The Smithsonian’s 18 museums, 10 science centres and zoos, and other facilities are in bad disrepair, and many of have suffered “structural deterioration” and “chronic leaks” so severe that they have limited access to their collections. “Naturally, it all comes down to money. The Smithsonian spent $184.4 million for its facilities in fiscal year 2004, nearly 20% of its annual operating budget of $904 million which comes from federal appropriations and endowment revenues. But the Smithsonian estimates it needs $2.3 billion for revitalisation, construction, and maintenance of its buildings between 2005 and 2013.”
Tag: 07.15.05
Wicked Good Box Office
“Wicked” is in Chicago for an extended stay. It’s earning more than $1.1 million a week at the box office. “Ponder for a moment the astonishing appeal of “Wicked.” Many people think “The Producers” was a hit. Yet its tours have dribbled into decline. Overly dependent on its original stars and with a limited urban audience, “The Producers” was a solid performer, for sure, but its New York staying power actually is turning out to be nowhere near what many people predicted. “Wicked,” which got lousy reviews compared to “The Producers,” is a genuine popular hit. And those come around about as often as a tornado hits Oz.”
Bias Wars: Next In Line To Lead CPB?
“A leading Republican donor who once suggested that public broadcasting journalists should be penalized for biased programs is the top candidate to succeed the controversial chairman at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, according to people at CPB and others in public broadcasting.”
Claim: Pinault Plans For Paris Museum Have “Harmed” French Art World
Jérôme Sans, co-director of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, has criticized billionaire François Pinault for his aborted plans to build a major museum oustide Paris. “For a start, nobody really knows what was going into Mr Pinault’s museum. The contents of his collection are unknown to most people. The entire episode was a little like someone saying yes, ‘I’ll marry you’ and then at the last minute leaving the bride at the altar”. He stressed that “this illusion [that Mr Pinault was to open a museum in Paris] has harmed rather then helped the French art world”.
Freud Named To Head Houston Grand Opera
Anthony Freud, currently director of the Welsh National Opera, has been named general director of the Houston Grand Opera.
Aussies Fight Back At Lebrecht
Australian artists have hit back at critic Norman Lebrecht’s recent story wondering why so many Australians have gained power running London arts organizations. “It seems just a little bit rich to assume that we are some secret cabal trying to take over the world and run down the quality of British arts.”
A Plan To Reunite Iconic Cuban Artists
In 1981 a group of Cuban artists got together for a controversial exhibition that “placed the 11 young artists on the map, set the course for contemporary Cuban art, and created an identity for a new generation of artists. When they gathered for Volume One, the young artists still dreamed of carving a niche in Cuba’s art scene. And though they are scattered, they achieved that. Many would become internationally known while living in Cuba in the 1980s.” Now they are scattered across several countries, but there is a plan to bring them together…
Gehry To Build Skyscraper In LA
Frank Gehry has been chosen to design a 40- or 50-story skyscraper next to his Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles as well as other elements of the $1.8-billion complex planned along Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. The street is the focus of an ambitious plan to cluster cultural buildings in the city.
The $220 Movie
It might be the ultimate low-budget film, but Jonathan Caouette’s new documentary, Tarnation, cobbled together from footage Caouette shot over 21 years and edited on the filmmaker’s computer at a cost of only $218, has become the hit of this year’s festival circuit. “He describes the film as a ‘love letter’ to his mother, who developed a host of mental illnesses after being given electric shock therapy from the age of 16 to 25… As much as it is a record of that catastrophic decision made by his grandparents, Tarnation is about an astonishingly creative boy growing up gay in Houston, dealing with the legacy of that pain.”
Reinventing The Bolshoi, Subtly
Many dance aficianados view Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet as the gold standard by which all other companies must be judged. But even legends have to work to keep ahead of the pack, and the Bolshoi has been through some trying times in recent years as it tries to find its way through a world in which dance is evolving faster than ever, and “straight” ballet often gets short shrift. “Alexei Ratmansky is the latest artistic director to face the company’s basic quandary: how to introduce new work yet preserve the signature style and heritage of what Muscovites consider a national theater.”