Author: Laura Collins Hughes

Baltimore Theatre Project May Not Make It To Next Season

“The Baltimore Theatre Project is teetering even more on the brink than usual. Buffeted by the grim economy, an official at Baltimore’s premier venue for cutting-edge productions is hinting for the first time that the theater might be in danger of shutting its doors in the fall.” The company “always has lived hand-to-mouth, so even a relatively small drop in revenues has big consequences.”

Please Remain Calm. It’s Just A Concert-Hall Renovation.

“Could I throw a couple of glasses of cold water — not as much as a bucket, just a few handfuls, really — on all the euphoria about the new Alice Tully Hall? My problems with it aren’t major, and they’re not particularly musical: it sounds good, and the theater itself is beautiful to behold. But the reopening is being treated as if it were the arrival of another millennium, and I think people are getting carried away.”

Broadway’s IQ Is Rising, But (Fear Not) It’s All About Money

“The names on Broadway marquees this season read like homework for a seminar in high-flown dramaturgy. … Do producers think theatergoers have been given brain transplants? Not really. Broadway is just as cynical as it always was. In part, this wave of intellectualism is a reflection of the fact that tourist business is down.” It’s theatre for New Yorkers — and it comes without the expense of paying an orchestra or a living playwright.

In Auction Dispute, China Loses To YSL Estate

“The Yves Saint Laurent estate can go ahead with the sale of two Qing Dynasty bronze sculptures on Feb. 25, a Paris court ruled today. China’s government had urged the estate of the late French fashion designer to return the bronzes being auctioned by Christie’s International in Paris. … The two animal heads — a rabbit and a rat — were severed from a water fountain at Beijing’s Imperial Summer Palace when British and French troops plundered and burned the palace in October 1860.”

The Pet Shop Boys’ Latest Project: A Ballet

“The Pet Shop Boys are working on a ballet featuring ‘electronics and strings’ to be staged at Sadler’s Wells, Neil Tennant has revealed. The singer told Radio 2 presenter Stuart Maconie that the piece, based on a Hans Christian Andersen story, could open at the London theatre in 2011. He and keyboardist Chris Lowe were composing an original score, he said.”

Regretting Withdrawal, Atwood May Video-Link To Dubai

“After pulling out of the Dubai literature festival last week, Margaret Atwood is now hoping to take part in a debate on censorship to be hosted at the festival via video link-up. … Atwood, a vice president of International PEN, withdrew from the festival after learning that [Geraldine Bedell’s novel, ‘The Gulf Between Us,’] which features a gay sheikh, had apparently been blacklisted by festival organisers.” But appearances were deceiving.

Death Threats Force Heavy Security For Play’s Opening

“Police are to guard tonight’s Vienna premiere of a controversial stage comedy inspired by the saga of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who imprisoned and abused his daughter, after protests and appeals for it to be banned. Hubsi Kramar, the production’s director and star, has been forced to change its title from Pension Fritzl – a Cellar Soap to Pension F because of the outcry. Tickets for tonight’s opening have sold out.”

With Shades of Bentham, David Rockwell Redesigns Oscars

“The slim credit that flashed by at the end of the broadcast — ‘Production Designer: David Rockwell’ — hardly hinted at the deep, sometimes very odd architectural symbolism that piled up during Sunday night’s Academy Awards. … Complicating matters was the fact that Rockwell designed the existing stage setup — and the rest of the Kodak Theatre.”