The ranks of working arts critics are shrinking. “In their increasingly desperate efforts to attract younger readers, newspapers are jettisoning huge swaths of fine- and performing-arts coverage in favor of stuff that they think will pull in those coveted eyes. How to better cover movies, celebrities, reality TV, pop music and the dating scene? Those were the subjects that dominated workshops and conversations at a September meeting of the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors, which I attended. They’re making a mistake – and I’d like to believe it’s not wishful thinking on my part.”
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Colorado’s Top Theatre School Takes Some Whacks
Colorado’s top theatre school is the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. But budget cuts to state colleges have decimated UNC’s theatre program.
Chicago’s New Home For Mid-size Arts
After “more than a decade of dreaming and planning, having the dreams fall through, regrouping and planning again,” a new $52.7 million, 1,500-seat downtown theater for Chicago’s mid-size performing arts groups is almost ready to open. There are some worries, though: “With costs of approximately $4,000 a day, it is far more expensive than the theaters previously used by many of its dozen founding members. With 1,500 seats, it is also larger, and groups may find themselves lost on the larger stage or have trouble filling the extra seats.”
Rings Power NZ Economy
The Lord of the Rings movies have meant an economic boom for New Zealand. “The Tolkien fanatics have kept coming with pockets full of cash, desperate to see the place where the trilogy’s hero, Frodo Baggins, began his daring journey to vanquish the forces of evil by destroying the One Ring. Much of the payoff was tied directly to the estimated $500 million spent to make the three movies, the third of which will hit theaters in December. For a time, the production employed 23,000 workers, making it the largest private employer in New Zealand. Then came the tourists, and scores of new restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts to cater to them.”
An Off-The-Rack Success Story
“Chicago’s new theater for midsize music and dance companies easily could have been a wallflower of a building, drooping in the background alongside the grand metallic bouquet of Frank Gehry’s Millennium Park bandshell. But the theater turns out to be something else: a solid, sometimes soaring example of “stealth architecture,” a mostly underground building that packs far more aesthetic wallop than its modest, above ground profile lets on.”
Are Traveling Rockettes A Threat To American Dance?
“To producers of ‘The Nutcracker’ ballet across the country, the Rockettes have come to represent a more sinister phenomenon. One market at a time, from Tampa Bay to Seattle, the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular,” the touring version of the glitzy New York tradition, has moved in, threatening to take over the all-important holiday market.”
A Theatre With Dreams May Come…
Chicago performing arts groups are optimistic their new home will help build strong companies. “The original purpose behind this project was to provide stability to organizations such as ours that lacked a centrally located, permanent home in downtown Chicago. Our hope is that, as a consequence of our participating in this new venue, we can help each other build audiences.”
Harris Theatre: A Boon For Dance?
The Harris Theatre is particularly anticipated by Chicago dance companies. “It’s great for the dance community and for us. The timing is perfect. But I have to question whether it will really satisfy the needs of the whole community or if it will prove an affordable theater that lots of companies will use.”
Why North Carolina Increased Its Arts Funding This Year
While 60 percent of American states this year cut their arts funding, North Carolina went the other direction, increasing arts funding by $377,000. This in spite of a proposal by the state’s governor for a six-figure budget chop. So how’d it happen? “The majority of the members of our legislature are much more attuned to what the arts are doing back in their home districts than most people would assume,” notes Regan. “I don’t think it was that difficult for the arts community to make the case, because I think what the arts community was saying to the legislature was very quickly recognized as being the facts.”
Spanglish For Official Language?
“Spanglish, the chaotic collision between the two most widely spoken western languages, is in part an “intra-ethnic” dialect designed to allow its users to communicate with each other in a sometimes hostile dominant culture. In that sense, as Ilan Stavans points out in this engaging book, Spanglish is akin to Yiddish, the mixture of Hebrew and German that evolved into the tongue of eastern European Jewry. But, Spanglish is also a transitional stage in the integration of Latinos into mainstream American culture. Since there are now 37m Latinos in the United States, Spanglish is also a fashion and, the implication is, a powerful linguistic force which will alter English and Spanish alike.”