Satirist Michael Moore picked up the top prize at this week’s British Book Awards, winning for his indictment of conservative U.S. policy, Stupid White Men. Moore beat out a strange field of competitors including Booker-winning author Yann Martel (Life of Pi) and a star player for the Manchester United soccer team, who wrote a best-selling autobiography. The award carries no prize money, which is probably all the same to Moore, who has also been carrying home prizes by the truckload for his last film, Bowling For Columbine.
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Boston Merger
Boston’s Wang Center for the Performing Arts and the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, which presents free summer productions, are merging their business operations together in an effort to streamline fundraising and marketing efforts. Each company will maintain its own distinct identity, but the agreement “formalizes and underscores the Wang’s sponsorship of CSC during the past two summer seasons. As CSC’s major underwriter, the Wang has contributed $200,000 in cash and thousands of dollars in ‘in-kind services,’ according to Maler.”
Beijing Goes On Museum-Building Spree
Beijing is investing $854 million in building and renovating museums in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. “By 2008, Beijing will have 130 museums,” said a government official.
Everybody Sing!
Singing in choirs is the most popular performing arts activity in the U.S., according to a new study, with better than 28 million Americans (about 10% of the total population) singing in some sort of organized chorus. “The study found a link between early exposure to choral singing and adult participation in choruses. More than half of adult singers had grown up in a household that included a chorus member, and nearly 70 percent had first sung in elementary or middle school.”
NY Mayor Reinvents So-Called “Decency Council”
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is reinventing former mayor Rudy Giuliani’s so-called “Decency Council” – the Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission. “The commission, largely ignored in recent years, was reconstituted by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani as a decency panel in April 2001 after the Brooklyn Museum of Art exhibited works he found offensive. But Bloomberg apparently has another model in mind: a ‘working board’ full of established art enthusiasts, some of whom just might write out a hefty check in a pinch.”
London Success But Bombing In New York (Ah Yes, The Tradition…)
London critics loved Sam Mendes’ Donmar Theatre productions. Yet when he brought them to New York, the critics piled up their complaints. “There is a long tradition of New York critics resisting productions that have been successful in London. But there is more to the failure of Mendes’s productions to win them over than sniping.”
Broadway Musicians May Strike Next Week
Contract talks between Broadway producers and the musicians union have stalled, and musicians say they may strike next week. “Musicians who work in the orchestra pits of old Broadway standbys like ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and new hits like ‘Hairspray’ said on Tuesday they might walk off the job after their union contract expires on Sunday.” Producers are preparing to use recorded music.
Actors Unions Discuss Merger
America’s two major actors unions are seriously discussing a merger. “A merger of the two unions has been discussed and rejected in the past. But in recent years, the consolidation of firms like America Online and Time Warner and the creation of Vivendi Universal have concentrated industry power in fewer hands. ‘What we found is that instead of just being a good idea or a convenience, this kind of unity is more and more becoming an absolute necessity’.”
Theatres Against War
On Monday some 700 readings of Aristophanes’ anti-war satire “Lysistrata,” written in 411 B.C., will be presented around the world to protest a war in Iraq. “It’s all part of the Lysistrata Project, the brainchild of New York writer-actress Kathryn Blume. Blume said she had been working on a screenplay based on “Lysistrata” when she heard about Theaters Against War (THAW), a group planning an ‘action day’ to protest a potential United States war against Iraq.”
NJ Arts Groups Organizing Protests Against Eliminating Arts Funding
New Jersey arts groups are mobilizing protests in response to Governor James McGreevey’s proposal to eliminate state arts funding. Arts supporters plan a big rally for May 15 – about the time the state legislature is expected to vote on the budget. “A vocal supporter of the arts in the past, McGreevey has expressed regret about the need for his proposal to slash arts funding. He has urged arts leaders to come up with alternatives.”