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Louvre: Mona Lisa Is Deteriorating

The Louvre said Monday that the Mona Lisa is deteriorating much more quickly than previously thought. “The thin, poplar wood panel on which the artwork is painted has become deformed since conservation experts last evaluated the condition of the painting, the Louvre said. The artwork is inspected every 1-2 years. The Louvre said the condition of the Mona Lisa was causing “some worry” and that a new study has been launched, but one that will allow the painting to remain in the public eye.”

Springer Opera To Broadway

Jerry Springer – The Opera will open on Broadway in October 2005. “The production, which features bad language, tap-dancing Ku Klux Klan members and a man wearing a giant nappy, may be something of a gamble in the US. Despite an increasingly conservative approach to indecency, producer Jon Thoday has vowed the material will not be toned down. Either it will be the most enormous hit or audiences will walk out in horror.”

Elvis Is Leaving The (NYT) Building?

Is movie critic Elvis Mitchell leaving the New York Times? Word is that AO Scott will take over the chief film critic role, and that Mitchell will leave. “The move downsizes the triumvirate that put Scott, Mitchell and Stephen Holden in charge of movie criticism when longstanding lead reviewer Maslin stepped down at the end of 1999.”

Bombay Dreams Goes For An Asian Broadway Audience

The $14 million Bombay Dreams is about to hit Broadway, and producers have been out wooing the Asian community. “Bombay Dreams, after all, is essentially a staged version of a Bollywood film, the immensely popular kind of musical melodramas, produced in Mumbai (as Bombay is now called), that draws huge audiences from all across the Indian subcontinent. And the best estimates say that there are more than 500,000 South Asians living in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.”

Cultural Cross-Purposes – What Binds Europe?

As Europe’s countries tie themselves closer, one wonders about what ties them together culturally. “The union’s old and new members alike know surprisingly little about one another’s artistic inventiveness today. Creative life may be flourishing in widely different ways across Europe, but the most common cultural link across the region now is a devotion to American popular culture in the form of movies, television and music. In a Europe committed to seeking ‘ever closer union,’ where a dozen countries already share a currency, culture seems to have fallen out of step. Even as Europeans visit one another’s cities and beaches more than ever, national self-obsessions prevail in the visual arts, new plays, literature, contemporary classical music, pop music and movies.”

Florida City Bets Future On Arts

The city of Sarasota, Florida has decided that its future is with the arts. “A consultant’s proposal would add up to 375,000 square feet of new cultural space and 300,000 to 600,000 square feet for shops, restaurants, galleries, offices and residences. There’s also a planned three-acre public park, a 10th Street pier and marina, and a baywalk path along the water.”

What Does Scotland’s Commitment To Arts Mean?

So Scotland is undertaking a cultural review. But what’s that mean? “A scan down the Cultural Policy Statement was enough to send readers cross-eyed trying to find meaning in the too-polished sentences. I have little idea what an ‘effective, sustainable infrastructure for our arts, heritage, screen and creative industries’ is. Nor do I like the suggestion that creativity is ‘the edge we need in a competitive world’. It’s wrong to evaluate the arts as a pounds-shillings-and-pence tool of business. We should enjoy and pursue them for their own sake.”

Making Actors Out Of Stars

“Personal acting coaches are common in Hollywood, where rehearsal time is scarce and money is not. But on Broadway, though stars of musical theater often work with voice coaches, very few experienced theater actors hire an expert to help them prepare for a play. As more film and television stars moonlight in the theater, however, coaches are increasingly in demand.”

What Does Scotland’s Arts Community Want?

Is the Scottish Executive’s plan for the arts just an exercise in delaying a policy? The culture minister says not: “I’m asking the sector to come up with some solutions for itself. I’m tired with the passivity. The system of decision-making suggests we know best all the time. Well, if the arts sector genuinely believes in the contribution it can make, here’s an opportunity for the commission to interrogate that.”