“Many a critical stone has been cast since it opened last year, but this week the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum got a very big boost when Condé Nast Traveler magazine named architect Daniel Libeskind’s controversial creation one of the ‘new seven wonders of the world.'”
Author: sbergman
Toronto Equity Theatre Shuts Down
“A cash flow crisis has forced the closure of [Toronto’s] Equity Showcase Theatre after 47 years of serving the theatre community. Founded in 1960… it was created to keep actors in the game when performing jobs were hard to come by.”
Standing Up (Loudly) For The Music Consumer
“Bloviating about the [music] industry’s shortcomings is Bob Lefsetz’s shtick. It’s made him famous, and infamous, as the sharply opinionated author of the widely read Lefsetz Letter, which has become a viral sensation… Yet his acumen draws readers who include some of the most powerful figures in the music business.”
Jetty Features In Spiraling Debate On Art & Commerce
Robert Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty” on Utah’s Great Salt Lake is one of the best-known pieces of public art in America. But “a fierce debate, with equal parts art, environmentalism and economics, has erupted over a plan by the state to allow oil drilling about five miles across the lake.”
A Classic Hollywood Breakup In The Offing?
DreamWorks and Paramount, which merged in 2005, may be on the verge of splitting again. But it could be a seriously messy divorce…
Time For A New Urban Planning Formula In NY
Has New York lost its ability to plan and execute large-scale development properly? Three current major projects in Manhattan point up the “overblown scale and reliance on tired urban planning formulas [that] should force a serious reappraisal of the public-private partnerships that shape development in the city today.”
The Alvin Ailey Barbie Doll?
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is turning 50 this year, and the company’s namesake will be getting his name on a Manhattan street as part of the celebration. In all, the company will spend 18 months commemorating the anniversary, with “performances, a video installation and even the release of a Barbie doll.”
Dodging Bombs, Bullets On The Way To Rehearsal
For Iraq’s National Symphony Orchestra, keeping its concerts free of terrorist attacks (accomplished by not telling very many people about them) is only one of many challenges. Even finding a venue the ensemble can perform in, and once such a place is secured, some musicians may not make it if getting there means having to travel through unsafe areas of Baghdad.
England’s Revitalizing Composer
Harrison Birtwhistle is one of the UK’s most influential and underappreciated composers, says Norman Lebrecht. “Birtwistle has a knack, almost unique among composers, of retuning our ears to the world… Not that everyone appreciates his onslaughts.”
Consultants Told Shreveport To Slash Musician Costs
Talks are continuing between the musicians of Louisiana’s Shreveport Symphony and their management, which wants to slash salaries 75% and convert the musicians to part-time per-service players. Meanwhile, it has emerged that the symphony’s board decided the cuts were necessary after hearing reports from two industry consultants who considered the orchestra’s current model unsustainable.