“[A] strong whiff of snobbery persists in the proposals from Manchester city council and the Royal Opera House, to overhaul Manchester Palace. The idea is to establish a northern outpost for the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet, which is all very well, but Manchester already has a perfectly good opera house….”
Tag: 10.05.09
Plans For Barnes’ New Home Unveiled
“The Barnes Foundation’s new Philadelphia home will be a gracious, golden-hued temple – modern in style, yet almost classical in its repose – set in a tree-shrouded enclave on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, according to documents that … were made public only today,” after a spate of Freedom of Information Act requests.
How Bookies Set The Man Booker Odds
“The odds-on favourite is Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, a sweeping historical novel about Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s marriage fixer. Both William Hill and Paddy Power are offering odds of 4/5 (win £4 for every £5 staked).” Which raises the question: “Do bookies read the Bookers?”
Losing Olympic Bid Was Good For Chicago Arts (Sort Of)
“Chicago, thank heavens, thrives on turning insecurity into artistic gold. But even a second city needs a global passion.”
Senator: ‘Nonsense’ Rules Nixed NY Phil’s Cuba Trip
“U.S. restrictions on travel to Cuba that led to the New York Philharmonic calling off a trip to the communist country are outrageous and should be ended, a senator who has long called for lifting trade and travel restraints said Monday.”
Pilobolus Isn’t Poor, But That Doesn’t Make It A Sellout
Dance purists love to decry Pilobolus, now 40, “for its commercials (horrors!) for cars and the National Football League,” work that is anathema to “those who feel that existing on the cultural fringes conveys a certain kind of quasi-moral merit, or is, at the very least, chic.” But the troupe’s art is hardly suffering from its financial success.
Fledgling Claremont Art Museum Lays Off Its Staff
“Two and a half years after bursting into life in a historic, former fruit packing plant, the Claremont Museum of Art is on death’s door, the victim of a financial shortfall. … The museum’s five full-time employees, including director William Moreno, have been laid off and the shop closed.”
Coetzee Hat Trick Is A Maybe, His Presence A Definite No
“JM Coetzee will not be ruining his reputation as one of the world’s most reclusive writers by turning up to the Booker prize ceremony” on Tuesday. “Of course, Coetzee may be doing the world a favour. It is said that he smiles rarely and can sit through a dinner party without saying a word.”
Why British Black Producers Are Going To Broadway
“The mature and the mid-career who might have other things to say that might be off the grid are not encouraged. This creates an environment of “the Chosen”, as well as a serious talent drain. Every week, I get word of yet another black British theatre practitioner packing it in and planning to head Stateside. Our industry simply cannot afford this.”
Columbus Symphony’s New Director Lays Ambitious Plans
“Orchestras have traditionally thought of themselves as being in the content- production business, but we’re actually in the content-distribution business. Our product has been delivered live and here in the concert hall, but, in my view, that’s too narrow a definition of who we are.”