The good news for American theatres is that attendance is up 17 percent in the past five years. Contributed income is also up – an astonishing 52 percent above inflation ove the same period. The bad news is that for the first time in the Theatre Communications Guild survey’s 28 years, “more than half – 54 percent – of surveyed companies ran a deficit, a 24 percent increase in the past two years.”
Month: August 2003
The Cult Of Adapting Movies For The Stage
Want to produce a hit play? Then find a cult movie that has a following and adapt it. “Don’t worry too much about slickness or professionalism – your audience will be largely composed of young people who seldom go to the theatre, and never to a musical, and have no standard against which to measure performance. What they seek is authenticity, fidelity to the spirit of the cult. Deliver that, and you’re well on your way to establishing a hit.”
Art In Edinburgh – How Do You Know What’s There?
The Edinburgh Festival was a great success, and crowds have been pouring into the big Monet show. But as far as visual arts in the rest of the Scottish capital, things have been decidedly less promoted. “Altogether there are well over 100 exhibitions to choose from, but the sector is too fragmented to reach the public it should command. It is almost impossible even to find out everything that is going on.”
The Rock Star Countertenor?
“In the past few weeks the charismatic American vocalist David Daniels – who has ridden the countertenor boom of the past decade to something like classical music rock star status – and his Perth-born accompanist, guitarist Craig Ogden, seem to have successfully co-opted Justin Timberlake’s business plan. Just look at the cover of the album, A Quiet Thing, where the duo stare out moodily in casual shirts…”
Why Written Languages Die Out
“In the first study of its kind, three experts in the study of written language have described the common characteristics that caused three famous scripts – ancient Egyptian, Middle Eastern cuneiform and pre-Columbian Mayan – to disappear. ‘Thousands of languages have come and gone, and we’ve studied that process for years. But throughout history, maybe 100 writing systems have ever existed. We should know more about why they disappear’.”
Bambi In The Age Of Computers
Hollywood is getting out of the hand-drawn animation business, in favor of creating animated features on computers. “The new Hollywood truism is that Bambi is dead. That kids, hooked on the wizardry of 3D computer games, no longer want to watch quaint old-fashioned characters against painted backdrops.” Except… outside Hollywood, traditional animation seems to be thriving?
Scottish Theatre On The Rocks
Scottish theatre is in disastrous shape, “haemorrhaging some of its greatest talents to better-funded companies in England. Its great companies are lurching from one catastrophe to the next, and a long dreamed of national theatre, which was meant to symbolise the reawakening of a new, dynamic Scottish identity, has slid into limbo.
Theatres are only producing half the work they did in 1990. That this impoverishment has come at a time when Scotland has produced the most exciting generation of playwrights in a century” is a tragedy.
The Art Of Self-Driving Cars
Toyota plans this fall to unveil a car that parks itself. Journalists who have test-driven the car report it works. “Self-driving systems have been in research laboratories for years. Automotive experts expect the car to make splashy headlines when Toyota officially unveils it to the public next month. It will initially be offered as a high-end feature for the $20,000 Prius, a model that uses an electric motor to assist a gasoline engine to conserve fuel.”
Record Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival attracted record audiences this year. “On the final day of the three-week arts festival, organisers said 1,184,738 tickets had been sold, which represented a 21% increase on 2002 when 975,110 were sold. Income rose to £9,386,003, compared to £7,688,113 last year. The festival offered 21,000 performances of 1,541 shows in 207 venues.”
The “Distributed” Library
An experiment in the San Francisco area tries to create a virtual “distributed” library. “List the books and videos that you own. You will then have access to the multitude of books and videos available in other people’s collections. You can search for specific authors or titles, browse individual collections, find nearby users, or find people who like books in common with yours. You will have access to user-written reviews and have the opportunity to write your own. If the owner of a book or video you’re interested in has time for you to pick it up, you can check out items for a 2, 7, 14, or 30 day period (at the owner’s discretion). Returning books late will get you negative feedback, while returning books promptly will get you positive feedback.”