery.”
Canadian Media Consolidation Goes Forward
Canadian regulators delay hearings on media consolidation policy, but allow consideration of some major media deals to continue in the meantime. “The current wave of consolidation in the Canadian broadcasting industry, and the possibility of more major transactions in the future, raises important questions relating to the diversity of voices in Canada.”
DC Theatre Box Office Continues Slide
Theatre box office in Washington DC was down 1.2 percent last year, an improvement from the 8.5 percent drop the season before. “There were 1,929,826 theatergoing derrieres in seats last year, at 7,354 performances of 402 productions. In 2005, there were 1,952,405 attendees at 348 productions. While attendance dropped in 2006, the number of productions went up nearly 14 percent.”
Reassessing Robert Moses’ Legacy
“As historical revisionism goes, this reassessment is probably overdue, but the rehabilitation of Robert Moses is not an easy walk down memory lane. Revisionist scholarship questions received opinions and reassesses accepted points of view. The acknowledged purpose here is to add balance to a story in which the brilliant restructuring of the public realm has been obscured by projects that rode roughshod over history and neighborhoods with an unfeeling arrogance of epic proportions that lingers in the collective mind.”