New York’s fourth annual International Fringe Festival kicks off this week, and phenomenal growth and diversity in its programming (175 productions from 17 states and 12 countries) reflect a boom in alternative theatre’s popularity. The role of a fringe festival? “To rebuild the infrastructure of off-off Broadway theatre, which has replaced off-Broadway as the center for theatrical research and development. After all, off-Broadway now plays host to star-playwrights because Broadway is so expensive.” – Backstage
Tag: 08.15.00
THE ART OF EXPANSION
On the heels of the Guggenheim’s smash success in Bilbao, cities all over the world are clamoring for a Guggenheim of their own. “No less than six cities in Italy have applied to build Guggenheim museums. There are bids in from South Africa and Australia too, but the next is almost certain to go to a city in Latin America.” Not to mention an $800 million Soho museum targeted to open in 2006. – The Times (UK)
DESIGN DEBACLES
Since relocating to Berlin a year ago, the German government has planned several major cultural projects commemorating the Holocaust and Germany’s lost Jews. But most of the them are plagued by delays and red tape. “As things stand, the so-called triangle of major new Jewish projects form a bizarre picture: a building without an exhibition (the Jewish Museum), an exhibition without a building (the Topography of Terror site at the former SS headquarters) and an embarrassingly vacant central lot (the numbingly debated Holocaust Memorial).” – New York Times
THE SYDNEY SYNDROME
Architect Kazuyo Sejima was under the impression that she had been selected to design a new building for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney; while the city became subsumed with Olympics-frenzy and the MCA battled for funding, Sejima has been left wondering if she has the job. Has the MCA blown their chance with her? – Sydney Morning Herald
MAN IN THE MIDDLE
When the Globe Theatre in London was rebuilt and reopened, it was clear a very special director would be needed to guide the theatre. Hiring Mark Rylance, a young actor with a reputation for otherworldliness but without much experience running a company was a big risk. But it has paid off. – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
THE MOST POWERFUL MARKETING FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE
Hollywood has the capacity to excite the public about just about anything – which is why NASA has been bending over backwards to help Hollywood make its space movies more authentic. It goes something like this: if people get space-crazy, NASA may get more support from Congress. – The Age (Melbourne) (AP)
ART OF PIANO
A new film video “shows 18 historical pianists in action – from silent black-and-white footage from the 1920s (Vladimir Horowitz, Artur Rubinstein, Wilhelm Backhaus) to performances by the aged Sviatoslav Richter and Claudio Arrau, filmed in the 1990s.” – National Post (Canada)
THEY MUST LIKE HIM
Los Angeles Opera signed Placido Domingo to run the company and last week tickets went on sale for his first season. The company racked up record ticket sales – $186,263 in single tickets – on the first day they were available. “This number marked an increase of some 74 percent over the previous record of $107,177, set on the first day of sales for the 1998-99 season.” – Orange County Register
BLAND SELLS
Why do singers rarely enunciate their words? “Here’s my theory: Superficiality sells. Witness Charlotte Church and Andrea Bocelli, who sing in their respective native languages but with a single vocal emotion – girlish innocence in the former, Byronic longing in the latter. Forget shifting moods; Bocelli’s linguistic commitment is so absent he sometimes seems to be singing phonetically. I’m seeing the phenomenon everywhere. Commercial classical radio plays only the smoothest performances of the smoothest pieces; opera singers are all but banned. In the composing world, the backlash to modernism seems to be music that sounds nice and means little.” – Philadelphia Inquirer
DANCE ON
“Three of America’s most distinguished choreographers have survived the rigors of a concert dance career and they remain active, putting a shine on their golden years. Katherine Dunham, 91, Merce Cunningham, 81, and Paul Taylor, 70, are all going strong.” – MSNBC