The connection between box office hits and quality movies that win Oscars has never been strong. But this year there’s a particularly big disconnect. “Together, these movies have taken in $228 million – by far the smallest total in recent Oscar history. By contrast, “Revenge of the Sith,” 2005’s top-grossing film, has made $380 million domestically.”
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Hytner – Recipe For Success
Nicholas Hytner has become a star as he turns around the fortunes of London’s National Theatre. “Allying a series of bold, eye-catching plays with a policy of massively cutting ticket prices, Hytner’s vision has paid off spectacularly. New audiences packed its auditoriums for everything from headline-making Jerry Springer: the Opera to an ambitious production of Philip Pullman’s children’s bestseller His Dark Materials to David Hare’s savagely docu-realist account of the run-up to the Iraq war, Stuff Happens. Hytner was widely credited with reviving not just the National, but theatre at large.”
Where The Mass Audience Went
What’s the cause of Hollywood’s declining audiences? “There are digital personal video recorders, iPods, on-demand music and video, 500 TV channels, billions of Web pages catering to every obscure subculture — endless choices spinning the hamster wheel that is our attention spans.”
Mills: Many Plans For Edinburgh Festival
Jonathan Mills defends his appointment as the new director of the Edinburgh festival. “Without going into detail, he suggested expanding the festival into areas in which his predecessor Sir Brian McMaster had not been interested. There was scope, for instance, to do more work in the visual arts, he said, also hinting that he would like to encourage younger people to get involved. ‘There’s not going to be a revolution. I’m not going to do anything drastic, but there will be changes, gentle, gradual and subtle ones. Like every other organisation the festival has to evolve if it is to remain relevant’.”
Selling A Canadian Unknown On Broadway
“How do you sell $1-million (U.S.) worth of tickets a week to a show that practically nobody’s heard of? You cast your eyes across the Broadway musical-theatre landscape, and this is what you see stacked up against your baby: big stars and big brands. How do you position a smart, funny musical from first-time Broadway writers, with an ensemble cast and a lead from Canada?” You get unconventional…
What Effect Does TV Have On You?
A new study says TV isn’t bad for you. But Virginia Heffernan doesn’t believe it. “Television, after all, is the only art form reviewed in this newspaper that is also regarded as a public health hazard; maybe this news will help to clear its name and win it some respect. But I wouldn’t count on it. Study after anti-television study has failed to pinpoint the exact perils that viewers are prone to, and yet the idea that television is dangerous persists as an article of faith.”
Mark Morris In Miniature
The Mark Morris Dance Group is celebrating its 25th anniversary. But Morris himslef is dancing less and less. “I’m barely dancing at all these days. And I don’t think I’m going to perform on tour much anymore. But I’m not retired from the stage. I’m sure of that. I’ll still be dancing in shows I plan to give in my own building. I like the scale there.”
The LaChiusa Method
“At a time when most songwriters would kill to wangle a no-budget workshop in a downtown black box, Michael John LaChiusa is regularly produced by the foremost institutional theaters in the country, and now even by opera houses. But part of the controversy stems from his insistence on bringing a seriously modern sensibility to a form mostly consigned to the ash heap of nostalgia. Whether you judge his musicals to be successful or not — and critics are divided — they are never glib or self-cannibalizing.”
Hollywood’s Big Problem
“Big Hollywood increasingly finds it difficult to make the kinds of high-profile movies that the industry likes to honor with its most important awards. You don’t have to have followed all the reports of a box-office slump last year to know that Hollywood is in trouble. To judge by how executives at major studios often talk about their business, in their discussions about closing windows, new platforms and emergent technologies, the movies themselves barely count. What counts is when you can watch a film on your cellphone, not if there is something worth losing your eyesight over.”
Playwrighting Chicago
Chicago’s always had a great theatre scene. “Many Chicago playwrights are perfectly happy to stay put — as long as their work gets out on the road.”