The province of Ontario is having budget problems like governments everywhere. But the new budget for culture is going up. “Estimates for the 2004-05 fiscal year, released this week, show that the Ontario government’s cultural program will involve expenditures of close to $150-million. That’s an increase of almost 7 per cent over last year, and the first substantive hike in culture funding in more than five years.”
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Pondering Balanchine In St. Petersburg
“To see program after program of Balanchine at the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg is to be exposed to every kind of nostalgia and fantasy. This is the theater where, at the age of ten in 1914, he made his debut as a tiny cupid in The Sleeping Beauty. It’s also a theater where, through most of the 20th century, his work went unseen.”
Study On State Arts Agencies Sparks Debate
A new RAND study on US state arts agencies criticizes them for “failing to be forward-thinking in their visions and politically astute in their operations, and for failing to become financially insulated from the vagaries of the economy and state budgeting.” But Jonathan Katz, CEO of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, takes issue with some of the report’s findings.
Did Avenue Q Producers Dupe Tour Presenters?
National tour presenters are feeling betrayed by producers of Avenue Q. They feel that they were “duped” into voting a Tony for the show thinking that it would help the tour business. Instead,”the news that the show would skip a national tour and instead run, in the fall of 2005, in a $40 million, 1,200-seat theatrical venue being built by Steve Wynn in his new $2.5 billion casino, the Wynn Las Vegas Resort and Country Club, snapped the business (and those who cover it) to attention. For road presenters, it caused a reaction as close to a paroxysm as the theatre ever sees.”
Russian Trial On “Blasphemous” Art
“A prominent Russian human rights advocate and two other defendants went on trial Tuesday, accused of organizing a blasphemous exhibit. Their lawyers said the charges were so vague it was impossible to answer them.”
MPAA Objects To Bill Allowing Edited Movie Versions
The Motion Picture Association of America is objecting to a proposed new law in the US Congress that would exempt from legal liability anyone using software to make “family friendly” versions of movies. “Our objection is simply to Congress providing legal cover to companies that want to make a profit by offering an edited, abridged version, without regard for the wishes of the director who created the movie or the studio that owns the copyright.”
Stolen Paintings (Including “Cezanne”) Recovered In Australia
“A hoard of stolen paintings, including a work said to be by impressionist Paul Cezanne, has been recovered by police in Australia.” The paintings were stolen from an Australian art restorer in February, and he claimed that a Cezanne worth $50 million was among them. But the paintings were uninsured, and Cezanne experts said they had never heard of such a Cezanne.
Conservatives Take On Moore
The conservative action group that got the CBS biopic The Reagans pulled from the TV schedule last year is mounting a new campaign against Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. So far, they don’t appear to be on the verge of another kill…
Cheaper Than The Real Stock Market, Too
Do you want to attend a theater, music, or sporting event, but just can’t tear yourself away from your thrill-a-minute life trading stocks? StubHub, a web site that turns ticket brokerage into something akin to an eBay auction held in the trading pit of a stock exchange, is here to help you…
Europe To Approve Historic Media Merger
“The European Commission is poised to approve a merger between Sony Music and BMG,” according to sources. The approval is something of a surprise, constituting a reversal of the commission’s earlier published position on the merger, which expressed grave concern over the dominance that the merged company would have on the global music trade. The decision to approve the merger could come as early as Friday.