“People watch an unprecedented amount of drama today, but they generally prefer to experience it through film and television; the appetite for the ‘live’ spoken variety is limited now, and there’s no going back on that. So a regional theatre must programme across the spectrum – stand-up comedy and modern dance as well as Shakespeare and Pinter. The immediate difficulty here is that there simply aren’t enough high-quality acts or shows designed to suit smaller stages.”
Tag: 10.08.03
Bolshoi Refuses To Rehire Ballerina
The Bolshoi Ballet says it will not bow to pressure to rehire a ballerina fired last month for being “too big.” “The labour ministry said the dismissal was illegal and she should be given her job back. ‘The Bolshoi Theatre has not changed its decision with regard to Anastasia Volochkova’.”
No DVD Movies To Oscar Voters – Bad Idea!
What? Oscar voters aren’t going to get DVD copies of nominated movies this year because of fears of piracy? Critics “claim that a blanket ban on screeners will suffocate independent films, and they’re absolutely right. When the crunch comes for end-of-the-year screenings, there’ll be no time–and nowhere near enough screening rooms–for Academy voters to see “American Splendor,” “Winged Migration” or “Whale Rider,” to name but three of the many superb films that lack the budgets to promote themselves. And so the elephantiasis that afflicts the movie business will proceed apace, as the most heavily marketed films–though often the least interesting ones–lumber toward Oscar glory.”
A Carnegie, NY Phil Merger That Never Made Sense?
“To many minds, the merger never made sense. Looked at solely from the perspective of the New York Philharmonic, the primary advantage was obvious: instead of being a tenant in the acoustically challenged Avery Fisher Hall, the orchestra would have become a co-resident at America’s most storied and acoustically excellent auditorium. But it was much harder to see how Carnegie Hall was supposed to benefit from the merger, unless you viewed it essentially as a business venture that would have combined two endowments and two subscriber bases at a time of economic uncertainties.”
NY Phil & Carnegie – Calling Off The Marriage
“The much-heralded union between America’s oldest orchestra and its most prestigious concert hall – announced for the 2006-07 season – would have created a gigantic nonprofit corporation with an endowment of around $350 million. But there were problems from the beginning, both legal (Lincoln Center had indicated that it would seek to hold the Philharmonic, its tenant for the past 41 years, to a contract that ran until 2011) and aesthetic (the merger would have greatly diminished the variety of programming at Carnegie Hall).”