Benjamin Franklin was the inventor of many things. Now a Pennsylvania professor of music says the founding father was also a composer…
Tag: 07.30.06
You Complete Me
Workers in France are putting the finishing touches on a massive church designed (but never completed) by architect Le Corbusier. “Completed by [Corbusier] protégé José Oubrerie, who has tinkered with many elements of the original sketches, the Church of St. Pierre has stirred debate among Parisian academics about the ethics of finishing a work left behind by a legendary architect.”
Playtone Makes Its Move
Tom Hanks, as everyone knows, is one of Hollywood’s most bankable movie stars. But what much of the public doesn’t know is that Hanks has spent the last several years quietly putting together “one of Hollywood’s most prolific filmmaking entities… On Friday the company’s animated feature ‘The Ant Bully’ was released on 3,050 regular and Imax screens by Warner Brothers. Lined up behind it are nearly three dozen projects.”
Tate’s New Ziggurat Gets Rave Reviews
The expansion plan for London’s Tate Museum unveiled this week is “a powerful, memorable project, that would have seemed inconceivable when the new Tate was first mooted. Without being showy for the sake of making a spectacle, it takes the form of a glass mountain rearing up behind Giles Gilbert Scott’s brick cliff and clearly visible from the river and St Paul’s.”
A Matter Of Equity
Everyone remotely connected to the theatre world has heard of Actors’ Equity, the major union for theatrical performers. But unlike many other industries, theatres generally have a choice regarding how many union actors they hire, and whether they want to have the union in house at all. Furthermore, actors have to think long and hard about whether it’s even worth it for them to join Equity: the cost is prohibitive, and if they live in a town without many Equity houses, they’re unlikely to benefit much from membership.
Midwest Shakespeare Fest Falling Short
The Bloomington-based Illinois Shakespeare Festival has some serious challenges to face, not the least of which is this summer’s volatile weather, which has left several of the outdoor fest’s productions all wet. “The initial promise of this space as a festival environment — offering the chance to see several shows in a weekend, filling the gardens with picnickers and attracting audiences from Chicago — has yet to be fulfilled. In a town with few bucolic attractions, this theater seems underused.”
What’s In A Logo?
Logos may seem insignificant, but they have a major impact on the way people think about a company or an institution, or whether they think about it at all. So when Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art decided it needed a new logo, it was a major project.
Does Louisville Need A New Concert Hall?
The Louisville Symphony seems to be in a near-permanent state of fiscal crisis these days, and clashes between musicians desperate to hold onto what they have and managers intent on cutting costs pop up nearly every year. But Andrew Adler wonders if the success that other orchestras have enjoyed could be replicated in Louisville if the ensemble could somehow scrape together the money to build a shiny new concert hall where it is the primary tenant.
Is Edinburgh’s Fest Still Relevant?
The Edinburgh Festival is a beloved institution in Scotland, and visitors from throughout the world descend on the city every summer to experience it. But Robert Dawson Scott wonders whether the festival is really necessary anymore: “Obviously it is nice for central Scotland to have a glimpse of the international art world once a year. But does anyone else, apart from the attention-seeking adolescents who underpin the Edinburgh Fringe, really need to go there any more?”
Plenty of New Faces In Maine
The city of Portland, Maine, has been experiencing an unusual leadership vacuum in the cultural realm, with executives of seemingly every arts institution in town departing almost simultaneously. But the gaps are starting to fill, and Portland’s arts scene seems no worse for the wear.