After more than 9,000 performances in 27 years, “the Toronto production of The Mousetrap will close Jan. 15. Producer Peter Peroff says business has been down about 40 per cent this year, which he attributes to the combination of SARS, the war in Iraq and the Alberta mad-cow scare, all of which have made it difficult to attract the busloads of U.S. tourists upon which the long-running Agatha Christie whodunit relies.”
Tag: 12.27.03
Indy Films Take On The Studios
Increasingly, independent films are becoming a major force in the movie industry. Why? “Independent and independent-minded films may earn less at the box office, but it’s easier for them to turn a profit, because they’re vastly cheaper to make. Even a little gem such as “Pieces of April,’ which has grossed about $1.7 million, is a moneymaker – because it cost only $300,000.”
The New Ailey – Echoes Of A Classic
Work presented in the Alvin Ailey company’s early years championed a few themes: “the fight of a stalwart, resilient people, fueled by hope—a near-miraculous optimism, given their circumstances—to overcome injustice, oppression, and their corroding, often lethal, results.” And, it promoted the work of black dancers and choreographers, writes Tobi Tobias. If that work, with all its ecstatic exuberance can be called “classic” Ailey, it is remarkable how much the company’s new work echoes those early themes.
Best Books Of 2003
What were the great books of 2003? Guardian and Observer critics and celebrities make their picks.
Not Many Great Art Thieves, But They’re Out There
Much of the great art in UK homes is vulnerable to theft, says an expert in recovering stolen art. “Stealing this kind of art is probably the dumbest thing a thief can do. There’s no resale market for it and trying to get any kind of ransom paid is not easy. But the great houses are available to these people and they are prepared to target them. They are not taking this art for some Mr Big, they are just taking it to have it – half the time they give it away to their friends – and the police are not very good at getting these paintings back.”
Building Plans Altering Landscape Made Famous By Cezanne
Plans to cut down trees and build 78 houses near a town west of Paris made famous by paintings by Paul Cezanne has amgered many. “While it is an exaggeration to claim, as some locals do, that the low, curving hill on the road to Claude Monet’s Giverny is the Ile de France’s answer to Aix’s Mont Sainte-Victoire, views of the village are as recognisable today from the opposite bank of the Seine as they were when Cézanne visited his childhood friend Emile Zola 120 years ago.”
Is The Music Album Dead?
“With the recent boom in 99-cent-per-song downloading sites, music fans are cherry-picking their favorite tunes and ignoring full-length albums – much to the dismay of musicians who spend months crafting them. The album’s glory days could be history, with three-minute singles ruling the music world as they did in the 1950s. That shake-up would not only affect the record labels’ bottom line but might also transform the way pop music is created and heard.”