Jessica Winter: “[I seek] out every Lear I [can] find. … This quasi-completeist mission is perverse, because its frisson depends largely on expectations of shameless presumption and abject failure. (You fiends! How dare you dare to stage this!) But the promise – always kept – is the thrill of seeing actors try the impossible.”
Tag: 05.24.11
Paul Taylor, Step By Step (Guardian-Style)
“Taylor enjoys observing people – he has described himself as a kind of reporter on human behaviour, less interested in expressing his feelings or imagining worlds than in revealing how people are. Famously, at company auditions, he always looks at how applicants walk.”
Is British Commercial Theatre Too Averse To Satire?
“People feel that satire needs to be bang up to the minute, with scripts changing daily to reflect the news. While this is not impossible, with productions such as The Prisoner of Windsor turned around in a mere two weeks, … we appear more constricted on a big stage. West End shows need a long time in preproduction and after a short run they could be irrelevant.”
That Festivals Edinburgh Study Is About More Than £261M In Economic Impact
“Nobody paints a painting, writes a poem or puts on a play with the intention of having an economic impact – that’s just a byproduct. Money is easy for consultants to measure, but it tells you nothing about the quality of the experience for either artist or audience. What’s interesting about the new Edinburgh study is that it understands this.”
Aboriginal Art Market On The Rocks
“Reports of a lacklustre indigenous art trade were confirmed in spectacular fashion last week when the first big Aboriginal art sale in six months grossed just $1.25 million from estimates that anticipated double or triple that.”
EMI Takes Back Digital Rights From ASCAP. And This Means…
“Earlier this month, EMI Music Publishing announced that it will take back digital licensing rights from ASCAP, the body that collects performance royalties for artists in North America. In the future, all digital licensing of the EMI April Music catalogue, one of the company’s two largest catalogues featuring almost 200,000 of the most popular songs ever written (according to EMI), will be done directly by EMI.”
Shakespeare Center Competes For Clicking Prize
Can William Shakespeare win a competition for $500,000 that is straight out of “American Idol?”
“Book of Mormon” Is Big Winner At Drama Desk Awards
“The Drama Desk, an organization of theater journalists and critics, called ‘The Book of Mormon’ the season’s best musical and gave it awards for best lyrics, music, director and orchestrations.”
Liberty Media Chief Says Barnes & Noble Is A Great Deal
Indeed, the Nook and Barnes & Noble’s vast digital library played a key role in attracting an offer from Liberty Media last week. The bid values Barnes & Noble at about $1 billion.
Chicago Lyric Opera Dips Into Reserves, Finishes In Black
“The fundraising goal for next year has been increased to $20.6 million, with operating expenses projected at $57.4 million. Lyric has operated in the black for 23 of the past 24 years and is among the few major opera companies in America that is not carrying an accumulated deficit.”