“As liberals around the world leap up and down with joy at the inauguration of Barack Obama, theatre-makers also have cause to celebrate: they can go back to making interesting political theatre. For the last eight years, seemingly everyone involved in making theatre has so violently disagreed with George Bush that it’s made for some very tedious work. (Yes, that includes Stuff Happens.)”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Full Speed Ahead For BAM: A $300M Expansion Campaign
“Even as cultural organizations across the city are contracting in a grim economic climate, the Brooklyn Academy of Music has embarked on a $300 million expansion effort that calls for a new theater, three or four spaces for screening films, new festivals for opera and Muslim culture and a shored-up endowment, officials say.”
All The World’s A Stage, And All The … Line!
“‘How do you remember your words?’ is one of the most commonly asked questions of actors, and it’s one that we’re generally reluctant to answer. The truth is, we don’t really know. It’s an act of faith, and if it’s all the same to you, we’d rather not think about it.”
Poetry At The Inauguration: What Will It Say To Us?
“Poetry is the least flashy of art forms, and rarely gets to sit centre stage. However, tomorrow … Elizabeth Alexander, a professor of African-American studies at Yale, will take to the stage and recite a poem after President Obama gives his inaugural speech. At that point in the proceedings, people may be desperate for a break, but I suggest we all pay attention.”
Australian Novelist Gets 3 Years For Insulting Thai Royalty
“Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in a Thai jail for insulting the monarchy. Nicolaides wrote a novel four years ago, which contained a brief passage referring to an unnamed crown prince. It sold just seven copies. He admitted the charge of insulting the royal family, but said he was unaware he was committing an offence.”
Why NT Broadcasts Make Perfect Sense For The Provinces
“The main reason I don’t see more opera or theatre in London, let alone New York, is the cost. … But £10 sounds a lot more like it.” That’s the price of a play in the National Theatre’s NT Live program, which will bring theatre to regional cinemas — and isn’t likely to threaten regional theatres in the process.
Putin Painting Fetches $1.14M (At Least It Was For Charity)
“Vladimir Putin’s first painting fetched 37 million rubles ($1.14 million) at a charity auction in his native St. Petersburg last night. The Russian prime minister’s picture of a frosty window made the highest price of 30 works on offer.”
Schwartz Bookshops, A Milwaukee Institution, To Close
“After 82 years in business, Milwaukee’s iconic Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops is shuttering its four bookstores, succumbing to the economic downturn and technological changes that are redrawing how people read and shop for books.”
George Steel’s First Task: Stabilize The Patient
“The City Opera has been plagued with woes: a failed search for a new home downtown, the disastrously brief tenure of the company’s last director, Gerard Mortier, and an entire season in the dark while its future home — the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center — is being renovated. Whatever else we hope for from Mr. Steel, we hope for stability first.”
Cerny Promises To Return Govt. Money For Sculpture
“David Cerny vowed yesterday to hand back all the public money he received for his EU sculpture although he was vague about the bulk £350,000 purse he was attempting to raise from private donors. Mr Cerny, 41, apologised for hoodwinking his government and said that he would not take the 50,000 Euros which the Czech Government agreed to pay to rent the sculpture for six months.”