“The turmoil continues at Oregon Ballet Theatre. Joanne Van Ness Menashe OBT vice-president of development and marketing is leaving the company, hard on the heels of artistic director Christopher Stowell’s surprise resignation. … OBT now needs to fill its top artistic, development, marketing and finance posts.” (The executive director position was eliminated over the summer.)
Tag: 12.10.12
Film Blanc: The Power Of Wintry Noir Thrillers
“Classic film noirs used their dark settings as direct reflections of their subject matter, as well as to create the sense of their heroes getting lost. They tapped into our natural fears of the dark in the same way that horror movies do … But just as instinctual is the drive to seek warmth and shelter from the cold. … [The] danger isn’t unknown or theoretical; it’s bright, enveloping, bone-chilling.”
Women Outnumbered 2:1 In British Theatre: Guardian Study
“Women buy more theatre tickets than men but are consistently under-represented in English theatre – comprising about a third of actors, writers and artistic directors, and only a quarter of directors – according to research.”
British Theatre’s 2:1 Man:Woman Problem – How The Numbers Break Down
“The research, concentrating on the top 10 subsidised theatres for 2012-13, looked at female representation in a variety of areas from actors employed to the number of playwrights commissioned for the financial year 2011-12. Board of directors, chief executives and creative teams were also examined.”
Why Is British Theatre So Gender-Imbalanced? The Shakespeare Problem
“He was, of course, writing for all-male companies; and, though he wrote transcendent parts for women, there aren’t very many. … [Until] relatively recently, much of British theatre relied on the repertory system: a company of actors performing a handful of different plays in a season. Shakespeare would frequently sit at the heart of such a company; many new plays would therefore tend to be written for a similar gender balance.”
Is The Year’s Best Animated Movie About A Stick Figure?
At least one critic thinks so. Stick figure Bill (not Mr. Bill from the old Saturday Night Live) “is the star of It’s Such a Beautiful Day,” the first feature by animator Don Hertzfeldt, who’s “known for making sick, hilarious shorts films about endless dental procedures and balloons that turn on toddlers.”
Will eBooks Save Hardbacks?
“There is, however, no doubt that ebooks, which are decimating paperback sales, have now become the established, contemporary mass market for books. Meanwhile, the hardback remains the elite format.”
UK Library Use Down
“The UK had 201 fewer libraries in 2011/12 than the previous year, a drop of 4.5% on the total of 4,466 in the financial year 2010/11. Visitor numbers to physical premises and to library websites were also down, falling year-on-year by 2.4% and 14.4% respectively.”
The Arts In Peril – Cutting Is Not The Answer
“Too many of our great arts institutions have migrated from the typical challenge of balancing the annual budget to a far deeper evaluation of their very viability.”
A First – Video Game Score Nominated For Grammy
“For the first time in the 55-year history of the Grammy Awards, a videogame soundtrack has been nominated. The honor goes to Austin Wintory, composer of the score for the mesmerizing PlayStation 3 game Journey, published earlier this year.”