“I probably wouldn’t throw down any money – even just a fiver – to read a couple issues of some magazine before moving on to another one… People tend to be loyal to their magazines, often subscribing for years and sometimes keeping the back issues in their library (think of all those National Geographics that you’ve seen at yard sales), and aren’t really all that interested in swapping issues around every month or two.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Making Cav / Pag Vital Again
“If the term verismo in opera really does mean “realism” and “truth”, then [director Richard] Jones’s unflinching directness is long overdue… For once, the pay-off line – ‘The comedy is over” – is no laughing matter.”
Columbus Symphony Rescues Itself With New Contract, Salary Cuts
The new agreement keeps 53 full-time musicians but cuts their pay (as well as administrative costs) and shortening the season.
Board president: “We can go to bed tonight relived that we have a symphony orchestra.”
Union official: “I don’t think there will be any parties tonight… This is not a win-win; it’s a survival issue at best.”
How to Write a Theatre or Film Script (Yes, the Secret’s Out)
A West End director, a film producer and the associate director of the Royal Court Theatre explain it all for you , from plotting to dialogue to visuals to getting your manuscript read. (And thousands of frustrated writers wonder why they didn’t share this info until now.)
The art of producing
Everyone remembers the Beatles. Anyone remember their producer? Producers are blamed when they flop, forgotten when they score. A new Encyclopedia of Record Producers reveals the producer’s life. – The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
Elliott Carter’s first opera (about an auto wreck)
It premiered in Berlin this week and the audience went wild. Unfortunately, that would not be the reaction back home, says the Washington Post critic. – The Washington Post
THE COMICS AREN’T LAUGHING
More than 100 comedians have signed a letter of protest to the BET cable network complaining about the way they’re treated by the network’s Comic View show. Backstage
Busted: Digital piracy is big business.
Sony and Electronic Arts are trying to fight back, alleging a group of Bay Area residents were part of international video game piracy ring. San Francisco Weekly
Why digital film making is taking over
Work that used to cost $500 an hour in a post-production facility could be done at home on a Macintosh,” says one proud producer at last week’s ResFest digital film festival in San Francisco. San Francisco Gate
THREE MILLION PEOPLE DISPLACED, MAJOR DESTRUCTION LOOMING
What’s it all mean? Ratings, that’s what. The Weather Channel scored all time records, and – inexplicably – “Martha Stewart Living” got ten times its usual audience in Miami. Variety