Marc van Bree

  • The Yellow Wallpaper

    Yesterday I went to see Roosevelt University’s performance of The Yellow Wallpaper, a 1989 chamber opera by Ronald Perera. Expecting modern atonal music and a vague story I couldn’t have been in a more wrong direction. Brian Hotchkin, a good friend who played the baritone role of John the husband, and a low student (!)…

  • 47th Annual Golden Trumpet Awards

    Today the Publicity Club of Chicago presented their Annual Golden Trumpet Awards at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, honoring top public relations professionals and campaigns. Dominic Calabrese, my former teacher at Columbia College and director of public relations at my past internship location, the Chicago Lighthouse, invited me to join him and others from…

  • Bread and Games II

    Just a couple of days ago I cited Millennium Park as an excellent example of the bread and games concept in Chicago. Today, the Washington Post reports that Rep. James P. Moran Jr. suggests the Smithsonian Institution should charge an admission fee, as their buildings are suffering from underfunding. Charging an admission fee would move…

  • Bread and Games

    Bread and games. Nothing much has changed over the millennia. Roman emperors kept the plebs happy with bread and games; today governments, whether local or national, keep the citizens happy with pretty much the same. The bread and games have been replaced by less specific entities such as social security and public art and performances.…

  • Importing and Exporting Arts

    In its January 2006 edition, International Arts Manager magazine focused on the Netherlands and interviewed Jan Hoekema at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the importance of export and import in performing arts. Hoekema names three key issues that play a role in the country’s policies: the arts’ contribution to the economy and its…