London’s National Theatre was “showered with 20 nominations” for Olivier Awards. It’s a tribute to departing director Trevor Nunn, who’s reign at5 the National has been controversial. Still, “Nunn himself has very oddly been overlooked for best director despite pulling the strings on Tom Stoppard’s trilogy The Coast of Utopia, A Streetcar Named Desire with Glenn Close and the ecstatically received musical Anything Goes.”
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Bourne Pulls Out Of Disney “Mermaid”
Star choreographer Matthew Bourne has pulled out of choreographing Disney’s stage version of “The Little Mermaid.” A disney spokesman: “There was the time it would take to do [Bourne’s] vision vs. the timeline we’re on, and I don’t think they matched up. . . . I want to work with Matt; I adore him and think he’s really smart. [But] it’s just not going to be on Mermaid.”
Big Greed Over A Lovable Bear
Winnie the Pooh earns about a billion dollars a year for Disney – about the same as Micky Mouse. But the lovable bear “would no doubt scratch his fluff-stuffed head in disbelief at what’s going on” with the rights to his likeness and stories. But the family that acquired rights from Pooh creator AA Milne in 1930, is “embroiled in an epic legal battle with the Walt Disney Co. over the merchandising rights to the world’s most beloved bear.” The family “accuses Disney of cheating it out of royalties for nearly two decades” and want their contract with Disney voided so “they can shop Pooh around to competing entertainment companies. Disney vigorously disputes the allegations.”
Tough Times For Off-Broadway
While business on Broadway has been brisk this season, commercial off-Broadway “remains mired in gloom”. Some of Off-Broadway’s best theatres are dark after shows failed. “The troubles have persisted for several seasons, aggravated by the Sept. 11 attacks, rising ticket prices, thin profit margins and a string of expensive financial failures.”
Copyright Issues Back To Congress
The US Supreme Court’s decision not to overturn the Digital Millennium Copyright Act throws the issue back to Congress. “The ruling could fuel fair-use debates over the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, digital-rights management systems and the regulatory mechanisms surrounding them. Some of the technological mandates being sought in Congress and at the FCC would put fair use in grave jeopardy.”
Should Media/Tech Companies Be Determining Our Copy Rights?
Earlier this week “representatives of the music and tech industries pledged to oppose government-mandated technology to stop consumers from copying copyrighted songs and video. Instead, the technology and music companies agreed to collaborate on creating their own technical solutions to preventing the swapping of copyrighted materials. Press releases announcing the deal called the agreement ‘groundbreaking.’ At least one news organization followed suit and labeled the agreement a ‘landmark’ in its headline.” But is it a good idea to let the companies themselves decide which rights the public ought to have?
BBC To Be Reviewed
The BBC will undergo a thorough review of its programming before license renewal in 2006. “The BBC has been told its programmes must justify the licence fee it charges viewers if its charter is to be renewed. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said the corporation would face a ‘tough review’ of the level of funding it receives and the choice of programming it puts out.”
Houston Ballet Names New Artistic Director
It’s 33-year-old Australian choreographer Stanton Welch. He’s “son of two of Australia’s most celebrated classical dancers, Garth Welch and Marilyn Jones. He danced with the Australian Ballet for 10 years and has been a resident choreographer there since 1995. He has set works on many of the world’s major companies.” Welch has named his mentor, Maina Gielgud, as a member of his artistic staff.
Australian Star
“Welch, who is considered by many to be Australia’s most successful choreographer since Robert Helpmann, will be the fourth director of the Houston Ballet. His predecessor, Ben Stevenson was director of the company for 27 years, during which he built it into the nation’s fifth-largest ballet troupe with an annual budget of $US13 million.”
A First Look At Disney Hall
Alan Rich isn’t ready to make prognostications on what an orchestra will sound like in LA’s new Disney Hall, but he’s impressed with how it looks this far into construction. “The hall itself — the ‘Ralphs/Food 4 Less Auditorium,’ it will say in modest lettering on the door handles — is close enough to completion that you can sense the intimacy of the place as compared to the Chandler Pavilion. It’s not only a matter of smaller size; it’s the contour of the room that seems to wrap itself around you.”