Christoph Eschenbach takes over the Philadelphia Orchestra. “The most optimistic forecast for the Eschenbach era is that he will deftly charm big bucks from rich patrons, give a new mission and a social conscience to the orchestra’s board and administration, and achieve a new level of visibility and stature for himself. Musically, Eschenbach could animate the magisterial qualities of the Philadelphia Orchestra with the personal vision and originality that have marked his best work.”
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All About The Artists? What’s Creative (Class) About That?
Is Richard Florida’s “Rise of The Creative Class” really about art? “It’s not just that Florida relies on words like ‘funky’ and ‘eclectic’ to describe art scenes – words that tend to signal a passive enjoyment of the scene rather than genuine interest in art itself. Or that someone devoted to creative thinking uses empty phrases like ‘thinking outside the box’ and ‘pushing the envelope’ instead of proposing real innovations. It’s true that Creative Class is dedicated more to a dissection of the economic situation rather than solutions for creating what Florida calls ‘people climates’ – that is, the kind of place that these creative-class types would like to live. But Florida tends to glide over the solutions (as well as some of the more outstanding problems) with vague recommendations such as ‘invest broadly in arts and culture,’ an idea he puts right up there with tax breaks for technology companies.”
“The Return” Wins Venice
“Intense Russian father-and-son drama ‘The Return’ won the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion for best picture yesterday, bringing little relief to first-time director Andrey Zvyagintsev who was still shaken by the death of the 15-year-old star of the movie.”
Prince & Sondheim – Together Again
Hal Prince and Steven Sondheim are collaborating on a new show for the first time in 22 years. “Prince has directed more than 30 shows in New York alone, and to sit down with him is to confront a half-century of American theater history. His name instantly evokes an almost unparalleled parade of over-the-moon triumphs, noble failures and, yes, a few bewilderments. When he attaches himself to a project, theatergoers take notice. The last is even more true of Sondheim, of course. Devotees will be making long flights to Washington in the fall to check up on this latest venture. “
The Disney Obsessives
There is a group of people who have burrowed in to Disneyland and plan their lives around it. They “talk a lot about the Magic of Disneyland, that wonderful, childlike feeling of giving in to this world that Walt created, of letting the place make you happy. They want to hold on to that magic and feel it all the time, but it’s perhaps not as easy as when they actually were children. And so they become Talmudic. They go deep inside the history of Disneyland, study every inch of it.”
Return Of The Girls
“Girl culture” seems to be back as a force. “But what exactly is girl culture? On one hand, it’s a shared set of values and behaviors among girls in their teens, ‘tweens and early 20s. It’s directly affected by consumerism, body image, mass media and the cosmetic, fashion and entertainment industries. Teen girls have tremendous pocketbook power, and companies are eager to tap into that exploding market. On the other hand, girl culture is also a resistance – rooted in 1960s and ’70s feminism – to all those forces.”
Broadway’s New Champion Playwright
In a Broadway season that is light on plays, “Richard Greenberg has the opportunity to become the first American writer to have two new plays running simultaneously on Broadway since Neil Simon did it in 1992 with “Jake’s Women” and “Lost in Yonkers.” (The British playwright David Hare did it in 1999 with “Amy’s View” and his one-man show, “Via Dolorosa.”) It is a league, however, that Mr. Greenberg has trouble considering himself a part of.”
Why Aren’t English Movies Funny?
English TV comedies have a brilliant record. “On the big screen, though, we’re an embarrassment. When did you last see a British comedy film that was actually funny, let alone innovative or daring? Even the brightest of our television stars seem to fail when they make movies.”
Canadian Arts – Weaning Off Tobacco Money
Visible sponsorships of cultural events by tobacco companies (read: money for advertising) is over. “Whatever the individual solutions, the cultural community is largely resigned to the loss of tobacco money. In the past, some arts administrators did question the ethics of tobacco sponsorships; many others wondered why the federal government allowed itself to benefit from cigarette taxes but wouldn’t let the arts take its share of the blood money. It’s been a difficult debate in which anyone with a doctrinaire position, whether it was in favour of commercial free speech or rabidly anti-smoking, didn’t seem to be addressing the complexity of the issue in an age when governments know smoking is deadly but also recognize they can’t criminalize it.”
The Politics (And Utility) Of Early Education
“Nowadays, some kind of education before the age of 6 has become common, whether it comes in federally funded Head Start programs or at expensive Manhattan preschools with admissions procedures to rival Harvard’s. President Bush’s recent proposals to steer Head Start funds to the states while stiffening the program’s academic standards have stirred up debate over whether such an approach would widen inequalities or narrow them. They have also raised the age-old question of just how our youngest children, rich or poor, really learn.”