London’s 13-year-old modern dance troupe Adventures in Motion Picture (AMP) announces it will move into the Old Vic Theatre as company-in-residence beginning in 2002. Under choreographer Matthew Bourne, AMP’s “outrageously entertaining shows drew on traditions of showbiz, classical ballet, and film, and rapidly attracted a public far wider than hard-core dance fans.” Once the company takes up its new residence, it will become the only major British dance company, other than the two Royal Ballet companies, with its own home-base theater. – The Guardian
Tag: 03.29.00
FASCINATED BY CANOES
The first-ever Bill Mason art exhibit and sale opened Friday in a tiny gallery outside Ottawa, but don’t bring your checkbook – all 50 paintings were sold within 22 minutes of the show’s opening. Phone purchases were scheduled to begin half an hour after the doors opened – but that was already eight minutes after the last ‘sold’ sticker went up. “It’s almost as if Mason created these tiny glimpses of art just for people who appreciate the charms made accessible by a canoe” – All About Canoes News
SCHOPENHAUER IN PRIME TIME
Who says TV is all fluff? About to bow on British TV 4 – on Saturday evenings no less – is a series on serious philosophy, billed (no doubt for the ratings) as “a guide to happiness.” Series producer Alain de Botton says Seneca speaks to road rage and Schopenhauer to a contented love life. – The Economist 03/29/00
CREDIBILITY ROADSHOW
Public TV’s “Antiques Roadshow” is a major hit with viewers and a cult phenomenon. But now the show has a credibility problem. It “heavily uses two antiques appraisers whose company was found liable in federal court of defrauding the owner of Civil War heirlooms. The two appraisers have also staged at least one phony appraisal on the program, according to sources and court records.” The show has vigorously stuck by the duo. – Boston Herald 03/29/00
REALLY AT RISK
Conventional wisdom has it that publishers are the ones most at risk in the e-book revolution. After all, why does a successful writer need an expensive publisher taking a cut, when the writer can take it to the net herself? But the Endangered Species List is longer than you think. – Salon
FIRST LOVE
British director Sam Mendes accepted his Oscar for “American Beauty” Sunday and immediately pledged to use his success to draw attention and financial backing to his first love, British theater. Mendes is the artistic director of London’s Donmar Warehouse, where he said his award “will provide power and funds.” – The Age (Melbourne)
HERE’S TO YOU, MRS. ROBINSON
In a star turn reminiscent of Nicole Kidman’s striptease in “The Blue Room” last season, Kathleen Turner is causing quite a stir in London for her (equally revealing) portrayal of Mrs. Robinson in the new stage adaptation of “The Graduate.” – The Times (UK)
MILLENNIAL AMBITION
London’s much-hyped Millennium Dome has unveiled its enduring legacy – a collection of newly commissioned artworks, all of which are to “serve as reminders of Britain’s hopes, fears, dreams and achievements as it entered the third millennium.” – London Evening Standard
A TRAIN WRECK WITH SURVIVORS
This year’s Whitney Biennial was supposed to show that there’s good art outside the main art centers. But “the show has remarkably few surprises, and most of these aren’t that good. With several notable exceptions, too many of the under-known artists here turn out to be that way for a reason, which is the weakness of their work. This suggests two possible explanations. Either the centers are more permeable than we think—that is, ‘good art’ finds a way to get known—or the curators were too narrow. – Village Voice
BACK FROM THE BRINK
After drifting into obscurity, and to the brink of closing down, due to financial woes over the last 14 years, the Detroit Institute of Arts is back in the black due to a new management structure, an infusion of cash from private donors, and a major exhibition of van Gogh’s paintings and drawings. “I haven’t seen it this crowded, the lines were terrific,” said one visitor. – New York Times