“The filmmaker, Theresa Duncan, 40, who has also drawn attention for her writings on cultural topics, committed suicide in their East Village apartment on July 10, the police said. Her companion, Jeremy Blake, 35, a well-regarded artist known for digital animation that blurs the line between abstract painting and film, has been missing since his clothes were found on a beach in the Rockaways on Tuesday evening, they added.”
Tag: 07.22.07
Prince’s New Business Model For Music
“As recording companies bemoan a crumbling market, Prince is demonstrating that charisma and the willingness to go out and perform are still bankable. He doesn’t have to go multiplatinum — he’s multiplatform.”
Needed For TV – A New Gay?
“There are still disturbingly few gay roles in mainstream television and, when they are written, it’s so often like this – a massed herd, being forced to make a point, coming on so… feverish. Who, really, wants to be defined by sexual orientation alone? Can’t characters be incidentally gay, in the same way that they are incidentally straight?”
Sondheim Threatens To Pull Rights To Aussie Production
A Sydney performance of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” was shortened by a few scenes when one of the actors got sick. “Sondheim, who was in Sydney for opening night two weeks ago, was made aware of the changes by an insider and threatened to remove Kookaburra’s production rights unless a public apology – on the scale of a full-page newspaper advertisement – was issued.”
Joke TV: And Now… The News
“Should we be worried that this generation is seeking news from comedy rather than from serious programs bringing important breaking stories about two-headed goats and cars that burst into flames? Is sourcing news from comedy as stupid as sourcing calcium from Sherbies?”
NY Phil Cellist Quits To Be Paramedic
Longtime New York Philharmonic cellist Nancy Donaruma is retiring from the orchestra to become a paramedic. “After 31 years in the top-tier orchestra, playing with conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta and Lorin Maazel, the 59-year-old cellist will go from a hefty six-figure annual income to a ‘low five-figure’ salary.”
Canada Gives Big Boost To Culture Funding
The Canadian government has permanently boosted the Canada Council’s budget by $30 million. “The May 2006 federal budget raised the Canada Council’s funding by $20 million in 2006-7 and $30 million the following year, but the increase was not guaranteed in future.” Total annual Canada Council funding is now $180 million.
“Harry” Sales Glut
“UK book chain Waterstones said more than 250,000 fans turned up at midnight to its shops across the UK. WH Smith said it had sold a total of 15 of the books per second at 400 of its shops since they opened just after midnight on Saturday. And supermarket chain Asda said it had sold 250,000 copies between midnight and 0900 BST, half of its entire Deathly Hallows stock.”
Bringing Dance To A Wider Audience
“Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt, aka the Ballet Boyz, have done for classical and contemporary dance what Strictly Come Dancing has done for ballroom: got it on television, unpicked some of its complexity, and made it seem a lot less weird.