The CBC says it will invest $33 million to add 100 more hours of Canadian drama and entertainment programming. “Everything from high-impact drama — the miniseries we do now — traditional series, comedies, soap operas, movies of the week, the lot. We would like CBC Television to be overwhelmingly the place that you go for Canadian entertainment programming.”
Month: April 2005
Danielpour’s Margaret Garner Comes To Stage
“Inspired by a true story, composer Richard Danielpour and Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison tell the tale of a fugitive slave who kills her children in order to save them from a return to bondage. The A-list creative team and cast, including mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, has the opera world buzzing. But the opera is also galvanizing newcomers and financial supporters within Detroit’s black community.”
Clear Channel – Maybe Mega-Big Is Too Big?
Clear Channel – the radio and entertainment giant, is spinning off its concert business. “Clear Channel said the IPO of the outdoor advertising unit and spinoff of the entertainment unit will result in greater financial muscle for future acquisitions, because the separately listed stocks will provide clear valuations of the two businesses. The company also said that the spinoff of the entertainment unit will allow it to operate as a largely unregulated public company, as opposed to the company’s heavily regulated radio business.”
NBC Gives In, Will Start Rating Its Shows
NBC, which has refused to rate its programs for content, says it will now do so. “The ratings system was developed in 1997 in response to the V-chip section of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, but NBC refused to run the descriptors — V for violence, S for sexual content, L for vulgar language, D for suggestive dialogue and FV for fantasy violence — because of First Amendment concerns and the fear that the onscreen clutter would confuse viewers.”
Which Martha Graham Do You Go For?
“One of the great challenges faced by the present curators is the way Graham’s work changed over the decades. Schooled in the show-biz exotica that was Denishawn, she launched her own career with stark abstractions, moved through patriotic flourish and nostalgic romance, ensconced herself in Greek tragedy, and slid into histrionic decadence during her last years. The technique developed, grew harsh, grew soft; costumes and sets were remade; music was recorded, amplified, scaled down. What we see as Graham repertory today is a composite vision drawn from co-artistic directors Terese Capucilli and Christine Dakin, the exemplars who survive from earlier generations, and a contemporary sensibility suited to today’s dancers and audiences.”
Why Does Turning Off TV Make You Smart?
What’s so smart about turning off your TV? “What does that solve? “Here I am, cutting myself off from the world in the name of …” What? “Spending more quality time with my family?” “Reading a book?” “Getting outside for some exercise and fresh air?” “Contributing to my community in some meaningful way?” … instead of sitting like a lump on the couch, brain in neutral, pallid features bathed in flickering cathode radiation … TV does not prevent you from doing these things. You prevent you from doing these things. It’s called a sense of proportion.”
Theatre’s Great. But The Theatre Experience Sucks
Going out to the theatre is a pain in the neck. Not the plays, mind you. But the experience. “The most recent Global Home Entertainment Survey finds that increasing numbers of people are turning their backs on going out for entertainment. Depending on the country, anything from 68% to 90% of respondents prefer to watch a DVD at home. The main reasons cited in favour of living room entertainment are eminently reasonable. It’s more comfortable, less expensive, you can fast-forward and wind back. And if there is an idiot sitting next to you it’s likely you’ll know them well enough to be able to tell them to shut up.”
Fans Mob To Get Free “Scoundrel” Cast Albums
Thousands of fans lined up outside the Broadway home of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” to get free copies of the cast recording. “Fans appeared at the Imperial Theatre as early as 6 AM to be assured of a free album. The discs were distributed 11:30 AM-1 PM. The show’s cast, including stars John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, Sherie Rene Scott and Joanna Gleason, and composer David Yazbek, were on hand to sign discs before their Wednesday matinee performance. By noon, the line was blocks-long, stretching across the theatre district.”
Ratings Show TV Viewers Turn Off Election Coverage
British TV viewers are tuning out of election coverage on television. “For the three weeks before the election was called BBC One’s Six O’Clock News had an average of 4.7 million viewers, which has since slipped to 4.5 million. Broadcast editor Conor Dignam said this showed viewers see the election campaign as “a bore”.”
A Tipping Point In A Culture Crisis?
The announcement that the New York Public Library is selling off art to finance an endowment is a disgrace. “These are bad times for high culture at the cash register. Seats aren’t being filled, turnstiles aren’t whirling. Cultural institutions are having to scramble. That this is happening at a moment when there’s more wealth around than at any time, in any one single place, in history suggests that a tipping point has been reached, that the dumbing-down epitomized by the Styles section of The Times, or the failure of our great universities to educate, or what works and what doesn’t on Broadway or at your local multiplex, has finally achieved implosive velocity. It suggests that there’s more to what’s happening than a simple post-9/11 fall-off in tourism, that some kind of sea change is in the works.”