Tag: 08.14.06

The Da Vinci Coda

As The Da Vinci Code movies falls off movie screens, a blockbuster that failed to meet expectations, and the book on which it’s based also ends a long run on the best-seller lists, Jack Miles has some reflections on a cultural phenomenon and what it says about our times…

Toronto Dance Fest Revisits The Hits

The new Toronto International Dance Festival has been showcasing hits from the past. But “despite the ‘international’ in its title, the out-of-country entries in the festival have been its least attractive feature so far. Two companies from California performing in the mixed programs reminded one of the old student-danced fFIDA shows.”

Scottish National Theatre Proves Its Worth

The new National Theatre of Scotland has produced a hit at the Edinburgh Festival. “To all the scepticism and debate about Scotland’s even needing a national theatre, to all the sometimes self-lacerating, politically fraught recent inquiries into the devolved nation’s culture, the new NTS has slapped down the best kind of answer: rather than more words, a most eloquent piece of work.”

Fox Jumps Into TV, Movie Downloads

Fox plans to start selling movies and TV shows for downloading. “Movies will sell for about $20 and TV shows for $1.99 an episode. Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes Music Store already sells many television shows, including “24” and others from Fox, for $1.99 apiece, but those can only be played on the company’s market-leading iPod devices or through its iTunes software on a computer.”

Book It – The Arts Rethink Their Program Books

Arts groups are rethinking what goes in their program books. “As arts groups fight to maintain and renew their audiences, they’ve realized that any opportunity to capture the viewer’s interest and engage them must be fully exploited. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is taking the power of the printed word even further: It has entered into an agreement with the publishing house John Wiley & Sons to publish 15 co-branded books designed to bring attention to the performing arts.”

Man Booker Prize: Difficult To Laugh

Why does the Booker Prize give short shrift to comedic writers? “There are some terrifically good comic writers around at the moment, such as David Lodge and Howard Jacobson, are in some respect running with a handicap. But I know from experience that when you get into that committee room, it’s extremely hard to argue that a trivial book is more important than an earnest one.”

Is Bayreuth Endangered?

Wolfgang Wagner has been the driving force of the annual Bayreuth Festival for 40 years. But he’s 87 and suddenly frail. “Given his sudden physical decline, Bayreuth-watchers have begun to ask who is really running the show and what moves are afoot for an orderly hand-over. ‘Wolfgang doesn’t seem to have any clout any more. But the management doesn’t want to talk about the succession’.”

A Talk With New Barnes Boss Derek Gillman

How would Dr. Barnes have reacted to moving the Barnes Collection? “When he wrote the original indenture with [John] Dewey, it was optimistic and big-pictured and optimistic about American society and making the collection accessible. The Barnes who died prematurely would indeed [rotate in his grave], I’m sure… It’s evident from the indenture that he left that he wanted the limited access, the investment of funds in low-yield government bonds and so on… But that’s not the Barnes that I think we need to go back to, [I prefer] the Barnes who had this wonderful vision for this wonderful collection who was dedicated to improving America.”