January 2009
January 25, 2009While I'm out: See "Faust" and Workhaus
I hate to abandon you people. The strong. The hearty. The frozen. But I'm heading Costa Rica way, and not a moment too pronto it seems. I'd send a postcard, but why rub it in? Here are a couple ways to stay warm, however. Check out the Minnesota Opera's "Faust," now playing at the Ordway. Maybe you saw the Theatre de la Jeune Lune do a take on this a couple years ago, maybe you even loved it (I was lukewarm; it was cool when it needed to be hot--and I wasn't buying Bradley Greenwald as a bad guy, nope). But a couple things make this more mainstream version of the classic sold-your-soul-to-the-devil story a rather interesting production. Two singers: Paul Groves, a rare treat to hear a mainstay of the Met who's been working to restore opera to New Orleans. In... Read more » Posted on Sunday, January 25, 2009 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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January 19, 2009How will the arts tax be spent?
Most Minnesotans are aware that a constitutional amendment passed in the last election creating a small tax benefiting the outdoors and the arts. Much less is known about how the money for raised for the arts will be allocated. In fact, no one does -- it has yet to be determined. But the process began last week with the convening of the 2009 Legislature--yes, the appropriations will be determined by politicians. The main committee considering the options is a new one called the House Cultural and Outdoors Resources Finance Division, chaired by Rep. Mary Murphy, a DFLer in her 17th term from the St. Louis County (Duluth) area. Considerations will also be made in the Senate, specifically the Economic Development and Housing Division chaired by Sen. David Tomassoni,... Read more » Posted on Monday, January 19, 2009 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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January 15, 2009Where to celebrate the Obama inaugural
Artists are predictably celebrating the end of the Bush era (and the beginning of the Obama years) as if the funding for the NEA had just received its highest funding increase since 1979. Wait a minute--that actually happened, under Bush. Yep, it's been a complicated eight years for the arts, artists' politics aside. What other president in recent memory provided inspiration for so many plays, paintings, posters, records (you owe him, Green Day, big-time)? A lot of bucks were made off Bush. And yet it's complicated. The NEA funding alone is telling -- sure, Bush signed a big increase for 2008, but it's still off from its high of 1992. Count back -- that'd be under Bush the 1st. Whatever -- the... Read more » Posted on Thursday, January 15, 2009 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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