Hurricane-related setbacks and a lack of expected government funding combined to put the Tampa Bay-based Florida Orchestra $676,615 in the red for fiscal 2006. It’s the orchestra’s third deficit in the last five fiscal years.
Tag: 11.01.06
Tharp Does Dylan – The “Worst Show I’ve Ever Seen”
If “an unknown artist had stumbled so badly creating a new musical, I wouldn’t in fairness review it at all. But there’s an arrogance at work here, a cynicism that gives offense.”
UK Theatre – Failure To Offend
British theatre is getting increasingly squeamish about offending. “A theatre culture that fears to give offence is a theatre culture that is bland and moribund, and pasting warnings all over a theatre suggest that managements fear that audiences may not be grown up enough to distinguish between real life and representation, between someone actually committing infanticide and an actor acting it.”
A Choreographer Scores
When choreographer Michael Clark “recently asked his friends in the art world to donate pieces to a fundraising auction for his troupe, the resulting sale brought it something close to £1 million.”
Blockbuster To Offer Online Customers Store Deal
Blockbuster Video is sweetening the deal for its mail-order customers. “Customers can receive free in-store movie rentals if they return to stores those DVDs that are rented online. Rival online DVD rental company Netflix Inc. operates only through the mail.”
Looting Iraq’s Past
Iraq’s archaeological treasures are being looted. “But does this matter, in a country where a baker beside his oven, or a barber by his chair, can be gunned down as valid targets for sectarian hatred?”
What’s Early About “Early” Music?
The definitions of early music are fungible. But why? “So when does early music really end? Perhaps when new music begins. When is that? Ives and Schoenberg have been dead for more than half a century, and their music still frequently gets called new music.”
Never Read The Reviews
A couple of high-profile Broadway shows have been getting rough treatment from the critics this week, and the big stars behind them are apparently taking the whole thing personally…
The Music Biz – The New Realities
“New relationships between music companies, advertisers and file-sharing networks are signalling a major change in the corporate attitude toward illegal downloads. Instead of trying in vain to stop a trend that has spread like wildfire, record giants have finally figured out that when it comes to music piracy, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
Apparently, You Can Be Arrested For Anything In Turkey
“A [Turkish] court today acquitted a 92-year-old retired archaeologist who was put on trial for writing in a book that Islamic-style head scarves date back more than 5,000 years — several millennia before the birth of Islam — and were worn by priestesses who initiated young men into sex.”