Balls of steel. That must be what compels Opera Lafayette to stage an 18th century comic opera in its original French, then take it on the road to France, with a cast that doesn’t really speak French.
Opera Lafayette is a top-notch historical ensemble from D.C., specializing in baroque and classical operas performed with period instruments. [...]
Priorities: In his latest Huffington Post column, Kennedy Center prez Michael Kaiser says the arts center's production of Follies—which closed on Broadway Sunday night—did not recoup its financial investment, but the publicity made it all worthwhile: "No one production creates lasting acclaim for any arts organization and Follies did not change the history of the Kennedy [...]
What does it take to be a superstar musician? Talent? Sure, but past a certain level, everyone’s got that. If they’re honest, the pros admit it takes a certain amount of showmanship, even in the staid world of classical music. Like any other performer, they have to cultivate a persona. And among classical musicians, the [...]
Dissident Display: The Chinese government's favorite artist Ai Weiwei will have an installation at the Sackler Gallery this spring, the museum announced yesterday. The work, "Fragments," which borrows artifacts from Qing Dynasty temples, will be on view beginning May 12. Hirshhorn will also feature an exhibit, "Ai Weiwei: According to What?" beginning in October. The [...]
It’s the one that got away: Richard Wagner’s four-part Ring cycle, which the Washington National Opera has been trying to put on for a decade now. They got three-quarters of the way through, with Siegfried in 2009, before running out of money and losing the fourth installment to the San Francisco Opera.
Now, the dividends of [...]
Stage Fright: D.C. theater has undergone a decade of tremendous growth, proclaims the Washington Post in an (excellent) special Sunday Arts section dedicated to local playmaking. Chief theater critic Peter Marks gives an overview of the scene's strides and challenges in a lengthy essay, while inside pieces look at: local playwrights, funding in an age [...]
Have you wished Maggie Thatcher a merry Christmas yet this holiday season? No? Well, humbug. You must be an American Democrat who’s never seen the musical Billy Elliot. And you might want to consider doing something about that.
Do something about the seeing Billy Elliot part, not the American Democrat part, or the part about sending [...]
In a press conference inside the Lincoln Theatre this afternoon, Mayor Vince Gray and D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities Executive Director Lionell Thomas elaborated—a little bit—on what the venue's future could look like once DCCAH officially takes over Jan. 1.
Gray says that $1 million will be committed to physical upgrades to the theater. [...]
Where's the beef: Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser's latest Huffington Post column draws a line between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in the post-recession arts world. Arts organizations, he says, should stop daydreaming about how everything will return to normal once the recession ends; instead, they should be restrategizing. "Some organizations are going to develop exciting [...]
Times are tough for arts organizations everywhere, but the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has found a promising new revenue stream: oligarchs. Last week, America’s temple to the arts announced a generous gift of $5 million from the Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin, one of the wealthiest men in the world. The tradeoff? Potanin [...]
