“Every year London’s commercial theatres are accused of profiteering, as ticket prices rocket and the industry boasts of record-breaking revenues. But analysing the high costs involved, ticketing expert Richard Howle shows where your money goes – and why musicals remain a risky investment, often taking years to recoup.”
Blog
Here’s The African-American Museum That Charleston, And America, Need
Michael Kimmelman writes about the long-planned International African American Museum, to be located at the wharf on Charleston’s waterfront where close to half of all African slaves brought to the U.S. arrived.
More Commonwealth Authors Demand (Again) That Americans Be Kicked Out Of Man Booker Prize
“Three years since the Man Booker began allowing any author writing in English and published in the UK to enter, 99% of Folio Academy members who responded to the question have said that the Booker should change its rules again, with most responses citing the new ubiquity of US authors in the prize’s longlists.”
Lots Of Bad Public Art Has Made Macedonia’s Capital A Giant Monument To Kitsch
“Quick quiz. Which of the following makes sense?
a) Three pirate ships on a river in a landlocked country in the Balkans;
b) A 47-foot-high bronze statue of an ancient warrior that is Alexander the Great and is also not Alexander the Great; or
c) A house dedicated to Mother Teresa, a saint known for her modesty, done up in an opulent style that can best be described as Miami meets the Flintstones.
Answer: None, unless you are in Skopje, Macedonia.”
New Sculpture On Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth Is Rebuke To ISIS’s Destruction Of Ancient Sites
American artist Michael Rakowitz, whose family were Iraqi Jewish refugees, made a replica of the lamassu (a winged bull with a human head) which stood at the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh until ISIS destroyed it in 2015. (The material: thousands of empty cans of date syrup, once a major Iraqi export.)
Why Misty Copeland Is Embracing The ‘Misty Copeland Swan Lake Fouetté Fail’ Video
“[The video is of] Copeland performing [the] Swan Queen last week in Singapore, where she wasn’t able to finish her 32 fouettés (she was criticized for doing the same thing when she debuted the role in 2015). … Why would ballet’s biggest star want to promote a video of herself messing up, and a tweet saying that she doesn’t deserve to be in American Ballet Theatre? Because she’s bravely proving some important points.”
Metro Chicago’s Elgin Symphony May Run Out Of Money Before This Season’s Last Concert
“Because of a financial shortfall, the Symphony Orchestra’s board of directors have scheduled a special meeting late Thursday afternoon to see if the group will be able to find a way to afford putting on the final concerts of its season May 5-6.”
John Neumeier, Now 79, Will Remain At Helm Of Hamburg Ballet For Four More Years
The city of Hamburg extended has extended the choreographer’s contract for four more years, to 2023. He is already the world’s longest-serving ballet company head, and at the end of this contract extension he’ll have been with Hamburg Ballet for a half-century. (in German; Google Translate version here)
This Film Won Six South African Academy Awards, And Black Traditionalists Are Trying To Get It Classified As Porn
Inxeba (The Wound), about a gay love triangle taking place amidst Xhosa male coming-of-age rites, took directing, acting, writing, and editing honors as well as Best Film at the South African Film and Television Awards this week. Yet traditional leaders have furiously opposed the movie, arguing that it is hard-core pornography that profanes a sacred part of their culture. (No genitalia are shown on screen.)
Across Asia, There’s A Boom In Opera House/Performing Arts Centers – And The Jobs That Come With Them
As the continent’s economic power grows, cities are building performing arts centers as badges of their new global clout. The complexes are usually called opera houses (the idea of “opera” still carries real prestige), but they usually have another auditorium for dance and/or drama, and often a black box as well – and all those stages need people to run them and shows to present. These theaters are sprouting up from China to Kazakhstan to the Persian Gulf, as flashy freestanding buildings or (sometimes) in high-end shopping malls.