The BBC’s governors yesterday said that the corporation’s programmes were not good enough and launched a major inquiry into how to improve them.
Blog
Roadshow – Broadway Strike Averted
Broadway actors nearly went on strike this week over something that didn’t really have much to do with Broadway theatre. “The road is a far less certain bet than it used to be, as evidenced by the recent decision by the producers of “Avenue Q,” the Tony Award winner for best musical this year, to opt instead for an open-ended run in Las Vegas. Each side recognized that there needed to be a new economic model. It was no great secret that the road had to be restructured. The question was how.”
UK: A Future Without Analog Radio?
It’s likely that when UK radio stations are all broadcasting in digital format, the analog signals will be switched off. “The government has set a target of 2010 to switch over to digital TV, and the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, recently hinted that a similar move for radio would be considered.”
Cervantes Play To Get World Premiere
More than four centuries after it was written, Miguel Cervantes’ play “Pedro the Great Pretender” is getting its world premiere, by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Arts Council: UK Arts Groups In For A Rough Few Years
“Arts Council England has warned that the level of arts funding set out in Gordon Brown’s spending review will create a difficult few years for arts organisations. On Monday the chancellor announced an extra £230m for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, equivalent to a 2.3% increase per year in real terms. But according to ACE, the Treasury is engaging in some double counting.”
A Bigger China Means Stress On Heritage
“With China’s economy expanding and tourism growing even faster, insiders and outsiders worry that China will not take the time and trouble, or have the resources and expertise, to preserve its rich cultural heritage. Much has already been lost.”
In Praise Of Saatchi (Really!)
Richard Dorment has new appreciation for Charles Saatchi’s place in the artworld. “Since the fire, I’ve become much more aware of what the Saatchi Gallery means for the visual arts in this country. It has many faults – the difficult exhibition spaces at County Hall, the vagaries of Charles Saatchi’s taste, a PR machine in overdrive – but there is nowhere else in the world where so much new art is made instantly accessible to the public on a regular basis. I suppose you never know what you have until you see how easily it could disappear.”
The Blonde Wagner Steps In To Save Bayreuth
“Some of her famously quarrelsome relatives doubtless regard Katharina Wagner as little more than an inexperienced blonde harpy luring the Wagner family honour on to the rocks. But this week the great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner took a decisive step in the battle to take control of the composer’s most prestigious legacy: Germany’s Bayreuth Festival. When the tantrums and walk-outs started, it was the 26-year-old Madonna fan who saved the day.”
Contemp Theatre Fest Places American Character On The Table
The 14th annual Contemporary American Theater Festival in West Virginia is all about character. “The menu at this year’s festival, one of the few across the nation devoted entirely to new work, offers a variety of perspectives on a country divided against itself. From the racially driven pessimism in Lee Blessing’s playlets to the terrorism-fueled paranoia of Stuart Flack’s “Homeland Security” to the lighthearted culture clash in Richard Dresser’s Little League comedy “Rounding Third,” the writers invited to the campus of Shepherd University find their voices by tracing the fault lines in the contemporary American character.”
US Goes For Country
“Country music sales in the US have risen by more than 10% in the last year, thanks to a wave of new artists.”