Getting Ahead With The Circus

“The idea of using circus arts to help troubled youth was the brainchild of the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil. The Montreal-based entertainment empire began its first two “social circus” pilot projects in Chile and Brazil, in 1995. Today, Cirque du Soleil has 50 projects running in 19 countries, many of them in developing nations. Cirque du Soleil says the programs help get kids off the streets, off drugs, and improve their performance and behavior in school.”

Wisconsin Wants To Be In the Movies

The state is offering generous tax incentives. The state will have one of the more aggressive tax schemes in the country, with a refundable credit of 25% of direct production expenditures for feature films, television movies, episodic and miniseries television, video games and broadcast advertising production. Also being offered is an investment tax credit of 25% that can be claimed for investing in Wisconsin-based productions and a 15% state income tax credit for film, television and electronic game production businesses that make a capital investment by starting a business in Wisconsin.”

Jerry Lewis To Direct Nutty Professor

Jerry Lewis is going to direct a Broadway musical version of “The Nutty Professor.” “I’ve had an awful lot of inquiries about it for years, and I never really bothered to pay much attention to it. I saw this kid perform, and he wanted very much to do that, and he had money. I said, ‘With those pockets, we’ll give it a shot.'”

A Little TV With Your Tank

Not getting enough TV? One company wants to help, offering TV programming at the gas pump. “Pumping gas is boring and mundane. We live in a very can’t-sit-still, multi-stimulus environment. We are convinced that people will be very favourable to this experience at the gas station.”

“X” Marks The Spot

Oakland Opera is a small company that does big things with contemporary work. Case in point – its revival of Anthony Davis’ “X”. “Operating on a shoestring — Sunday afternoon’s performance went ahead with neither lighting nor programs after a series of mechanical mishaps — the company has once again assembled all the elements it needs for gripping musical theater. There seems to be no limit to what these folks can pull off.”