Blog

NEA Establishes New Critics’ Institutes

“The institutes will be designed for journalists who cover the arts for print and broadcast outlets located outside the country’s largest media markets, where professional development opportunities are limited. Institutes for dance critics will be hosted by the American Dance Festival at Duke University; for classical music and opera critics at Columbia University; and theater critics at the University of Southern California.”

When Good Readings Go Wrong

The author reading seems perilously ripe for disaster. Why? “The world of letters” seems “to offer a near perfect microclimate for embarrassment and shame …. Something about the presentation of deeply private thoughts—carefully worked and honed into art over the years—to a public audience of strangers … strays perilously close to tragedy.”

Is James Wood Our Geatest Critic?

“Mr. Wood is recklessly committed to literature (if he weren’t so flexible, I’d be tempted to call him a fanatic), and brave enough to risk ridicule by pushing every thought to the limit. Caution doesn’t enter into the calculation: He shows us, candidly—in prose overcrowded with metaphor, prose that palpably yearns for maximum expression—how his head and heart respond to what he reads (which is just about everything). He’s growing before our eyes. It’s perhaps his most impressive quality.”

Libeskind’s WTC Fee Dispute

World Trade Center site developer Larry Silverstein is in a bitter argument with Daniel Libeskind over fees the Libeskind firm says it is owed. “Even assuming that the Libeskinds do manage to come to terms with Mr. Silverstein before July 4, the episode has the potential to leave a bad taste in the mouths of Mr. Silverstein’s landlord at the World Trade Center, the Port Authority, which is in the process of evaluating whether or not to allow Mr. Silverstein to develop the rest of the buildings planned for the site.”

Finishing A Book From Beyond

“The mid-project death or enfeeblement of an author is one of the stranger crucibles a publisher must face. Unlike more collaborative art forms, a piece of writing bears a highly individual style, making it hard for others to complete a book without it seeming choppy or fraudulent. Nor can a company release a book’s fragment the way it might a CD; a piece of writing more than most creative efforts is an integrated whole and immune to such partialness. Yet creative legacy (if not commercial imperative) demands that a publisher find a way to get the book out–whether by hook, crook or séance.”

Those Lazy, Lazy Voters

“One press agent calls it ‘votergate.’ A veteran producer says it’s ‘a problem that has been going on for years.’ And a former drama critic says it’s a scandal people ‘bitch and moan about’ but one that the theater industry does ‘absolutely nothing to police.’ They are talking about Tony voters who do not bother to see all the nominated shows but vote for candidates in all the categories nonetheless.”

Ontario To Stop Censoring Films

By early 2005, Canada’s largest province will end nearly a century of film censorship, thanks to recent court rulings and a decision by the provincial government of Ontario not to fight for the survival of such practices. Ontario has always required that films be presented to its Film Review Board for possible censorship before being released to the public. The government is considering implementing an American-style ratings system to replace the review board.

Karmazin Quits Viacom – Is Stern Finished?

Mel Karmazin has resigned as chairman of Viacom, the media conglomerate that owns CBS and radio giant Infinity Broadcasting. The resignation is likely to have ripple effects throughout the media world, as several Disney board members are known to have been courting Karmazin as a replacement for embattled CEO Michael Eisner. Additionally, Karmazin’s departure could spell the end for controversial radio host Howard Stern, whom Karmazin allowed a very long creative leash which is unlikely to be matched by future execs running scared from a potential FCC crackdown on obscenity.

Northern Plains Ballet Scales Back Expectations

Northern Plains Ballet, which had hoped to become the flagship dance company of its region with productions mounted in multiple cities throughout the Northern Plains states, has announced that it will cut the cities of Sioux Falls (SD), Grand Forks (ND), and Billings (MT) from its schedule in future seasons. That leaves the company with performances in only Fargo and Bismarck, North Dakota, and a possible staging of The Nutcracker in Aberdeen (SD). Extremely low attendance and revenue shortfalls were cited as the reasons for the cutbacks.