For 87 years, Veronica’s Veil Players have annually staged “America’s Passion Play.” “That long run was nearly broken this weekend, with the gas supply to the group’s ancient furnace cut off because of nearly $40,000 in unpaid bills. Friday’s performance went on using space heaters, but about two dozen audience members left early. The Players’ board decided to cancel the remaining four performances, through next weekend, and to re-mount June 2-11, when any remaining cold in the building will function, Szemanski joked, “like free air conditioning.”
Tag: 03.28.06
Washington Ballet – Smaller, But Back In Business
It’s labor contract resolved and its budget reduced, Washington Ballet announces a new pared-down season. “A long-running labor dispute forced the cancellation of nearly half of December’s run of ‘The Nutcracker,’ which the ballet company said resulted in a substantial loss of ticket revenue that in turn led to the scrapping of other scheduled performances and the laying off of the dancers. A tentative agreement on a first-ever employment contract with the American Guild of Musical Artists, the dancers’ union, was reached this month. With the ballet back in business, we’ve made a decision to invest in the artistic product.”
Key To Success? Technology Is Your Friend
This is not the first time the movie business has been threatened by technology. “In the 1950s, as today, theaters were under siege, their audience being lured away by a dazzling new technology. Today’s competition comes from the Internet, computer games and home entertainment centers. Then the enemy was television. “How do you compete with free?” theater owners moaned, the same mantra we’ve heard from record executives complaining about unauthorized file sharing. My response has always been the same: You’ve got to embrace the future.”
Johns Leads Museum Acquisitions List
The Art Newspaper’s annual museum acquisitions survey reveals latest trends in museum collecting. “In 2005, the overwhelming majority of museums chose to focus on established, mid-career and post-war artists, such as Ed Ruscha and Jasper Johns, whose artistic reputations are already secured. Leading the list of most sought-after artists in 2005 is modernist giant Jasper Johns, with five museums acquiring his work.”
A New Era For Dance Umbrella?
London’s Dance Umbrella is 25 years old, and now founder Val Bourne is close to retirement. “Not since Ninette de Valois founded the Royal Ballet has a British dance institution been so intimately identified with a single individual. From the early shoestring days to Umbrella’s current high profile, it has been Bourne’s own tastes that have governed the festival’s programming. It was Bourne who nurtured the London careers of American choreographers such as Trisha Brown and Morris, and Bourne who doggedly supported native talent such as Michael Clark.”
Berlin Biennial: A Story To Tell
The Berlin Biennial is not just another mix-and-match show. “Flawed and frequently jarring it may be, but this is an important, timely exhibition. This is no survey show, no feebly themed free-for-all. It is not just another biennial. The curators have attempted to construct if not a narrative, then a journey.”
Scottish Sculptor Hamilton Finlay, 80
Known as the grand old man of Scottish Art, he first came to Scotland as a child to attend boarding school, but his education was interrupted by the Second World War and he was evacuated to Orkney. After the war, he worked as a shepherd, studied philosophy and began to write stories and plays, many of which were broadcast on the BBC.”