Attendance is up at both of Southern Ontario’s major summer theatre festivals. “The crowds are happy and the ever-strengthening loonie doesn’t seem to be keeping Americans away. This comes as a particular relief to the Shaw Festival, which was facing a bleak outlook at the season’s start.”
Author: sbergman
The Newfound Power Of The Video Assist
“Once a novelty, book videos are increasingly common and, publishers say, essential. Hyperion Books, HarperCollins and Penguin Group (USA) are among those using them. Powell’s Books, a leading independent store based in Portland, Ore., plans its own series of films.”
Chinese Upset By Stereotypical Pirate
Chinese censors have cut about ten minutes out of the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie, claiming that a character played by Chow-Yun Fat is overly stereotypical and insulting to Chinese people. Still, “the film took in a record $1.3-million (U.S.) on its opening day in China on Tuesday.”
How Do You Tell Your Conductor He’s A Workaholic?
A lot of eyebrows were raised when Valery Gergiev was appointed chief conductor of the London Symphony, not because Gergiev isn’t qualified for the post (he obviously is,) but because he is already known as one of the hardest working conductors in the business, and wouldn’t seem to have time to spend more than ten weeks a year in London. Anthony Tommassini says that his first few months on the job have done nothing to assuage fears that Gergiev is simply too busy for his (and his orchestras’) own good.
Boyett Expanding His Mini-Empire
“The Menier Chocolate Factory, a plucky 3 ½-year-old theater company that has become the critic’s darling of the Off West End scene in London, has signed a three-year deal with the producer, Bob Boyett, giving him first rights to transfer shows to Broadway.” Boyett already has a similar deal in place with London’s National Theatre.
When Is A Radio Station Not Just A Commodity?
Three years after Minnesota’s St. Olaf College, operator of the oldest listener-supported radio station in the US, sold its classical broadcast operation to public radio behemoth Minnesota Public Radio (which promptly converted it to a pop music format,) the school is still feeling the wrath of longtime supporters who claim that the sale was illegal. Now, a lawsuit has been filed, and a judge may rule that WCAL-FM (now KCMP) was a charitable trust that the college had no right to sell without consulting its trustees.
Charleston Symphony Back On Firm Ground
At the beginning of the 2006-07 season, the Charleston Symphony announced that it might not make it to season’s end without $500,000 in new funding from private donors. But the deathwatch was premature – the half million dollar goal will likely be exceeded by the end of the month, and the CSO will finish its year entirely in the black. “Symphony officials say the group also has improved its strategic planning efforts and is working on long-range plans that will help it maintain more solid financial footing in the future.”
Pittsburgh Taps Slatkin For Principal Guest
Months after naming Manfred Honeck as its next music director, the Pittsburgh Symphony has chosen outgoing National Symphony director Leonard Slatkin as principal guest conductor, beginning this fall. Slatkin replaces Yan Pascal Tortelier in the role.
A Little Groveling Never Hurt Anyone
Supporters of the Dallas Symphony rallied around their band in a year-end fundraising campaign that turned a projected $700,000 deficit into the orchestra’s fourth balanced budget in a row. The DSO worked hard for the money, even making unusual appeals from the stage for donations near the end of the season.
MN Opera Still In The Black
Minnesota Opera has announced that it will finish the season with a balanced budget for the fourth year in a row. It was a banner year for the small company, as it garnered national attention for its world premiere of the new operatic version of The Grapes of Wrath, and recorded a live version of the production for release later this year.