New report says that regional theater in the UK is in trouble. Access has been encouraged over quality with the result that in a few years there could be “a crop of new lottery-funded theatres with nothing to put in them because local authorities cannot afford to run them.” BBC
Tag: 12/07.99
EXTENDING SHAKESPEARE
Jonathan Moscone, SF ex-mayor’s son, is appointed director of the California Shakespeare Festival. Comes from DallasTheatre Center. San Francisco Examiner
MUSICAL TRUST
One of this fall’s biggest hits on Broadway, the remake of “Kiss Me Kate” is a classic. Lois and Arthur Elias were entrusted with rights to the show by their close friend Bella Spewack, who wrote the musical’s book with her husband, Sam, in 1948. The Eliases have been fiercely protective of their charge. New York Times
I’m not supposed to like it, right?
MUSICAL REDUX
Musical hackers have been mining recordings to digitally remix music of all sorts and re-release it. Latest object of their affection – world music. Says one: “It is from such encounters that the most beautiful projects are born.” CBC
REMOTE WRITE
Collaborating over the web is redefining artistic partnerships. These screenplay writers collaborated on a script and never met until the first day of shooting. Wired
TALK AMERICAN
American movies have been shot in Canada for some time. But Canadian actors have been frustrated in not getting roles because of their up-north accents. So some of them have hired a coach. Toronto Globe and Mail
RADIO DAZE
It’s been a good year and times are good for the radio industry. But, warns a consultant, total audience has shrunk since 1990 and proliferation of ads (1980’s average: 10-12 per hour; Now: 20) could help chase away more. Chicago Tribune
CHARGES DROPPED
Earlier this fall, prominent New York art dealer Mary Boone was arrested after her gallery gave out live ammunition accompanying a show by artist Tom Sachs. Her brush with New York’s legal system was a “kind of interesting adventure,” she says. New York Times
COLORING INSIDE THE LINES
Gary Hume is the UK’s latest new thing, and galleries and museums are lining up for a chance at his work. But his “woeful, inadequate, flat” work leaves one reviewer perplexed as to what all the fuss is about. Financial Times