“It’s an ever-shrinking group, the authors who are given the real estate between multiple sets of hardcovers to chronicle the life and times of their subjects. ‘I don’t know of anyone who has gotten a contract for a multivolume biography in the last five years,’ said [historian] David Nasaw … ‘God bless Bob Caro, but it’s over.'”
Tag: 05.10.12
Embarrassing Moments In Ballet
“One woman recounted her awful experience of having her skirt fall off mid-performance. Another in the class – a former male principal with a thick French accent – told us about a time when a faulty lift left him holding his female partner between his legs ‘like a piece of dental floss.'”
Is ‘Theatre Hacking’ All That Bad? Maybe Not
Kelly Nestruck reviews the controversy over Olivier Choinière’s “hacking” of a Molière production in Montreal (via recorded commentary over headphones) and suggests that – far from being a “rape” (as the director of the Molière put it) – this could get interesting …
Futuro: The House Design That Really Did Look Like A (1960s) Spaceship
“Before the recession and the return of architectural probity, the phrase ‘like an alien spaceship’ was all over architecture journalism like a cheap suit. … Frank Gehry? Future Systems? Zaha Hadid? Yep, spaceship-mongers. Well there’s only one building where that simile is inescapable, and that’s the Futuro house, designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in 1968.”
“Great Icons Bring Great Prices”
“A blond bombshell and a twisted male figure — classic images by Roy Lichtenstein and Francis Bacon — tied for top price at Sotheby’s on Wednesday night, bringing $44.8 million each.”
Arts Council England Considers Major Staffing Cuts
“Plans to axe 150 posts – a quarter of its current workforce – are being considered by Arts Council England as the quango tries to halve its running costs, The Stage can reveal.”
Wary Movie Theatre Owners Weigh New Technologies
“Box offices have started off strong this year, but the number of tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada slumped 19% to 1.3 billion last year from 2002, Motion Picture Association of America data show. This has left cinema operators open to experimenting with new technologies that might lure back more cash-conscious viewers–especially younger ones–from their home plasma-TV screens, DVD and videogame players and, increasingly, Internet streaming services.”
The Listless CBC
“Ah yes, CBC-TV, shaken by budget cuts, wobbles forward. And, one suspects, clueless about its direction and meaning. Is it after audience share with humdrum programming or excellence and audience share with distinctive programming? Is it competing with Global, CTV and Rogers for eyeballs and advertising dollars or is it simply offering Kevin O’Leary four shows and hoping for the best?”
Journalists Asked To Pay For Interviews With Stars In Cannes
“On the menu: 1,500 to 3,000 euros for TV packages, 750 to 2,000 euros for group chats (called round tables) and that precious one-on-one time with the big names at 1,000 to 2,500 euros. Well, technically, not quite one-on-ones; time with Pitt comes with a side order of some other less marketable talent.”
On-Demand Music Gets Its Own Top 100 Chart
“The top 100 rundown will be compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) using statistics from audio streaming sites such as Spotify, We7 and Deezer.”