“Since Frank Gehry was hired nearly two years ago to design a massive mixed-use project along Grand Avenue, he has clashed repeatedly and sometimes bitterly with the developer, New York’s Related Cos. Barring some sudden rapprochement, it now seems unlikely that Gehry will return for the planned second and third phases of the project. But the plan … has turned a significant corner in recent weeks. The latest version suggests it will rise not only as an effective complement to Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall across the street but also as a dramatic architectural presence in its own right.”
Tag: 06.12.07
D.C.-Area Arts Spending Tops $2 Billion, Study Says
“An economic study shows that arts spending in the Washington region has reached $2.15 billion, according to data released yesterday. … The survey of local economic activity also measured audiences’ arts-related spending beyond admission fees and tickets — things such as meals before shows, transportation to concerts and parking. Such spending amounted to $118.9 million in the District.”
On Return To ABT, Kirkland Gets Burned
“Gelsey Kirkland, returning to American Ballet Theater as a performer after 23 years, suffered a burn to her hand during a performance of ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ at the Metropolitan Opera House on Saturday night, the company said.” (first item)
Performance Artist Lee Nagrin, 78
“Lee Nagrin, a noted Off Broadway performance artist, director and member of Meredith Monk’s theater company, The House, died Thursday in Manhattan.”
O’Neill Center’s Amy Sullivan Dies At 54
“Amy Sullivan, who as executive director of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Conn., restored the finances of an institution long known for discovering significant playwrights early in their careers, died Sunday at her home in Old Lyme, Conn. She was 54. The cause was cancer, her husband, Bruce Josephy, said.”
Venezuelan Dancing Devils Harnessed By Chávez
“Wearing blood-colored costumes and devilish papier-mâché masks that would make a gargoyle grimace, hundreds of worshipers disguised as demons danced through the streets here Thursday in one of Venezuela’s most exalted religious rituals. An Afro-Venezuelan tradition in parishes near the country’s Caribbean coast since the late 18th century, the ‘Dancing Devils’ have received support from President Hugo Chávez’s government as they seek to raise awareness about Venezuelan folklore and promote new forms of tourism.”
Were Romulus And Remus More Than Just A Story?
“The story of Romulus and Remus is almost as old as Rome. The orphan twins were suckled by a she-wolf in a cave on the banks of the Tiber. Romulus grew up to found Rome in 753 B. C. Historians have long since dismissed the story as a charming legend. … Yet the legend … has been invigorated by recent archaeological finds.”
She Finds Art In Science (But Don’t Call Her An Artist)
Felice Frankel, “first an artist in residence and now a research scientist at M.I.T., and now also a senior research fellow at the Institute for Innovative Computing at Harvard, … helps researchers use cameras, microscopes and other tools to display the beauty of science. With her help, scientists have turned dull images of things like yeast in a dish or the surface of a CD into photographs so striking that they appear often on covers of scientific journals and magazines.”
And The Tony Goes To … Wait, That Closed Already
The Tony Awards are Broadway’s best-coordinated marketing effort, but this year some of the most celebrated product is already past its sell-by date. “Of the winners of the four top awards, two — ‘Journey’s End,’ winner of the best play revival, and ‘The Coast of Utopia,’ a record breaker for most awards won by a play, with seven — have already closed and have no current plans to tour. Another — ‘Company,’ winner of best musical revival — has been in critical condition at the box office for weeks.”