Featured Buzz
theASHtray: The Island ex-President, Act(ors?) of Valor and Aung San Suu Kyi's pianoSaturday, 31 March 2012
Attention! Required viewing: Jon Shenk’s Maldivian climate-change documentary, The Island President, starring one Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed in the title role.What might be called a natural sequel - or codicil, anyway - to Al Gore’s An Inconvenient... Read more... |
Cash for arts: should it be bums-per-pound or pounds-per-bum?Saturday, 31 March 2012
The organisation that channels public money to generate today's new classical music has been resoundingly condemned this week by all of Britain's most important composers. In an open letter, signed by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Sir Peter Maxwell... Read more... |
The Arts Desk Radio ShowThursday, 29 March 2012
Welcome to theartsdesk's first radio show with Peter Culshaw and Joe Muggs, recorded with the extremely able help of Brendon Harding at Red Bull Studio London.In the course of this show, Peter and Joe take a look at the depth and breadth of music... Read more... |
Punk's not dead: Moscow's Pussy Riot answer back to PatriarchTuesday, 27 March 2012
The Moscow girl punk band Pussy Riot say their impromptu performance inside Russia’s major cathedral of their song “Holy Shit” was a prayer. They were replying to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill who called it “blasphemy”.Speaking at a... Read more... |
Casiokids: Interview & Video ExclusiveTuesday, 27 March 2012
Norway’s bouncy electropoppers Casiokids release their new single “Kaskaden” next week. They’ve chosen to premier the video on theartsdesk. Directed by their long-term collaborator Blank Blank, the fantasia takes in Kung Fu films and the Hollywood... Read more... |
theASHtray: Stanley Donwood, Mark Ronson, and Round Ireland with a flopSaturday, 24 March 2012
A couple of nights ago I went to a book launch at Waterstone’s, Notting Hill, for a collection of un-illustrated short stories (Household Worms) by a visual artist (Stanley Donwood) perhaps best known for his work in the music industry (producing... Read more... |
RSC directorship goes to odds-on favouriteThursday, 22 March 2012
Gregory Doran was today named the incoming artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he will succeed Michael Boyd in the post later this year. The announcement came as no surprise given Doran's longstanding commitment to an... Read more... |
theASHtray: Douglas Adams, the petty tyranny of Saul Zaentz Co., and KONY 1987Saturday, 17 March 2012
I spent a fair chunk of last Sunday evening at Douglas Adams' 60th birthday party. This was a bit of a curve ball, not only because I'd never met the author of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - but also because he's been dead for nearly 11... Read more... |
2012 Olivier Awards nominations announcedThursday, 15 March 2012
In how many categories is it possible for a show to be nominated for this year's Olivier Awards? Answer: 10. The producers of Matilda the Musical will be smiling from ear to ear after the nominations for next month’s awards were revealed, with the... Read more... |
Antony to curate the 2012 Meltdown FestivalThursday, 15 March 2012
The Southbank Centre has announced that musician/visual artist Antony will be curating the 19th Meltdown Festival this August. The avant-garde performer and lead singer with Mercury Award-winning Antony and the Johnsons follows in the... Read more... |
Sondheim's Company crosses the pond to a cinema near youThursday, 15 March 2012
Phone rings, door chimes, in comes Company, this time sporting surround sound and high definition and at a cinema near you. Tonight marks a rare opportunity to see a New York gala - the sort of event that proliferates in Manhattan even as the actual... Read more... |
Fundraising Gala for SyriaTuesday, 13 March 2012
In answer to the desperate need for humanitarian relief for the Syrian people inside their country as well as in Syrian refugee camps in neighbouring countries, Mosaic Initiative for Syria has announced a fundraising gala taking place this... Read more... |
