“The proliferation of new theaters was supposed to usher in a golden new era of moviegoing, with screens available for new hits, the classics and indie films. In 1995 there were 27,805 screens in the United States. By last year the number had jumped 34 percent to 37,185.” Now some chains are going out of business because of the overbuilding. – Newsweek/MSNBC
Author: Douglas McLennan
EMMY AWARDS
“West Wing” wins. List of winners. – New York Times
VENICE FESTIVAL WINNER
An Iranian film wins the Venice Film Festival. ” ‘The Circle’ tells the story of eight Iranian women struggling with the restrictions their society places on them because they are women.” – The Age (Melbourne)
FOREVER MUST BE HERE
After nearly 18 years and a record 7,485 performances “Cats” packs away its whiskers on Broadway as the show closes. – New York Times
EATING TO SUCCESS
Four years ago it looked like Joshua Reynolds was about to make his big breakthrough as a playwright. It didn’t quite work out though, and now, in his new role as a writer about food for the New York Times, Reynolds “finds himself in the literary tradition of Marcel Proust, finding in food the key to the recovery of lost times.” – The Idler
LOCAL AND VOCAL
After twenty-five years of London-born productions dominating Broadway, the current season is surprisingly American. Highlights include “Seussical” (the Dr. Seuss-inspired musical); “The Full Monty” (reset in Buffalo, NY); Neil Simon’s “The Dinner Party;” and Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man.” – New York Magazine
“THE BRAVEST ART CRITIC I KNOW”
Time Magazine art critic Robert Hughes survived a traumatic accident in Australia, then watched as Aussies took him to task. It’s part of the country’s love/hate attitudes about high culture, Hughes believes. “The whole Aussie experience has left him seriously considering throwing in his citizenship – renouncing the country he has so often defended. ‘What’s the point of going back? It’s like a dog returning to smell its vomit,’ he told me in our most recent telephone call.” – New Statesman
STOLEN PAINTING REHUNG
Last week the North Carolina Museum held a ceremony for a Cranach painting that had been stolen by the Nazis and had ended up at the museum. Two sisters came forward last year to claim the art as stolen from their great-uncle during World War II. “The museum struck an extraordinary agreement, persuading the sisters to sell the artwork below its market price as a tribute to the museum’s sense of fair play, as well as its commitment to educating the public about the evils of the Nazi era.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
MOMA STRIKE SETTLED
The Museum of Modern Art and its union of about 250 workers have settled a four-month strike. The agreement “awards an 18 percent wage increase over five years and promises to give jobs back to any union members furloughed when much of the museum is closed during a five-year, $650 million expansion and renovation. Some employees will be assigned to a temporary museum to be set up in Long Island City, Queens.” – New York Times
CROWD APPEAL
As the fall season gets underway, the gap between frothy entertaining exhibitions and higher-aiming art fare seems to be growing. In Boston you can “blame the increase in the former partly on the box-office success of the Guggenheim Museum’s 1998 ‘The Art of the Motorcycle,’ the most highly attended show in the New York institution’s six-decade history.” – Boston Globe