First, Isaac Hayes quit “South Park” because he didn’t like that the show was making fun of religion. Then Comedy Central pulled the show Hayes had quit over after pressure from Scientologists. “In 10 years and over 150 episodes of ‘South Park,’ Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons or Jews. He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show.”
Blog
After 21 Years Adams Leaves TheatreWorks
One of the Bay Area’s longest-serving and most successful managing directors is leaving. Randy Adams has led TheatreWorks, and “for 21 years, working with founder and Artistic Director Robert Kelley, Adams helped transform an ambitious small Palo Alto company with a $300,000 budget to one of the region’s leading theaters, operating in two cities, with a growing national reputation and a budget of $7 million.”
A Theatre Collective Decides To Appoint A Leader
Since its founding 28 years ago, Minneapolis/St. Paul’s Theatre de la Jeune Lune has been a collective, without a sole leader. That is about to change, as the company names its first director. “It is about time, said many admirers. Some feared that the theater’s internal fights over its direction and its guiding ideology, exacerbated in recent years by interpersonal rancor that has all but paralyzed decisionmaking, would lead it the way of the dodo.”
New Theatre, No Adventure
Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theatre is about to move in to a new $125 million theatre. As a prominent regional theatre, it can program almost anything it wants. But “the theater’s season announced this week is not merely unadventurous. This line-up is downright deflating, especially since it is the first opportunity to see shows in a hard-won facility sold partly on the promise of being a place that will push theater forward.”
Seattle’s Chamber Orchestra Folds
After 33 years, Seattle’s Northwest Chamber Orchestra has declared bankruptcy and folded. The orchestra cited “incredible competition for ticket sales and contributions,” as well as “declining audiences and financial woes,” as the reasons for the orchestra’s demise.
Ex- Michigan Public Radio Employees Charged With Corruption
Three former employees of Michigan Public Media have been charged with “illegally accepting golf club memberships, Persian rugs, airline tickets and massages in exchange for on-air considerations at the state’s top public radio station.”
Wales Goes Dancing
Wales’ culture minister says things are well for dance in his country. “There is no doubt that there is much to celebrate in dance in Wales at present. Young dancers from Wales are making names for themselves, particularly in contemporary dance. We have seen dance performances from international ballet companies such as the Kirov for the first time in Wales as well as innovative productions from our own dance companies such as Earthfall, Diversions and India Dance Wales.”
Turnaround: Saratoga Finishes In The Black
For the first time in years, Saratoga’s (NY) Performing Arts Center has balanced its books. “Auditors found no major problems with SPAC’s finances, a major achievement following a scathing 2004 state audit that cited mismanagement and poor business practices.”
NYers Turning Out For Talk
New Yorkers are flocking to lectures. “The current enthusiasm for lectures and spoken-word events calls to mind the 19th century, when crowds flocked to hear Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mark Twain and Henry Ward Beecher lecture. At the peak of the country’s lecture craze in the 1850’s, nearly 400,000 people a week attended lectures in the northern and western parts of the country. But why the resurgence now?”
Help Me – I’m Over-Entertained!
“I now have more entertainment in my diet than I could ever possibly hope to consume. If entertainment was food, I’d be stuffed. I’d be grossly overweight. What does it all mean, you may ask. What are the implications of having so many choices? Well, for starters, it means I have to be very selective…”