Richard Wagner’s personal shortcomings are well known. A new book lays it out in unstinting detail. “It’s all here: how often Wagner sponged off others, how many women succumbed to his psoriatic charms, what creditors he swindled, where he fled and why, what he said about Jews, how he used everybody, what friends and supporters (from the great Liszt to the sad Ludwig II) he bad-mouthed and in one way or another betrayed. Of course, how he could attract so many absolutely impassioned admirers is far less easy to understand than how he came to quarrel with most of them. But if charisma is puzzling when one doesn’t feel it oneself even in the case of contemporaries, how much more puzzling for this long-dead, repulsive little man, Wagner.”
Tag: 08.31.05
This Just In: Shakespeare Was…
Enough with the theories on Shakespeare’s life and motives. A new book “claiming Shakespeare for the Pope stirs up intense indignation among those who regard him as the most humanist of writers, notably thin on religious references, sentiments, ideas or ways of thought. Shakespeare scholars just sigh and consign the book to the great pantheon of ‘revelations’ about the real Shakespeare.”
Artists Oppose UK Government’s Anti-Incitement Plans
The British government’s controversial plans to ban incitement to religious hatred are facing growing opposition from the arts world. “It’ll have a terrible effect on writers. The ones who will get prosecuted are the new, up-and-coming writers, comedians and playwrights.”
LA Times Welcomes Its New Theatre Critic
“It’s been mortifying to go so long without a chief theater critic,” said Bret Israel, the Sunday Calendar editor, who supervises arts coverage, and hired Charles McNulty as the paper’s new critic after three years. “But as I’ve told many people who didn’t always believe me, the main reason for the delay was the very high standard the paper sets for its critics, who are the soul of our cultural pages.”
62nd Venice Film Festival Opens
“The festival opened on Wednesday with the Hong Kong martial arts epic Seven Swords and runs until 10 September. There are 19 films up for competition, including Goodnight and Good Luck directed by George Clooney, Gwyneth Paltrow’s Proof and Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm. Security has been tightened in the wake of last month’s bomb blasts in London.”
New Orleans Art Museum Survives Katrina
The New Orleans Museum of Art has survived the hurricane. “But when Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives arrived in the area Wednesday, NOMA employees holed up inside the museum were left in a quandary: FEMA wanted those evacuees to move to a safer location, but there was no way to secure the artwork inside. Six security and maintenance employees remained on duty during the hurricane and were joined by 30 evacuees, including the families of some employees.”
Labor Charges Against Washington Ballet
A few months ago, Nikkia Parish was a valued member of the prestigious Washington Ballet, and had managed to land a few featured roles in the company’s productions. These days, she is a bartender, having been dismissed for what the company says are “artistic reasons” after the spring season. Parish has a different view: she says she was fired for her union activism, and the National Labor Relations Board is looking into the charge. “Parish’s story is not only about labor issues. It’s about what a ballet company can demand of its dancers in the name of art. It’s also about ballet culture, where typically the artistic director takes the role of the feared father figure and the dancers are the cowed children, afraid to speak up, used to the futility of protesting the myriad personal slights levied at them under the guise of artistic prerogative.”
Cleveland Museum Set to Receive $90 Million in Bonding
The Cleveland Museum of Art’s massive $258 million expansion project could be financed in part by bonds issued by the city’s Committee for Regional Economic Advancement, under a plan recommended by that body this week. The CREA, which also helped finance construction of the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Browns’ football stadium, would float $90 million in bonds through the Cleveland port authority, and the museum would be responsible for repaying the loan as it receives money pledged by private donors for the expansion. The museum is stressing that it would not use its collection as collateral for the bonds.
Broadway As A Transitional Tool
Everyone knows why Broadway producers covet the addition of Hollywood stars to their shows: fame = box office. But why are so many stars equally keen to abandon their pampered L.A. lifestyles and outrageous film salaries for the cutthroat and (comparatively) low-paying world of Broadway? The answer usually lies in the murky world of PR: put simply, an actor needing an image overhaul can do a lot worse than establishing himself in what continues to be known as the “legitimate theatre.”
Art-House Chain Goes Commercial
Even as irritating and invasive pre-film ads become the norm in multiplexes across the country, art-house cinemas have mostly resisted the tug of money available from ad sales. But now, one of America’s largest art-house chains, Landmark Theatres, has struck a deal with Ford Motor Company to “sponsor” a series of featurettes scheduled to run before certain films. “Starting in October, the theaters will present preshow “making of” featurettes, and interviews with directors, and the carmaker might even arrange to admit patrons for free.” Ford is hoping the targeted approach will help it relaunch its Mercury line, and Landmark is hoping to avoid the acrimony garnered by more mainstream chains after the addition of ads to the theatregoing experience.