Some 20 years ago, Salman Rushdie’s sweeping novel “Midnight’s Children” was an international bestseller. Decades later, “after abortive adaptations by the BBC and a leading West End producer, it has taken the combined efforts of Rushdie, the Royal Shakespeare Company and two American universities to end the wait, with a stage version of ‘Midnight’s Children’ that previews in London next week.”
Tag: 01.07.03
London’s Sick Theatre District
Who wants to go to London’s West End theatre district anymore? “Whether you travel by car or train, it is a nightmare to get there, and when you arrive the place is squalid. The streets are filthy and poorly lit, there are horribly persistent beggars everywhere, and the place is overrun by groups of marauding yoof, out on the booze and aggressive and foul-mouthed with it. Drug-dealing takes place more or less openly, and the atmosphere is deeply depressing when it isn’t downright threatening. Of a policeman on the beat there is hardly ever a sign.”
American TV Losing Dominance Overseas
The dominance of American TV is waning, though still a major force in countries like Australia. “In the US, television executives have attributed the worldwide decline of US programs to several factors, not least their cost. Industry executives say the American studios priced themselves out of the market just as competition began to heat up abroad from newly privatised commercial broadcasters and cable and satellite networks.”
Holiday Surge Boosts Smithsonian
Smithsonian Museum attendance was down 16 percent in 2002, continuing a post 9/11 slump. But, says the museum, things might be getting better – attendance increased by 53 percent in November and December compared with the same months a year earlier.
Great Ideas Chasing A Flawed Concept
Ada Louise Huxtable has studied plans proposed for the World Trade Center site. “The conceptual daring and advanced technology of these schemes – the sheer drama of their bold images – brings cutting-edge creativity to New York, where it is long overdue. Buildings like these have already changed skylines from London to Hong Kong. This is the architecture of the 21st century, and about as good as it gets. That’s the good news. The bad news is that these provocative and beautiful presentations have also given us a stunning demonstration of how to do the wrong thing right.”
The Mahler Man – First Amateur To Conduct The Vienna Phil
Gilbert Kaplan has netted a number of firsts in his conducting career. “As well as being the first amateur to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic, Kaplan is also the conductor with the smallest repertoire in history.’ Mahler 2nd. “Now 61, he made his conducting debut at the age of 40 with Mahler Two” and he’s conducted it 100 times. Now “he is in Vienna for four days to make a recording of the work for Deutsche Grammophon with the orchestra that Mahler himself conducted.”