“Broadway- and West End-style musicals have gained ground in Gaul, expanding the fledgling market for French tuners with live musicians and a genuine dramatic arc. French producers Dove Attia and Albert Cohen’s $10 million operatic rock musical ‘Mozart,’ skedded for a September bow, epitomizes this relatively new trend.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Report Card: Kids’ Arts Education In U.S. Not Exactly Stellar
“Music and art instruction in American eighth-grade classrooms has remained flat over the last decade, according to a new survey by the Department of Education, and one official involved in the survey called student achievement in those subjects ‘mediocre.’ The survey, released on Monday, was conducted as part of a nationwide test of music and arts achievement administered last year.”
NEA: Audiences Shrinking Even In Diehard Demographic
“Audiences for the arts in the U.S. continue to decline and age at significant rates, according to a report released Monday by the National Endowment for the Arts. But the Internet holds out hope, as more people are going online to experience culture. … Surprisingly, the largest drop in arts consumption comes from people ages 45 to 54, which has traditionally been the most dependable group of arts participants.”
Not Just The Arena: Gehry Dismissed From Atlantic Yards
“Atlantic Yards is really through with Frank Gehry. An award-winning architect, Mr. Gehry will not be designing any of the 17 buildings planned for the 22-acre development in Brooklyn on which he has labored for the past six years, a spokesman for the architect confirmed Wednesday. … His designs just cost too much, the developer said.”
Milwaukee Rep Names Dawn Helsing Managing Director
“The Milwaukee Repertory Theater has chosen Dawn J. Helsing, most recently the executive director of Chicago’s Court Theatre, to be its managing director. She replaces Timothy J. Shields, who left in December after 10 years in the position.” Helsing “was executive director of the Court Theatre for nearly four years before resigning in January to work as a consultant with Chicago’s smaller theaters.”
Washington State University To Cut Theatre & Dance Dept.
“The Washington State University Department of Theater and Dance will not survive the budget ax by merging with the University of Idaho program in nearby Moscow. WSU Provost and Executive Vice President Warwick Bayly said Tuesday the department, which has 105 students and was listed for elimination in a preliminary budget last month, will be cut.”
Martha’s Vineyard’s Bunch Of Grapes Makes A Comeback
“After being gutted by a fire last year on the Fourth of July, Bunch of Grapes Bookstore is scheduled to reopen with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday morning at the Main Street location in Vineyard Haven, Mass., that has been home to a bookstore on Martha’s Vineyard for the past 45 years.”
In The Basement Of The Frick, A Bowling Alley Lies Idle
“Every now and then in New York City, you will come across a thing so perfectly useless it reminds you of an old idea you managed to forget: Superfluous things are often beautiful, and beautiful things are generally superfluous in the end.” One such useless thing is “the century-old bowling alley in the basement of the Frick Collection, the mansion/museum on Fifth Avenue that houses an amazing array of European art.”
House Subcommittee Okays Increases For NEA, NEH
“The House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior has approved a bill that sets the annual budgets for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities at $170 million each for the 2010 fiscal year. The current appropriation for these agencies is $155 million each and President Obama had requested an increase to $161 million.”
Nobuyuki Tsujii’s Albums Have Shot Up Charts In Japan
“Albums by a blind Japanese pianist have surged up the country’s online charts since he won a prestigious US award at the weekend, online retailer Amazon Japan said Wednesday. Nobuyuki Tsujii, who is 20 years old and has been blind since birth, on Sunday became the first Asian and the first blind pianist to win the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas.”