Performing on Second Life, the Sawston Players are “following in the footsteps of comedian Jimmy Carr (who was the first to do an interactive internet gig) by presenting the first online musical. I can’t disagree with composer and musical director Graham Brown, who says it’s a neat way to drum up a bit of publicity in the run-up to the Fringe. But can the performance be described as theatre in any other sense?” And “could it actually damage its real-world equivalent?”
Tag: 08.01.07
Elton John: The Internet Is Killing Art. Shut It Down.
“The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff,” Sir Elton says. “Instead they sit at home and make their own records, which is sometimes OK but it doesn’t bode well for long-term artistic vision. It’s just a means to an end.”
When Ingmar Bergman Ruled
“For a good quarter century — beginning with his burst into world movie prominence in the ’50s and extending until his official “retirement” after making Fanny and Alexander in 1982 — Bergman defined serious cinema… His movies certainly launched a generation of film critics, this one included. Dozens of us have the same story of teenage revelation: of seeing a Bergman movie, usually The Seventh Seal, and saying, ‘This is what I want to study, devote my life to’.”
EMI Finally Sells
EMI has been sold to a private investment group Terra Firma, for $6.4 billion. Warner Music and EMI had been in an elaborate dance for more than a year about a potential merger. But last month WMG said it would not make a bid ahead of a deadline, leaving Terra Firma as the only player.
Bergman & Antonioni – Movies Into Film
“Since Mr. Bergman was 89 and Mr. Antonioni 94, neither man’s death came as much of a shock, but the simultaneity was startling. Not only because they were both great filmmakers, but more because, in their prime, Mr. Antonioni and Mr. Bergman were seen as the twin embodiments of the idea that a filmmaker could be, without qualification or compromise, a great artist.”
Dance Through Film
“Movies that incorporate or revolve around social dance are distinctly of their own time. And without movies to show how people danced at a given moment in history, the style of that era would exist only in photography and memory.”
Carnegie Hall Clearing Out Longtime Tenants
“The battle is not the classic New York story of landlord against tenants. Instead, it pits longtime residents, many of them elderly and still working in the arts, against a concert hall they love. Carnegie Hall intends to house its growing education programs in the towers after extensive renovation to begin in 2009.”
eBay – The Artist’s Lifeline
“eBay is fast becoming the funding scheme of choice for struggling but savvy young artists. Online trading is helping keep emerging talent afloat until the Booker, Turner, Oscar or Mercury comes calling. More and more budding cultural leaders of Britain are turning their edgily attired backs on the notion that you have to suffer for your art. Why waste time in bedsits and on the dole when all you need is a laptop and some spare time to raise cash in the comfort of your kitchen?”
Bolshoi Reopening Delayed
Completion of restoration of the venerable Bolshoi Theatre will be delayed by a year due to unexpected issues. “Workers have stabilized the foundations with hundreds of piles and reinforced its walls and columns with steel bars. Modern stage technology will be installed and backstage areas will be repaired as well.”
Women Directors Looking For Respect
There are many woman directors but they’re still struggling for recognition. “No woman has ever won an Academy Award for best director, and only three have ever been nominated. A woman has never won the Directors Guild’s top honor, either, though six have been nominated.”