The once-struggling English National Opera, feeling confident after posting a £1m budget surplus, is planning a whopping ten new productions next season. “Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami and actor Fiona Shaw are to make their… directorial debuts, in a new season that will seek to refresh the artform by bringing in fresh names from outside the opera world.”
Author: sbergman
Panter Looking To Remake Australia’s Theatre Scene
“English theatre producer Howard Panter has arrived in Australia with seismic force. While few people even among show business professionals knew his name at the start of the year, he has since unveiled plans likely to change the face of the industry.”
New Ontario Summer Festival Won’t Come Cheap
The plan to create a summer home in Southern Ontario for the Toronto Symphony and National Arts Centre Orchestra will require at least CAN$20m in road and sewer improvements for the proposed site. “The target site is a 300-acre lakefront property that formerly housed a tank training area and rifle and artillery range.”
Another Classical Critic Bought Out
Melinda Bargreen, who has served as classical music critic at the Seattle Times for more than three decades, has accepted a buyout offer. Her position will go unfilled, as the Times becomes the latest daily paper to eliminate the position of full-time critic in favor of freelance reviews.
Arts & Culture As “Soft Power”
Actress Cate Blanchett says that her home country has “an opportunity to put creativity and the arts back into the centre of Australian life here and abroad. This is how a middle power can exercise its soft power in a positive and stimulating way — that shows the world that we are much more than the cliched images that come readily to mind.”
Prof Accused Of Trying To Profit From Nazi Art Find
A professor renowned for his work in returning Nazi-looted art to its rightful owners has abruptly resigned from an important post at Claremont McKenna College after being accused of trying to extort a cash payment in exchange for locating a looted Pissarro painting. The professor is denying any wrongdoing.
Diddy’s Extreme Theatrical Makeover
To those not enamored of rap music, Sean Combs (aka Puff Daddy, Puffy, P Diddy, etc.) is often seen as a punchline. But Combs has lately caught the serious acting bug, and he’s doing whatever he can to establish credibility on the legitimate stage.
LA Talent Agencies Jockey For Position
There’s a bit of a shakeup going on behind the scenes in Hollywood, as talent agencies juggle and swap some top talent. “In the last few weeks, the swaps have grown so frequent and significant that many in the industry have been startled by all the big moves, which some say are a reaction to an overall contraction in the movie business.”
Looking To Tone Down The Offstage Drama
“Opera Cleveland’s first season last year was as operatic offstage as on. Revolving-door syndrome struck early; the new company said goodbye to recently arrived artistic and executive directors and its principal conductor. Staff was cut almost in half. Tensions often ran high on the board.” So what will it take for the fledgling company to settle down and create a sustainable business model?
Toronto Turning Its Cultural Model Around
“For years it has been a frustration that in Quebec, culture is sacrosanct and supported with huge subsidies but here it gets shrugged off as expendable, turning Toronto arts leaders into beggars grateful for every dime of underfunding. Now something wonderful has happened. Ontario has a government that understands culture can help create a great society and make Toronto one of the world’s beacons.”