The band Wilco’s new recording won’t be officially released until June 22. But last month copies of the new album hit the internet. Rather than get mad, “the band responded in a novel way. Instead of filing lawsuits or issuing cease-and-desist letters – a common practice in the piracy-crazed music industry – Wilco cooperated in setting up a Web site where downloaders could cleanse their consciences.” Since Friday, fans have donated $4000 to Wilco’s favorite charity.
Month: April 2004
Day To Day Soaring
National Public Radio’s midday show Day to Day is growing its audience must faster than its producers expected. “The hourlong program airs midday Monday through Friday on 103 stations, as of last week. NPR had been shooting for 75 stations by Sept. 30. Between its launch July 28 and the fall ratings period, Day to Day built a weekly audience of 1,148,200. That’s the biggest audience ever for an NPR show in its first book, says Jay Kernis, NPR’s senior v.p. of programming.”
In Search Of The Next Great Play
Where are the next great plays coming from? “There always seems to be a stratum of plays just below the surface, waiting their turn in an environment that can economically accommodate a limited number of new works. Ask the question one way — Are there a lot of good plays out there that are not being produced? — and the answer from many people is a vigorous yes. But the situation is a bit more complicated.”
Some Applause For Arts Pulitzers
The Pulitzers have an uneven record when it comes to the arts. But this year, writes Terry Teachout, “three of the prizes were deeply and personally satisfying to me.”
The Arts Pulitzers
Here’s a list of the books, play and music that won this year’s Pulitzers…
The Online University
“University of Illinois at Springfield officials say they are working toward creating an online ‘mirror campus’ that will offer all 39 of the degree programs that are available in the university’s classrooms. The plan is one of the most ambitious online projects undertaken by a mainstream institution.”
Where Did The Movie Audience Go?
Jack Valenti is getting a send off as he retires after 38 years heading the Motion Picture Association of America. But Michael Medved says Valenti has some answering to do. “Despite his unquestioned eloquence, elegance and charm, Mr. Valenti presided over history’s most disastrous decline in the audience for feature films. In 1965, the year before he left the Johnson administration to assume his plush position as chief mouthpiece for the entertainment industry, 44 million Americans went out to the movies every week. A mere four years later, that number had collapsed to 17.5 million. In other words, some potent, puzzling force drove more than half of the nation’s film fans to break the habit of movie going.”
Deborah Voigt On The Public Attention About Her Weight:
“I remember one review where the critic made some comment about my weight but went on to say the tenor – who by the way was a very, very large man – had ‘the shoulders of a linebacker.’ And I thought, What is that? How come I’m heavy and he has the shoulders of a linebacker? So yes, it’s a double standard – and it shouldn’t surprise any women with a professional life.”
Lane And Broderick Finish Producers Run
Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick have finished their second run in Broadway’s “The Producers.” “From its debut in April 2001 until Lane and Broderick left in March 2002, the Mel Brooks show was a perpetual sellout – despite record ticket prices. Sales lagged before the two actors returned late last year as the highest-paid actors in Broadway history. Once again, seats were hard to come by for the show that won a record 12 Tony Awards in June 2001, including Lane as Best Leading Actor in a Musical.”
Denis Stevens, 82 – Musicologist, Monteverdi Scholar
The one-time Grove’s editor was a champion of the music of Monteverdi. “Stevens felt a mission to demonstrate the validity and accessibility of musicology as a discipline, often deploying what one former colleague called a ‘wry and penetrating sense of humour’. He gave it full rein in an essay on the performance of the Monteverdi Vespers, complaining of ‘the cabalistic obscurantism that now surrounds it, fostered by misinformed musicians and pseudo-musicologists’. He had absolutely no time for a misguided veneration of the past.”