Everyday life in Toronto has gotten decidedly weird lately. “You may have stumbled recently across neatly wallpapered bus shelters, perhaps being attended by a primly dressed man in a crinoline skirt… Trees, at times, have worn sweaters. Fire hydrants have been garlanded in cake icing. There have been knitted cosies for bike locks and public phone receivers, dress-up parties in Trinity Bellwoods Park, and a well-tended garden of ferns growing from the toilets and urinals of Metro Hall. Tiny gold trophies have been affixed around town, engraved with the slogan ‘Good For You.'” Meet the Interventionists, artists determined to bring their work directly to the public, and to do so with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
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An Opera House Worth Staying In Your Seat For
Copenhagen’s new opera house may not be a universally acclaimed architectural hit, but there is no question that its opening has invigorated the city. Moreover, operagoing in Denmark is clearly an experience considered to be worth savoring, as “arriving early and lingering late seem to be part of the experience,” a far cry from the dashes for the exits so common when the curtain rings down in New York and London. Could the jaded New Yorkers learn a thing or two from their Danish counterparts? “After a compelling performance at the Met, shouldn’t there be a natural tendency to want to share the moment with the audience, to bond, to cheer, to let out the pent-up intensity you’ve experienced with some lusty bravos?” One can only hope…
Beware The Ides of March. Or, Um, Steal Them.
Three of the four bronze sculptures making up a Philip Pavia sculpture known as ‘The Ides of March’ have been stolen from the New York City office building in which they were being temporarily housed while awaiting transfer to Hofstra University. The theft cannot have been easy, as the three stolen pieces weigh 600 pounds apiece. ‘The Ides’ was originally commissioned by the New York Hilton hotel, which displayed it at its entrance for more than a quarter-century.
Sweet Charity Turns Sour
The supposedly Broadway-bound revival of Sweet Charity starring Christina Applegate won’t be making it to New York, after all. Intial test runs of the show in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Boston garnered mixed reviews, and Ms. Applegate broke her foot midway through the Chicago run, further depressing already-slow ticket sales. Facing the possibility of an expensive Broadway flop, the producers pulled the plug this weekend.
What If We Give It Away?
“It looks like television networks have embraced an idea that record companies still find difficult to accept: Giving away your product — temporarily, anyway — can be a great promotional tool… Building online buzz by putting full episodes online has become such a hot marketing tool that there’s speculation the BBC was behind the recent ‘unauthorized’ online release of an episode of its new Dr. Who series.”
Canada’s Bifurcated Movie Biz
Canada’s Genie Awards for movies was dominated by French Canadian movies this week. “The Genies show was a depressing example of our two-solitudes divide between French and English Canada. After decades of official bilingualism, we are still a land of mostly English-speaking provinces surrounding a separate nation of mostly French-speaking people. The Genies are supposed to recognize the Canadian film industry as a whole. But what I saw on Monday night suggested there really is no national film industry to speak of, because French and English filmmakers and stars don’t even speak to each other.”
Mona Lisa Takes A Holiday (What Will The Tourists Say?)
The room at the Louvre that is home to the Mona Lisa is to be renovated, and for the first time in three decades, the painting will skip a day on show. “Now she is having her room renovated, to handle an average of more than 1,500 visitors an hour. She’ll be off display for one day on April 4 while curators install her in the upgraded digs. The Louvre fears irate crowds if Japanese and American visitors turn up to find an apology hanging from Lisa’s empty spot on the wall. While Rembrandts, Titians and El Grecos can all spend weeks in restoration, under study or on tour, the Mona Lisa has always remained on display.”
Small Jazz Label Signs Up To Save Detroit Jazz Festival
A small jazz recording label has signed on to become the new sponsor of the annual Detroit Labor Day weekend jazz festival, which “found itself on the brink of extinction last month when Ford Motor Co. chose not to renew its title sponsorship for the first time in a decade.”
Barnes Says It’s Running Out Of Money, Asks Court To Hurry Appeal
The Barnes Collection has asked the court to expedite an appeal hearing on a decision that would allow the Barnes to move to Philadelphia. “The foundation’s court petition said the Barnes could find itself short of funds by the end of 2005 because the appeal has delayed pledges from donors, and because the three foundations backing the move of its multibillion-dollar art gallery from Lower Merion to Philadelphia have stopped paying part of its operating expenses.”
Bolshoi Opera Scandal Really About Money And Power
The protests and scandal over the Bolshoi’s new opera isn’t really about artistis values after all. “At the center of the silly protest swirling around “Rosenthal’s Children,” the new opera at the Bolshoi Theater, lies a billion-dollar question: Who gets to control the huge budget to renovate the aging building? The debate, alas, is not about cultural values, political ideologies or the preservation of Russia’s artistic heritage.”