Charles McNulty wonders if the one million free theater tickets the British government is providing to young people are going to the right audience. “All joking aside, without the AARP crowd, American theater would have collapsed ages ago. If anyone deserves free tickets, it’s those stalwart patrons on fixed incomes who have made theater a regular part of their lives.”
Tag: 09.29.08
Another New Philip Glass Opera
The subject of the prolific Mr. Glass’s next operatic portrait will be Walt Disney. The new work, titled The Perfect American, is scheduled to open New York City Opera’s 2012-13 season – in time to honor the composer’s 75th birthday.
Company Director Fired For Insufficient Blackness
The Leeds-based Phoenix dance company has fired its director and resident choreographer, Javier de Frutos — mainly because “under his direction Phoenix had ceased to be a sufficiently ‘black’ company. Even though De Frutos is himself Venezuelan and the rest of his company are a completely representative, urban, ethnic mix, Leeds seem to want to put back the clock to the time when Phoenix was a ‘flagship’ black company.”
Even Less Arts Journalism In NYC?
“Hope was fading last night that a white knight would materialize to bail out the struggling New York Sun, meaning today’s issue may be its last. The 61/2-year-old paper, known for a conservative, pro-Israel editorial slant and distinguished arts and culture coverage, had never posted a profit.”
Providence’s WaterFire Examines R.I.’s Slave-Trade History
“One of Rhode Island’s most celebratory occasions will be tainted next weekend” — well, weather-related delays have since pushed it back to Oct. 4 — “by reminders of one of the ugliest chapters in its history. WaterFire, a nighttime public arts display that draws tens of thousands of people to downtown Providence on weekends in the summer and fall, will reflect on Rhode Island’s role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade….”
When A Doctor’s Descendants Inherit A Patient’s Art
“A Mexican immigrant who spent the last 30 years of his life in California mental hospitals, [Martín] Ramírez, who died in 1963, is considered by some critics to be one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He never, however, profited from his success — nor, until recently, did any members of his family.” With Ramírez works about to go on view in a New York gallery and at the American Folk Art Museum, and with other pieces in the collection of the Guggenheim, legal wrangling over ownership continues.
As Economy Tanks, Sales Slow At Chelsea Art Galleries
“In Chelsea, sales are more sluggish and art buyers increasingly cautious as the financial sector reels from losses. While dealers say it’s too early to tell whether the art bubble has burst, there are signs that the market is becoming more attractive for buyers and less favorable to sellers.”
MoMA’s Lowry Tops Nonprofit Compensation Survey
“Glenn Lowry, the director of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, was the best-paid chief executive of a U.S. nonprofit art institution last year, with a total compensation package of $1.7 million in 2007.” The runners-up? “Peter Gelb, general manager of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, who had a $1.1 million compensation package and Michael M. Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, who made $1.06 million….”
Singapore Targets Millions To Commercial Cultural Projects
“Singapore plans to spend S$8 million ($5.6 million) over the next five years to help fund commercial cultural projects such as a heritage television station and private museums. … The program ‘aims to be the tipping point for individuals and companies to embrace heritage as a business idea….'”
Tiny NYC Street, An Extra In Rock History, May Go Private
“The back door of CBGB, the punk rock monument that closed in 2006, opened onto Extra Place, and the street is perhaps best known as the setting for the cover photograph of the Ramones’ album ‘Rocket to Russia.'” Now a developer wants to buy the street, and the neighborhood wants the city to keep it.