Ballet Chicago: Splash or Crash?
Ballet Chicago was hoping to make a big splash at the Chicago Theatre, where it had scheduled six performances between October 25 and November 3. But early this week sources at the Chicago Theatre said the ballet company was having trouble coming up with its theater-rental payments, and just as we went to press the company’s executive director, Oleg Lubanov, told us the engagement was being scaled back to four performances because of slow ticket sales. The company is charging a steep $36 for the best seats, which seems high for a group with a short track record.
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Critics who insist that Maestro Georg Solti hasn’t lavished enough attention on Chicago Symphony Orchestra business may have another bit of ammunition. Sir Georg and CSO composer-in-residence John Corigliano will meet in November to decide whether Corigliano’s Symphony no. 1 will debut as planned on January 18, 1990. Sources say Solti may want to postpone the debut; he may not have had sufficient time to study the score last summer because he accepted last-minute work at the Salzburg Festival filling in for the late Herbert von Karajan. Sources also say Corigliano is concerned that any postponement might appear to be due to displeasure with the completed score, which apparently is not the case.
If all goes according to plan, though, O’Rourke’s won’t be gone from the scene for long. Thanks to a loan from Dennehy, Kovar is hopeful he will be able to sign a lease on a new space in a building at 1625 N. Halsted and reopen there around the first of the year.
Theater Troupe Leaving Pilsen: “Couldn’t Draw Flies”
Attempts to turn the Pilsen neighborhood into a hotbed of theatrical production aren’t working. The Econo-Art Theater Company, one of the city’s cleverest groups, has pulled out of the East Pilsen Center for the Arts at 1935 S. Halsted, and is looking for a space back on the north side.
The Fine Art of Marketing
Has art dealer Roberta Lieberman found a way to boost sales in the River North gallery district? In her new space at 230 W. Huron, Lieberman is experimenting with tape-recorded information and critiques in Japanese and German.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Bruce Powell.
