“A Swansea-based Russian ballet company has stopped touring, blaming changes to the UK’s work permit and visa system. Six principal dancers with Ballet Russe have been unable to return to Wales since the start of the year. Ballet Russe said it had been forced to cancel a tour and would have to borrow UK-based dancers for two autumn shows.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Charles McNulty Gives His Tony Predictions
And, when those predictions chafe, the critic states the outcome he’d prefer, such as this one in the best-play category: “‘God of Carnage’ will vanquish its competition, but a sentimental appreciation for the late [Horton] Foote would have had me cast my vote for the timely ‘Dividing the Estate’ in what is undeniably a weak category this year.”
Dancer, Harpist Among Victims Of Air France Crash
“As recovery efforts continued after Sunday night’s crash of Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil’s northeast coast, in which 228 people are feared dead, two more artists were named among the probable victims.” They are Eithne Walls, a former member of Riverdance, and Turkish classical harpist Fatma Ceren Necipoglu.
For Music Industry, YouTube Takes On MTV’s Old Role
“YouTube is becoming increasingly important to the music business. In fact, some industry professionals say it has become the MTV of the digital generation. In the old days, new bands created buzz by playing clubs and getting on local radio. Today, record labels often gauge a new band’s popularity by looking on YouTube” and promote their own bands on the site.
Taking Page From Past, Russia Targets Artistic Freedom
“A Moscow museum director and a prominent curator seeking to protest Russia’s renewed censorship could face up to five years in prison in a criminal case that international human rights groups say targets freedom of expression in Russia. They are charged with inciting hatred and offending human dignity. … The ongoing trial at Moscow’s Taganka district court seems straight from Russia’s Soviet past.”
Audiences, Not Young Audiences, Are Classical’s Holy Grail
“[W]e need to stop fixating on the young audience and focus on reaching an audience, period. … So how do you reach a bigger audience, period? What can you do to make people realize that this kind of music is exciting, interesting, fun? No one has the whole answer to this; a lot of people are working on it. But I think this is the question to be asking.”
What Happened To House Star’s White House Gig?
“‘House’ star Kal Penn’s much-heralded road from the Fox series to the White House seems to have hit a pothole, or at least taken a turn into a cul-de-sac. Despite announcing in mid-April that Penn’s character had been killed off so he could accept a position as an Associate Director at the White House Office of Public Liaison, the actor, who was an early Obama supporter, has … no official start date with the Obama administration.”
Pinault’s Venice Museum: Contemporary Art Meets 17th C.
“French billionaire Francois Pinault has dramatically extended his Venetian empire of contemporary art this week, and given the city a new museum. Pinault’s foundation has taken over one of the most prominent buildings in Venice: the old customs house, or Punta della Dogana, just across the water from Piazza San Marco. Pinault … becomes by far the biggest contemporary-art presence in the hometown of Titian and Giorgione.”
Yale Sued By Purported Heir To Night Café Owner
“Yale University was sued by a man who says he’s the descendant of the former owner of a Van Gogh painting that was unlawfully seized during the Communist takeover of Russia in 1918 and rightfully belongs to him. … The painting, ‘The Night Café,’ was later sold to galleries in Europe and New York and eventually bequeathed to Yale in 1961, according to court papers filed May 21 in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut.”
Boldface Friends Urge Judge To Be Lenient With Drabinsky
“Broadway musical director Hal Prince, Stratford veteran Martha Henry and New York novelist E.L. Doctorow are among the stars who have written letters praising Garth Drabinsky in a bid to secure leniency for the convicted theatre impresario, the Star has learned. The letters will be presented to Superior Court Justice Mary Lou Benotto, possibly tomorrow when sentencing court sessions are scheduled to begin.”