Arts givers in 2009’s top 10: Michael Bloomberg (No. 4), Louise Dieterle Nippert (No. 5) and Eli and Edythe Broad (No. 7).
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Broadway Surprise: Backers Haven’t Backed Away
“Looking ahead, the faces of those swimming in the investor pool have changed, but basically the same number of check writers are afloat. Says producer Roger Berlind (‘A Little Night Music’), ‘There are more producers above the line who are enthusiastically contributing — no shortage of people playing that role.'”
Three Reasons Film Forum Survived As Others Failed
“The largest is the creative freedom allowed by nonprofit status. Another is Film Forum’s rigorous selection process. … And then there is the emphasis on marketing.”
When Real-Life Details Matter In An Artist’s Work
“All artists who focus on wildlife, historical and nautical scenes are confronted on a regular basis by people who are knowledgeable in these fields” and who are “looking for mistakes. … How to research is not taught in studio art classes, but it is a skill artists in the accuracy trade need to acquire.”
Obama Names Chuck Close, Jhumpa Lahiri To Arts Panel
Newly appointed to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, Chuck Close and Jhumpa Lahiri “will become the first visual artist and writer on an advisory panel weighted with actors and business people.”
Readers’ Tastes Have Been (What’s This?) Underestimated
“I would have hypothesized that there are two basic strategies for making the most-e-mailed list. One, which I’ve happily employed, is to write anything about sex. The other, which I’m still working on, is to write an article headlined: ‘How Your Pet’s Diet Threatens Your Marriage, and Why It’s Bush’s Fault.'” Not so, researchers have found.
RSC Plans 6-Week Summer Sojourn In NYC
Next year, the company will bring five plays to the Park Avenue Armory, where they will perform on “an exact copy of the company’s Royal Shakespeare Theater, which is being built in Stratford. The reproduction will be shipped in pieces to New York and assembled in the Armory’s monumental Drill Hall….”
iPad Strengthens Publishers’ Hand Against Google, Too
“Now, as publishers enter discussions with the Web giant Google about its plan to sell digital versions of new books direct to consumers, they have a little more leverage than just a few weeks ago — at least when it comes to determining how Google will pay publishers for those e-books and how much consumers will pay for them.”
Late-Night Shocker: Woman Lands Letterman Writing Job
“The writers’ rooms on several late-night shows — including Mr. Letterman’s, Jay Leno’s and the one for Conan O’Brien’s ‘Tonight Show’ — were described as male enclaves in recent reports about the male dominance among comedy writers.” Letterman’s new writer has been a staffer since 2001.
The Irresistible Allure Of So You Think You Can Dance
Yes, it has cheesy production values and “pits dance styles against each other, usually to the disadvantage of contemporary choreography. Most of the numbers are stunt-heavy hip-hop routines, disco, Broadway, lindy hop and jazz.” Somehow none of that hinders its addictiveness.