“Performances of the London stage version of the Lord of the Rings have been suspended after a cast member was injured during the show. One of the actors is believed to have caught his leg in the moving stage during an early scene. The individual was not one of the lead actors, but the show was halted and the audience offered refunds. Performances are due to resume on Saturday.”
Author: sbergman
Pittsburgh To Drop Unusual ‘Arts Tax’
The mayor of Pittsburgh has pledged to eliminate an unusual “amusement tax” on area arts groups next year. Many cities levy a tax on tickets to for-profit entertainments like sports and pop concerts, but extending such a tax to non-profit cultural groups is highly unusual. The elimination of the tax will save the city’s performing arts groups nearly half a million dollars per year.
Järvi Scores Paris Directorship
Paavo Järvi has been named music director of the Orchestre de Paris, succeeding Christoph Eschenbach, who steps aside in 2010. Järvi’s star has been rising considerably in recent years as music director of the Cincinnati Symphony, and he will begin work in Paris two years before the orchestra moves into its new 2,400-seat home.
The Cleveland Conundrum
The Cleveland Orchestra is one of the very best (some would say the best) ensembles in America, but things have not been fiscally healthy at Severance Hall for some time, and orchestra insiders are privately acknowledging that the city may not be large or wealthy enough to support a major orchestra without serious outside help. Seeking new residencies in other cities is part of the recovery plan, but it isn’t exactly going smoothly so far.
Griswold To Depart MIA For Morgan Library
In a surprising move first reported by AJ Blogger Tyler Green, Minneapolis Institute of Arts director William Griswold is stepping down after less than two years on the job to become director of New York’s prestigious Morgan Library. MIA opened a major expansion during Griswold’s brief tenure, and his departure means that Minneapolis’s two most prestigious museums (the Walker Art Center is the other) will be searching for new leadership simultaneously.
Blogging Your Way To A Book Contract
“Blooks – books based on blogs or websites – are beginning to reap returns for publishers… Whether blooks will really change the way in which publishers decide what we read is arguable – particularly since a narrow group of people has helped to put many bloggers into bookshops. But for all the noise made about blogging, the mark of success still seems to be a move into print.”
Bollywood Reaches Beyond India
Indian film has long had a presence at Cannes. But this year, two full days have been devoted to the world’s second biggest movie industry, and Bollywood is hoping that the attention it garners in the south of France will translate to new global success.
Bidding War Looking Likely For EMI
When a private equity firm offered £2.4bn to buy UK music giant EMI, the immediate question from most observers was whether previous EMI suitor Warner Music would submit its own offer, and if so, whether regulators on either side of the Atlantic would allow such a huge merger. Warner hasn’t officially decided whether to submit a bid, but a decidedly relaxed regulatory climate in Europe would seem to make such a move likely.
Collector Heinz Berggruen, 93
“Heinz Berggruen, who has died aged 93, was one of the most prominent German art collectors of the 20th century. A friend of Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Max Ernst and many other leading artists, he was also a journalist, author and art patron.”
Tate Embracing Teens In A Big Way (But Why?)
London’s Tate Modern is hosting a sleepover for 150 teenagers next week, “the start of a stupendous exercise in bringing together the behemoths of contemporary Britain, mass consultation and youth culture. It will be followed by simultaneous conferences this autumn, at the Tates Modern, Britain, Liverpool and St Ives, which they swear will be organised by the young ‘uns, with adults admitted only by invitation.”