Since the city’s cultural commissioner resigned a year ago, the local arts community has been without an advocate in government. “This is a critical time for artists,” says one critic. Major development plans for the city are being completed without input from artists. – Boston Herald
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CHANGES AT BOSTON BALLET
Anna Marie Holmes is leaving artistic director job at Boston Ballet. Denies report in Boston Herald she was fired. – New York Times
- Previously: Holmes fired Boston Herald 12/29/99
- Statement from the Boston Herald standing by story. 01/03/00
- Boston Ballet director to step down. Boston Globe 12/29/99
- Driving force of the company. Boston Herald 12/29/99
NEVERLAND
“‘Peter Pan,’ presented by the Atlanta Ballet, making a British debut at the Festival Hall, is by Broadway out of Disney, and the delivery room was a long way from the Mariinsky. Eagerly bright, ferociously energetic, perfectly frightful in almost every way, is it ‘ballay’ for the tots.” – Financial Times
CHARLIE BROWN’S LAST DAY
After a quarter-century Charlie Brown says goodbye to the funnies. – Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA IM-PEDIMENT
Betty Greenwood was a secretary at Atlantic Richfield Oil, a hotline counselor and lover of tennis who died in 1992. She loved a pediment filled with colorful sculptures on the Philadelphia Art Museum, which she passed each day on her way to work. When she died in 1992 she left $1 million to “add to the sculptures in any or all of the uncompleted pediments” around the building. But the job has turned into a bigger one than anyone had anticipated. – Philadelphia Inquirer
CULTURAL CUBA
Cuban filmmaker, artist and writer Agustin Blazquez reflects on cultural exchange with Cuba: “In recent months, the US has participated in what is called “people-to-people cultural exchanges” in what I see as a naive effort to reach out to the citizens of Cuba. Naive because these events ignore the interlace with politics — and because ordinary Cubans are forbidden to participate.” – The Idler
CHARLIE BROWN’S LAST DAY
After a quarter-century Charlie Brown says goodbye to the funnies. – Philadelphia Inquirer
POTTER, CENTURY AND CHICKEN SOUP
Christmas book sales were terrific, with the predictable strongest-sellers. – Publishers Weekly
THE BIG STORY IN PUBLISHING IS THE INTERNET
Not so much to sell books, say publishers, but in the way projects are developed and distributed. Still, the traditional book process will pay the bills for the next few years. – Publishers Weekly
80 percent of publishers now have online presence. – Publishers Weekly
DOWNWARD SPIRAL
TV’s broadcast networks are finished if they don’t change their ways, says Tim Brooks, co-author of “The Complete Directory of Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows,” the premier television reference work. What’s ahead for the tube… – CBS MarketWatch 01/03/00