Labour MP Brian Sedgemore has made a vicious attack on the Royal Opera House and its funding in a speech which, had it been made outside of the Commons chamber, would have left him wide open to action for defamation. The MP for Hackney and Shoreditch was commenting on comparison between the applications for Lottery fundings from the ROH and the Hackney Empire which failed in its £24m bid earlier this year.
"Those in the Empire audience," he said, "see that the toffs at the Rpyal Opera House have no difficulty getting funding for their building They sense that it has something to do with Establishment cronoies in the opera world moving through revolving doors.
"They get angry when they witness the shenanigans and financial improprieties of the Rpyal Opera Company.... It is no wodner that the audiences at the Hackney Empire feel so cheated."
He also claimed that the Board of the ROH including chairman Sir Colin Southgate would be in prison if the Hosue had been a private trading company.
Jackie victim of malicious critics claim
"Malicious and vicious" critics are to blame for the disastrous 24 day West End run of the play Jackie, claims producer Mark Schwartz. The play, a "loving satire" on Jacqueline Onassis lost £1m, thought to be the biggest loss on a straight play in the histiory of the West End.
Creative Industries Taskforce publishes first report
The first report of Chris Sith's Creative Industries Taskforce has suggested four ways that the government can help support the sector (including the arts, advertising, crafts and fashion) in the UK:
The sector, it reports, it the fastest growing part of the ecomony, growing by 5% a year and could create 50,000 new jobs in the next three years. Its exports amount to around £7.5 Billion a year.
The eleven RSC productions in Newcastle during its four week season played to 84% houses in three venues, with 42,500 tickets sold, a 6.8% rise on 1997. However the company's annual report, due this week, is expected to show that it is still in the red.
Edinburgh Fringe ticket sales up
Ticket sales for Edinburgh Fringe events rose by 4.8% this year, with smaller venues doing better business than the larger. The Roman Eagle Lodge's sales were up 25% whilst the Assembly Rooms had significant losses and the Tracerse's bookings for visiting companies were "disappointing"