Will Arts Play a Part in the Economic Recovery?

Arts leaders in the U.S. are urging Obama not to overlook the role the arts should play in the economic recovery. With the departure of Dana Gioia, Bush's chairman of the NEA, Obama has yet to name a successor. Funds for the N.E.A. have declined to $145 million in FY09 from $176 million in '92. Read the full NYTimes article here.

Brantley says 'year of trans-Atlantic theatre in NY'

Ben Brantley, chief theatre critic of the 'New York Times', summed up the 2008 theatre season with this opening:

"According to all current maps the theater district known as Broadway is still in Manhattan, while its British counterpart, the West End, is firmly based in London. Yet a majority of the items in the list below might have been culled from either place. This was the year of trans-Atlantic theater in New York, when Anglo-American cooperation (a subject wittily excoriated this season in Caryl Churchill 's Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? at the Public Theater) produced a hearty crop of expertly mounted — and in some cases transcendent — productions. The year’s best new musical (Billy Elliot) originated in the West End, and the most important New York premiere (Blasted) was a production of a show first seen in London more than a decade ago."

He's right and he's wrong. Sure, it was a great year for English language UK imports, but that really doesn't encompass 'trans-Atlantic'. Brantley does follows it up by saying 'Anglo-American cooperation' which is much closer to the truth, so let's not kid ourselves. The Brits have, on average, have had better large scale productions, both dramatic and musical on Broadway for years (I mean, when will f*#king Phantom close?). But saying it's the 'Year of Trans-Atlantic theatre' is like Sarah Palin saying 'Africa is a country'. If London is all Brantley thinks is 'trans-Atlantic', then I encourage him to seek out productions from places like Reykjavik, Oslo, Madrid, Lisbon, Algiers, Casablanca, Dakar or Capetown. All of those are right across the Atlantic too.

Yes, Billy Elliot is another example of how a successful movie has made it to the West End/Broadway. Big deal. Shouldn't Lord of the Rings be coming soon? And Blasted was fantastic, as it was 10 years ago. So why has it taken so long for it to finally get here? New York likes to think it's the center of the universe, but in the 21st century, the center is everywhere. Instead, the city is quickly becoming a museum town like Rome or Paris. It's not the cutting edge anymore, just a theme-park replica of a place where things once happened. Americans can easily mass produce, package and promote a product in order to make money, but the art often gets lost in the shuffle. The Brits play the same game, but they haven't completely lost their sense of quality yet. They will, but not yet.

And it's far from over. 2009 begins with the biggest Anglophile f*#kfest imaginable with The Bridge Project at BAM. The radical concept of having Yanks and Red Coats work together on the same stage at the same time. This isn't a comment on the productions (I actually think they'll probably be pretty good compared to what else is out there). This is a comment on what is supposed to be radical. New York didn't experience a British Invasion as Brantley seems to suggest. The Brits have been here forever and don't seem to have any plans of leaving. We get our revenge in London by making them watch Josh Hartnett in Rain Man.

Ivo van Hove Returns to NYC with 'Opening Night'

Acclaimed Belgian director Ivo van Hove returns to New York with a stage adaption of John Cassavetes’s 1977 film, Opening Night. New Yorkers know him mostly for his radical interpretations of the classics (Williams, Ibsen, O'Neill, Moliere) produced at NYTW. Opening Night shows another side of van Hove and his interest in screen-to-stage adaptions of classic films. The five performances begin at BAM on Tuesday and will be performed in Dutch with actors from Toneelgroep Amsterdam. Be sure to read Tom Sellar's fantastic article from the NYTimes here.

U.S. Deportee Brings Breakdancing to Cambodia

Yuy Sobil is a former gang member from Long Beach, California. He is one of the 189 Cambodians who have been deported within the last six years from the U.S. under the law that requires expulsion of noncitizens who commit felonies. Yuy Sobil, or K.K., is only technically a noncitizen. He was not illegally in the country, but was a refugee from the Khmer Rouge 'killing fields' who found safety in the U.S. in 1980. Now back in the homeland of his parents, he teaches boys that are Cambodian street children the art of break dancing, as well as his hard lessons in life. This story is amazing. Check it out here. I can already hear the phones ringing in Hollywood.

Frugal Traveler Ends in Edinburgh

This summer, the NYT’s Frugal Traveler embarked on a ‘Grand Tour’, reimagining the classic European journey as a budget-minded, modern-day jaunt. Over 13 weeks, 16 countries and on less than 100 Euros a day, Matt Gross circled the continent in search of cool hotels, memorable meals and contemporary culture. He ends his trip in Edinburgh at 'the Festival’. Check out his final article here and to see the rest of the trip.

Brantley in London

NY Times theatre critic and resident Anglophile, Ben Brantley, recounts some of the recent shows he saw on his yearly trip to London. Thankfully, this article covers much of the new work being presented opposed to the majority of West End rubbish. He covers Harper Regan, In My Name, The Pitmen Painters and Relocated.

As Brantley says, “Blockbuster musicals and brand-name star power were largely what made last year a record breaker in West End theater attendance. But what this New Yorker abroad has found most revitalizing has been lower-profile productions that insist that the theater still has an active role in the national conversation here.”

The Necessity of Theater

Paul Woodruff, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, has written a book that was reviewed this past week in the Sunday Times Book Review. The Necessity of Theater: the Art of Watching and Being Watched posits that “People need theater…to secure our bare, naked cultural survival.” The text is loosely modeled on the Poetics and, like Aristotle, Woodruff breaks down and defines what he considers the five kinds of theater (“mimetic,” “everyday,” “extreme,” “art” and “theater of presence”). Leah Hagar Cohen’s critique is thorough, and I look forward to reading the book (once I can afford it). If anyone has a chance to read it, please feel free to throw in your two cents about its content.

Tips for Cheap Flights

Informative article with useful links in the NYTimes about the current hunt for discount airline tickets. This on the heels of American Airlines announcing they are going to start charging to check baggage. With the summer travel season approaching and the price of oil at an all time high, some of these tips might help you save some money.

BOOK DIRECTLY WITH THE AIRLINE
SIGN UP FOR PRIVATE PRICE CUTS
BUY ONE TICKET AT A TIME
BUY A PACKAGE DEAL
BE FLEXIBLE
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
DON’T WAIT IF YOU SEE A DEAL

MAKE YOUR COMPUTER DO THE WORK

SEARCH FOR FLIGHTS AT ALTERNATIVE AIRPORTS

P. Fomenko Theater

Interesting article in the NYTimes the other day about the new P. Fomenko Theater in Moscow. Though I wish the journalist had spent more on the company and less on the architect, I guess I have to give props to Sergei Gnedovsky for designing the place.