“It might be surprising that in 2009, women are still having to grope their way to the power seat in an artistic field such as theater. And the helm of a musical, with its complex and expensive working parts, is perhaps the most difficult and challenging position the theater has to offer. Yet for all the successes of a Julie Taymor (‘The Lion King’) or a Susan Stroman (‘The Producers’), women even today only occasionally receive the assignment to direct a big-budget, big-showcase musical.”
Tag: 05.13.09
White House Poetry Jam A Spoken-Word Evening, With Jazz
“Perhaps for the first time ever, the White House jammed and slammed last night. Poets and playwrights, actors and musicians packed the ornate East Room, delivering cool jazz and glorious spoken-word poetry, sprinkling a bit of hip-hop and a bit of the heroic couplet. And through it all, the president and the first lady watched — and applauded. ‘We’re here to celebrate the power of words,’ President Obama said.”
Proceed With Caution Lest You Wreck LA’s New Arts School
“The spectacular new arts high school in downtown Los Angeles cost an equally spectacular $232 million. Now that the campus is complete, with its state-of-the-art theater, ceramics studios and other eye-popping amenities, the critical next step for school leaders is to avoid wrecking it.” One danger: diminishing “what could become a national beacon of arts education by turning it into a neighborhood school.”
Glimmer Of Hope Dept.: Soros Pledges $50 Million At Gala
“Billionaire hedge-fund manager George Soros pledged $50 million to the Robin Hood Foundation at its New York gala dinner, helping the charity raise a record sum last night to help the city’s poor. The event took $72.7 million, the most Robin Hood has raised in a single night, defying the slump in charitable giving caused by the current recession. … To qualify for Soros’s gift of $50 million, Robin Hood has to raise an additional $150 million over two years.”
After The Boom: Sotheby’s Contemporary Tally Down 87%
“Actor Owen Wilson, billionaire Eli Broad and former Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz watched the art market take another knock last night as Sotheby’s posted its smallest New York contemporary auction since May 2003. The $47 million tally was down 87 percent, or $315 million, from Sotheby’s record a year ago….”
Prince Charles Omits Fireworks In Speech To Architects
“‘Abolish the monarchy!’ a tiny voice piped up at the end of the Prince of Wales’s lecture at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London last night. It was a distinctly solitary protest against Prince Charles’s first big speech on architecture for 20 years.” The prince — who even said “sorry” — was in fence-mending mode, “keen to stress that he was more concerned with ‘original, in the true sense’ and ‘organic’ architecture than with recreating past styles.”
Broadway Producer Rocco Landesman To Head NEA
“Rocco Landesman, the colorful theatrical producer and race-track aficionado who brought hits like Big River, Angels in America and The Producers to Broadway, has been nominated as the next chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, the White House said on Tuesday.”