Workshop Hell is “an all-too-crowded netherworld where shows are not quite produced but also not quite forgotten. Pretty much any playwright or composer trying to make a living in the American theater knows about the labyrinthine system of table readings, staged readings and fully rehearsed workshops by which scripts can bounce from theater to theater, spending years being rewritten and pruned and focus-grouped and test-marketed and audience-critiqued — all without ever getting performed as they were meant to be.”
Blog
The London Symphony At 100
The London Symphony is flying at a time when other orchestras are struggling to stay alive. Why? “You never stay successful by becoming institutional. Success is the result of keeping on the move, demanding more of yourself, challenging the very rules you live by. But at the same time, you have to be clear about what you exist for and where you’re going. If there’s one reason the L.S.O. has been successful, it’s because everything we do is for the music and without the compromise of `Oh, can we afford it?’ “
Marginalizing Mr. Libeskind
A year ago, Daniel Libeskind was annointed star of the design of the World Trade Center redevelopment project. But his influence has declined dramatically since then. “People involved with the redevelopment of downtown say he has ample reason to be disappointed; in the year since he was anointed Architect on High, his influence, control and stature have steadily diminished. ‘Where is Daniel at this point? Has he been marginalized? How many of his ideas remain’?”
Are Galleries Necessary For Art Dealers?
Do art dealers really need expensive galleries to make their businesses work? “Given the hassles involved in maintaining a gallery space—paying rent, keeping the phones manned and the desk staffed, mounting shows, dealing with logistics such as security or utilities, and so forth,” dealers with established artist rosters and reputations might be able to forgo the gallery grind.
Watching The Whitney Grow
The Whitney says it’s finally going to move ahead with an expansion. Sensitive to resistance from neighbours and the Landmarks Commission to earlier proposed expansions, Whitney director Adam Weinberg vows to create a building that “fits comfortably within the fabric of the community and within the building envelope of the property next to the museum.”
Bhutan To Ban TV Programs
The kingdom of Bhutan is considering removing certain TV shows from the air five years after TV came to the country. What shows? Wrestling, for one. It’s because of “a wave of children performing copycat wrestling moves. The students are becoming more and more violent when they are at school. The elder boys are trying to imitate the wrestling styles on the younger ones, so that is creating a lot of problems in schools.”
Ott Resigns Seattle Rep
Seattle Repertory Theatre director Sharon Ott surprised the Seattle theatre world this week by resigning. “She said it’s been difficult running a theater in the current economy and that the past theater season has been entirely draining, both emotionally and physically.”
Painting Presidentially
Simmie Knox is the first African-American artist to paint a presidential portrait. Knox is 68, and “describes his professional journey as a series of fortuitous setbacks and discoveries. ‘It has happened many times for me. Things that I thought were liabilities turned out to be assets’.”
Puppet Regime
Puppetry is getting a lot of fresh attention. “For decades puppetry was learned by way of most traditional crafts through master and apprenticeship. Now, there are a handful of university programs offering degrees in puppet arts. Meanwhile, the industry has continued to garner more attention from high-profile productions.”
Knox: Attention Deficit
As his official portrait of Bill Clinton was unveiled last week, painter Simmie Knox was amused by the blaze of media attention. “I mean, I’ve been here all this time. I’ve just been ‘under the radar,’ so to speak, some sort of a secret — that’s what my friends say.”