Deal With Shuberts Guarantees Producers A B’way House

In an uncommon agreement with the producers of “A Steady Rain,” the Shubert Organization will invest in their projects and guarantee them a Shubert house. The deal gives the producers “a strong advantage on the Main Stem, where real estate is a hot commodity and numerous incoming productions vie for a limited number of available theaters.”

What Are The Rules For Being A Good Critic?

“Bloggers are wondering just that this week as Charles Spencer, the Telegraph‘s chief theatre critic, kicked the discussion off … ‘The critic’s obligations can be summed up very briefly,’ he writes. ‘Arrive sober, stay awake, stay to the end and don’t take a bribe unless it is big enough to allow you to retire in comfort for the rest of your life’.” Is that really all?

Royal Winnipeg Ballet Feels The Pull Of The Cancan

In its 120 years, the Moulin Rouge has evolved from “essentially a dancing brothel” to a music hall to Gallic neo-vaudeville for tourists. But the hall’s constant is “the cancan, a strenuous chorus-line number in 2/4 time that demands balance, rhythm and stamina. It is popular entertainment incarnate, which is what drew Royal Winnipeg Ballet artistic director Andre Lewis to the Moulin Rouge as the theme for a new full-length story ballet.”

U.Cal. Berkeley Abandons Plans For New Art Museum

“A shortage of funds has prompted UC Berkeley to abandon its plan to construct a new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive downtown. The building, a distinctive and innovative design by Tokyo architect Toyo Ito estimated to cost $143 million, was to replace the museum’s present, seismically endangered quarters on Bancroft Way, completed in 1970.”