Monday, March 30, 2015

MEDIA - Vital Arts vs OnLine Entertainment

"How do we keep arts vital in an age of online entertainment?" PBS NewsHour 3/25/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  When was the last time you went to the theater, or watched a modern dance concert?  Why are Americans less connected to the arts?  In his new book, “Curtains?  The Future of the Arts in America,” Michael Kaiser, a former chief of the Kennedy Center, American Ballet Theatre and others, considers what arts organizations can do to thrive and survive.  Kaiser discusses his book with Jeffrey Brown.

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  Have you been to the theater lately, seen a modern dance concert?  Have your children?  Will those theater dance and other arts institutions survive?

The questions are at the heart of a new book with a question in its title, “Curtains?:  The Future of the Arts in America.”

Author Michael Kaiser has headed many arts organizations, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the American Ballet Theater and the Alvin Ailey dance troupe.  He now heads the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland.

And welcome to you.

What’s the — if I say, what’s the essential problem, is it economic, cultural?  What is it?  How do you sum it up?

MICHAEL KAISER, Author, “Curtains?:  The Future of the Arts in America”:  We have faced many challenges in the arts for many years, but more recently, so much entertainment and arts are available online or in movie theaters.  And they are becoming very important competitors to those who present live performances in their theaters.

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