Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center plans to mount a “boldly comprehensive showcase” of August Wilson’s plays exploring the African-American experience in the spring of 2008. “The month-long event… will present each of the 10 plays as a staged reading in the center’s Terrace Theater, under the artistic leadership of Kenny Leon, the Atlanta-based director who staged the premiere of the last Wilson play that the dramatist was to see on Broadway.”
Tag: 10.04.06
Something’s Happening Here, And You Don’t Know What It Is, Do You?
A new Broadway collaboration teaming choreographer Twyla Tharp with the music of Bob Dylan is going through more than the usual share of pre-opening night growing pains. Several cast members have been fired over the last few weeks, and now, the show’s female lead has been replaced by her understudy. “The show is in such flux, theater writers have repeatedly been asked to postpone their visits. Even cast members aren’t always clear about what’s going on.”
Orange County PAC Price Tag Grows
“Design changes down the home stretch, and overtime labor costs incurred during a dash to finish in time for its Sept. 15 opening, have boosted the price of the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall by $25 million to $27 million, leaders of the Orange County Performing Arts Center said Tuesday — a markup of about 13% above the $200-million price tag long attached to the project. The increase leaves the Costa Mesa [California] arts center with about $75 million left to raise to fund the now-$225 million concert hall and a partly built $10-million plaza.”
Native Art Fight Comes To A Head
“Thursday morning in New York, Sotheby’s auction halls will be the stage for a historic struggle, the final chapter in one of the more fascinating and tortuous negotiations between a private collector and his courting museums. The Dundas Collection of Northwest Coast American Indian Art is up for grabs,” and Canadian museums want to see the works come home. But the collection’s owner has been playing coy with the Canadians and others for the better part of two decades, and no one really knows where the Dundas is likely to end up by week’s end.
Prominent Chicago Architect Steps Out On His Own
Adrian Smith, designer of some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world, is leaving the prestigious Chicago architecture firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill to start his own company. SOM apparently offered him an extension of his contract, but Smith declined.
The Polish Supermarket Fights The Wrecker
A supermarket in Poland has become a rallying cry for preservationists who appreciate its unique charms.
Boston’s ICA Almost Done, But Not On Time
Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art isn’t putting a firm date on it yet, but it’s clear that the museum’s new building on the city’s harborfront won’t be ready to open in late October or early November, as hoped. “Events scheduled for October in the ICA were either moved, canceled, or postponed… Museum officials say they don’t want to announce an opening date without being sure they can be ready on time. There are signs, though, that the building is moving closer to completion.”
SF Opera Gets $35m, No Strings Attached
“At a time when the San Francisco Opera is looking to shore up its finances, the company has received $35 million from longtime patron and supporter Jeannik Méquet Littlefield, a donation believed to be the largest to an American opera company from a single benefactor… The money comes with no restrictions on its use.”
Funerary Viol In The What Now?
“It seems to be just another esoteric historical tome published to appeal to an academic audience: An Incomplete History of the Art of the Funerary Violin, by Rohan Kriwaczek, a nonfiction account of a little-known genre of music that was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church and almost wiped out by the Great Funerary Purges of the 1830’s and 40’s… Except for a few niggling details. There is no such thing as a funerary violin. [And] there were no Great Funerary Purges.” A literary joke? Sure looks like it, and the book’s publisher apparently wasn’t among those in on it.
Toronto’s Ring Suddenly In The Red
Richard Bradshaw’s ambitious (and critically acclaimed) production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle with the Canadian Opera Company is over, and the director ought to be basking in the afterglow of his accomplishment. “Despite being tested by one crisis after another, Bradshaw enjoyed a spectacular triumph. So at this point you would think the political and cultural leaders would hoist him on their shoulders and ride down University Ave. while crowds chant his name. Well, not quite. Bradshaw’s troubles are far from over.” To begin with, the Canada Council has reneged on a $500,000 pledge to help defray the costs associated with the Ring…