La Cieca has just heard from one of her habitually infallible moles that the refitting of the Met’s stages for the Robert Lepage Ring began today. Read more »
We’ve all had a rough time in the last few years; but cultural institutions have had it worse than they could have possibly imagined. With a business model that relies entirely on private donations to achieve fiscal viability, the challenge to make ends meet has never been greater. Read more »
This story involves money, so it’s impossible for La Cieca to understand. Nina, darling, would you hasten to our aid? Read more »
Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center, celebrated mastermind of the financial turnarounds of the Royal Opera, American Ballet Theatre the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, has some interesting advice for arts organizations in our current troubled times. His ideas take on a strong resonance, La Cieca thinks, when applied to our big New York opera companies: “My fear is that so many arts organizations are as a first resort cutting programming … but I like it to be a last resort, because when you cut programming you are basically becoming less competitive for the money that does exist. When there’s [...]
“I don’t see how they could not close…There is a slight chance that they can remain open, but where would the money come from?” That’s Robert W. Wilson, former New York City Opera chairman, deftly nabbing the takeaway quote from Robin Pogrebin‘s NYT analysis of what went wrong for the company. And wait until you hear the horror stories of “endowment invasion!” [NYT]
Before we start our daily Steelathon, La Cieca wants to ask you, cher public: which nickname should your doyenne use in future for the NYCO’s new honcho: “Two-Face” or “The Man of Steel?” Okay, so our first story of the day is an editorial in the New York Times welcoming, well, you know who to town, though warning he “has his work cut out for him.” (Oh, Gray Lady, how you do turn a phrase!) Perhaps a more subtly ominous note is sounded in the final graf, when the Royal Editoral We admonish Steel, “His task will be not just [...]
Cher Public