Tag: 12.22.00

UNREST BACKSTAGE

The backstage staff of London’s Royal Shakespeare Company is taking a strike vote. “The union is angry over the RSC’s interpretation of a 1998 agreement over the time-off owed to staff who break European rules on taking at least 11 hours rest between shifts.” – BBC

THE AGE OF THE DIRECTOR

The last 40 years have seen a rise in the stature of the stage director. “Today’s director is most often a catalyst, visibly channeling theatrical elements and placing a recognizable stamp on the practice.” And he’s sometimes placed alongside or above the contributions of the playwright and actors. – Backstage

COME CLOSER, MY PRETTY…

The BBC’s Tony Hall is about to become the new head of London’s Royal Opera House. But “with three changes of ROH director in as many years, Hall will need to be motivated by something more than his love of opera if he is to take on what some see as the art world’s poisoned chalice. What can he be thinking of?” – The Guardian

A RUTTER CHRISTMAS

“As composer, arranger and conductor, John Rutter has become the musical equivalent of Dickens, synonymous with the season. But it is as a writer of carols that he has really made his mark. He has written around two dozen. At this time of year, it is hard to escape his hummable, jolly, accessible songs.” – The Guardian

DUBLIN’S “SICK” CONCERT HALL

When it opened in 1981, Dublin’s National Concert Hall took the city off the list as the only European capital without a major concert hall. But “ask the individuals for whom it was designed as a workplace and you’ll pick up the strongest strand of dissent. It wouldn’t be far off the mark to say that there’s a feeling among the members of the National Symphony Orchestra that the hall may qualify as a ‘sick’ building.” – Irish Times

ANTI-TECH MONKS

A group of Greek monks released a CD last summer and it quickly caused a sensation in Greece, going platinum. Now they’ve made a video warning about the dangers of technology. “The video features a gold-garbed man who represents an evil computer user, armed with personal data. The bearded monks belt out the lyrics to ‘Tsipaki’, or ‘Little Computer Chip’: ‘I’m a chip, so small, that will lead you to slavery’.” – San Francisco Examiner (AP)

WHERE IS SOUTH AFRICA’S NEW GENERATION?

“There seemed to be an expectation that as apartheid collapsed and its legacy faded a new generation of young black writers (let’s call them YBWs) would emerge in their full glory, spurred on by the new freedoms of a new democracy. It was thought that the combination of apartheid censorship and lack of educational advantage had held them back, but now their time had come. Yet they are scarcer than viable South African feature film projects.” – Daily Mail & Guardian (South Africa)

AS LONG AS THE NAME REMAINS

Manhattan’s landmark Rockefeller Center is being sold for $1.85 billion private investors. “For the first time since the family built the center 70 years ago, in the midst of the Depression, the Rockefellers will have no involvement with the 10 landmarked office buildings, Radio City Music Hall or the Rainbow Room.” – New York Times 12/22/00