“[Salt Lake County’s] Zoo, Arts and Parks (ZAP) program will fund more groups than ever this year with $2.2 million split among 183 organizations … [Program director Kristen] Darrington said the growing applicant pool for Tier II, up from 156 in 2016 and 171 last year, is a ‘really good problem to have.’ It reflects the increased sophistication of small arts programs and demand for cultural programming across the county.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Broadway Roulette: You Can Get Cheap Advance Tickets To A Show, But They Won’t Tell You Which One
Liz Durand Streisand’s online platform — which is, in fact, called Broadway Roulette — is basically the Hotwire of theatre: producers, like airlines, may be willing to release discount tickets in order to sell seats, but they don’t want the whole world to know that they’re resorting to cutting prices. So the customer will specify a date and order tickets, but the actual show will be a surprise.
For The First Time, The Frick Collection Will Put New Artwork In Its Permanent Galleries
“The Frick Collection in New York will have its first-ever intervention by a contemporary artist in its permanent collection galleries next May, when the UK artist and writer Edmund de Waal will install site-specific porcelain works.”
After Mysterious Backstage Episode, Former Florida Grand Opera Boss Withdraws From New San Diego Job And Stays In Miami
The La Jolla Music Society, which presents touring classical and dance artists in metro San Diego, announced in late July that Florida Grand Opera executive director Susan T. Danis would become the Society’s CEO and lead its move into a new venue. Seven weeks later, following a “defamatory letter” about Danis that was sent to the La Jolla board, and later retracted, by a former FGO staffer, the vindicated Danis decided nevertheless to give up the job in La Jolla and remain at FGO. George Varga explains (as far as possible).
David DiChiera, Founder Of Michigan Opera Theatre And Key Figure In Revival Of Downtown Detroit, Dead At 83
“DiChiera was small of stature and surprisingly soft-spoken for a man who came to have such an enormous impact on Detroit’s cultural landscape. Indeed, the word people used most often to describe him was ‘kind,’ followed quickly by more grandiose words like ‘visionary,’ ‘groundbreaker’ and ‘risk-taker.’ He was all that and more.”
Boston Symphony Forced To Improvise Ending Of Its European Tour (Damn Airplanes!)
On Monday, the orchestra was at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris, waiting to depart for that evening’s concert in Amsterdam, the final performance of the tour — only to find out that their chartered aircraft had mechanical problems and could not fly. No trains or buses were available for all 110 musicians (not counting staff and patrons) to get to Amsterdam in time: the only option was a 76-seat propeller plane. 76 musicians are not enough to perform Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony, the main work on the program. Zoë Madonna reports on what happened next.
David Adjaye Will Design Princeton’s New Art Museum
“This is the latest major commission for the Ghanian-British architect who has completed a bunch of high profile projects for civic and cultural institutions over the years; most notably, the acclaimed Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. He is currently overseeing a number of museum designs including the new home for the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art in Riga.”
Annette Michelson, 95, Pioneering Film And Art Critic
“It is difficult to overstate the many ways in which Michelson contributed to both the film and the art worlds. She was among the first to teach at New York University’s Cinema Studies department, which was among the first of its kind in the United States. And, with Rosalind Krauss, in 1976, she cofounded the journal October, which spurred on a widespread interest in critical theory — in particular the writings of French post-structuralists like Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida — within the New York art world of the 1970s and ’80s.”
Toledo Symphony And Toledo Ballet To Merge
“The Toledo Symphony and Toledo Ballet Association will merge the two organizations to create the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts or TAPA … The new partnership will create an umbrella organization under which the two will serve as equal partners in a three-prong relationship that will also include an education component for the community.”
In Troubled Iran, Audiences Are Packing Movie Theatres, Looking For Comic Relief
“Iranians are flocking to the cinema in record numbers, attracted by relatively affordable ticket prices and a slew of mood-lifting new comedies.” One director compares the current Iranian movie boom to the screwball comedies popular in the U.S during the Great Depression: “The reason why people are flocking to watch comedies is because they’re so depressed.”