Chicago’s Noble Fool Theatre Company has shut down, but the company’s founder and board will continue to operate, hopefully reemerging as a more wide-ranging arts organization. In the short term, “Noble Fool will continue as the exclusive theater presenter at two new venues at” a local resort, and certain performances will continue as the company attempts to reorganize financially.
Blog
Is It Just Possible That Nobody Cares?
NC-17 is losing some of its taboo qualities, with major studios agreeing to release films with the once-dreaded rating, and newspapers readily airing ads for them. True, video stores still won’t stock them, but they will stock “unrated” versions of R-rated films which include NC-17-worthy footage. So what does it all mean? Are we a more permissive society than we were a decade ago? Are studios less risk-averse? Is Western civilization knuckling under to the dark forces of deviant morality? Or is it just possible that Hollywood has decided that there’s very little point in having a rating that you can’t use?
Privatizing The Randall?
“A stealthy proposal to privatize a popular public museum as a solution to San Francisco’s short-term budget shortfalls has raised the hackles of museum users, who are demanding a full public airing of the agreement. The Randall Museum, home to children’s art and science programs in the city since 1951, would have its operations turned over to the Randall Museum Friends, a private, nonprofit organization with about 20 members whose stated mission is to ‘support the Randall Museum by providing strategic private-sector leadership, raising funds, and advocating for the museum.'”
Can Artists Create A Balanced Picture Of Islam?
With the entire world seemingly caught up in conflicts involving radical Islam, it is becoming ever-more imperative that residents of primarily non-Islamic countries gain some sort of cultural recognition of the broader scope of Islamic culture. In Australia, the city of Melbourne is uniquely positioned to make such an educational push, say Greg Barns and Jane Rankin-Reid, but it will require a concerted effort on the part of the city’s artistic and cultural institutions.
Royal Winnipeg Loses 9 Dancers, 2 Principals
Turnover is not abnormal in the ballet world, and most companies can expect to lose a dancer or two in a given year. But the Royal Winnipeg Ballet is taking a rather large hit this summer, with 9 of its 26 dancers, including two male principals, either being let go or leaving the company on their own.
Edwards Signs Off Morning Edition
The Bob Edwards era at NPR is officially over. On Friday, Edwards, who has been cast as the martyr to the increasing corporatization of public radio since news of his “reassignment” broke weeks ago, thanked his listeners for “24 years and 6 months” of loyalty, conducted a last interview with CBS newsman Charles Osgood, and faded into the obscurity of his new nebulously defined job as “senior correspondent.”
Can Levine Still Conduct?
As James Levine winds up another season at the Met and prepares to take the helm of the Boston Symphony in 2004, concerns over his health and ability to do his job are finding a public voice. Persistent shaking and loss of energy have become an everyday part of Levine’s podium demeanor, and his musicians, many of whom stress that without Levine, the Met orchestra would not be the revered ensemble it is today, claim that he is nearly impossible to follow on a nightly basis. Levine insists that, despite the shaking, he is in excellent health, but questions persist about his workload and future prospects.
The Evolution Of Silly Book Marketing Techniques
Book tours suck. With the demise of truly local TV in most major markets, authors making the rounds are forced to spend most of their days in bookstores, signing endless copies of their tomes for marked-up sale to the type of book junkie who likes that kind of thing. “A signed book [has quickly become] a sine qua non for collectors. The best comparison I can think of is to the dust jacket. Until 50 years ago, the book’s paper wrapper was there to draw attention in a store, and to protect the book until someone actually sat down and read it. At that time it was commonly discarded—which is why so few books with intact dust jackets survive from those early days.”
Too Many Snips & Snails Put Asia’s Future At Risk
Most of the reasons for the preference in many Asian cultures for sons over daughters have long since passed into irrelevance, but “a strong preference for sons persists, enhanced by technology that increasingly allows parents to realize their desires. Amniocentesis and ultrasound can easily identify the sex of a fetus, and sex-selective abortion has become an everyday practice… Scholars and feminist organizations in both Asia and the West have produced many volumes of often conflicting advice about how to combat the practice. Now two political scientists have joined the fray with an ominous argument: Offspring sex selection could soon lead to war.”
State Of The Theater: LA Edition
It’s the best of times and the worst of times for the musical theater scene in Los Angeles. On the one hand, the quality of local productions is way up in recent years, and there seems to be no shortage of work for the area’s actors. But on the other hand, the cost of mounting such productions has gone through the roof, and there are even whispers that the business model may no longer be viable in the longer term. Still, in an era when many sectors of the American cultural scene are struggling to survive, L.A.’s theater crowd is learning to adjust to new realities.