“Our love of scripts is, I think, partly to do with the fact that theatre remains haunted by the spectre of English Literature and its insistence on the importance of the written word. Too often we mistakenly believe the script to lie at the heart of theatre, to be its point of origin, which it absolutely isn’t.”
Tag: 12.18.07
Italy Stages Show Of Recovered Antiquities
“The show is the result of a 10-year campaign by the Culture Ministry and a special group of the carabinieri, or military police, specializing in art and archaeological theft to reclaim some of the innumerable objects looted from Italian soil.”
Art Of The Museum Shop
“Over the past few years, museum shops have transformed themselves beyond recognition. Today’s visitors are greeted by a sophisticated retail experience involving paint-your-own-robot T-shirts, animatronic dinosaurs and replica crossbows. Galleries, schmalleries: these shops alone are worth the trip.”
The Celebrity Judge Problem
“Most big literary awards have a star judge nowadays. Prizes gain exposure as a result, but they also lose credibility. If an accolade for literary merit is to have much meaning, it should be awarded by people capable of discerning literary merit – rather than wielding a pair of oars or sitting in a TV studio.”
US House Apprves $20 Million Boost In NEA Funding
National Endowment for the Arts would get $145 million, a 16 percent boost from last year. It would be the largest increase in the arts budget in 24 years.
Rubinstein Buys Magna Carta, Loans To National Archive
“David Rubenstein, co-founder of the private-equity firm Carlyle Group, last night bought a 1297 copy of the Magna Carta, an English royal document and symbol of freedom, for $21.3 million including commission at Sotheby’s in New York.”
A Plan To Pay Performers For Radio Play
“Songwriters and publishers have long received royalties for airplay of their tunes, but performers have not. A bipartisan group of top lawmakers has introduced legislation that would compel broadcasters to pay performers when their music is played over the air.”
League of American Theatres and Producers Renames
It will now be called The Broadway League. “According to a news release, the new name “more aptly reflects the composition of the League’s membership,” which is not limited to theater owners and producers, but includes Broadway presenters, general managers and other Broadway industry professionals.”
Is Scotland Entering A New Musical Age?
“In the past six months or so, there has been a tidal wave of top appointments to music organisations – a surge that has provoked more than one commentator to raise the question: is this a new era? It’s far too early to dare guess at that one, but the volume of change is itself quite striking.”
Alice Walker Donates Her Archives To Emory University
“Her archive spans 40 years and includes journals she has kept since she was a teenager, drafts of many of her works of fiction — including “The Color Purple,” which also won the National Book Award — and correspondence between Walker and editors, friends and family.”