Scottish Opera has unveiled its new season, and that in itself has to be considered an accomplishment, considering the turmoil the company has been in over the past two years. “Scottish Opera ceased full-scale opera productions for nearly a year and lost its permanent chorus in a major restructuring to pay off its debts,” but its new director says that it should be smooth sailing for the foreseeable future.
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Art For Free
Baltimore’s two largest art museums are scrapping their admission fees, an initiative made possible by a major grant from city and county governments. “The new policy, modeled on that of several other museums nationwide, including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Cincinnati Art Museum, is aimed at boosting attendance, increasing visitor diversity and raising the city’s profile as a tourist destination.”
Sort Of A $3 Million Cherry On Top Of A $50 Million Sundae
Just in time for the unveiling of its new $50 million expansion, the Minneapolis Insitute of Arts has acquired a pricey new piece for its collection. “The Louis XV-era painting Comtesse d’Egmont Pignatelli in Spanish Costume by Alexander Roslin was bought from the New York gallery Wildenstein & Co.” for $3 million, making it the most expensive work acquired by the MIA in nearly a decade.
Moore Accused Of Manipulating Sound Bites
“A veteran who lost both arms in the war in Iraq is suing filmmaker Michael Moore for $85-million, alleging that Moore used snippets of a television interview without his permission to falsely portray him as anti-war in Fahrenheit 9/11… He claims in his lawsuit that the way Moore used the film clip makes him appear to ‘voice a complaint about the war effort’ when he was actually complaining about ‘the excruciating type of pain’ that comes with the injury he suffered.”
How To Rile Up Quebeckers
The chairman of the CBC has sparked a furor among Francophone Canadians by suggesting that Radio-Canada, the French-language version of CBC (both radio and television), has become too centered on Quebec and its insular world. Guy Fournier’s desire to make the French networks more nationally relevant might have slipped in under the radar, but for his use of a word fraught with controversy in French Canada – “unification.”
Well, It’s About Time
You knew it had to happen eventually. Now that “American Idol,” “America’s Next Top Model,” “Project Runway” and “Top Chef” have all wrapped up for the season, it’s finally time for serious art to take its turn on the Reality TV Tilt-A-Whirl of Fame. “‘Artstar’ is an eight-week reality-TV series in which eight artists, age 22 to 67, vie for an exhibition at a popular New York gallery. All involved should be ashamed of themselves, but, hey, dude, it’s, like, a new age and, basically, here’s something amazing that will resonate, totally and absolutely.”
Philip Roth, Misogynist?
Philip Roth is one of America’s greatest living writers – some would say the greatest. But Julia Keller says that despite the undeniable genius of his words, there is a discomfort in reading Roth, and it stems from the fact that “his women have no souls. [They] are mere mirrors to men. Echoes and shadows. Pale parallels… the fact that Roth gives short shrift to half the human race is crushingly sad. Were Roth a lesser writer, it wouldn’t matter; his greatness, however, transforms that lack from a simple failing into a reverberating anguish.”
Chicago Theatre Cancels Season, But Keeps The Money
Just a few weeks after delaying its opening performance of the 2006-07 season, Chicago Jewish Theatre has canceled the entire season, and may be closing its doors permanently in the near future. The company is not offering refunds on season subscriptions (but says it will honor them if it can raise the funds for a 2007-08 season,) a decision which has the theatre’s few supporters up in arms.
Say Hello To BatLesbian
DC Comics is resurrecting an old character in a very public way. Batwoman, who had her own regular comic book from 1956 to 1979, is coming back, and coming out of the closet as well. It’s part of a wave of new comic book heroes with something more than the average super-being’s pedigree.
The Greening Of Hollywood
Lately, it seems like Hollywood and the environmental movement can’t get enough of each other. The wave of eco-friendly films seems to have been sparked by the success of last year’s March of the Penguins. “Whether this trend speaks to mere copycatting or a shared morality isn’t clear. Either way, Hollywood has sensed an opportunity to capitalize on high-profile debates about mounting planetary issues: oil, land-hogging McMansions, oil, frequent natural disasters, oil, melting glaciers, oil.”