The celebrated playwright Jean Kerr has died of complications from pneumonia at her home in New York state. Kerr, who is best known for penning the collection Please Don’t Eat The Daisies, which was later made into a film, also had multiple successes on Broadway, and was admired for her willingness to poke fun at the show business industry. Kerr was 80.
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Museum Cuts in Pittsburgh
“In an effort to trim its 2003 budget, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh is eliminating its film and video section and permanently laying off 17 full-time and four part-time employees. In addition, six employees have resigned voluntarily and 22 vacant positions will not be filled. The loss of 49 total full-time and four part-time positions is expected to save the parent corporation $4 million this year.”
Beantown Organ To Get New Life
Deficits? What deficits? As most American orchestras are scrambling for the funds to cover their basic costs, the Boston Symphony Orchestra is unveiling a project which will see the complete overhaul and restoration of one of the country’s great organs, located at the BSO’s Symphony Hall. The restoration will cost $3 million (the cost includes a special endowment which will take care of furture maintenance) and should be complete in time for new music director James Levine’s debut with the orchestra in 2004.
In Munich – A Museum That Puts Art Above Building
In an era when museum buildings are asked to be works of art themselves (and the art inside can seem like an afterthought), Munich’s new Pinakothek der Moderne is a white rextangle in which art is the star…
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Tie ‘Em Up And Yell At ‘Em
A small Vancouver theatre company was tired of staging plays that didn’t get reviewed or else received poor notices, and needed a fresh idea to promote their latest production. So they kidnapped four local theatre critics, tied them to chairs in front of their theatre, and yelled insults at them. (Okay, okay, the critics were willing participants. But it’s still a pretty cool image…)
Undoing Radio Dereg?
Nearly everyone not employed by a media giant or a congressman would agree that the 1996 congressional deregulation of the U.S. radio industry has resulted in an epidemic of predictable, generic, and (for lack of a better term) bad radio. The Telecom Act of ’96 also gave rise to such radio monoliths as Clear Channel, which consider it part of their mission to do to small, independent stations what WalMart does to mom-and-pop dime stores. But now, the dynamic duo that brought you the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill appears to be on the verge of introducing Senate legislation to rein in corporate radio, and return at least some of the airwaves to the public.
A Tax For Musicians That Musicians Don’t Get
In Canada blank CDs carry a 21 cent tax “collected from technology companies to reimburse the music industry for losses incurred by music copying and swapping.” Now the industry wants to increase the fee to 59 cents. There are also proposals to slap a fee on devices which record media. But there is growing opposition – “Since 1999, the CPCC has collected more than CN$28 million in copyright compensation fees. It expects to collect more than CN$100 million in levies next year.” And yet, critics point out that the music industry hasn’t paid a penny to musicians…
The Orchestra Ax Falls Again
Yet another small North American orchestra is on the verge of bankruptcy. The Colorado Springs Symphony says it needs $217,000 to survive more than another week, and is demanding steep pay cuts from its musicians, who already earn less than $13,000 per year. The musicians, for their part, claim that orchestra management has been grossly incompetent in running the organization, and accuse the board president, whose resignation they demanded in September, of trying to turn the CSS into a “pro-am community group.”
Film Boom In Thailand
“Thailand says it expects a record windfall this year from foreign film-makers lured there by its exotic locations and liberal industry regulations. Officials announced on Tuesday that they expected to rake in 1.5bn baht ($35m) during 2003. They have credited the government’s moves to cut red tape governing film shoots and to lower income tax for foreign actors.”
Music Fans Only Want It Their Way
More and more music fans seem reluctant to go to the record store, let alone to concerts, if CD and concert ticket sales are any indication. “CD sales fell last year by almost 11 per cent in the United States and about 6 per cent in Australia as Internet users continued to swap songs for free. Concert sales were also down except among baby boomers who thought nothing of paying high prices to see dinosaur acts.”