“Dickens World is a theme park based on the Victorian answer to Mickey Mouse. Opening in Kent at the end of next month, it’s a day out for the family that brings to life the 15 novels by Charles Dickens; actually make that 13 – they haven’t managed to squeeze in Barnaby Rudge or Bleak House. Never mind that the books tackle child exploitation, poverty, murder and domestic violence; the indoor attraction is based on designs by the creator of Santa World in Sweden so the emphasis is firmly on fun, fun, fun.”
Tag: 04.18.07
Funding Cuts Will Hurt UK Theatre
“With £675m of arts funding now earmarked for London 2012, everyone knows this is just the beginning. The great paradox is that it is local theatre – the very community- inspired projects that are supposed to be a legacy of the 2012 games and which helped secure the Olympic bid – that will almost certainly be hardest hit. And it is happening at a time when local theatre, once associated unkindly with summer Shakespeare and panto, has become one of the most potent forces on the UK arts scene.”
Remembering Lincoln Kirstein
“As a young man, Kirstein wanted to be a painter, and in the beginning of his involvement with the ballet he seems to have envisioned himself as the successor to Diaghilev, involved in every aspect of production. Indeed, he occupied such an aesthetic role in Ballet Caravan, the company he ran from 1936 to 1940. With City Ballet, his role evolved quite differently, yet the model is a familiar one.”
New York To Allow Ticket Scalping?
New York is considering dropping its limits on ticket scalpers. “The world’s gone digital. It’s much more efficient. The transfer of money is much quicker. At Ticket Central four years ago, 70 percent of our tickets were sold on the phone. Last year, 65 percent were sold on the Internet. The efficiencies of the Internet have made it so easy for the broker. It’s a huge annual market.”
Kitty Carlisle Hart, 96
Her long career “spanned Broadway, opera, television and film, including the classic Marx Brothers movie ‘A Night at the Opera’.” But she was probably best known as one of the celebrity panelists on the popular game show “To Tell the Truth.”
New Tolkein Tops Harry Potter On bestseller Charts
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has, for the past 16 weeks, looked to be the invincible champion of the bestseller lists, despite being more than three months away from publication. But the wizardy whippersnapper hadn’t reckoned on the return of an even more popular author: JRR Tolkien has come back from beyond the grave to seize the throne of Amazon’s book charts.”
Celebrating Ornette (And It’s About Time!)
Legendary jazz innovator Ornette Coleman won the Pulitzer Prize for music this week, leading many in the music world to wonder what could have taken so long. “Unlike any past Pulitzer selection, [Coleman’s winning album,] “Sound Grammar,” is dominated by improvisation, the essence of jazz.It’s a bold choice — a hip choice, even. If the Pulitzer image shapers wanted to crack a mold, they’ve done it. Loudly.”
Getty Announces New Acquisitions
“A medieval gilt-copper and enamel relief of Christ, thought to have come from a Spanish cathedral, and a 19th century portrait of a lady in her pink velvet dressing gown by French artist James Jacques Joseph Tissot have joined the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum. The new acquisitions — purchased privately for undisclosed sums in an ongoing effort to build the relatively young institution’s art holdings — will go on view in May.”
Calgary Tries To Catch Up On Arts Spending
“Stung by a recent Calgary Arts Development report on the poverty of arts facilities in one of Canada’s wealthiest cities, Calgary’s city council has unanimously approved a recommendation to budget as much as $150-million on capital programs for arts spaces.”
Another Bookstore On The Brink
A neighborhood bookstore on Chicago’s far north side is on the verge of giving up the ghost after nearly 20 years in business. “As walk-in sales have declined, the store has expanded its services by providing textbooks required for local college courses and by supplying books for sale at academic and other conferences on such topics as adoption, infertility and women’s studies. They’ve also buttressed their bottom line with bulk sales to libraries, schools and corporations.” But in the end, it may not be enough.