96 replies to this topic

[Helene]

Michael, on Nov 26 2009, 07:20 AM, said:

A great regional hall, now nothing more. This could have been Cleveland or Seattle.

At least we have great acoustics in our regional houses  

[Hans]

To be honest, I've always thought NYCB ought to have given way on the acoustics from the beginning.  An opera company can't do its best without good acoustics, whereas the dancers ought to be dancing as silently as possible anyway.

[papeetepatrick]

Michael, on Nov 26 2009, 10:20 AM, said:

I disagree with P. Martins speech, that opera and ballet begin with music:  not true visually.  Both art forms begin with the stage.

I like what he said.   The stage comes in later.

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It's a fundamental mistake to make one so aware of the damn orchestra.  (And now will NYCB actually get one that plays to such a level:  this isn't going to be the Kirov in the pit).

No, it isn't, and it could well be just the thing to force the level up.

[DeborahB]

bobbi, on Nov 26 2009, 11:13 AM, said:

The Second Ring ladies' room on NYCB's opening was out of order, and I was directed to go to the First Ring.  How long has the theater been open that this should happen?  And for those of us who eschew bottled water, I was dismayed to find that the water fountain on the right side of the Second Ring spewed the same old tepd water.  (And I was told that this was the only fountain actually working!!)  Why couldn't something so very basic be fixed?   Grumble, grumble....

Hi Bobbi,
The second ring ladies' room wasn't out of order on opening night --it was being used for a "coat check/waiter room."
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

[Helene]

DeborahB, on Nov 27 2009, 03:42 AM, said:

Hi Bobbi,
The second ring ladies' room wasn't out of order on opening night --it was being used for a "coat check/waiter room."
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

That's even worse, no matter how many additional stalls they put in.  Exactly where were they putting the coats?  Or the waiters?

[DeborahB]

Helene, on Nov 27 2009, 10:58 AM, said:

DeborahB, on Nov 27 2009, 03:42 AM, said:

Hi Bobbi,
The second ring ladies' room wasn't out of order on opening night --it was being used for a "coat check/waiter room."
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

That's even worse, no matter how many additional stalls they put in.  Exactly where were they putting the coats?  Or the waiters?

Helene,
Let me clarify. The second ring ladies' room was being used as a waiter's dressing and changing room/coat check (they need to put their things somewhere). This happens at every opening night gala; I don't see this as anything unusual. There's not a lot of extra space at the theatre for stowing belongings, and there is a large wait staff for opening nights.

[papeetepatrick]

I couldn't find the original article we discussed when the theater's renaming was first announced (are some of the old and even not-so-old threads discarded more quickly in the upgrade?), so I just put this here.  We're not political-discussion-oriented here, so I'll quote this excerpt which is most germane (at least to us) from today Op-Ed by Frank Rich, without linking it.  You can then just go and read the rest if you want.  Also, if any mod knows where the old original thread is, this might go there.  I was very interested to know these specifics about the Kochs, though.  Had no idea.  Wow.

"Last week the Kochs were shoved unwillingly into the spotlight by the most comprehensive journalistic portrait of them yet, written by Jane Mayer of The New Yorker. Her article caused a stir among those in Manhattan’s liberal elite who didn’t know that David Koch, widely celebrated for his cultural philanthropy, is not merely another rich conservative Republican but the founder of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which, as Mayer writes with some understatement, “has worked closely with the Tea Party since the movement’s inception.” To New Yorkers who associate the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center with the New York City Ballet, it’s startling to learn that the Texas branch of that foundation’s political arm, known simply as Americans for Prosperity, gave its Blogger of the Year Award to an activist who had called President Obama “cokehead in chief.” "

Rich's paragraph also interested and amused me because it characterizes us New Yorkers as somewhat provincial, in thinking we'd associate the Kochs primarily with NYCB, but I don't know how many would really be different from anyone else.  He's not always perfectly accurate anyway (last week, for example, there was a lot of emphasis on how 'no buildings had been completed at Ground Zero', when that's flatly false anyway, but also because the 1 World Trade Center is growing up very fast.  But 7 World Trade has been there since 2006, escaping the tribulations of the developers that none of the others did.)  Even so, I didn't know the Koch Bros. were the Tea Party originators.

[kfw]

There is a long profile of the Koch Brothers in this week's New Yorker.

[Mel Johnson]

I suppose we should count ourselves lucky that David chose self-promotion over product placement.  Northern Quilted Toilet Paper Theater, anyone?

[dirac]

We have an active thread on the topic of arts funding and the New Yorker article here.

[vipa]

Every dollar that goes to the arts doesn't go to something else.  The Koch name - some people will continue to call it State - others will mispronounce it - others will have no idea who the person is.  The vanity naming seems pointless.

[abatt]

It's an ugly reality of arts fundraising that the people who are donating large sums of money are strange bedfellows.  Let's not forget that Alberto Vilar was a major contributor to Met Opera, the Royal Opera and the Kirov.  It later turned out that his wealth was gained, at least in part, through securities fraud.  He is now in federal prison.  Similarly, I seem to remember that Countrywide Financial - a notorious player in the subprime lending game-  was a big ABT contributor before the bubble burst.  Unfortunately, you take your rich donors as you find them, warts and all.  What I find more troubling is that ABT uses a system of "sponsors" where each principal dancer (and quite a few soloists) are "sponsored" by a rich donor.  I often think that these donors  have undue influence over some casting decisions at ABT.

[Quiggin]

Update to the New Yorker article. Note that Chevron, who has a refinery in the SF Bay Area, is staying out of this.

California Braces for Showdown on Emissions

[dirac]

Thanks for posting that, Quiggin. A shout out to George Shultz, who is married to San Francisco Ballet board of trustees member Charlotte Mailliard Shultz:

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“It would have big implications,” said George P. Shultz, the former secretary of state, who is a chairman of a campaign to defeat the ballot initiative. “That is one reason why these outside companies are pouring money in to try to derail the same thing. At the same time, the reverse is true: they put this fat in the fire and if we win, that also sends a message.”

[abatt]

There is an editorial in the NY Times regarding the Koch Brothers' financing of a campaign to undo California's AB32 clean energy legislation.  The upshot of the opinion is that the only winners if the legislation is repudiated are the Koch brothers and the Chinese, who "are already moving briskly ahead in the clean technology race." The article notes that the biggest losers will be California and the planet.