Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has an unpleasant habit of burying dissent in the media (of which he controls a fair amount). So who’s ready to skewer him? Playwright Dario Fo, of course. “Thus the time is clearly ripe for Fo to write and perform a commedia dell’arte based on Berlusconi. Fo and, involuntarily, Berlusconi have been building up to the moment for more than 40 years.”
Tag: 12.05.03
Branding For Non-Profits
“Large nonprofit organizations, like their corporate counterparts, have long recognized the value of branding. Now, small local groups are picking up on the importance of standing out from the charitable crowd. Nearly 1.4 million nonprofits are competing for dollars in the United States. Whether they hire a public- relations expert or buy an online-branding kit, they all hope their logos will convey a trustworthy cause to donors – and make it easy to distinguish their envelopes from the daily round of junk mail.”
Mockbee Wins Architecture Gold Medal
“In an era marked by celebrity architects and grand cultural projects, the American Institute of Architects has awarded its 2004 Gold Medal to Samuel Mockbee, a visionary designer and educator who devoted his career to building housing for the rural poor. The award, announced yesterday, is posthumous.”
A Balanced Grammy Slate
No one artist dominates this year’s Grammy nominations. “The most nominations any artist received was six, with four performers tying for that amount. Three were from the rap world — Jay-Z, OutKast and Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes — and the fourth was the R&B singer Beyoncé.”
English National Opera Director Quits
Paul Daniel, who has been mujsic director of the English National Opera for eight years, is quitting. The troubled company has just come through a rocky 18 months. “Mr Daniel has been unhappy at ENO since the mid-2002 resignation of Nicholas Payne, its general director. ‘It’s been hard to square what’s happened over the past 18 months. I’ve been emotionally caught up in this. The change has been pretty distressing.”