“Hubbard Street Dance Chicago ensemble members Cheryl Mann and Tobin Del Cuore are well-known on-stage partners. But they’ve also carried their playful chemistry into unusual backstage roles as the modern troupe’s archivists. What may sound like a stuffy job becomes creative magic in their unconventional hands.”
Tag: 04.08.07
The Show’s Rated G, But The Ads Are NC-17
Hollywood is used to hearing regular complaints about the violent content of some movies and TV shows, and the usual response to concerned parents is to point out that no one’s forcing them to consume the objectionable product. But what about those increasingly brutal and violent ads that networks insist on showing during otherwise family-friendly fare?
Hawking Sheet Music The Old-Fashioned Way
“These are trying times for the sheet music business, which has been increasingly chipped away at by illegal photocopying and online file sharing. The loss is especially noticeable in New York. The 1947 telephone directory listed nearly 100 places in Manhattan to buy sheet music. Now, only a half dozen are listed.”
The British Invasion Finally Makes It To L.A.
It wasn’t too long ago that an actor with a British accent couldn’t get arrested in Hollywood. But ever since Hugh Laurie turned the Fox drama House into a major hit, U.S. television execs can’t sign the Brits up fast enough.
Overcoming The Odds (And A Bit of Prejudice, Too)
At 26, New York Philharmonic principal oboist Liang Jang is one of the youngest principal players in an American orchestra, and his meteoric rise through the country’s orchestral ranks serves as a useful analogy for the rise of Chinese-born musicians in Europe and America. But “despite his extraordinary ability and success, Mr. Wang, like many Asian-born musicians, has had to confront preconceptions about his ability to connect with Western classical music.”
The Americanization Of Ballet
A new documentary delves into the twisted history of the Ballet Russes, and winds up revealing much about the state of modern classical dance. More importantly, it proves that “there was ballet in the United States before Balanchine got here. And there were other forces kindling the flame far beyond New York.”
Pittsburgh’s Mystery Man Begins To Emerge
When the Pittsburgh Symphony tapped Manfred Honeck to be its next music director, much of the music world responded, “Who?” To be sure, Honeck is a largely unproven commodity on the global stage. But “those who have known the Austrian musician along his journey say he has the musicality, creativity and integrity to succeed.”
Chicago Sym Joins The 21st Century
The Chicago Symphony is known within the orchestra business as being one of America’s most tradition-bound orchestras, suspicious of change and slow to embrace new technologies. But now, with a new “chatty” broadcast series, an in-house record label, and an incursion into iTunes, the CSO is “acknowledging that, along with many other symphony orchestras, it must retool its services in a more contemporary way if it is to access new audiences and retain a pre-eminence in the field of radio and recordings it has enjoyed for some 50 years.”
Jazz At Risk
Mark Stryker says that the evolution of American entertainment has been a disaster for the one-vibrant jazz world. “It’s hard to think of a time other than our own in which jazz has been so marginalized; it no longer seems part of the cultural dialogue. The fabric that once supported jazz musicians, fans, the club scene and recording industry has been torn apart. The challenge facing jazz today is to repair the cloth, to create a new infrastructure, to weave a new fabric.”
Salonen To Leave LA Phil; Dudamel On Deck
“After helping make the Los Angeles Philharmonic one of the world’s most adventurous and versatile orchestras, Esa-Pekka Salonen has decided to step down as music director at the end of the 2008-09 season. His successor, the Philharmonic will announce Monday, will be Gustavo Dudamel, a charismatic 26-year-old conductor from Venezuela. Salonen, who will still live in Los Angeles, intends to concentrate on composing, although he plans to continue to conduct the Philharmonic and other orchestras.”