“For a country where a particularly austere version of the Reformation deliberately squeezed theatre out of public life for more than 300 years, a country with no theatrical heritage to speak of – certainly no Shakespeare or Molière, Chekhov or Synge – this is all heady stuff. Theatre people in the boho quarters of Glasgow and Edinburgh have a spring in their step.”
Tag: 04.24.08
Just What Sould The BBC Be Doing To Promote Theatre?
“The main questions appear to be: Do musicals overshadow more serious theatre? Could the BBC do more to promote theatre? What more could the BBC do to encourage theatre-going?”
Woman Sues Recording Industry For Wrongfully Suing Her
She is “going after the recording industry under conspiracy laws. She argues the Recording Industry Association of America, the industry’s trade group, and its affiliates worked together on a broad campaign to intimidate people into making financial payoffs. The defendants ‘secretly met and conspired’ to develop a ‘litigation enterprise’ with the ultimate goal of preserving the major record companies’ control over the music business.”
Time To Promote Encores At The Opera?
Maybe. “Now, it is so not part of the practice that no singer could just decide spur of the moment to give an encore because the conductor would not know what [the singer] is doing. It would have to be discussed earlier. But back then, the conductor would whisper to the orchestra and make eye contact with the singer and do it again.”
Iraq War Impedes Louvre Loans
“Security issues have thwarted attempts by the Louvre to borrow objects from Iraq for its major “Babylon” exhibition which opened last month and which will travel to Berlin and London later this year.”
The Way To Riches: Become The “Capital Of Dance?”
The resort town of Blackpool has revealed plans to create a “festival and events zone”, with a capacity of 30,000 on the seafront in the Tower Headland area, which would spearhead the town’s “ambition to become the capital of dance”
US Senate Committee Nixes New FCC Media Ownership Rules
Without dissent the panel approved a “legislative veto” that would prevent the commission from implementing new regulations that remove the federal bar to newspaper-broadcast combinations in the top markets and make it easier for the combos to receive approval in the smaller ones.
Forgetful Instrument Syndrome
Why is it that musicians keep forgetting their instruments while they’re out in the world? It happens more than you think…
Starbucks Retreats From Music Business
The company hands over management of its music division. “Starbucks’ influence as a music retail outlet has grown rapidly in recent years, posting perhaps its biggest hit with the Ray Charles album “Genius Loves Company,” which it co-produced with Concord Records.”
Adding Up Losses From The Writers’ Strike
“On-location film, TV, commercials and other shoots fell 23% in the first quarter, the sharpest quarterly decline ever recorded.”