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Archiving American Theatre (Even The Non-New York Kind)

“The purpose of The Best Plays Theater Yearbook series, founded by Burns Mantle, has been to create an ‘armchair view’ of the theatrical season. The challenge of the series has been to capture that ephemeral, elusive moment of connection between playwright, design team, actors and audience. The series now numbers some eighty-five volumes, having captured almost a century in American Theatre and in so doing, provided an encapsulated view of eighty-five years of American History through the eyes of its dramatists… The series has also expanded its reach to cover not only the theatrical world of New York, but around the entire country.”

Reynolds Masterpiece Denied Exit From UK

An 18th-century painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds will remain in the UK despite its having been sold last year to a foreign institution. Keeping important works of art in country has become a crusade in Britain in recent years, and “the government slapped a temporary export ban on the sale to give the [Tate Modern] time to raise the necessary £3.2m” to buy the painting back. “The London gallery managed to meet the figure through a combination of grants, donations, the Tate’s own collection fund and £500,000 raised by the gallery’s own members.”

Italian Architects Revolt Against International Superstars

35 of Italy’s top architects have signed an open letter to the government asking for an immediate cessation of all building projects designed by foreign “star” architects, and calling for a return to Italy’s traditional architectural standard. “The writers warn of the ‘architectural mongrelisation’ of Italy, and say Italian architects are ‘an invaluable cultural resource that cannot continue to be thwarted and ignored’.”

Montreal Film Fest Ends With A Question Mark

The beleagured Montreal World Film Festival wrapped up last weekend amid speculation that it would not live to see another summer. “Funding agencies gave $1 million of [World Film’s] funding to a new event after an analysis criticized the festival’s operation.” But founder Serge Losique insists that the show will go on in 2006, and claims that 34 countries have already signed on to provide films. Where the money will come from is another question, and one which likely will not be answered for months to come.

Webern In Hindsight

Sixty years ago next week, Anton Webern stepped outside of his house for a smoke and was accidentally shot dead by an American soldier. Thus ended the remarkable career of one of history’s brilliant and contradictory composers. Norman Lebrecht says that in order to appreciate Webern, it is best to embrace the contradiction. “Inspiration was anathema to Webern. All had to be strictly counted and numerically correct. If pleasure entered the process, it was the solitary satisfaction of making a line read the same forwards, backwards and upside down. Inverted by nature, Webern wrote music that turned in upon itself, rejecting every human value except absolute order. [And yet,] scan the entire canon, Passacaglia to posthumously published piano pieces, and you will not find one weak work of Webern’s, or one that fails immediately to proclaim its authorship. In the history of western music, that statement is true only of Beethoven and Wagner.”

Fiddling As Rome Burns? Exactly.

Critic Mark Morford spent the days during and after Hurricane Katrina at the infamous Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, filing reports that struck some of his readers as lacking in gravitas, given the events unfolding on the Gulf Coast. But as Morford points out, the world does not stop when a tragedy occurs, and leaving aside the fact that the Burning Man participants passed the hat and raised thousands for the relief effort, “in the wake of any national disaster or mounting death toll, it is exactly those things that celebrate life that we turn to offer salve and balm and resurrection of spirit. In other words, in the aftermath of hurricanes and national tragedies and in the face of the most ham-fisted and heartless and freedom-stabbing administration in recent American history, we need this sort of ‘trifling’ Burning Man fluff more than ever, to act as spark, as beacon, as counterbalance.”

Speculation In Cleveland

“Trustees of the Cleveland Museum of Art have been mum on the search for a new director. But that hasn’t stopped one current and one former candidate from talking. Charles Venable, the museum’s deputy director for collections and programs, acknowledged publicly last week that he’s one of a small number of candidates under consideration. Meanwhile, Michael Shapiro, director of the High Museum in Atlanta, said he withdrew, as he put it, ‘before an offer was finalized.'” The museum would like to have a new director in place by the time ground is broken for its massive expansion and renovation on October 1, but isn’t setting any firm deadlines for the process.

Paris Opera To Offer Cheap Tickets

The famed Opéra National de Paris is going the route of companies in Germany and the U.S., offering standing room tickets for its upcoming season, priced at €5 and aimed squarely at young audiences who otherwise might not attend a production. The company will allow 62 standing-room patrons per performance, and the tickets, which will be limited to two per buyer, will go on sale only 45 minutes before curtain.

Facing The Music In Pittsburgh

It’s trial by fire time for 25 arts and culture organizations in Pittsburgh, as the city’s Allegheny Regional Asset District prepares to distribute some $78 million in funds. Rather than simply considering grant applications, the RAD board grills representatives of applying groups at a series of public meetings, then renders its decisions based on the board’s impressions of the stability of the applicants. This year, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, which recently dropped its live orchestra and is struggling to stay afloat, is on the hot seat, with the RAD board worrying that PBT is “draining its endowment to balance its budget.”