Author: Douglas McLennan

BLACKOUT HANGOVER

ABC is likely to feel “a quick and nasty pinch this May sweeps” after yesterday’s debacle, when Time Warner pulled the plug on seven Disney-owned ABC stations around the country. “One rival network exec expects ABC to take an immediate 2% to 3% ratings hit nationally, that might mean the difference between first and second place.” – Times of India (Reuters) 05/03/00

LARRY DOES LONDON

Manhattan art dealer Larry Gagosian, known as one of the brashest dealers on the art scene, is taking his larger-than-life gig to London where a new branch of his gallery will open May 9. “Gagosian has been described as “the hottest art dealer in the world,” known for persuading people to part with art they never knew they wanted to sell, and convincing others to buy it at prices they never knew they were prepared to pay.” – London Evening Standard

ART OUTPOST

“Usually, new government buildings forage for their furnishings and decoration after the builders have left. Art is an afterthought. But in Moscow the British government specially commissioned furniture, textiles and works of art by British artists while the building was still under construction. The result is a tribute to their foresight, for if diplomacy is the art of presenting your country in the best possible light, the new embassy is itself a symbol of the achievements that have made Britain so pre-eminent in the visual arts in recent years. – The Telegraph (UK)

JUST ANOTHER STATUE

Boston has not had a good record of choosing public art. Last weekend a symposium sought to identify ways to turn that record around. “More artist input, and less community involvement in dictating content and style, was a subplot that simmered without reaching a boil. The community that asks for and gets another figurative statue of a local hero is a community unaware of the world of other options – the world artists know. But ‘community involvement’ has become such a lightning rod that many people in the arts are afraid to question it. – Boston Globe

NOT TO BE UPSTAGED

London’s Royal Academy – the good folks who brought you “Sensation” are out to do it again. Just in case anyone thought the RA was going to cede the contemporary turf to the about-to-open Tate Modern, the RA announces a sure-to-shock show focused on beauty and horror. – The Guardian

MUSICAL COMEBACK

A flood of new musicals is hitting London’s West End, including a new “King and I” which currently boasts “the all-time record for advance box office takings.” Why the resurgence of tried-and-true, innocuous old favorites? Some observers point to the consolidation of London’s theaters into fewer hands, the need to fill huge-capacity houses with shows that have mass appeal, and the simple fact that money talks and thus “producers are playing safe, being unwilling to experiment or take chances.” – The Age (Melbourne)

BITTER RIDE

  • Patrick Stewart stunned everyone Saturday after his performance in Arthur Miller’s “The Ride Down Mt. Morgan” on Broadway when he made a curtain speech saying he had lost confidence in the producers of the play to properly promote and advertise it. [first item] – Los Angeles Times

FIRST AID

The National Dance Program gets a $6 million grant from the Doris Duke Foundation to support dance. “To date, the National Dance Project has reached approximately 820,000 people in 41 states, and provided production grants to 65 dance projects and touring grants to 271 presenters.” – Boston Globe

HARD SELL

Some 75,000 actors represented by the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists walked off their jobs, rejecting advertisers’ attempts to pay a flat fee instead of residual compensation every time commercials run. The actors dramatized their dispute in rallies Monday in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. – Chicago Tribune 05/02/00