An internet hoax became a reality when Scott Mills the Musical premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The idea came about when a fake flyer was found to be circulating the internet advertising the show featuring the Radio 1 DJ imitating a variety of singers.
The musical soon became a reality when listeners tuning into his show urged the DJ to stage the performance, and even phoned in with suggestions as to how the format of the production should pan out.
A vast array of different celebrities participated in the musical, with David Hasselhoff narrating the story of Mills’ rise to fame and Denise Van Outen featuring in the audition segment of the production.
Mills opted out of playing the role of himself and instead allowed his listeners to vote for their own choice of actor, with unknown Joe Taylor winning the competition.
The plot of the musical tells the story of when Mills lost his job as Radio 1 DJ and his struggle to get it back, by participating as a Susan Boyle type character in a programme modelled on Britain’s Got Talent.
The musical has received praise from fans and critics alike, complimenting the ambition taken on to bring the Edinburgh Fringe to Radio 1 listeners tuning in back home and plans are now being made to take the show on a nationwide tour.
Mills isn’t exactly making theatrical history here, but it does reflect how theatre is becoming more infiltrated with popular culture, such as the popularity of performances like Jerry Springer the Opera and Andrew Lloyd Weber’s televised auditions for the cast of his next production. Interactive musicals and theatre might be the way forward if a younger audience is to be engaged.
Scott Mills The Musical Blog: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/scottmills/
Review on whatsonstage.com: http://www.whatsonstage.com/blogs/edinburgh2009/?p=761
Interview on STV: http://doiop.com/stvmills
international news & comment
This blog invites accredited contributors - if you would like to become an accredited contributor, visit our information and contact us form. Include some background information, and why you would like to become accredited.
04/09/2009
Green-fingered artist makes sculptures from phone books
Cuban-American artist Alex Queral, 51, from Philadelphia, U.S., has adopted a unique way to turn trash into treasure - by carving famous faces into telephone directories.
The sculptor was inspired by the idea when he noticed piles of phone books just lying around and began to use the material to carve a variety of recognisable faces, ranging from President Obama to Ringo Star.
The resourceful artist creates up to two new sculptures a month, with the impressions appearing in several solo as well as group exhibitions.
Writing on his profile on The Projects Gallery website, Queral said: "In carving and painting a head from a phone directory, I’m celebrating the individual lost in the anonymous list of thousands of names that describe the size of the community.
"In addition, I like the idea of creating something that is normally discarded every year into an object of longevity."
Queral starts the process of creating the phone book art by firstly sketching a face. Using this as a template, he chips and slices away at the phonebook with an artist’s scalpel or a razor blade until he reaches the final product.
Queral’s phone book faces currently can be viewed at the Philadelphia airport at Terminal F, concourse 2. Earlier this year they were part of the "Obama-rama" and "Perception: Reality" exhibitions, held at Projects Gallery in Philadelphia.
With the current trend leaning towards being ‘green’, praise goes to Queral for creating art that is environmentally friends and requires no money to produce.
Alex Queral portfolio on Projects Gallery
Read more on Telegraph Online
The sculptor was inspired by the idea when he noticed piles of phone books just lying around and began to use the material to carve a variety of recognisable faces, ranging from President Obama to Ringo Star.
The resourceful artist creates up to two new sculptures a month, with the impressions appearing in several solo as well as group exhibitions.
Writing on his profile on The Projects Gallery website, Queral said: "In carving and painting a head from a phone directory, I’m celebrating the individual lost in the anonymous list of thousands of names that describe the size of the community.
"In addition, I like the idea of creating something that is normally discarded every year into an object of longevity."
Queral starts the process of creating the phone book art by firstly sketching a face. Using this as a template, he chips and slices away at the phonebook with an artist’s scalpel or a razor blade until he reaches the final product.
Queral’s phone book faces currently can be viewed at the Philadelphia airport at Terminal F, concourse 2. Earlier this year they were part of the "Obama-rama" and "Perception: Reality" exhibitions, held at Projects Gallery in Philadelphia.
With the current trend leaning towards being ‘green’, praise goes to Queral for creating art that is environmentally friends and requires no money to produce.
Alex Queral portfolio on Projects Gallery
Read more on Telegraph Online
03/09/2009
On The Battlefront: One Girl’s Fight For Her Orchestra
With the seemingly constant news coverage dominating our television screens about the war in Iraq, it is easy to be moved by the tragic deaths of civilians and soldiers but forget about the people still striving to live their lives in this war-torn country. That is why I was moved to hear about 17 year old Zuhal Sultan’s efforts to establish Iraq’s first National Youth Orchestra.
Throughout the years of conflict, Zuhal managed to maintain her study of the piano through receiving sporadic on-line tutorials from Japanese pianist Reiko Aizawa. She is now appealing to the on-line music community to help with her campaign.
Zuhal’s efforts have been documented on the Battlefront website, an online project from Channel Four that allows you to follow the progress of twenty young campaigners who are out to ‘save the world’. She has successfully brought together other young Iraqi musicians, with the hopes to establish an annual summer program of master classes and courses for the participants.
American and British coaches will be contributing to the course, with Scotland’s Paul MacAlindin taking the position of music director. Zuhal is now seeking more music tutors from around the world to hold tutorials on-line for the orchestra.
If you are interested in participating in Zuhal Sultan’s campaign, visit http://battlefront.co.uk/campaign/music-for-a-change/
Throughout the years of conflict, Zuhal managed to maintain her study of the piano through receiving sporadic on-line tutorials from Japanese pianist Reiko Aizawa. She is now appealing to the on-line music community to help with her campaign.
Zuhal’s efforts have been documented on the Battlefront website, an online project from Channel Four that allows you to follow the progress of twenty young campaigners who are out to ‘save the world’. She has successfully brought together other young Iraqi musicians, with the hopes to establish an annual summer program of master classes and courses for the participants.
American and British coaches will be contributing to the course, with Scotland’s Paul MacAlindin taking the position of music director. Zuhal is now seeking more music tutors from around the world to hold tutorials on-line for the orchestra.
If you are interested in participating in Zuhal Sultan’s campaign, visit http://battlefront.co.uk/campaign/music-for-a-change/
Are You Having A Night Less Ordinary?
I was excited to discover that the Arts Council were providing free theatre tickets to under 26 year olds through the scheme A Night Less Ordinary. But as someone who eagerly signed up to this scheme, but has not yet taken full advantage of it, I can’t help but wonder whether it is actually working?
The notion of receiving something for nothing is always alluring, especially to an age group as poverty-stricken as under 26’s! But with so many choices of how to wile away the Friday night hours, are young people making the conscious effort to visit their local theatre? The people who seem to be taking advantage of this offer are those who already frequent the theatres on a regular basis. Surely this defeats the object of the free tickets, which are meant to attract young people who do not normally attend the theatre?
In order to develop a new generation of audiences, the perception of theatre needs to change, as well as the price tag. But attempts to do this have proved difficult as one of the marketing volunteers told me, whose offers to attend local schools and talk about the scheme were rebuffed.
So for now, A Night Less Ordinary is supplying theatre enthusiasts with tickets they were happy to pay for anyway. I do plan to take advantage of the offer soon, at some point, next week maybe?
For more information on A Night Less Ordinary, and the venues taking part, visit the website at http://www.anightlessordinary.org.uk/
The notion of receiving something for nothing is always alluring, especially to an age group as poverty-stricken as under 26’s! But with so many choices of how to wile away the Friday night hours, are young people making the conscious effort to visit their local theatre? The people who seem to be taking advantage of this offer are those who already frequent the theatres on a regular basis. Surely this defeats the object of the free tickets, which are meant to attract young people who do not normally attend the theatre?
In order to develop a new generation of audiences, the perception of theatre needs to change, as well as the price tag. But attempts to do this have proved difficult as one of the marketing volunteers told me, whose offers to attend local schools and talk about the scheme were rebuffed.
So for now, A Night Less Ordinary is supplying theatre enthusiasts with tickets they were happy to pay for anyway. I do plan to take advantage of the offer soon, at some point, next week maybe?
For more information on A Night Less Ordinary, and the venues taking part, visit the website at http://www.anightlessordinary.org.uk/
Avatar: Paving The Way For The Future Of Filmmaking?
James Cameron, the self-proclaimed ‘King of the World’ has been busy of late. His latest film Avatar (which was dreamt up fourteen years ago) is due for release this December, and the significance of this film is being furiously speculated due to its innovations in cinematic technology.
Cameron has developed the ‘motion-capture’ technology that uses an actor’s performance to create computer-animated characters that are photo-real. Think Gollum but, well, better. He has also rendered the film in 3-D in order to create and capture a believable setting for Avatar, a film that takes place 100 years into the future on a planet where an alien race co-exists with humans.
In order to fully visualise this world, scenes for Avatar were filmed in a performance-capture set, enabling the director to view post-production effects whilst the live action was being filmed.
So has Cameron completely altered the art of filmmaking forever? With such heavyweights as Spielberg and Jackson jumping on the ‘mo-cap’ bandwagon, it’s safe to assume that cinematic trend has started. Yet I can’t help but wonder whether this labour of love has taken too long to hit the cinema screens.
With a plethora of 3-D films becoming widely available to audiences, I fear Avatar may be lost in the sea of novelty and frivolity that encompasses the current 3-D trend. I hope that current marketing campaign for the film is successful, by building anticipation and excitement through the online community who eagerly wait this visual masterpiece.
Do you think Avatar will set a new trend in filmmaking? Is it going to be another commercial smash for Cameron like Titanic?
Cameron has developed the ‘motion-capture’ technology that uses an actor’s performance to create computer-animated characters that are photo-real. Think Gollum but, well, better. He has also rendered the film in 3-D in order to create and capture a believable setting for Avatar, a film that takes place 100 years into the future on a planet where an alien race co-exists with humans.
In order to fully visualise this world, scenes for Avatar were filmed in a performance-capture set, enabling the director to view post-production effects whilst the live action was being filmed.
So has Cameron completely altered the art of filmmaking forever? With such heavyweights as Spielberg and Jackson jumping on the ‘mo-cap’ bandwagon, it’s safe to assume that cinematic trend has started. Yet I can’t help but wonder whether this labour of love has taken too long to hit the cinema screens.
With a plethora of 3-D films becoming widely available to audiences, I fear Avatar may be lost in the sea of novelty and frivolity that encompasses the current 3-D trend. I hope that current marketing campaign for the film is successful, by building anticipation and excitement through the online community who eagerly wait this visual masterpiece.
Do you think Avatar will set a new trend in filmmaking? Is it going to be another commercial smash for Cameron like Titanic?
15/05/2009
Forthcoming partnerships for www.arts.info
A number of European and international arts and cultural networks are being invited to partner with us in an exciting new online newsblog – www.arts.info.
Recent developments on the www.culture.info site, include:
The aim is for www.arts.info to become a key international resource providing news and information of arts activity and initiatives from across the world. We believe this will be best achieved if it can be done in partnership with key European and international networks and other agencies in a way which is mutually beneficial.
It is therefore proposed to offer a collaborative space on the www.arts.info newsblog for items contributed by selected partner organisations – perhaps one or two items each month taken from each partner's existing newsletter or the news section of their website. As a partner, you could include, at the end of your contribution:- An acknowledgement that the item had been contributed by the particular partner
- The inclusion of a weblink to the website of the partner
- The inclusion of the partner's logo
- If required by the partner, a short sentence encouraging www.arts.info users to, for example, visit the partner's website to read more information, and/or an encouragement
to join the partner's network
Recent developments on the www.culture.info site, include:
- Opportunities to upload your reports and other publications to http://edocs.culture.info
- You are invited to register as an expert on http://askanexpert.culture.info
- Conference and tradefair listings on http://confer.culture.info and http://tradefair.culture.info
- The initial entries for our new funding database are now online at http://fundscompare.culture.info – this will provides users with the opportunity to rate and comment on different funding programmes
If you would like to become a partner in www.arts.info as outlined above, we look forward to
hearing from you through our contact us form where we will be happy to answer any questions you may have or to provide any additional information you may require.
07/05/2009
UNESCO Headquarters in Paris opens its doors to the "European Night of Museums" on 16 May 2009
For the first time, UNESCO Director-General, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, has granted UNESCO’s patronage to the "European Night of Museums", which will take place on Saturday, 16 May 2009. This event is in line with UNESCO’s objectives and is also linked with "International Museum Day", launched by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and celebrated on 18 May every year since 1977.
Devoted to protecting art objects and museums since its creation in 1945, UNESCO will participate in this cultural evening by opening its Headquarters to the public on Saturday, 16 May from 8 pm to 1 am (last entry at midnight). The general public can visit the Organization’s Paris Headquarters (7 Place de Fontenoy, 7th arrondissement) and take guided tours of its rich collection of masterpieces and artistic works, which will be displayed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO Works of Art Collection.
UNESCO has an impressive and diverse collection of over 500 works of art by Masters such as Picasso, Miró, Arp, Appel, Afro, Matta, Calder, Chillida, Giacometti, Moore, Tamayo, Soto, Vasarely, Cruz-Diez and many others. Over the years, this collection has grown continually thanks to the generosity of Member States committed to enhancing and embellishing the Organizations' Headquarters. Today, UNESCO's Headquarters boasts the largest artistic heritage within the United Nations system.
Click for links to information on museums or visual arts
01/05/2009
Aesthetica Creative Works Competition
In a positive development for showcasing new and interesting ranges of art and writing, Aesthetica Creative Works Competition are calling for entries for Artwork, Fiction and Poetry. The 2008 Competition was a successful springboard for artists' careers around the globe, with winners and finalists securing further exhibitions, commissions and publications. All of 2009's winners and finalists will be published in the Aesthetica Annual, available nationwide through Borders Stores from December 2009. It's a great opportunity to bring your work to a wider audience.
The categories available are Artwork, Photography & Sculpture, Fiction and Poetry and three winners will be awarded £500 each.
Finalists will be published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual, in stores December 2009. the Entry terms and conditions are: £10 fee which allows you to submit up to 5 images, 5 poems or 2 short stories. The closing date to receive Creative Works is 31 August 2009. This information will also be published in Euclid's regular e-newsletter, Alert! To subscribe to Alert you can visit the site and follow the links to subscribe.
The categories available are Artwork, Photography & Sculpture, Fiction and Poetry and three winners will be awarded £500 each.
Finalists will be published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual, in stores December 2009. the Entry terms and conditions are: £10 fee which allows you to submit up to 5 images, 5 poems or 2 short stories. The closing date to receive Creative Works is 31 August 2009. This information will also be published in Euclid's regular e-newsletter, Alert! To subscribe to Alert you can visit the site and follow the links to subscribe.
01/01/2001
R to S
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
