“For years, parents have complained to the L.A. city attorney’s office and the Better Business Bureau about the unscrupulous practices of talent listing services and acting schools that charge exorbitant upfront fees — sometimes as high as $9,000 — on the promise of finding acting jobs for their children on popular TV shows.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Stagehands Make Good Money (Not Just In New York)
The generously compensated stagehands at Carnegie Hall aren’t alone. “[A]t our own Music Center, those well-paid New Yorkers’ top five peers … averaged $221,000” in 2007-08, while the top earner among stagehands for Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl made $295,000 in 2006-07.
Landesman: Time Of Culture Wars Has Passed
NEA chairman Rocco Landesman “acknowledged that he has had to spend time dealing with attacks by conservatives who have accused the NEA of promoting Obama’s legislative agenda and of funding pornography in California,” but he said he believes “the culture war stuff is receding in history.”
Owner Of Missing Warhols Lashes Out At LAPD
“Maybe if they would do their job . . . and spent some time looking for the art instead of being accusatory of the person who had it stolen, they might actually find it,” said collector Richard L. Weisman, who added that, on the advice of his lawyers, he would not speak to the police.
Reality Shows Boost Interest In Theatre, Especially Musicals
“The Society of London Theatre questioned 716 people about the influence of TV talent programmes on the productions they were likely to see. … [A] third of people were more likely to attend any musical – not just the one they saw on television; and nearly a quarter would consider a play or comedy as well.”
HuffPost’s Unconventional Foray Into Book Coverage
“[T]he arrival of HuffPost Books has some in the journalism world chilled at the prospect of less rigorous thinking about books even as many others are thrilled that the queen of bloggers and new media will devote a portion of her website to books.”
Financial Realities Mean A Leaner Miami City Ballet
Miami City Ballet opens its season this week “without any of the new works or big classical productions that have generated excitement in recent years. MCB’s budget is $11.2 million, down from $13.8 million last year. Eight dancers did not have their contracts renewed….”
E-Books Are Making People Read More: True Or False?
“[S]ome sellers and owners of electronic reading devices are making the case that people are reading more because of e-books,” while publishing executives note e-book sellers’ financial interest in promoting that argument. “Some publishers are also not quite willing to accept the notion that books can make a mainstream resurgence.”
DreamWorks’ Shrek Fails To Thrive On Broadway
“Fall’s been strong on Broadway, with several shows posting weekly grosses of more than $1 million. But at ‘Shrek,’ that number is stubbornly stuck at about $500,000, nearly $300,000 short of the show’s weekly running cost.”
Mandela Plans Legal Action Over Foreword He Didn’t Write
The new book by Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the president of Congo-Brazzaville, “boasts, in large type on the cover, that it contains a foreword written by Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president. … Mandela has issued a statement saying he did not write the foreword. Nor has he read the book.”