Tag: 07.20.04

Vegas Hotel Boots Ronstadt After She Praises Michael Moore

Linda Ronstadt praised Michael Moore during a performance at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas and called him a “great American patriot” and “someone who is spreading the truth” Saturday. “Some among the crowd of 4,500 stormed out, tore down concert posters and tossed cocktails into the air. Aladdin president Bill Timmins said Ronstadt was escorted off the property, saying she “spoiled a wonderful evening for our guests and we had to do something about it.”

British MP’s: Museums Must Be Better At Business

A British parliamentary committee says museums need to be more business-like. “Unbelievably, some museums and galleries have made losses on activities that were supposed to generate income, and have an inadequate grasp on the costs involved,” says one critic. “All museums and galleries must be more robust in their planning. They should establish five-year targets for income growth and set out how these will be achieved; in doing so they must properly identify which activities are profitable and the risks to be managed. Seventeen government-sponsored venues received grants worth £280m last year, and generated an additional £108m.”

Vegas Hotel Manager Bans Ronstadt

“Aladdin President Bill Timmins ordered security guards to escort pop diva Linda Ronstadt off the property following a concert Saturday night during which she expressed support for controversial documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. Timmins, who was among the almost 5,000 fans in the audience at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, had Ronstadt escorted to her tour bus and her belongings from her hotel room sent to her. Timmins also sent word to Ronstadt that she was no longer welcome at the property for future performances.”

Guthrie Theatre’s Blow-out Good Year

“Buoyed by popular plays and musicals the theater increased the total audience for its main stage, Lab and touring productions by nearly 30 percent, drawing 417,528 patrons compared with 319,888 last year. It was the theater’s highest overall attendance figure since 2000. The attendance news, announced Monday at the annual meeting, was compounded by an upbeat financial report that included balanced books, improved revenues and increased fundraising.”

The Diaghilev Legacy

“It is 75 years since the death of Serge Diaghilev, the founder director of the Ballets Russes. Though not himself a dancer, choreographer, musician or designer, Diaghilev had as great an influence on the arts of his time as any primarily creative person. He was a true artistic director, not just an impresario as he is often called. Through his knowledge and ambition, he pushed the frontiers of taste towards a new and untried world.”

Reconstructing Petipa

The Bolshoi Ballet has taken five years to “reconstruct” an early Petipa ballet. “The Bolshoi Ballet’s project to recover this fascinating curiosity started five years ago, paralleling the attempted reconstruction by Russia’s other great company, the Kirov, of two Petipa masterpieces, The Sleeping Beauty and La Bayadere, as he produced them. But is reconstruction of such old ballets possible? And what are its consequences for the art? Revolutionary, potentially.”

Renewing The Bolshoi

The Bolshoi Ballet has had a tough few years. Long-time director Yuri Grigorovich was forced out in 1995. Four artistic directors in five years, a “disintegrating theatre, slipping artistic standards, appalling financial worries, and the rise and rise of St Petersburg’s Kirov under the dynamic leadership of Valery Gergiev. Then there was the Affair of the Overweight Ballerina. “Now things look brighter. The Moscow theatre is undergoing a massive redevelopment. The government has upped its funding, providing 55% of the Bolshoi’s £18m budget. And on January 1 a new artistic director took up his post: the 35-year-old St Petersburg-born, Moscow-trained dancer and choreographer Alexei Ratmansky.”

A Pension Plan For Artists

Artists often live in poverty, and old age is tough. Now there’s a new plan to help out. “The Artist Pension Trust invites up-and-coming artists to contribute 20 pieces of their work to a tax-protected fund over a 20-year period on the theory that some of the art will appreciate significantly. All the artists will share the profits, even if their initial promise never translates into increased value. It’s a way of taking advantage of the capitalistic nature of the market and mix in a healthy dose of socialism to create a hybrid form.”