Three small Washington DC theatres are making names for themselves. “What distinguishes Catalyst, Rorschach and Theater Alliance from the dozens of other upstart troupes is not only a certain consistency but also the sense that these three companies have broken through. In the choice of projects — whether an experimental twist on a classic, a resurrection of an obscure, centuries-old play or the first American presentation of a modern work by a foreign writer — there’s a level of daring in their offerings. The nerviness of some selections reflects an effort to challenge as well as to entertain.”
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The Virtual Theatre Stage
“The Woman in White” is the first Broadway show in which “computer-animated images completely dominate the stage. Projections appear on six, 16½-foot-tall curved gray screens that move around the edge of the stage in a circle. Think of the computer animation in a Pixar movie like “Toy Story,” with a more realistic, less cartoonish look. The setting can change instantly: as two characters tour an estate, the actors stay put as the background dissolves from one room to another. Or, the animation can take the audience through a three-dimensional environment, over fields, houses, churches and graveyards.”
Why DVD’s Make Or Break A Movie Studio
“A typical studio movie costs nearly $100 million: an average of $63.6 million to make and $34.4 million to market. Theater exhibitors – Regal, AMC, Loews, and the like – generally keep 50 percent of their box-office sales, which means that a movie must sell nearly $200 million worth of tickets worldwide to return $100 million to the studio and thus break even in its theatrical release. Since few movies earn that much at the box office, the studios have increasingly relied on the home-video market, where the equation is much more in their favor, to help recover losses and make a profit.”
Where Are The New Great American Voices?
“American vocal training has long been bruited as the best in the world and is supposed to be better than ever. Yet there has been no commensurate rise in great new talents. One clear measure of the problem is the system’s inability to deal effectively with large voices and talents like Ms. Wilson’s. It seems to favor lighter, flexible voices that can perform a wide range of material accurately, rather than the powerful, thrilling, concert-hall-filling voices on which live opera ultimately relies for its survival.”
The Getty’s Very Bad Year
“The festering problems at the Getty Trust burst into view in October 2004, following the abrupt resignation of Getty Museum director Deborah Gribbon from one of the most coveted posts in the field. Without elaborating, Gribbon cited sharp philosophical differences with Munitz. Since then the scene has grown increasingly bleak. How did things get so bad?”
David Robertson – The Hope Of Classical Music?
“With an arrestingly open and curious mind, a rascally sense of humor and an energizing and controversial conducting technique, he has risen from relative obscurity to prominence in a few short years. Not only is he viewed by many as the savior of this once-major orchestra (St. Louis) crippled by deficits and a recent strike — it will give two concerts this week at Carnegie Hall — but the New York Philharmonic clearly has its eye and ear on him as a potential successor to Lorin Maazel, who is scheduled to step down in 2009.”
Italian Arts Funding Cuts Imperil La Scala, Others
Only a year after it reopened, La Scala is facing a huge cut in its funding from the Italian government. “The cash-strapped Italian government has threatened to slash by a third from next year the heavy subsidy which keeps the theatre in business. Across the board cuts in next year’s budget for the arts are also likely to affect the Venice Film Festival and the newly opened Music Auditorium in Rome. Other Italian cultural icons which may be touched are 12 other major opera houses, including the Fenice in Venice, plus theatres in Florence, Rome, Naples and Palermo.”
US: Losing Ground On Innovation?
America has long led the world in innovation and patent applications. But is the U.S. losing its competitive edge? “The scientific and technical building blocks of our economic leadership are eroding at a time when many other nations are gathering strength. Although many people assume that the United States will always be a world leader in science and technology, this may not continue to be the case inasmuch as great minds and ideas exist throughout the world. We fear the abruptness with which a lead in science and technology can be lost – and the difficulty of recovering a lead once lost, if indeed it can be regained at all.”
Richly Promoted – Today’s Galleries
One sign of how wealthy New York’s contemporary art galleries have become? The luxurious ways in which they’re promoting themselves. “Each day’s mail seems to deliver a series of challenges and counter-challenges from the galleries that consider themselves in the upper echelon of the upper echelon. Instead of chest-puffing, ruffed fur or antlers, it’s paper worthy of an invitation from the White House. Conveyance by liveried coachmen would not surprise.”
New Zealand Symphony’s Mixed Year
The New Zealand Symphony has had a mixed year. It recorded the sound track for Peter Jackson’s “King Kong”, but then Jackson decided to junk the music and start over elsewhere. The orchestra became an autonomous Crown corporation and has greater freedom, but also a $915,000 deficit.