The beleaguered Pittsburgh Ballet Theater has announced that it will balance its budget next season, and plans to nearly eliminate an accumulated $1 million deficit by next year as well. But the numbers aren’t set in stone just yet – the company’s pit orchestra is up for a new contract after having taking two hefty pay cuts in recent years.
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A Conductor And His Public
It takes more than a good match between orchestra and conductor to make a truly successful long-term partnership – the audience has to buy into the pairing as well. And nowhere has that symbiotic relationship between musicians, maestro, and the public been more in evidence than Detroit, where music director Neeme Järvi is preparing to conduct the final concerts of his tenure.
More Weird Drama At ENO
When Paul Daniel, the outgoing music director of the English National Opera, conducted his last performance recently, he was sent out the door with a standing ovation, thunderous applause… and one incredibly persistent man booing him from a private box. The booing, as it turns out, was coming from the ENO’s own director of marketing, who was offended by Daniel’s recent criticism of some ENO management figures. In the wake of the incident, some members of the audience have called for the marketing director to be fired.
Why Won’t Aussies Watch Aussie Movies?
“Last year record numbers of Australians stayed away from Australian films. In January, the Australian Film Commission released figures showing that in 2004 the local share of box office takings was just 1.3 per cent. A record low. In international terms, that’s appalling. In figures for 2003 quoted in April’s inside film magazine the US domestic film share of local box office was 95 per cent.”
Martha Graham Company Hits Another Troubled Patch
The troubled Martha Graham Company is reorganizing. “An administrative ‘streamlining,’ as the leadership called it last week, left no room for the artistic directors, Christine Dakin and Terese Capucilli, who were universally credited with bringing the company back to life. The move has caused some members of the company to take sides, and confused others.”
Building A Better Critic?
Why are there so few architecture critics in America? “For a long while now mainstream architectural journalism has been mostly synonymous with architectural criticism — with reviews of significant buildings. But you don’t have to browse through too many Arts or Entertainment or Weekend sections to see that critiques of buildings are an odd, uneasy fit amid all the reviews of movies and plays and TV shows, of music and dance and literature — of arts that are easily accessible and (often) widely distributed, arts that you can affordably experience simply by visiting a local theater or gallery, buying a book or CD, or tuning in HBO.”
Merce And The Art
Merce Cunningham has collaborated with some of the biggest artists of the past 50 years. “Given the celebrity of Cunningham’s list of collaborators the cost of insuring most of these sets would now be astronomical, aside from the expense of transporting them. And this is one reason why his recent work tends to take place on barer stages, and his preferred designers work with lights and projection.”
What Critics Need…
“What critics have trouble doing is developing their own robust, well grounded taste. “Taste” is an antique concept but an irreplaceable one. Most people, even cultural theorists who would not grant the concept any credence in their academic work, exercise taste all the time in their non-academic life. Just ask them about the last movie they saw, or (even better) the music their kids are listening to. But because taste is something of a taboo topic in academia, many well credentialed critics do not feel very confident of their own judgment, which makes them vulnerable to being swept up by one or the other side in the so-called culture war.”
Robot Dance With Me
“The world’s first ballroom-dancing robot is set to take to the floor for its first public performance this week at the World Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan. Developed by scientists at Tokhuro University, the Partner Ballroom Dance Robot (PBDR) is able to predict the steps of a human partner based on body movement and react accordingly on its three wheels.”
Tony Can’t Save La Cage
“On Sunday, La Cage aux Folles won Tony Awards for best musical revival and choreography. On Tuesday, producers of the $10 million revival said the show will close June 26 after a disappointing seven-month run of 229 performances.” Mixed reviews hurt the show’s box office, and had recently been playing to half-empty houses at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre.