National Public Radio has doubled its audience to 26 million in six years. “While the radio world has contracted in upon itself through consolidated ownership and copycat formats, public radio has only become more distinct, important and valuable. It looms ever larger on the U.S. dial simply as guardian of its niche. It’s expanding its news operation at a time when most others are cutting back. It’s in the midst of a $15 million, three-year plan to add 45 staffers and open new bureaus, including one in West Africa. But more important, listen to an NPR program for 30 seconds and you know you’re listening to NPR.”
Tag: 09.16.05
Are We Growing Numb To Music?
“We live in a world with too much music. And the din is only increasing. Stop and listen for a moment. Hear that tune on the radio in the cubicle next to you? Hear that jingle on the TV ad? Or the Kanye West ringtone on your cell phone, clashing with the music being played by the band in the corner of the bar? Maybe you don’t hear any of that because you’ve got your iPod earbuds in, or your home stereo cranked. Music is everywhere these days. And with the proliferation of ever-smaller electronic devices packed with ever more music, the supposed nirvana of having any song available at the push of a button seems ever closer.” Are we losing our ability to really listen?
Florida Concert Group Merges With Miami PAC
The new Miami Performing Arts Center (anxious to sign up tenants) has signed up (read: merged) with the Concert Association of Florida. “Most obviously, the partnership strengthens the Miami Performing Arts Center’s status as the dominant cultural force in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, even before the center opens in fall of 2006. In addition to its signing of the Cleveland Orchestra as resident ensemble for 10 years, presenting Florida Grand Opera performances and bringing Drucker’s events under its authority make the Miami Performing Arts Center the most powerful presenter of classical music in the region.”
Dali Scores Big For Philly
The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Dali show earlier this year “generated $55 million for the Philadelphia region, including $4.46 million in state and local taxes,” says a new study.
A New Museum For Paris?
“Canadian architect Frank Gehry has been hired by Bernard Arnault, chairman of the luxury goods group LVMH, to produce designs for a new museum in Paris. If the project goes forward, the new museum would house works from the French billionaire’s contemporary art collection.”
August Wilson’s Last Play
August Wilson’s spirit looms large in all of his works, but never more so than in this production at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. “Radio Golf,” which examines the price of success for blacks in the ’90s, is the long-awaited finale of his 10-part dramatic cycle about African American life. The project, which took nearly a quarter-century to complete, is seen as both a masterwork of the theater and a treasure of American social history. Celebration of the cycle’s completion has been tempered by last month’s announcement that the 60-year-old writer is battling liver cancer.”
Washington Ballet Settles Labor Case
“Rather than proceed with a National Labor Relations Board hearing, the Washington Ballet has settled a discrimination complaint with the union representing its dancers, bringing to a close an episode that shone an unflattering light on the inner workings of the institution. The American Guild of Musical Artists had alleged that Artistic Director Septime Webre had illegally dismissed two dancers in retaliation for their efforts enabling AGMA to represent the dancers. The ballet maintained that the two were let go for artistic reasons. One dancer, Brian Corman, was rehired after AGMA filed its complaint… Nikkia Parish, the other dancer in the case, has not been rehired.”
The “Poor Me” Genre Of Celebrity Film
As America and the world become ever more obsessed with fame and the people who have it, it seems that celebrities themselves become increasingly unhappy with their lot. In fact, a stunning number of the films currently on view at the Toronto International Film Festival seem to be about the liability of celebrity, and the great sacrifices one makes in order to be famous. Such navel-gazing may ring hollow with some movie-goers struggling to make ends meet, but Geoff Pevere says that at their best, such films “focus on the spirit-sapping contradictions between being well-known and mortally flawed, of trying to reconcile private needs and public demand.”
Robert Wise, 91
“Robert Wise, a conscientious craftsman in many movie genres who twice received Academy Awards as best director, died yesterday at the U.C.L.A. Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 91… His career soared with West Side Story, the 1961 filming of the landmark Broadway musical, for which he shared an Oscar as best director with the choreographer Jerome Robbins. He received a second Academy Award as producer when the film was voted best picture. He gained his third and fourth Oscars with The Sound of Music, the lavish 1965 adaptation of the musical stage hit, in which he was again cited as best director and as producer of the best film.”
Clear Channel To Get Out Of The Theatre Biz
When media giant Clear Channel got into the live theatre business several years back, many in the business feared that the corporate monolith would shortly rule Broadway. But it hasn’t worked out that way – Clear Channel’s stock has been plummeting as its name has become synonymous with bullying tactics and monopolistic business practices – and this week, the company will announce plans to spin off its live entertainment unit. “The general view is that while the spinoff company (as yet unamed) will still have plenty of clout in the touring business (it still controls all those theaters), its presence and influence on Broadway will be greatly diminished.”