The Royal Shakespeare Company will give its unsung understudies a chance to shine next season, with one show per production in which “all the lead roles will be played by the understudies, and stars may be called on to carry spears and stand around quietly without bumping into the set.”
Blog
More Drama At The Riopelle Estate
“A Montreal auctioneer reached an out-of-court settlement yesterday with the estate of legendary Quebec painter Jean-Paul Riopelle after the auctioneer had sued to recover costs associated with an aborted sale of the late artist’s work. Iégor de Saint-Hippolyte had been hired last fall by Huguette Vachon, Riopelle’s widow and primary executor of his estate, to host a sale of about 50 works by the artist who died in 2002. The sale, scheduled for mid-November last year, was opposed by two of Riopelle’s daughters who obtained an injunction against it. Total presale value of the paintings and sculpture was estimated at $13-million.”
Too Secure For Its Own Good
When Toronto artist John Coburn prepared to ship a half-dozen of his paintings to London for an important exhibition, he took no chances. Coburn carefully sealed the paintings in a plywood crate, and sent them via a globally respected courier. The crate arrived in London in plenty of time, at which point the Brits realized that they had no idea how to open the damn thing. “The screws used to fasten the crate were Robertson square drives — a circular screw with a recessed square made to receive a matching hand driver. Quite common in Canada, the make is all but unheard of across the pond.” Informed of the problem, Coburn had just enough time to pocket the correct screwdriver before leaving Canada.
ENO’s Great Irish Dream
“It is easy, when meeting Seán Doran, to grasp why English National Opera sees him as its potential saviour. He only has to open his mouth and you feel he has the gift of the blarney. When you listen to him expounding, in a lilting Irish accent, his visions for the future of opera, the least you can do is nod and agree. That’s exactly what the embattled ENO board did last year when it appointed Doran as artistic director and chief executive. The question now is whether he can turn vision into reality.” Lately, the ENO has been forced to accept one delay after another in the reopening of its home at the London Coliseum, but Doran remains upbeat about the future.
Gambling On A Funding Source
In Madison, Wisconsin, local leaders are promoting a referendum which would allow limited casino gambling within the city limits as a method of generating new revenue to support the arts. Gambling initiatives are not uncommon in the Midwest, and with countless Native American casinos already in operation across the region, there is usually little backlash against such proposals, particularly in difficult economic times. But ArtsJournal’s Andrew Taylor reports that, in Madison, many local arts groups are openly campaigning against the gambling initiative, believing that the casino’s very existence will do more harm than good to their bottom lines.
Are 19th-Century Ensembles Ready For 21st-Century Technology?
If some technophiles have their way, paper-based sheet music may soon be a thing of the past in the symphony orchestra. The technology for digital sheet music exists, and ArtsJournal blogger Drew McManus wonders if the only thing holding orchestras back from embracing it is their usual tendency to cling to tradition. After all, paper-based scores break down from heavy use, and must be painstakingly updated and edited by hand, whereas a set of virtual parts could be instantly changed at a musician’s or librarian’s will. And just imagine: no more awkward page turns or out of print works! Still, orchestra librarians, who have arguably the most to gain or lose from such a transition, remain skeptical that the technology will catch on.
Place des Arts Wins Big In Court
Montreal’s Place des Arts won a major court battle yesterday, when Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that the arts center had not engaged in strikebreaking practices when it responded to a 1999 technicians’ strike by telling its tenants that they would need to supply their own technicians in the future. At the time, Place des Arts was fined $5000 for the tactic, but the center won an injunction in 2001, and the legal fight progressed through the courts to the nation’s highest judicial panel. The technicians’ union was stunned by the ruling, but said that its members will continue to abide by a standing truce until a new agreement can be negotiated.
Skunk Urine Is Not An Approved Negotiating Tactic
Place des Arts has a long history of trouble with at least two labor unions, and the Supreme Court decision may not mean that the unions are out of options, according to labor experts. Still, the decision is unlikely to do anything to smooth the relationship between the venue and the unions, which has gotten decidedly ugly at times. As recently as 2000, members of the stagehands’ union were sued by Place des Arts for dumping skunk urine on the premises, releasing rats in the lobby, and disrupting performances with heckling and noisemakers.
Barnes Can’t Move Yet
“The Barnes Foundation has not yet proved that it needs to move its multibillion-dollar art gallery from Lower Merion to Center City, a judge ruled yesterday, delaying his final decision until the foundation provided more evidence.” The judge also criticized both sides in the case for a lack of hard numbers to back up their arguments. The Barnes needs the court’s permission to move, since the will of its founder stipulates that the collection must remain in Lower Merion. The plan to move to Philadelphia has been quite controversial, but has the support of multiple area foundations.
Scolding From The Bench
In addition to delaying his ruling on the Barnes move, Judge Stanley Ott yesterday issued a blistering critique of the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office, accusing the state’s counsel of being little more than a cheerleader for the Barnes proposal, and “[preventing] the court from seeing a balanced, objective presentation of the situation.” According to the judge, the attorney general’s duty is to assess the situation objectively, and be sure that all the numbers add up in a demonstrable way. Instead, said Judge Ott, “it was left to the court to raise questions relating to the finances of the proposed move and the plan’s financial viability.”