People keep asking me if I’m sad. And the answer is…um…no. When I started PerformInk I felt like I had miraculously thrown a kite up in the air and watched as it caught a wind. And then I got to fly the kite as it went higher and higher. It was thrilling. It was sometimes frustrating. It was usually gratifying. But in the last few years kite technology has changed, and there have been days when the only way I could get mine to catch enough wind to stay in the air was to blow on it. On those days, it became perfectly clear that my kite needs to be replaced. Go to story.
As Gov. Pat Quinn and state representatives square off on the issues of higher taxes or drastic budget cuts, Chicago theatres seem to be taking it all in stride. Not that anyone is blasé about losing thousands of dollars from their budgets, but they’ve made contingency plans and don’t see a reduction in IAC funding as breaking their institutions. Go to story.
The estimated $25 million spent by Michael Mann’s blockbuster Public Enemies in the state last year pumped up officially-tallied 2008 revenues to $141 million from production of film, TV shows and commercials production. Go to story.
Part audience-participation endurance trial, part sketch comedy revue, and part “WTF is that?,” The Gameshow Show and Stuff has built a cult following over the past couple of years during its late-night run with Strawdog Theatre. Go to story.
Google “state arts budget cuts” and you get a bevy of recent stories about governors’ proposed cuts in arts. New York’s Gov. Paterson is proposing a $7 million decrease in the New York State Council for the Arts. Go to story.
They might not have the same amount to give away next year, but the Chicago Arts Assistance Program is holding steady for 2009. It just announced 217 grants totaling $157,725. That’s three more grants and roughly $3,000 less than last year’s funding. Go to story.
Chicago, without question, is in the top echelon of American cities when it comes to the strength of the professional arts. But it’s also the last major city in the U.S. without a public high school dedicated to arts training. (The Chicago Academy for the Arts, which opened in 1981 at the intersection of Chicago and Milwaukee Avenues, is a private independent institution.) But that’s about to change. Go to story.
Despite the fact that the Wisconsin legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted unanimously to keep tax credits for the film and video game industries in the budget, the state of the incentives are in limbo. Go to story.
Don’t cry for Chris Damiano or Theo Ubique. Their production of Evita took home six non-Equity Jeff Awards Monday night, including best production of a musical. Go to story.
It was supposed to be a mundane bill, tweaking some laws related to engineers in Texas... Then they decided to outlaw lighting design. And all hell broke loose. Go to story.
Obituaries:
Will Schutz, 47
Steve Cinabro, 49