There’s a move internationally to create a new test measuring the academic achievement of 15-year-olds. Strangely, the US, which has lately been on a standardized-test spree, there is indifference to the idea.
Tag: 04.21.08
The Amazing New Oslo Opera House
“The Oslo opera house is one of the most determinedly modern – and different – buildings of its type. To find a warm and traditional horseshoe-shaped auditorium gathered around a proscenium stage at the heart of this breathtaking building is unexpected.”
A Demographic That Doesn’t Care About The Arts?
“British Asians today still don’t get the arts, and don’t want to either. Got better things to do. They push their young people into real jobs that bring in big bucks, or at least good brides from families with big bucks. A painter, novelist, playwright, actor, cannot be admitted into respectable or wealthy dynasties – unless, of course, there is evidence of stardom.”
TV’s Fastest Growing Network
It’s the Gospel Music Channel, and “it’s television’s fastest-growing cable network – available in some 40 million homes, more than a third of the nation.”
Grand LA Park Plan Doesn’t Measure Up
“Landscape architecture has become the most dynamic of the design disciplines over the last five years or so. Not just in Chicago and Seattle but also in New York, Cairo, Singapore and elsewhere around the world, landscape architects are turning greenery into genuine civic momentum. In downtown Los Angeles, that prospect seems as distant as ever.”
Boomer Nostalgia Rules Broadway
“Pop culturally, the Boomers are easing into what might be called their Lawrence Welk years, when their cherished hits are finding their way into the entertainment equivalent of the rocking chair. Where once Welk’s music charmed seniors watching PBS (to Boomer derision), now it’s the Eagles or retrospectives on the Mamas and the Papas showing up during pledge week. Nowhere is this development more notable–or odd–than on Broadway.”
Vegas Mogul Says He’s Still Dedicated To Producing Theatre
Spamalot is closing in Las Vegas after a successful 18 month run. So is this the end of theatre at Steve Wynn’s high-end casino? “I’m as dedicated to the musical theater as I ever was. But I look now for a product, a show, that we can produce ourselves, that we own, that has the musical quality of something as good as the Beatles or something like that.”
Creative Australia Calls For Arts Funding Reform
“The 100 artists, actors, writers, musicians, festival directors, academics, architects and designers also called on the Government to establish a national endowment fund for the arts. The fund would include public endowment money and private philanthropy and patronage to provide artists’ support, including loans and grants.”