“Do we allow our rights to be violated (photography, filming and audio taping of performances is illegal) or tolerate rudeness by members of the audience who feel they have the right to sit in a dark theater, texting or checking their e-mail while the light from their screens distract both performers and the audience alike? Or, should I stand up for my rights as a performer as well as the audiences I perform for?”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Critics Fear For Art Market If Govt. Office Leaves London
“Until now, buyers wishing to take art works out of the country have required a licence granted by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, previously headquartered in South Kensington, close to the sale rooms of Sothebys and Christie’s. However, under Government cost-cutting proposals, the office is being moved more than 100 miles away to Birmingham, making Britain the only country in the EU to site its licensing body outside the capital.”
MPs’ Expenses: First The Poem, Now The Opera
“I am working on a comic opera, and who knows the set may have a few duck houses and moats in it,” said Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, a.k.a. Master of the Queen’s Music. “I may even invite a few MPs to the opening night. They will of course want free tickets, but be able to claim them on expenses for some fictitious fee. These people are a public disgrace and deserve to be publicly disgraced on stage.”
Dance Archives Are Helpful, But Balletic Tradition Is Crucial
“The choreographer Siobhan Davies has just announced that she is creating Britain’s first digital archive for dance, which will contain films, images, notes and texts relating to her work, dating back to 1977. It will be very useful, of course. But the most vital mode of transmission is human memory….”
FTC Trains Its Sights On Bloggers Who Write About Swag
“Many bloggers have accepted perks such as free laptops, trips to Europe, $500 gift cards or even thousands of dollars for a 200-word post. … The practice has grown to the degree that the Federal Trade Commission is paying attention. New guidelines, expected to be approved late this summer with possible modifications, would clarify that the agency can go after bloggers — as well as the companies that compensate them — for any false claims or failure to disclose conflicts of interest.”
Is There Room On NY Stages For Plays By Conservatives?
“There’s no shortage of shows about cultural and political issues in New York these days. … But wouldn’t it be novel if, every once in a while, a show did more than reaffirm what theater people know to be the absolute truth? Well, hold on to your WNYC tote bags. In the works are two plays written by — eek! — conservatives, although whether the Obama-mad New York theater establishment will ever produce them remains to be seen.”
Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Library Sees $6.1M Deficit By 2014
“As the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh continues to serve more and more people and to renovate its aging branches, it anticipates a sharp decline in government support, including a $1.6 million cut in 2010 with more to follow, library leaders warned yesterday.” The library’s board chair “predicted a $6.1 million budget deficit by 2014 in an economic climate of declining revenue and rising expenses.”
Season Pruned, Philly Chamber Orchestra Rumors Blossom
“Normally a rumor-free zone, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia is the focal point of speculation about its future existence amid the announcement of a dramatically curtailed season and questions about the continued presence of music director Ignat Solzhenitsyn. The surprisingly well-circulated Solzhenitsyn rumor appears, at this point, to be unfounded….”
Sherman Alexie Book-Ban Effort Fails In Suburban Illinois
“Despite objections from several parents who find its language vulgar and racist, an award-winning book will be kept on the summer reading list at Antioch High School while an alternative will be offered for those who request it, officials said Monday. The book, ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian’ by Sherman Alexie is a coming-of-age story about a 14-year-old boy who triumphs over obstacles after leaving an American Indian reservation to attend an all-white school.”
Banksy Mural, A Tourist Magnet, Suffers Paintball Attack
“One of Banksy’s best-loved Bristol murals has been targeted by vandals as fans continue to arrive in their droves for his exhibition just up the road. … In 2006 the city council asked the public whether they wanted the mural to stay or go – 93 per cent of respondents asked for it to remain.” That vote, a city councilor theorized in the wake of the defacement, may have “destroyed [Banksy’s] street cred.”