“The Society of London Theatre has announced that the total receipts for 2009 were £504,765,690,” a West End record. Attendance, too, was up. “While in previous years it has been musicals that have driven the increases … in 2009 the rise was almost entirely accounted for by the performance of drama at the box office.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Too Much Information Taking A Toll On Classical Music
“[W]e tend to distance ourselves from the work by buttressing it in a carapace of facts that don’t actually affect our direct reaction to it. And as a result, that reaction gets more primitive.”
Getty Gives Another $3.1M To Spotlight History Of L.A. Art
“The grants,” to 26 arts institutions taking part in the project “Pacific Standard Time,” “nearly double the foundation’s financial commitment to the exhibitions. Most of the grants … will support art shows and catalogs initiated by an earlier, $3.6-million round of Getty research and planning grants.”
To Survive Downturn, Architects Look Overseas
“Instead of waiting for an economic rebound, three Chicago architects have formed an unusual alliance with one of the city’s largest developers to hunt for work in growing overseas markets like China.”
Lyric Opera Of Chicago Downsizes Performance Schedule
“Although eight operas will continue to be presented in 2010-11, the company will cut back the number of performances to 68 from 77 in the current season. As a result, 32,000 fewer tickets will be put on the market.”
Victory Gardens Names Theatre For Former Tribune Critic
Richard “Christiansen, who retired from his post in 2002 after more than 40 years of reviewing Chicago-area theaters of all shapes and sizes, was especially known for his influential support of the off-Loop movement — in which Victory Gardens was a key early player.”
Will Apple Tablet Mean Better E-Book Deal For Publishers?
“[U]ntil now, Amazon’s grip on the e-book market has been so complete that publishers have had to accept its terms on everything, including the price of e-books.” Apple may be offering a more palatable, profitable arrangement.
For Courtroom Artist, Prop. 8 Video Ruling Was Good News
“Vicki Behringer is an artist and a journalist. You know, when you watch a television story of a trial and see drawings or paintings of the witnesses and the judge, well, Behringer is painting those each day in the federal trial challenging Proposition 8, California[‘]s ban on gay marriage.”
On The Desperate Wrongheadedness Of Book Trailers
“[A]uthors are commonly told by publishers and independent publicists that a trailer is now an essential element of any book’s marketing campaign. … There’s a blind faith that book trailers, simply by virtue of being video and a form of new media on top of that, will magically” allow publishers “to partake of the mass market’s bounty.”
Pierre Boulez: ‘I Had A Lot Of Utopias In The Beginning’
“Past statements about composers being ‘useless’ unless they recognize the need for this new musical language have contributed to a view of Mr. Boulez as imperious and dogmatic,” but these days he pours “his energy into bridging the distance between audience and composer and transmitting his passion for new music.”