“Actors can be so charming, such fun. Yet, if you allow yourself to be even temporarily seduced (an essential part of the craft of performance, after all), there comes a point at which, in the cold light of morning, fingers poised above the keys, you can no longer trust your objectivity. There is no unity of opinion as to precisely where the line should be drawn.”
Blog
UK Theatre’s Ageism Problem
“Ageism is an enormous problem for dramatic writers in Britain today – in theatre, television and film. While many career writers continue to receive fulfilling assignments throughout their working lives, many others find themselves left at the wayside, not because they have nothing new to contribute, but merely because they are seen by commissioners as being a bit shop-worn. And for someone who only finds his or her voice in maturity, the outlook is barren indeed.”
Washington Ballet Labor Problems Threaten Nutcracker
Washington Ballet’s continuing labor problems have flared up again. The troupe’s performance of “The Nutcracker” is in jeopardy “because of an impasse between the dancers’ union and the company. At issue are a number of health and safety concerns, with the union claiming that too many strenuous rehearsals have led to injuries among the dancers.”
The Kimmel’s Budget Woes
Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center has serious money woes. “Four years after opening as Philadelphia’s answer to Lincoln Center, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is still posting persistent deficits and is looking at a number of moneymaking ventures – from buying parking lots to stripping the front of its building with electronic advertising.”
What’s Happened To Literary Theory?
Some say it’s dead. Others see sparks of new ideas. “The devolution and fragmentation of theory may well be a survival strategy, an adaptation to the new realities of academic institutions. An optimist might see it as something nobler, a turn from linguistic grand gestures and outdated ideological gambits toward measurements taken on a more humanistic scale.”
London’s Depressing Arts Governors
“There’s a certain type of arts board-er who seems depressingly prevalent at the moment. He (usually he) has made a fortune in the City. He genuinely loves the arts. But he regards arts administrators as a bit amateurish and thinks the fact that he’s run a bank qualifies him to “know best” about running a theatre (though no one would think of putting Nicholas Hytner, say, on the board of a listed company). He may harbour frustrated artistic ambitions. He likes the idea of being invited to interesting parties, or getting a knighthood. It’s time for this attitude to be rooted out once and for all.”
Current Interaction
The TV channel Current is trying to be an interactive experience. “The Internet is a welcome breath of fresh air which re-establishes a highly interactive participatory medium that has even lower barriers to entry than the print medium. A growing number of talented young people in their 20s…have videocameras and laptop editing systems and are increasingly conversant with how to express themselves in the television medium.”
Philip Roth: Let’s Shut Down The Literary World
“I would be wonderful with a 100-year moratorium on literature talk, if you shut down all literature departments, close the book reviews, ban the critics. The readers should be alone with the books, and if anyone dared to say anything about them, they would be shot or imprisoned right on the spot. Yes, shot. A 100-year moratorium on insufferable literary talk. You should let people fight with the books on their own and rediscover what they are and what they are not. Anything other than this talk. Fairytale talk. As soon as you generalise, you are in a completely different universe than that of literature, and there’s no bridge between the two.”
Surviving Hollywood’s Dark Year
This has been “Tinseltown’s most disappointing box-office performance in 15 years as audiences, dazzled by their entertainment choices and disappointed by the mediocre films on offer, turned away from the cinema in droves.” So what’s in store for 2006?
Opera In The Popular Culture (What It Is)
“Even as opera remains the butt of jokes, opera-styled pop — big, booming voices delivering mellifluous melodies over lush, orchestral arrangements — keeps popping up at the top of the charts. The field isn’t especially large, but it encompasses a fairly wide array of stars, from the male quartet Il Divo to teen soprano Charlotte Church, and from former Andrew Lloyd Webber star (and spouse) Sarah Brightman to occasional Luciano Pavarotti duet partner Andrea Bocelli.”