The struggles of ballet companies across the country are well-documented, but you’ll pardon the Boston Ballet for feeling specially cursed this year. Last night, the curtain fell on the company’s last performance of the Nutcracker for 2003, and possibly forever. Having been informed that the Wang Theatre, the company’s Nutcracker home for 35 years, would be replacing the classic ballet with a traveling show next December, Boston Ballet is desperately searching for a new home in a city famously lacking in performance space. With Nutcracker typically bringing in as much as 50%-60% of a ballet company’s annual revenues, no one even wants to think of what could happen if Boston Ballet can’t mount the holiday show.
Blog
Another Failure In South Florida
When the Florida Philharmonic folded last summer, many expected its audience to find a home with other local classical groups such as the New World Symphony, or the Miami Chamber Symphony. But the MCS hasn’t performed since February, due to a cash shortage, and this week, the chamber ensemble officially cancelled the 2003-04 season. As in the case of the Florida Phil, donors to the MCS have been reluctant to throw good money after bad, and the group has not been able to stabilize its finances in the 11 months since its troubles became public knowledge.
Theoretically Speaking…Theory Might Be Dead
For two decades now, the world of humanities studies has been ruled by theory. “But there are reports from the academic world that theory may have run out steam. ‘Confidence in the technology of theory has faded. Theory’s opacities and arcane terms may be entrenched, but ‘they don’t come at you with the old assurance and swagger.”
Russell Resigns P.S.122
After 21 years, Mark Russell has resigned as executive director of New York’s P.S. 122. “In addition to the widespread kudos for the man who helped launch Whoopi Goldberg, Eric Bogosian, Blue Man Group, John Leguizamo, and the Hip Hop Theater Festival—and brought heating, lighting, and a managerial infrastructure into the once abandoned public-school building—artists and producers of experimental work also sounded the alarm over the possibility that a corporate mentality might replace the aesthetic vision and commitment that have characterized Russell’s tenure.”
2003 – The Year States Bailed On The Arts
Across America, states cut arts funding in 2003. “By July, virtually every state arts council had received an appropriations decrease. Some cuts were draconian: 30% in Minnesota, 62% in Massachusetts, almost 80% in Florida, and a near defunding in Colorado. Compared to this, the cut sustained by the New York State Council on the Arts — 15% — seemed almost benign.”
2003 – A Good Year For Women Directors
It is because women directors usually have such a difficult time getting movies made that it is worth noting that 2003 has been a good year for women directors…
Fo: Taking On The Prime Minister
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s biggest critic these days comes from the stage, where Dario Fo unleashes his criticisms. “For all its grave accusations, “The Two-Headed Anomaly” is an almost vaudevillian romp. The show consists largely of short, fat and bald jokes about the prime minister and his councilors. It stages bawdy attacks not only on Mr. Berlusconi’s politics but also on his personal life and his ethics. But that is exactly what Mr. Fo’s fans expect and want.”
Did CBS Pay Michael Jackson $1 Million For Interview?
CBS denies it paid Jackson for his 60 Minutes interview Sunday. But a Michael Jackson associate said that “in renewed negotiations, CBS agreed to pay another $1 million to the star to grant the interview so that the network could finally broadcast its entertainment special. It is now scheduled to be broadcast on Friday evening. ‘In essence they paid him, but they didn’t pay him out of the `60 Minutes’ budget; they paid him from the entertainment budget, and CBS just shifts around the money internally. That way `60 Minutes’ can say `60 Minutes’ didn’t pay for the interview’.”
The New Age Of Understudy
Pity the understudy. Most understudies rarely get that Cinderella call to the stage. But “the Royal Shakespeare Company’s new director, Michael Boyd, has waved his magic wand and decreed that she shall go the ball – every understudy at Stratford is now contractually guaranteed at least one full public performance per production. As a morale booster, this seems to me both humane and practical, and it is also evidence of a new trend that brings the understudy out of the dressing room and into the spotlight.”
The World’s Most Popular Show Of All Time
What’s the most successful show in history? It’s Holiday on Ice. “Reviled by critics, adored by coach parties, and seen by many millions – in fact, the show passed the 300 million mark last autumn – Holiday on Ice returns to the Wembley Arena next month, to celebrate its 60th anniversary. In 1988 it won its place in the Guinness Book of Records as most watched show of all time, when a French woman, Isabelle Challier, became the 250 millionth visitor. It has toured to 620 cities in 80 countries. It is now run from Amsterdam, and military-style planning keeps three shows, with 200 skaters, touring the world.”