“China is on course to build a record number of cinemas this year in a burst of movie infrastructure development that is partly aimed at rivaling the ‘soft power’ of Hollywood. … [The] government is promoting a major push of film production and distribution.”
Tag: 09.13.10
Douglas Coupland’s ‘Dictionary of the Near Future’
“The thing about the future is that it never feels the way we thought it would. New sensations require new terms; below are a few such terms to encapsulate our present moment.” Vocabulary includes blank-collar workers, memesphere, and omniscience fatigue.
The South Park Guys’ Mormon Musical Hits B’way Next Spring
“A religious satire with song-and-dance numbers, The Book of Mormon is scheduled to open March 24 at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. … Casey Nicholaw, who received a Tony nomination for directing The Drowsy Chaperone, will stage the new musical, along with [Trey] Parker.”
The Design World’s Existential Crisis
“Designers now face a tough Catch-22: reliant on a market that needs us to buy more, but operating in a world pleading for everyone to use less – a paradox captured by that Apple iPhone, which looks as perfect and as indestructible as anything designed by the godfather of minimalist product design, Dieter Rams, but is outdated in a matter of months.”
New Jersey Symphony Goes From Star Conductor To Youth. A New Era?
“There’s the sense that Jacques Lacombe’s arrival signals a new era for the orchestra, one that finds the orchestra trying to reinforce its roots in the community and make the case that it is a central part of the state’s cultural life.”
Charles Ansbacher, 67, Founder of Boston Landmarks Orchestra
His lifelong mission to bring classical music to underserved audiences led him to conduct orchestras as far afield as Moldova, Bosnia, Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam. Yet Ansbacher remains best known for the concerts – always free of charge – he and the BLO gave on the Boston Esplanade and in unusual venues throughout greater Boston.
The Difference Between Four-Star and Five-Star Reviews
Matt Trueman: “A production can be entirely successful – vivid and vibrant, fiercely intelligent, roaringly enjoyable and deeply emotive – and still not merit that final accolade.… Four stars can be given grudgingly, but five is a real statement of belief. It says: ‘This is what theatre can do.’ It says: ‘If only all theatre were this good.’ It says: ‘This is what I believe theatre ought to be doing’.”
Vatican Library to Reopen Next Week
“The Vatican Library, which houses one of the world’s most important collections of manuscripts, will reopen next Monday after a three-year, $12 million renovation, much to the relief of academics around the world.”
Is It Damien Hirst’s Fault? How Britain’s Superstar Artists Have Jeopardized Arts Funding
Jonathan Jones: “Sadly, the success of Britain’s artists is a major reason many people will support cuts to visual art funding. If there is one thing the public believes about art it is that artists make piles of money. (The full mantra goes: for putting rubbish in galleries.)”
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Meets the Shaolin Monks, Onstage
The Belgian choreographer’s Sutra “fuses contemporary European dance, the martial arts feats of 17 Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple in China, an ingenious set of wooden boxes by the British sculptor Antony Gormley and an original score by the Polish composer Szymon Brzoska.”