Women have quietly taken their places at the top of the Hollywood movie business. “Though men still figure most prominently in the corporate echelons of the media companies that own the studios, and talent agencies like William Morris and Creative Artists Agency are still male dominated, these women, who over the years have fought and fostered one another as part of a loose sisterhood, have finally buried the notion that Hollywood is a man’s world. So striking is the change that some now see Hollywood as a gender-balanced model for the rest of corporate America.”
Month: April 2005
Examining The Oprah Book Club Phenomenon
Every book Oprah chose for her book club saw a huge increase in sales. So “why did the books come under so much criticism? The question goes to the core of our perceptions about culture and art. Oprah, Rooney posits, found herself caught in an ongoing unease in America between highbrow and lowbrow culture generally summed up as: If a huge number of people appreciate something, can it really be art?”
Expert: Famed Shakespeare Portrait A Fake
“One of the most recognizable portraits of William Shakespeare is a fake, experts say. According to Britain’s National Portrait Gallery, the image – commonly known as the “Flower portrait” – was actually painted in the 1800s, not while the Bard was alive.”
Will The Internet Save Indy Music?
“Radio is in decline; satellite services XM and Sirius are ascending. Warner Music is scrambling to meet shareholder’s demands, but independent labels Merge, Sub Pop, and Kill Rock Stars are watching records sell in unprecedented numbers. These days a band doesn’t have to be seen on MTV, or heard on WBCN, or written about in Rolling Stone for fans to find out about it. The Internet is challenging the corporate clutch on both radio and retail.”
The Art Of The Anti-Cell Phone Message
Cell phones have become such a nuisance at stage shows that they’ve spawned their own mini-art form – the pre-curtain anti-cell phone announcement… They’re often as amusing as the shopw itself.
Atlanta Opera Founder Leaves After 20 Years
Atlanta Opera director and founder William Fred Scott leaves the company. “Scott stepped in near the beginning of the Atlanta group’s life, and helped build it into a $5.4 million organization. His departure comes at the end of a revolution that promises major changes in Atlanta’s cultural landscape.”
Forsythe Company Rises From Frankfurt Ashes
Last year, William Forsythe watched as his Frankfurt Ballet was dismantled after it lost financial support. Now he’s back with the Forsythe Company. “Such is Mr. Forsythe’s reputation that his new company is already booked all over Europe and beyond. At 18 dancers, it is half the size of his old company, although Mr. Forsythe says he may hire guest dancers to help perform his larger works. All but one of the new company’s dancers come from the Frankfurt Ballet.”
La Scala’s New Artistic Director
La Scala has chosen a new artistic director. “Frenchman Stephane Lissner, of Paris’s Theatre de la Madeleine, has been given a four-and-a-half year contract. Musical director Riccardo Muti quit on April 2, citing the “hostility” of fellow employees after a series of rows. His post has yet to be filled. The president of the orchestra quit last week, giving no explanation. Mr Lissner’s appointment was welcomed both by the musical establishment and unions representing the opera’s 800-strong workforce.”
Sir John Mills, 97
Acting great Sir John Mills has died at the age of 97. “He died at home in Buckinghamshire on Saturday morning after a chest infection that lasted several weeks. His films included Great Expectations in 1946 and War and Peace in 1956 and he won an Oscar in 1971 for playing a village idiot in Ryan’s Daughter.”
Music Director Vs. Flutist
Flutist Dawn Weiss has played flute for 25 years in the Oregon Symphony. But new music director Carlos Kalmer sent her a letter last fall complaining of her “technical errors, poor pitch control, lack of leadership, choppy phrasing, failure to connect rehearsal corrections to performances, and an ‘airy and unpleasant’ sound quality.” Weiss worked on the issues, but Kalmer wasn’t satisfied. “And so a tense drama began, pitting a prominent musician in the orchestra against her conductor. After receiving the letter, Weiss pressed ahead with an improvement program. And when her efforts failed, she decided to break with symphony protocol and brought the warning letter she received and her story to The Oregonian last week.”