The head of Miami’s struggling Carnival Center for the Arts has floated the idea of a temporary shutdown as a short-term solution for the venue’s cash crunch. But would such a stopgap obscure the deeper problems facing the center? “Everyone knew costs would skyrocket and private funding wouldn’t cover losses. The aim was to get it built, then let taxpayers fund losses forever… The structure isn’t working, the management isn’t working. No sense pointing fingers. We need solutions, fast.”
Tag: 04.05.07
Vienna State Opera In A Political Uproar
Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer is facing harsh criticism over his reportedly deep involvement in the Vienna State Opera’s search for a new general director. “The chancellor is good friends with American star tenor Neil Shicoff, and Shicoff himself has indirectly expressed interest in the job. But Gusi’s open support for the American quickly led to accusations of cronyism” and suggestions that Shicoff is unqualified for the job.
Lloyd Webber: Hattogate Is A Crime, Not A Love Story
Julian Lloyd Webber says that the Joyce Hatto recording scandal isn’t the semi-sweet melodrama that some are making it out to be. “There are those who are saying Hattogate is a human tragedy: an attempt by a loving husband to console his dying wife. Rubbish. Lots of people (my mother included) suffer terminal illness without pilfering other people’s hard work. Hatto and Barrington-Coupe were thoroughly dishonest, and Barrington-Coupe should be forced to face the music his wife lacked the talent to make.”
Funding Comes Through For Wilson Center
With several area banks having committed to funding a credit line, construction will begin shortly on Pittsburgh’s new $36 million August Wilson Center for African American Culture. The center is projected to open in late 2008 in the heart of the city’s downtown Cultural District.
Is Met Soprano Being Blackballed?
Soprano Ruth Ann Swenson has been a regular at the Metropolitan Opera for years, and this week, she’ll be on the famous stage in a production of Handel’s “Giulio Cesare.” But all of a sudden, the Met “appears no longer to want her services after nearly two decades of regular performances.” New Met chief Peter Gelb insists that Swenson isn’t being shut out, but acknowledges that he’s not a big fan.
The Brits’ TV Invasion
British actors are winning plum roles in American TV shows. “How big is this British wave? Big enough to fill roles in about two dozen prospective series, or about a third of all the pilots being made for the networks.”
More Museums, Good. But What’ll Go In Them?
“This explosion of annexes, extensions and branches, and the proliferation of ‘brand’ museums – already Guggenheim and Tate, soon Louvre, followed by many others – seems, at first, a good thing.” But is there enough good art to go in them?