The pickets organized by Pittsburgh-area musicians to protest the decision of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre to dance to canned music for the season is attracting support from musicians and union stalwarts nationwide. “Among the pickets [at last night’s performance] were 25 music students from Carnegie Mellon University; musicians from New York City, Toronto, and Akron; local stagehands; Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra musicians in full dress with white ties; and T-shirt-clad members of the Service Employees International Union and Teamsters.”
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Will Oprah’s Name Alone Be Enough To Sell Purple?
When Oprah Winfey announced that she was contributing $1 million towards the production costs of the upcoming Broadway production of The Color Purple (Winfrey starred in the movie version of Alice Walker’s acclaimed novel,) the show’s producers saw stars in the shape of dollar signs dancing before them. But while the Oprah branding (which is now prominently trumpeted in every ad for the show) has helped advance sales, it hasn’t yet turned into the fiscal windfall some expected. “Conventional wisdom is that as soon as Oprah starts plugging The Color Purple regularly on her television show, the box office will take off. But there are some red flags here that are worth waving.”
Deadly Serious
A major exhibition at the Tampa, Florida-based Museum of Science and Industry consisting of 20 Chinese corpses, split open to reveal muscles and organs and manipulated into jaunty poses, has been attracting interest and controversy in roughly equal parts since its opening in August. “The corpses are, depending on whom you ask, magnificent figures created in the spirit of education or an insulting mockery created in the service of greed… The bodies are displayed in various states of simulated animation alongside placards that dryly explain basic elements of anatomy.” Florida’s anatomical board, which regulates the importation and treatment of corpses, is objecting vociferously, but the museum insists that it is acting responsibly.
Big Media: Digital TV Doesn’t Need Educational Restrictions
“Viacom Inc. has asked a federal court to overturn new rules requiring more educational TV programs for children and setting tighter limits on kids’ exposure to advertising in the age of digital television… The government has long set guidelines for broadcasters to set aside a certain amount of educational programming for children with commercials limited to 12 minutes per hour of kids’ programming… But the FCC has formulated new rules to take into account the nation’s move toward digital transmission of TV signals and the phaseout of analog broadcasting… The new FCC rules would extend the children’s programming requirements to those new channels, something the major entertainment companies are resisting.”
Why Do We Love Lolita?
It’s been 50 years since Vladimir Nabokov penned Lolita, but the tale of a pedophile and his “nymphet” stepdaughter remains as baldly shocking and strangely moving as the day it was published. In fact, it’s one of the top-selling books of all time. Some scholars suggest that it is Nabokov’s unquestionably beautiful way with language that attracts us and gives his book such lasting appeal. But there may also be a darker obsession with underaged children as sex objects hiding beneath the surface of our literary interest. “How is it that a pedophile protagonist remains sympathetic enough to draw audiences? Why does this backward fairy tale — Prince Charming as a monster — endure?”
Poetry Awards Announced
The Poetry Foundation, newly enriched by a major gift from an Indiana philanthropist, is using part of the largesse to fund a series of awards intended to raise the profiles of underrecognized poets. Some of the awards are so specific as to seem designed specifically for their winners – for instance, the “Emily Dickinson First Book Award, for an American poet older than 50 who has not yet published a book of poetry” – while others emphasize qualities frequently lacking in poetry, such as humor.
The New Fortune Tellers
Wanted: futurist visionaries. Must be able to observe the larger culture around you and translate complex human interactions into wild, counterintuitive, and occasionally optimistic predictions about the future. Must be comfortable with corporate practices and be capable of expressing opinions as if they are indisputable facts. No experience necessary, but applicants should be able to convincingly act as if they’ve been doing this forever. Pay scale varies with results…
Why Not Let The WKRP DJs Host The Concerts While You’re At It?
The Cincinnati Symphony is trying to boost ticket sales with promotions meant to make the organization seem edgier and more in tune with today’s young adults (for instance, what 20-something wouldn’t love a temporary tattoo that says, ‘Get Your Beethoven On’?). This kind of thing rarely works, of course, but as long as the CSO is determined to try it, Chuck Martin has some additional suggestions for achieving hipsterdom. For one thing, concert halls need to be a far more nacho-intensive environment. For another, CSO music director Paavo Järvi is just crying out for a nickname, something like… ohhhh, how about P. Diddy?
Report: Silicon Valley Hurting For Culture
“A majority of regional leaders believe Silicon Valley is losing ground in its ability to attract a creative workforce, in part because of an inadequate cultural environment, according to a new survey. Fifty-eight percent of Silicon Valley leaders who participated in the survey — called the Creative Community Index — said their ability to recruit creative talent is dropping compared with other global centers of technology. They cited the lack of an energetic urban core and insufficient leisure and cultural activities as among key reasons… The perceived lack of cultural opportunities, however, apparently doesn’t mean a lack of interest on the part of the public.”
Catering To The Boomers (It’s Just Good Business)
Youth may rule in American broadcasting, but in Australia, the most coveted demographic seems to be listeners deep in middle age. That’s right, the baby boomers are ruling the airwaves, and a whole new radio station is being launched in Melbourne to attract them. Of course, the new Vega FM will be competing with Melbourne’s three (yes, three) other boomer-focused stations, but no one in the business seems to think market saturation will be a problem. The overriding philosophy behind going after an older generation of listeners may sound odd to Americans, but the business strategy makes a lot of sense: young people are fickle and hard to please, whereas middle-aged folks generally know what they like and enjoy a steady, predictable diet of whatever that is.