“The Boston station produces or co-produces nearly 35 percent of PBS’s prime-time lineup – an output rivaled only by WNET-TV in New York – and also generates roughly 20 percent of the children’s programs. The advent of the Internet has expanded the station’s reach: More than one-third of all visits to PBS Web sites are for WGBH programs. As for the numbers that matter most – ratings – WGBH accounts for more than half of PBS’s 10 most-watched shows in any given month.” – Boston Globe 07/23/00
Author: Douglas McLennan
THE BALANCHINE LEGACY
“There are plenty of cognoscenti in the US who believe that Peter Martins is making a bad job of honouring the god [Balanchine], and they regularly say so in print, describing him as a man of little taste and much ambition. There are others who argue that he has, in fact, done well, his energy shown by the 100 ballets performed in the 50th anniversary season last year, and his refusal to allow NYCB to become a museum company, which would have been anathema to Balanchine himself.” – The Telegraph (London)
BODY BEAUTIFUL
Artists have been grappling with issues of beauty since there were first artists. “Who defines the body beautiful, and how has this definition been affected by feminism, multiculturalism, mass media and new technologies? If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what kinds of images still have the power to produce such sensory experience?” – New York Times
DO WE HAVE TO MENTION THE SPONSOR?
The Roundabout Theatre sold its name to American Airlines. The Winter Garden almost had “Cadillac” above the marquee. The arts love those corporate dollars. But at what price? – Newsday
HOW ABOUT GETTING EXCITED?
Chicago’s Goodman Theatre is moving into a long-awaited new $46 million home this November. So why does the upcoming opening “seem so remarkably lackluster just four months prior to ribbon cutting? And why does the initial season for what is clearly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity seem like an afterthought?” – Chicago Sun-Times
ACTING TOUGH
Being an actor is tougher than ever. “In Britain, over 90 per cent of them are unemployed at any given time. Yet while the number of graduates pouring out of drama and stage schools continues to rise, the opportunities are dwindling. And finding out about openings is harder than ever if you’re not already one of the lucky 10 per cent.” – The Observer (UK)
RETHINKING VANITY PRESS
“While in the past, self-publishing meant paying for costly print runs and then praying the books would sell, new digital technology enables books to be printed on demand quickly and inexpensively. Barnes & Noble is already using print-on-demand machines in their regional centres, and in July Simon & Schuster enlisted the Lightning Source unit of Ingram Industries to fulfill its print-on-demand orders.” – National Post (Canada)
RIGHTEOUS SEPARATION
The National Ballet of Canada’s settlement of the suit with dancer Kimberly Glasco for $1 million was a good result. The situation had been at an impasse. “Ms. Glasco thought she was the next Karen Kain, an opinion not shared by others. And the ballet forgot that, in Canada, you can’t just fire people at will. You need experts. You need procedures. You need outplacement counsellors.” – Toronto Globe and Mail
- GLASCO SPEAKS: Why I had to fight this. – Toronto Globe and Mail 07/21/00
GOING FOR VAN GOGH
“In the last decade, according to an ARTnews survey of scholars, museum curators, and art dealers in Europe and the United States, suspicions about fake van Goghs have tainted some of the most expensive paintings in the world, including the Yasuda ‘Sunflowers’, purchased in 1987 by the Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance Company of Japan for $39.9 million, at the time the highest sum ever paid for a work of art.” – ARTnews
THE ANNUAL ARTNEWS LIST —
— of the world’s biggest collectors of art is out. “The market is very much dominated by Americans. What’s especially healthy is that the whole speculative element of the ’80s is gone. Now the buyers want to keep the works. They’re not going into bank vaults.” – ARTnews