Alice Randall, the author of The Wind Done Gone (the Gone With The Wind parody which the Margaret Mitchell estate tried to stifle) hasn’t been able to talk about her battle to get the novel published, thanks to orders from her own publisher’s legal team. But Randall has a new book out, and with the controversy well behind her, she’s finally speaking out. “A lot of older black people experienced it as a black voice being silenced. It was an intellectual awakening for me that the copyright act can be used for censorship.”
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Not Taking No For An Answer
New York City Opera wasn’t particularly surprised when city officials rejected their request to move to Ground Zero once the new complex is completed. General director Paul Kellogg insists that the company isn’t giving up its quest for a new home. “Despite his brave talk, however, the rejection of this proposal represents an enormous setback for this innovative company. It’s hard to think of another arts organization in New York that is so hobbled by its performance space.”
Artistic Profiling?
Arthur Robins was spending a leisurely afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when suddenly he found himself being interrogated by several cops from the Joint Terrorist Task Force of the NYPD. According to the cops, Robins had been fingered as the man who had been surreptitiously hanging cartoonish paintings of President Bush in major museums up and down the Eastern seaboard. That night, the investigators showed up at Robins’s apartment for more questioning. Here’s the kicker, according to the suspect: “Out of 90,000 street artists in New York, they picked the one who doesn’t despise Bush.”
Is Country Radio Ignoring It’s Left Wing?
“Country music artists are hardly united in their support of the war in Iraq but you’d never know it from listening to the radio. While Toby Keith, Darryl Worley and Charlie Daniels have scored hits with patriotic, war-themed songs, others such as Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Nanci Griffith released anti-war, or at least questioning, songs that went nowhere.” Part of the problem may be that most of the protest songs are being released by artists with a “classic country” or “alt-country” sound which doesn’t get a lot of play on today’s slick, corporate airwaves. But market researchers say that the most basic reason for the snub is that country programmers know that their listeners would flay them alive if they deviated from the flag-waving.
The Reagan Arts Legacy
Ronald Reagan “was a man of many paradoxes whose cultural legacy is colored in shades of gray,” says John Hayes. And while the left-leaning arts world, which is still fuming over Reagan’s deliberate ignoring of the AIDS epidemic that decimated the American cultural scene, is unlikely to remember Reagan as one of its favorite presidents, the fact is that under his leadership, public arts funding hit an all-time high. In fact, at a time when many Congressional conservatives were ready to launch an all-out assault on the National Endowment for the Arts, Reagan steered a gentle course between warring parties, and may have saved the NEA in the process.
Did Avenue Q Put One Over On Tony Voters?
A controversy is brewing over the tactics employed by the producers of Avenue Q, which won the Tony award for best musical, and then promptly announced that it would forgo a national tour in favor of an exclusive (and lucrative) deal to mount the show in Las Vegas. At issue is whether the Avenue Q crew misled road producers, who make up a sizable chunk of Tony voters, telling them that a national tour was a foregone conclusion, even as they were negotiating a secret deal with Vegas promoter Steve Wynn.
Troubled Waters In Baltimore?
Ominous signs are looming over the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra these days, with accumulated debt mounting (expected to reach a whopping $8 million by 2005), controversy in the front office, and dissension in the boardroom. “Seven top administrators and other staff members have resigned [in recent weeks], including the chief financial officer, an executive board member and a member of the fund-raising department.” And the BSO’s decision to appoint a marketing specialist with no orchestral management experience to be the organization’s new president is being met with skepticism in some quarters, particularly after a widely-reported comment about broadening the audience beyond “wealthy old white people” hit the papers.
Celebrating Joyce. Or Just Sitting Around Drinking. Whichever.
The fellas who make up Denver’s James Joyce Reading Society are devoted to the author’s work. But they’re also quite devoted to Guinness beer, Irish whiskey, and talking politics, so you’ll excuse them if they don’t always get around to the reading. Of course, Joyce would probably approve of such meandering loyalty, and as the 100th anniversary of the date that was the setting of Ulysses approaches, the Bloomsday revelries are set to begin not only in Denver, but in 60 countries worldwide.
Sounds Like Some Leftist Pinko Commie Hippie Plot! Let’s Get ‘Em!
A new traveling exhibition is attempting to bring attention the architectural/cultural phenomenon of urban “greening,” a philosophy which allows cities to build big skyscrapers and massive sports stadiums, so long as they “consume less energy, use renewable materials and resources, and uplift their surroundings and the spirits of those who work in them.” It’s an intriguing concept, but most American cities, even those which consider themselves to be on the cutting edge of both architecture and the movement towards making cities more inviting, haven’t even begun to explore the possibilities of building green.
Reversing Course In Wisconsin
The board of the tiny La Crosse (Wisconsin) Symphony Orchestra has thought better of its decision to terminate conductor Amy Mills, after some board members complained that the process which led to the vote ousting Mills was underhanded and unfair. Mills’s current contract runs through next season, which will be her tenth with the ensemble, and the board’s reversal opens the door for her to negotiate a new deal, despite artistic conflicts with some of the ensemble’s musicians.