Superstar musical theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh has announced he won’t be producing any more new musicals. “Mackintosh, one of the greatest creative and financial mainstays of musical theatre for three decades, says he is winding down and will in future produce only revivals.” – Sydney Morning Herald
Tag: 11.28.00
DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT
Identification, that is. Luciano Pavarotti tried to check in at a Sheraton Hotel in Padua, Italy, but forgot his ID. The hotel refused to check him in. “Unfortunately, in Italy, we are required by law to ask patrons for proper and valid identification. We did everything we could to help him. We called the police for help – to try to get identification for him.” – New York Post
CEZANNE AS BUSINESS MODEL
“University of Chicago economist David Galenson charts the sea change from artistic tradition to reinvention, using the auction prices of paintings as his measure of value. Correlating the price of a work of art with the age of the artist at the time of the painting’s execution, Galenson mapped the patterns of success and innovation over the past century in art history. His essays describe French and American painting, but their relevance is much broader.” – Salon 11/28/00
BRINGING ARTS TO EDUCATION
Every study shows that children who receive instruction in art and music are more focused, get better grades and score higher on standardized tests than children who don’t. So it was something of a small triumph for sanity when the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development earlier this month announced a $4 million pilot program to help bring arts instruction to kids living in public housing. – Baltimore Sun 11/28/00
GETTING PERMISSION
A new Russian initiative aims to educate Russian artists about intellectual property and copyright. “Even though Russia signed up to the international Bern Convention on copyright in 1994, it is taking time for the copyright mentality to take root. This has led to confusing and often farcical situations, such as Russian theater companies being forced to cancel tours abroad because they never bothered to get permission to stage the foreign play they intended to bring.” – St. Petersburg Times (Russia) 11/28/00
SPACEY HELPS THEATRES
Actor Kevin Spacey has been using his financial success and fame to help out theatre companies. “I think it’s unfortunate that people use theater as a stepping stone to film and then they don’t come back. I never viewed it that way.” – New York Times
MACKINTOSH TO QUIT PRODUCING
Superstar musical theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh has announced he won’t be producing any more new musicals. “Mackintosh, one of the greatest creative and financial mainstays of musical theatre for three decades, says he is winding down and will in future produce only revivals.” – Sydney Morning Herald
KING PULLS THE PLUG
Stephen King says he’ll discontinue publishing his serialized on-line novel “The Plant.” King said when he began the book that he would add additional chapters only if 50 percent of those downloading it paid $1 per chapter. By chapter four, only 46 percent were paying.Wrote one bothered fan: “It bothers me that readers might well think twice about buying installments from any other authors who might go this route because of what King has done. To do this to loyal fans is inexcusable.” – Wired
YOUR STANDARD E-BOOK
A proposal by the Association of American Publishers to standardize e-books was released this week. The plan is intended to avoid the mess in the digital music industry. “Today, ebooks are considered to represent less than 1% of business. If the standards are accepted, the group predicts the ebook market will grow to $2.3 billion by 2005. – Variety
PARIS OPERA SLOWDOWN
Strikes by Paris Opera technicians have caused the company to pare back its offerings. The workers want better working conditions and more money. “Paris’ two opera houses, which are subsidized by the state, together put on 380 performances a year, compared to just 80 in the mid-1990s, and most are sold out.” – MSNBC (AP)