Before Frank Wildhorn’s Dracula opened on Broadway, producers announced that a “G”-rated version would be shown at matinees (omitting a nude scene). Evidently audiences have voted with their ticket purchases, and the cleaned up matinees are being discontinued.
Tag: 08.27.04
Debating The Meaning Of Scottish Culture
Is Scotland’s culture in crisis? Certainly following the fortunes (and, more often, misfortunes) of the country’s arts institutions of late gives the impression of a culture in difficulty. But is it really? Or is something more fundamental going on?
In Praise Of Musicals (Even Movies)
“If musicals amused people in the 1930s, hypnotised them in the 40s and 50s and more or less died out in the 1970s, they have, despite their recycled storylines and arch dialogue, never really wanted for fond audiences. After a long, slow decline, the film musical appears to be coming back. There are at least five in production at the moment, among them Rent and The Producers, and one soon to be released, De-Lovely, a biopic of Cole Porter in which Kevin Kline plays the lead and the songs are performed by pop stars.”
Theft Should Increase Munch Value
Worldwide attention for the theft of Munch’s Scream should increase the value of his work, say experts. The top price for a Munch work at auction was $7.7 million for “Girls on a Bridge,” sold in New York in November 1996, according to Sotheby’s Holdings Inc.
Scream Robbery – Sign Of Thefts To Come?
“Museum theft has historically been a genteel sort of crime, conducted, for the most part, with legerdemain and nimble-footed alarm evasion. But among those who follow the topic closely, the Munch robbery is seen not as an anomaly, but as a sign of things to come. Over the past decade, an increasing number of art thefts have taken place in the daytime during business hours.”
The Balance Between Art And Security
“Art thefts, though not often as high-profile as the broad daylight robbery in Oslo, are persistently on the increase worldwide. This latest heist once again spotlights the holes in international law, the high costs of insurance and security, and the delicate balance that institutions must strike between protecting works of art and displaying them openly.”
Art Of The Copy?
It’s bad that The Scream was stolen. But even if it never turns up again, it’s not like the image is lost. “It is not as if the world would forget what it looks like. The Scream is one of the most photographed and copied paintings of all time – and how many of us can honestly claim to be able to tell the difference between a good copy of a painting and the real thing?”