Rather than run a deficit, and faced with a shortage of income, the “Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival has postponed the final production of the season and laid off three of its six employees.”
Blog
When Did Hollywood Give Up Happy Endings?
Hollywood has been a specialist in happy endings. But lately, happy conclusions seem to be out of fashion…
Familiar Music In New Settings
Looking for ways to present classical music in new formats, one French entrepreneur has developed a new sound for some familiar classics – Beethoven, Strauss, Vivaldi and others – and he’s become quite the virtuoso. Okay, it’s a joke, but it’s fun!
When Bodies In Seats Are More Important Than Selling Tickets…
Broadway now has a couple of businesses that help “paper” shows that aren’t selling well. “Subscribers to these services are permitted up to two tickets per performance, based on seating availability. While most tickets are for Off- and Off-Off-Broadway shows, seats for Broadway shows are not impossible to find. It’s all left to the discretion of producers, who may give away ‘comps’ when shows are in previews, underpublicized, or expecting reviewers or celebrities in the house.”
Increase Funding For The NEA? Yeah, Right!
So arts supporters are cheering George Bush’s proposal to raise the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts. Big deal, writes Dominic Papatola. “Even if Bush’s proposed boost isn’t the cynical political maneuver it appears to be — who wants to bet that congressional Republicans don’t have a backroom deal to nix the increase? — the NEA budget will still be $37 million less than its high-water mark. And that’s in nonadjusted dollars.”
Writing After The Kid’s Market
“It is strange to find that I have joined the swelling ranks of children’s authors, since that was never either an ambition or an intention. But maybe we are all subconsciously influenced by the rags to riches story of Joanne Rowling. Certainly, children’s literature is no longer the poor relation in the publishing world. If you want to be an author, children’s literature is the place to be and agents are certainly on the hunt.”
Your Local Record Store’s Days Are Numbered
Traditional record chains are hurting and going out of business. “A recent study by Forrester Research, which examines technology trends, predicts that in five years fully one-third of all music will be delivered through modems, and the CD itself will be passe, if not obsolete, in the years after. This isn’t necessarily bad news for the record labels, but it could be lethal for brick-and-mortar stores.”
Scottish Opera Borrowing On The Future
“Finances at Scotland’s national opera company are in such a state that the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) has agreed to advance it more than half of next year’s budget to keep it afloat. Critics blame arrogant management for the crisis which could see up to 80 of its staff of around 200 lose their jobs. Although Scottish Opera enjoys huge critical acclaim for its onstage productions, it is almost as famous for its equally tumultuous off-stage dramas. In the latest twist for the opera company, it has been forced to seek £4m from the SAC in order to keep its doors open.”
Atwood: Writing For Fun And Profit
Margaret Atwood on how she became a writer: “I just started writing, and started writing poetry. I was too ignorant to know you couldn’t just walk into it and make a living that way. I got a magazine called Writer’s Market and thought maybe I will write true romances in the daytime, because you can make quite a lot of money doing that, and in the evenings I will write my works of genius.”
When Science Explains Art (Is That Good?)
Some art lovers get angry when scientists try to attach literal explanations to art. But “such literalism can actually add to an artwork’s mystique. By helping us identify the part of art that’s not a mystery, these efforts help us focus more narrowly on the part that is.”