“[A]fter months of speculation, [Matthew] Jocelyn has taken the perennially controversial artistic reins at the Canadian Stage Company, the biggest of Toronto’s not-for-profit theatres. He replaces Marty Bragg, who had been with the company for 17 years in total, 11 in the now-defunct role of artistic producer; Jocelyn holds the new title of artistic and general director.” A Toronto native, Jocelyn “has spent almost the entirety of his career working outside the country.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Canadian Arts Groups Want Tax On ISPs To Fund Content
“Canadian arts groups say the time has come to protect homegrown content by making Internet distributors obey the same rules applied to radio and television broadcasters.” The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission “exempted new media from regulation in 1999, when few households had access to high-speed Internet connections and in 2007 it also gave a free pass to content broadcast to mobile devices.”
The Airport Was Evacuated; The Bike Was Not A Pipe Bomb
“The problem with naming punk bands after terrorist bomb threats is that sometimes people take those threats seriously. Memphis International Airport was partly evacuated on Monday, after a visitor’s bicycle was spotted bearing the sticker of a folk-punk band. The name of that band? This Bike is a Pipe Bomb.”
Caryl Churchill’s Gaza Play Is Labeled Anti-Semitic
“A fine old row is developing over whether Seven Jewish Children, Caryl Churchill’s eight-minute play provoked by the recent conflict in Gaza, is antisemitic. The work, now playing at London’s Royal Court, involves seven brief scenes, in which Israeli adults discuss how to explain moments in Israeli history to seven children. The last, about Gaza, includes the line: ‘Don’t tell her about the dead babies.'”
Atwood, In Protest, Withdraws From Dubai Festival
“Margaret Atwood has pulled out of the inauguraul Emirates Airline international festival of literature in the wake of a novelist being blacklisted for potential offence to ‘cultural sensitivities’. Other authors due to appear at the festival, including bestselling children’s authors Anthony Horowitz and Lauren Child, are now also reconsidering whether to attend.”
Florida Grand Opera Won’t Renew Music Director’s Contract
“Mounting financial pressure from the withering economy is taking a further toll on the Florida Grand Opera, whose administrators said this week that they will not renew the contract for Stewart Robertson, FGO music director since 1998 and conductor of more than 40 of the group’s productions. Robertson’s contract expires in May 2010….”
In Deal, Radio Stations Pay Lower Fees To Stream Music
“Radio stations will pay lower fees through 2010 to recording artists and labels for streaming music on the Internet under an agreement with the organization that collects royalties. The deal between SoundExchange and the National Association of Broadcasters, announced yesterday, replaces government-set rates called too high by providers of music over the Internet.”
Reinharz Critics: Rose Museum Debacle Part Of A Pattern
Brandeis University President Jehuda Reinharz “finds himself in the eye of the storm as he tries to steer Brandeis out of a financial crisis. His bungled announcement of a plan to close the Rose Art Museum – and subsequent backpedaling – have stirred anger among many faculty members and shaken their confidence in his leadership.”
Engineering A More Connected Smithsonian
The Smithsonian Institution’s new secretary, Wayne Clough, “took the helm in the wake of a raging controversy. His predecessor, Lawrence M. Small, resigned in March 2007 amid charges of flagrant spending and irresponsible management. Then came the most serious economic downturn since the Great Depression. But Clough (pronounced cluff) seems to have found a comfort zone at the 163-year-old institution.”
Where Rent Was Canceled, Charlie Brown Steps In
The drama teacher at an Orange County, Calif., high school says the principal nixed “Rent” due to gay content; the principal says she asked only to review the script. “Now, amid growing backlash and consternation from some students and members of the gay community, the actors at Corona del Mar High are grudgingly preparing for a very different show: ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.'”