The Smithsonian’s $2 billion project to revamp the outdoor space near the Castle has been meeting some serious resistance, not least because it calls for the replacement of the formal, Victorian-style Enid A. Haupt Garden. Adrian Higgins argues that the garden is high-maintenance and expensive, especially given that (except for the annuals) its appearance is so static: “It’s time to … move on to a landscape that is more dynamic, less needy and better connects the past to a more ecologically mindful future.”
Month: February 2018
Philadelphia Theatre Co. Will Be Back Next Season After Semi-Dark Year
With a new director in place, the financially troubled company decided to take “a year off from producing to get our house in order.” It seems progress has been made: PTC will stage three productions of its own in 2018-19, all by female playwrights, and will present some touring shows and other programs as well.
Amazon Shutters Its Ticket-Selling Business In Britain (But Alexa Might Relaunch It)
Having abandoned last year its long-anticipated plan to for a North American ticket-selling platform, the company told its British customers this week that it is closing Amazon Tickets, which had been operating in the UK since 2015. However, sources say that the online retailer has been working on a new ticketing platform that would work with the voice-activated Amazon Echo and the Firestick streaming device.
Fired President Of Weinstein Company Plans To Sue For $85 Million
“[David] Glasser, known within the company as the ‘third Weinstein’, is expected to claim that his termination was ‘nothing more than a desperate attempt to deflect attention away from the very people who were empowered to halt Harvey Weinstein’s abusive behavior – chairman Bob Weinstein and the two other members of the TWC board of directors,’ according to a statement from his law firm.”
Lost Donizetti Opera To Have World Premiere, 180 Years Late
“L’Ange de Nisida (The Angel of Nisida) – composed in the late 1830s after [Donizetti] moved to work in Paris – never saw the light of day. It was written for the city’s Théâtre de la Renaissance, but the company went bankrupt before it was premiered. The opera was thought to have been lost until musicologist Dr Candida Mantica … painstakingly located and deciphered the score’s fragments over eight years. … The work will be premiered on 18 July at Covent Garden by London-based Opera Rara.”
Madrid To Get New Museum Of Contemporary Latin American Art
“The Miami-based philanthropist and art collector Ella Fontanals-Cisneros has announced that she will donate some works from her collection of Latin American art to the Spanish government, which will exhibit them on the second floor of Madrid’s historical La Tabacalera, a former tobacco factory.”
Edinburgh Fringe Director Warns Festival Is Becoming Unaffordable For Artists
“If the costs of things like accommodation, subsistence and travel, venue rents and licensing continue to rise then there will come a point where this festival is no longer affordable for the people who give it reason, content, credibility and existence – without whom none of the economic or other impacts would be possible.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.21.18
High Noon adapted for the stage, speaking sharply to 2018 and with no exit
High Noon is a great movie, but does it immediately jump to mind as a story that’s ripe for re-evaluation and revision? … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2018-02-21
Engagement at the Core
In addition to what has been said to this point concerning community relationships, programming, and marketing, I would suggest that in the beginning all internal stakeholders in an arts organization continue their work as is and … keep it simple. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2018-02-20
Da Vinci’s BFF, the CPA
It’s common modern practice to consider art and commerce in opposition to each other, and artists and accountants as cartoonish polar opposites, as well. But it wasn’t always so. … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2018-02-21
“Respect” Not “Hagiography”: How National Portrait Gallery Sizes Up Obama & His Predecessors
In pithy new blurbs, the National Portrait Gallery’s revamped and reinterpreted “America’s Presidents” installation strives to tell each former officeholder’s “unique stories of both triumph and failure” (in the words of the introductory wall text). … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-02-20
Rob Clearfield: Quiet And Deep
Rob Clearfield, Wherever You’re Starting From (Woolgathering Records)
The Chicago pianist’s low-key approach to solo piano might lead to wool-gathering that would justify the name of his label. But he bolsters … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-02-21
The Original Disney Cartoon Drawings Are Fading Away. Can They Be Saved?
The individual hand-painted sheets that were used to make the films have become distorted and cracked over time. The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) is working with Disney to try to save the beloved pictures that led to some of the world’s most iconic animations.
Lessons Hollywood Should Learn From The Success Of “Black Panther”
Black Panther is a blockbuster that feels like it belongs to the artists who created it as much as the company that produced it. In a market dominated by sequels, the projects that actually break through with viewers tend to be movies that were made with more of a purpose than just being another link in a never-ending money-making chain. Black Panther is poised to make more money around the world than any Marvel movie aside from 2012’s The Avengers.