“So far, only two of the four top-nominated shows” – Kinky Boots and Pippin have seen an uptick in ticket sales,” with Matilda‘s receipts actually dipping slightly. (On the other hand, Bette Midler’s one-woman show I’ll Eat You Last, snubbed by Tony, saw a 17% increase in income.)
Author: Matthew Westphal
Abu Dhabi Angry Over Unspent €25m Gift To Louvre
A letter sent last year by the emirate’s top cultural and tourism official to the Louvre’s director reveals that “the museum has, since 2007, been sitting on €25m, which the Gulf state paid the Louvre for spaces on one floor of its Pavillon de Flore … to be opened to the public and named in honour of … the founder of the United Arab Emirates.”
Royal Ballet Runaway Sergei Polunin Complains Of ‘British Mafia’
“The British paid for their houses with Nureyev and made their careers out of him. But, when he was past his best, they simply threw him out. … They get rid of everyone: It’s a kind of British mafia. So I thought that, in a few years’ time, someone young would come along – someone who was easier to manage and who didn’t need to be paid as much.”
Don’t You Dare Call Us The Happiest Town, Says Sag Harbor, NY
“The cause of distress: a national magazine, Coastal Living, named Sag Harbor as a finalist in a contest to crown ‘America’s happiest seaside town’.” Says one longtime resident, “Is Sag Harbor a happy place? No, Sag Harbor is not about happy.” (Note: The town that ended up winning the title just elected Mark “Hiking the Appalachian Trail” Sanford to Congress.)
The Very Hollywood Rehabilitation Of Robert Downey Jr.
“For nearly a decade, from the mid-’90s until the early 2000s, Downey was the biggest disaster in Hollywood – excruciating to watch because he had so much potential on screen and was such a mess in life. … Now Downey is the biggest film star on Earth. Last year, he earned $50 million just for his appearance in The Avengers – and he isn’t shy about admitting that the size of the paycheck is a major motivation.”
Translators Of Dan Brown’s Inferno Confined In Underground Bunker
simultaneously that they hired 11 translators from France, Spain, Germany, Brazil and Italy to translate it intensively between February and April 2012. The translators are said to have worked seven days a week until at least 8pm, in a windowless, high-security basement.”
Helen Mirren Wants To Make Up With Youths She Yelled At Outside Theatre
“I would love to track them down and invite them to see the play. I felt rotten but on the other hand they were destroying our performance so something had to be done.”
Turning Buffalo’s Grain Elevators Into Luminous Public Art
“The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation just rolled out a four-stage plan to illuminate the grain elevators along the city’s waterfront. It’s an attempt to attract more visitors and, perhaps more importantly, to put to rest the negative association grain elevators have with Buffalo’s economic decline.”
How Good An Investment Is British Arts Funding? This Good
“Arts and culture delivers a significant return on relatively small levels of government spending and directly leads to at least £856m of spending by tourists in the UK, according to a new report seeking to analyse the value of the arts to the modern economy.”
How Much Have This Year’s Pulitzer Prizes Helped Book Sales?
“Two weeks after the 2013 Pulitzers were announced, all five winning books have, in fact, seen an increase in sales. The numbers, however, are woefully underwhelming.”