“Ballet British Columbia has sold enough tickets to The Nutcracker to keep its head above water – but now it says it needs $200,000[Can] more to survive into the new year.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
It’s Star Wars – The Musical!
“Not content with seven feature films or myriad TV spinoffs ranging from the current Clone Wars cartoon series to the dreaded Star Wars Holiday Special, the Jedi masterminds are readying a stage show.” Star Wars: A Musical Journey, opening in April at London’s O2 arena, will feature narration by actors, clips from all six films and the Royal Philharmonic playing John Williams’s score.
WashPost, Sun To Share Content
“The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun – longtime rivals for influence and readers in and outside the Beltway – announced Tuesday they will soon share news and sports stories as well as photos.”
Jürgen Flimm To Take Over Berlin Staatsoper in 2010
“German director Juergen Flimm leaves the prestigious Salzburg Festival to become the new general manager of Berlin’s famed Staatsoper. He’ll face two obstacles: a cash-strapped German capital and Daniel Barenboim.”
From The Makers Of Stomp, A Harry Partch Show
The Lost and Found Orchestra has a bigger cast than its popular, percussive predecessor, and more pitches as well (if not a whole lot of actual melody). But, like Stomp, the new show combines homemade instruments (made from traffic cones, filing cabinet drawers, woks and such) with finely synchronized movement to make grunge into high spectacle.
Ontario Orchestra’s Crisis Was A Long Time Coming
“Orchestra London’s brush with bankruptcy has been years in the works, its near demise the result of spending that surged way ahead of revenue.”
Atlanta Ballet Regained Its Orchestra – For All The Good It Did
“For two humiliating years, the Atlanta Ballet couldn’t afford an orchestra, and the dance company suffered public scorn, a freeze in artistic quality and a slight erosion in ticket sales. When two donors gave a $250,000 gift in September and brought musicians back to the pit, the arts community cheered. But it had zero effect on tickets.”
Could The Financial Crash Be Good For Art?
“In politics [in 2008] the old order was voted out. In the art world money is running out. Auctions are iffy. Galleries are closing. Museums are in slash-back mode. So 2009 could be 1989 all over again. Important to remember: The last crash opened the art world’s tightly guarded gates to a wave of upstart talent and radical new ways of thinking. That was great. It could happen again.”
Is The Best New Dance Passing New York By?
“New York is where most of the world’s best choreography is still created but too seldom where it is seen.”
Classical Music’s Most [Fill In The Blank] Of 2008
They’re not the best or the worst, necessarily, but Dan Wakin has compiled a list of other musical superlatives in 2008: Longest Road Trip (NY Phil in Pyongyang), Biggest Tumble (Alberto Vilar), Most Execrable Timing (the Juilliard Quartet’s new first violinist, who broke his wrist just days after getting the gig), and so on.