“Despite Hollywood’s infatuation with youth, half of movie tickets are bought by people over 30. But although the book and magazine industries have come to accept that it’s the older generation that keeps them afloat, radio and TV continue to resist the idea that there’s merit or profits to be found in appealing to older audiences.”
Tag: 07.08.07
Hard To Love Those Mid-20th Century Modernists
“Perhaps it’s their cool abstraction, or their labyrinthine floor plans, or their harsh materials, like the serrated concrete that can practically cut your skin. Whatever the reason, the American public has yet to cotton to these buildings. A survey of America’s 150 favorite works of architecture, released last February, didn’t contain a single structure by Chicago’s master of steel and glass, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. But popularity is one thing; quality is another.”
Possible Broadway Strike?
Broadway producers and stagehands are gearing up for a possible strike this fall. “The stagehands are currently working without a contract but are unlikely to call for a strike until late fall – when Broadway’s booming and the financial impact on the city would be significant. A strike around Thanksgiving could wreak havoc with New York’s economy.”
What Beverly Sills’ Passing Means
“Not only did America lose one of its most cherished vocal artists and musical personalities, but Sills’ passing pointed up the sobering fact that there is nobody in classical music today remotely capable of duplicating the amazing hold she had on a previous generation of Americans, even those who couldn’t have cared less about opera.”
A Florida Performing Arts Center That Succeeded
Twenty years ago Tampa opened a new performing arts center. “Today, TBPAC is one of the country’s most successful presenters, with more than 600, 000 patrons attending nearly 3, 750 events a year. It regularly ranks among the top-grossing venues of its size. But the center had a rocky beginning, going through two chief executives in five years, and accumulating more than a $2-million operating deficit.”
Hammer Museum – More With Less
LA’s Armand Hammer Museum has a small budget and big ambitions. “It’s an interesting experiment. The museum has a talented group of curators. (One collector called them “incredibly dynamic and magnetic.”) It is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, home to one of the country’s top art departments. It has considerable good will among arts experts, locally and abroad. Now the Hammer is discovering how much that good will is worth in a marketplace where so many collectors are competing for the same artworks and so many museums are competing for the same collectors.”
Mikhail Baryshnikov On The End Of His Career
“It’s my last stop, hopefully, a huge project and a full-time job,” he answers. And how much longer will he dance? “I might stop tomorrow, depending on my physical state. I don’t have a particular date in mind. I definitely have to stop sooner rather than later.”
Jacob’s Pillow Turns 75
The dance festival in Western Massachusetts “will feature more than 300 free and ticketed events, including 20 international companies, five United States company debuts and at least three world premieres. The festival is expected to draw about 80,000 visitors.”
The Unconventional Wisdom Of Economics
“For the last decade or so, economists have been increasingly poking their fingers into other disciplines, including epidemiology, psychology, sociology, oenology and even football strategy. These economists usually justify their expansionism on two grounds: They say they’re better with numbers than most other researchers and have a richer understanding of how people respond to incentives. Arrogant as this sounds, there is some truth to it. Besides, the public seems hungry for the kind of real-world social science economists are practicing.”