Broadway is awash in plays. But “the embarrassment of riches seems likely to have upped competish for the playgoing aud, generally understood to be much smaller than the tourist-fueled tuner demo. Presidents’ Day weekend brought major increases in musical sales — but plays rose in much lesser proportion.”
Tag: 02.24.08
Color-blind Artist Paints Color By “Listening” To It
It’s a cyberdevice. Neil Harbisson wears “a head-mounted digital camera that reads the colours directly in front of it. The camera is connected to a laptop computer, carried in a backpack, which slows down the frequency of light waves to the frequency of sound waves. The computer then sends the “sound” of each colour to an earpiece worn by Harbisson.”
What It Takes: NY Philharmonic In China
First there’s the problem of finding places to play that can accomodate the orchestra…
The Musician-In-The-Train-Station Test, Redux
The Independent reruns the Washington Post’s experiment of putting a star musician in a train station to see see if anyone notices. This time it’s cellist Natalie Chen. In an hour, “barely one in four people even turned their heads as they walked past, and of the first 100 or so passers-by, scarcely a handful broke stride.”
Chinese Government To Force Feed Opera
Peking opera has been dying out in China. Now “China’s education ministry has launched a pilot program which will make traditional Peking Opera a compulsory part of music teaching in schools around the country.”
The Full-Service Musician
“The days when an artist blew into town for a recital and just as quickly blew out are becoming scarce. Now, it’s no surprise to find those same pianists, violinists, singers, whomever, spending the better part of a week in residence. They play at schools, give master classes, chat on the radio and schmooze with the public.”
Generational Change At Bay Area Theatres
“Bay Area theaters are undergoing the greatest amount of flux since the mid-1980s, when the founding artistic leaders of American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and San Jose Repertory Theatre were replaced. And there’s more.”
Why The Rush For LA County Museum?
“Why did LACMA need a new contemporary art museum in such a rush? LACMA’s sprawling campus now includes seven eccentric buildings. Shouldn’t its leaders figure out the museum’s vision and campus plan before forging ahead with more?”
A Denver Summit – Place For New Plays
“The Denver Center Theatre Company’s Colorado New Play Summit made such strides in its third year it already is being recognized as one of the most important new-play events in America.”
William Bolcom At 70
For decades, Mr. Bolcom has been a full-service composer, turning out some 300 symphonic works, chamber pieces and songs.