Category: issues

“TheaterWorks, the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Stage and Connecticut Concert Opera are offering special deals for Connecticut Opera subscribers who paid for two shows that they will not see.”

“Tens of thousands of Buddhist manuscripts, paintings and other treasures scattered around the world have been brought together in probably the world’s largest computer database of its kind.”

“It’s easy to see why Live Nation Inc. and Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. want to blend their operations into a new entity called Live Nation Entertainment. … Far more difficult to fathom is how this partnership would in any way benefit consumers, and how it could pass muster in a federal antitrust proceeding.”

“Is there room for one more half-price ticketing agency in Los Angeles? Joining Goldstar, Theatermania and L.A. Stage Alliance’s LAStageTIX is StubDog, offering 50% tickets to Southern California events including theater, concerts, sports and more. StubDog says it is adding an incentive for the culturally minded: For every ticket sold, 10% will go to benefit local arts organizations, including L.A. Stage Alliance….”

“Ticketmaster and Live Nation — the biggest ticket seller and the largest live-event promoter — announced a $2.5 billion merger yesterday, creating a vertically integrated entertainment behemoth that has competitors nervous and federal regulators watching. What’s in it for ticket buyers is far from clear. The era of the dreaded ‘convenience charge’ might be ending — but there’s no guarantee of lower ticket prices.”

“Last month the Film-Makers’ Cooperative received an eviction notice that would force it out of its office and archive in a building in TriBeCa, space that is controlled by the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, another bulwark of [New York City’s] avant-garde artistic establishment.”

If having a professional soprano for a daughter weren’t enough, there’s another reason ignorance of the arts can’t explain Sen. Tom Coburn’s attack on arts funding in the stimulus bill. “‘The senator comes to the opera a lot,’ reports Mark Weinstein, executive director of Washington National Opera….”

It’s not the society reporting we’re used to reading, but the Washington National Opera Midwinter Gala is hardly alone in deglamorizing itself this year. “After Wall Street tanked and corporations stopped writing checks, gala organizers were forced to scale back everything from ticket prices (slashed from $1,000 to $500) to decor and centerpieces: flickering lanterns and artful veggies — headed to a food bank at the end of the night — instead of fresh flowers.”

Christopher Knight channels Washington. At No. 4 on his list: “Culture is girlie, not manly.”

“Here is a modest proposal: The federal government — which means you and I — should pump $62 billion into the nation’s nonprofit cultural infrastructure.Yes, that’s billion-with-a-b, not million-with-an-m. Forget about the silly dickering over an anemic $50-million boost for the National Endowment for the Arts. About 100,000 nonprofit arts groups operate in the 50 states. Collectively they employ almost 6 million people. Crisis is a time for boldness, not timidity, and few recall an economic crisis quite like this one. So art museums, symphonies, theaters, dance companies and other cultural centers should get a huge infusion of funds.”