“Fewer people saw shows on New York’s Broadway during 2003 – but takings have gone up during the past year. Theatres predict the year will end with 11.2 million people visiting Broadway’s venues, down from 11.4 million in 2002. But takings are expected to be up to $730m (£414m), compared with $707m (£401m) the previous year – helped by top ticket prices hitting $100 (£56). Broadway theatres are putting the drop in visitors down to a lack of big shows opening during the summer.”
Tag: 12.23.03
Missing Turner Mask May Have Been Stolen
London’s Royal Academy of Arts has acknowledged that the death mask of JMW Turner, one of the Academy’s most prized possessions, may have been stolen more than 15 years ago, with no one at the museum noticing the mask’s disappearance until another institution asked to borrow it in 2002. However, it is also possible that the mask is still somewhere in the Academy’s vast collection, and staffers are hoping to turn it up during an ongoing cataloguing project.
The Depressed Aussie Film Industry
“A soaring Australian dollar, staunch competition from Canada, eastern Europe and New Zealand, the impending US-Australia Free Trade Agreement and the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California have cast a dark shadow over the Australian film industry.”
Book Town’s A Success – But Can The Locals Afford It?
The experiment that transformed Blaenavon into a town of book shops has been a big success. But now, can the locals afford to live there? “A year ago anyone who suggested that the same thing could happen in Blaenavon, valley of the squinting plywood, would have been laughed all the way back down the mountain to the M4. Property in the town was in terrible condition, but cheap as chips. Now much of it is still in terrible condition, but you get far fewer chips to the pound. Local people stand in front of the estate agents, staring at the photographs, their jaws dropping.”
RA: Loved The Lloyd-Webber Show
Critics hated the Royal Academy’s show of Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s art. One wrote: “Really useless. Why can’t the man keep his private collection of saccharine Victorian art private?” But more than 226,000 people – an average of 2,693 a day – paid to see his treasures. The doorstep-sized catalogue (£15 paperback, £35 hardback) had to be reprinted three times.” The show turns out to be one of the RA’s most popular exhibitions of the past decade.
The 20-Year-Old Who’s Outselling Harry Potter
Christopher Paolini is only 20, and he lives in a remote part of Montana. “This time last year, he was just another geeky teen with too much time on his hands. But now, thanks to Eragon, his 500-page rousing adventure story set in his imaginary world, young Christopher is suddenly rich.” The book “is a huge bestseller in America, where it has surged past the Harry Potter books. Almost half a million copies were sold in only two months, a screenplay is in the works and at least a dozen foreign-language editions are on the way.”
Currin Dumps Dealer For Gagosian
Artist John Currin suddenly switched his gallery affiliation last week from his longtime New York dealer, Andrea Rosen, to Larry Gagosian. “Artists change galleries all the time, but Mr. Currin’s timing drew a great deal of attention. The show at the Whitney is the culmination of his 14-year association with Ms. Rosen, who gave him his first commerical gallery show, in 1992, and worked assiduously to foster and manage his success. Speculation about Mr. Currin’s move fueled conversation at art-world Christmas parties over the weekend, with expressions ranging from disgust to admiration for an astute business move.”