There have been many attempts to try to cut funding for public broadcasting in the US. PBS is supposed to be neutral politically. But now some critics wonder if PBS is adopting more of a political slant…
Tag: 06.06.04
Holocaust Survivors Sue Sotheby’s Over Looted Art
“Sotheby’s is facing a $1.8 billion lawsuit from Holocaust survivors who claim it has recklessly trafficked in works of art stolen from Jews during the Second World War. They allege Sotheby’s helped buy and sell looted masterpieces by Rembrandt, Titian, El Greco, Monet, Van Gogh and others since the 1970s.”
Stalin, Movie Director
“Stalin loved movies, but he was much more than a movie-buff. The new Communist Party archives in Moscow, and the recently opened personal papers of Stalin, reveal that he fancied himself a super-movie-producer/director/screenwriter as well as supreme censor, suggesting titles, ideas and stories, working on scripts and song lyrics, lecturing directors, coaching actors, ordering re-shoots and cuts and, finally, passing the movies for showing.”
Some Ideas For Culture At The WTC Site
What cultural buildings should be built at the site of the World Trade Center? And what cultural groups ought to be invited to take up residence there? Eight New York Times Critics weigh in with their dos and don’ts.
4,500 Arts Professionals In One Place
“Tuesday through Sunday, Pittsburgh will host what is arguably the largest gathering of non-profit arts executives ever, anywhere. In an unprecedented show of unity, OPERA America, Dance/USA, Chorus America and The American Symphony Orchestra League will hold their annual conventions simultaneously in Pittsburgh. Nine other arts organizations will hold off-year gatherings at Downtown hotels, including the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and American Composers Forum.”
What Mean The Tonys?
So what do the Tonys mean for American theatre? “While the Tonys celebrate some of the best work on commercially focused Broadway, they’re hardly an indication of what’s best in American theater.”
Broadway’s Mixed Year
What kind of season was it on Broadway? Mixed. “It’s been a tough season, with so many flops and shows that are struggling. The stuff just hasn’t been compelling. The new plays, in particular, haven’t done well, and I think it just has to do with their quality. I don’t think it’s a case of resistance to serious drama from the audience. Give them an established drama like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and they come.”
Scientists Find Atlantis
“A scientist says he may have found remains of the lost city of Atlantis. Satellite photos of southern Spain reveal features on the ground appearing to match descriptions made by Greek scholar Plato of the fabled utopia.”
Club Owners Protest Aussie Nightclub Music Fee
Australian nightclub owners are angry about an increase in fees for playing music in their clubs. “A proposed increase in licence fees to play music in nightclubs has angered owners who say it could put them out of business. The record industry’s proposal would see licence fees soar 14-fold from 7 cents per patron to $1.”
How Boston Invented The World
Boston has a long tradition of innovation, and some of America’s great inventions have been born there. “There’s a continuous thread, stretching across centuries, of powerful new ideas developed and commercialized in Boston. But that thread is always vibrating, at least faintly, with worry: Will there ever come another idea as big as the last? What new industry will create jobs sufficient to replace those lost as older industries fade? And how does the environment for company-creation here compare with other parts of the country, particularly Silicon Valley?”