Los Angeles’ theatre community is huge. But is it vital? “In this awful economic climate for the arts, and because of the quality of the actors here, Los Angeles’ own off-off-Broadway — 90 percent of what’s produced here — serves as one of the nation’s most vital laboratories not just for new plays, but for companies that are working to incorporate movement and text into combinations that keep providing alternatives to the products of our mass media.”
Tag: 10.23.03
Where Have All The Music Stores Gone?
The number of sheet music stores still alive is tiny compared with 30 years ago. “Nowadays, although recent polls show that 25 percent of adults say they play musical instruments, there are so few specialist stores that sell print music, and they don’t really make a great outreach to people except for the ones who physically darken their doorsteps.”
Susan Marshall Returns
Susan Marshall is back with one of the best pieces of her career, writes Tobi Tobias.
Threat Of Another Broadway Strike
Next Wednesday Actors’ Equity will stage a rally protesting the proliferation of non-union tours of Broadway shows. “It is a contentious issue that will be at the center of Equity’s upcoming negotiations with Broadway producers in the spring. Equity’s contract with the producers expires June 30. With memories of the musicians’ strike that shut down Broadway earlier this year still fresh, both sides are gearing up for what could be another ugly battle.”
Amazon’s Great Digital Archive
“An ingenious attempt to illuminate the dark region of books is under way at Amazon.com. Over the past spring and summer, the company created an unrivaled digital archive of more than 120,000 books. The goal is to quickly add most of Amazon’s multimillion-title catalog. The entire collection, which went live Oct. 23, is searchable, and every page is viewable.”
Tomb Raider Or Archaeologist?
Sir Aurel Stein sent back 40,000 artifacts back to the British Museum from China. His feats were described by one of his contemporaries as the most daring and adventurous raid upon the ancient world that any archaeologist has attempted. While his life’s work is celebrated in the western world, he is remembered in a very different way by countries whose heritage he ‘looted’. The heritage taken is China’s parallel to the Greek claim on the Elgin Marbles – priceless friezes taken from the temple of the Parthenon in the 19th Century: both are unique cultural relics taken away by Europeans.”
Forget The Trial! What’s Up With The Building?
Libby Copeland is covering the trial of accused D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammed in Virginia Beach. It’s a fascinating legal spectacle, but Copeland can’t get her mind off the architecture of the city’s judicial complex. It’s not that it’s ugly, exactly. But it’s not very judicial, either. “Is there such a thing as too much brick? Can beige and brown — the colors of all the signs here — be considered colors of oppression with their monotony, ubiquity and utter authority? … In short, this is a place where people bring their lunches from home. A place unfriendly to feet. A place that ceases to exist after dark.”
Arts: The Antidrug?
A consortium of community groups, medical researchers, and arts groups in Cleveland has receieved a $1 million federal grant to mount a major study intended to determine whether the arts can play a major role in keeping children from indulging in illegal drugs and risky sexual behavior. The study will revolve around 300 test subjects, all African-American youths between 11 and 14 years old, who will participate in a specially designed arts curriculum, which will be partially designed by community leaders in the city.
Pain and Perspective
Aside from one shining moment of Oscar glory, Elliott Smith’s career was mostly of note only to critics and fans who bothered to look past the corporate mess of the record charts. His music was generally full of darkness and melancholy, but rarely did it descend into despair. “He wasn’t a maverick in the Kurt Cobain sense. Or a satyr consumed by passion, like the late Jeff Buckley… He sang about rejection with a wistful air, and could sound as if he were enduring an ordeal and romanticizing its aftershocks at the same time.”
The Trouble With Slash-And-Burn Government
With deficits plaguing cities, states, and provinces across North America, and a political culture that deplores anything that looks vaguely like a tax increase, the arts are increasingly becoming a victim of a me-first society that doesn’t believe that government ought to be in the business of handing out any money to anyone, ever. Charles Gordon wishes more people would pay attention to the fundamental mistake that is being made by those who would zero out the arts as a budget item. “You feel for the artists, who are only trying to make half a decent living, and for arts organizations that are merely trying to give opportunities to young writers, actors, painters and musicians who struggle to find an audience in a world of couch potatoes.”