One sight that remains exceedingly rare in opera?: a black tenor in a leading role from the standard repertoire. That could be changing, though. Black tenors are becoming more and more visible…
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Gehry On A Broach
Architect Frank Gehry unveils a new line of jewelry for Tiffany. “The 76-year-old architect, who reached a whole new level of fame on the silvery sails of Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Guggenheim Bilbao, is the first new artist to be introduced by Tiffany since Paloma Picasso in 1980. The collection is comprised of six series named after recurring motifs in Gehry’s work: Fish, Torque, Axis, Fold, Equus and Orchid.”
Vigilante Broadway Audience Takes On… The Rude Audience
No question audience members are getting ruder and ruder in the theatre. On Broadway recently there has been a rash of vigilante actions against the transgressions of annoying audience members. One psychologist describes the situation as “an epidemic breakdown of boundaries. People have completely lost sight of what personal boundaries are.”
87-Year Run Almost Comes To End Over Unpaid Bills
For 87 years, Veronica’s Veil Players have annually staged “America’s Passion Play.” “That long run was nearly broken this weekend, with the gas supply to the group’s ancient furnace cut off because of nearly $40,000 in unpaid bills. Friday’s performance went on using space heaters, but about two dozen audience members left early. The Players’ board decided to cancel the remaining four performances, through next weekend, and to re-mount June 2-11, when any remaining cold in the building will function, Szemanski joked, “like free air conditioning.”
Washington Ballet – Smaller, But Back In Business
It’s labor contract resolved and its budget reduced, Washington Ballet announces a new pared-down season. “A long-running labor dispute forced the cancellation of nearly half of December’s run of ‘The Nutcracker,’ which the ballet company said resulted in a substantial loss of ticket revenue that in turn led to the scrapping of other scheduled performances and the laying off of the dancers. A tentative agreement on a first-ever employment contract with the American Guild of Musical Artists, the dancers’ union, was reached this month. With the ballet back in business, we’ve made a decision to invest in the artistic product.”
Key To Success? Technology Is Your Friend
This is not the first time the movie business has been threatened by technology. “In the 1950s, as today, theaters were under siege, their audience being lured away by a dazzling new technology. Today’s competition comes from the Internet, computer games and home entertainment centers. Then the enemy was television. “How do you compete with free?” theater owners moaned, the same mantra we’ve heard from record executives complaining about unauthorized file sharing. My response has always been the same: You’ve got to embrace the future.”
The Woman With The Perfect Memory
A woman named AJ remembers everything that ever happened to her. Everything. “Give her any date, she said, and she could recall the day of the week, usually what the weather was like on that day, personal details of her life at that time, and major news events that occurred on that date.”
The Most Powerful Woman In British Publishing
As co-director of Cactus Television, Amanda Ross is described as “the most powerful woman in British publishing. All the other reasons can be summarised in two names and three words: Richard and Judy.”
Conducting In The Highest City On Earth (And Dodging Dynamite)
David Handel has been rebuilding the Bolivian national Orchestra. He has “increased the number of performances to 50 a year from 12, recorded the group for the first time, enlarged the symphony to 65 musicians from 40, raised salaries and increased the yearly budget to $1 million from $100,000. He also has lowered ticket prices for students and raised the number of season ticket holders to 1,000 from none. Finally, he found the group its first-ever home in a one-time vaudeville theater and has taken the symphony to locales where it never had performed.” Now if only the bombs would stop going off outside the concert hall…
Johns Leads Museum Acquisitions List
The Art Newspaper’s annual museum acquisitions survey reveals latest trends in museum collecting. “In 2005, the overwhelming majority of museums chose to focus on established, mid-career and post-war artists, such as Ed Ruscha and Jasper Johns, whose artistic reputations are already secured. Leading the list of most sought-after artists in 2005 is modernist giant Jasper Johns, with five museums acquiring his work.”