“Take English National Opera, which is now presenting about a half of the number of performances it did twenty years ago…. Today you can hardly move round Central London without seeing ENO’s posters and publicity material,” much of which is lavish.
Tag: 02.10.10
Magic Theatre Managing Director Eliminated His Own Job
Scott “Hawkins said that in his efforts to help restructure the company to cope with its financially straitened circumstances, ‘after analyzing the budget in December I decided we could no longer afford a managing director’s salary.'” So, with artistic director Loretta Greco and the board, he “worked out a new structure” and quietly left.
Defunct Restaurant Sells Menu Covers By Twombly Et Al
Tribeca restaurant Chanterelle, which closed last fall, “asked artists to design about 65 menu covers” during its three-decade run. “Now, the [owners] have put dozens of the covers up for sale to help pay their creditors. Among the artists were Robert Indiana, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Eric Fischl, Ellsworth Kelly and Cy Twombly.”
Jacques Hetu, One Of Canada’s Top Composers, Dead At 71
“In an era that prized experimentalism, [Hétu] represented dedication to old-fashioned craftsmanship and a preference for traditional forms, particularly concertos, of which he wrote at least 20. This orientation earned him the appreciation of practicing musicians and established orchestras and the resentment of new-music societies.”
MoCA Acquired 50 Pieces In 2009 Despite Money Woes
“The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles spent much of 2009 getting its financial house in order after coming perilously close to collapse due to budgetary mismanagement. But the museum’s near-death experience apparently didn’t stop it from adding major works of art to its permanent collection last year.”
On-Site Dance Piece Commemorates San Francisco’s Same-Sex Marriages
“Six years ago Friday, choreographer Erika Chong Shuch went to San Francisco City Hall to witness hundreds of same-sex couples marry in the gleaming Beaux Arts rotunda. … To mark the anniversary, Shuch created Love Everywhere,” a piece for 60 dancers in wedding garb to be performed in that same rotunda.
Hawaii Opera Theatre Celebrates 50 Years
The Honolulu Symphony may be in dire condition, but the opera company that began in 1960 as a subdivision of that orchestra seems to be, on its own small scale, in fine shape, with healthy ticket sales and enthusiastic audiences. The golden anniversary season’s major production is no less than Wagner’s Die Walküre.
Maybe We Really Can Be Bored To Death
A pair of behavioral researchers “caution that boredom alone isn’t likely to kill you – but [chronic boredom] could be a symptom of other risky behavior like drinking, smoking, taking drugs or having a psychological problem.”
Theatre’s Power To Shock And Appall, Even With Puppets
Alexis Soloski: “I thought I was immune to horror on stage, but watching sock puppets mime real-life torture reminded me [theatre] can still beat cinema at its own game. … [T]heatre’s forces combine to offer something viscerally unpleasant, which seems to work on the body (goose bumps, shivers, nausea) as much as the mind.”
The Erotica Of E.E. Cummings
“In honor of Valentine’s Day, all of the Cummings’ bawdy poetry and drawings have been collected for the first time.”