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Fort Lauderdale’s 1200-seat Parker Playhouse, which opened in 1967 and was home to Broadway tours until the opening of the Broward Center in 1991, will be managed by the Broward Center starting August 1. Broward Center President Mark Nerenhausen has characterized the deal as a joint relationship with the organizations joining forces to strengthen the arts in our community.

Miami’s Coconut Grove Playhouse  (CGP) will be presenting seven of this coming season’s shows at the Parker Playhouse. Each show will have eight performances at the Parker, in addition to its three-week run in Miami. CGP follows the lead of Miami City Ballet, Florida Grand Opera, and Concert Association of Florida in embracing regionalism.

The Broward Performing Arts Foundation has achieved its $13 million Vision for the 21st Century Campaign goal, allowing it to pay off the Broward Center mortgage 11 years early and increase endowments.

Gold Coast Jazz Society has been selected to participate in the NEA 2005-6 Jazz Masters on Tour program. GCJS also recently awarded jazz scholarships to twelve Broward county students.

Sinatra Theatre, presented by Office Depot Center, has announced that Liza Minnelli, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Mathis, Steve & Eydie, Donna Summer, Engelbert Humperdinck, Lily Tomlin, Paul Anka, Natalie Cole, Frank Sinatra jr., and Don Rickles will appear on the new theatre’s first subscription series.

Janet Horvath, author of Playing (less) Hurt: An Injury Prevention Guide for Musicians, was recently in south Florida to work with musicians at the New World Symphony and the University of Miami. Horvath’s book addresses prevention of injuries from repetitive stress and holding instruments in awkward positions.

Recording

The Recording Academy is coordinating a first-ever Recording Arts Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill on September 7. Participants include Recording Artists Coalition, AFTRA, BMI, and SESAC, who hope to lobby lawmakers about artists’ rights and the importance of the arts in the community.

Sprint Corp. and Sirius Satellite Radio have partnered to allow customers to receive satellite radio over their cell phones, and Audible and XM Satellite Radio have co-launched a new portable device which will play satellite radio as well as content from Audible. Meanwhile, Nokia has introduced a new cell phone with a 4GB internal hard drive capable of holding 3,000 songs, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB 2.0 connections to transfer files and output ports to connect high-end headsets and external speakers or stereo systems. Motorola’s entry is similar, with half as much storage space but including an FM radio receiver.

Napster and Ericsson will offer mobile phone users a subscription plan for iTunes-like downloads.

Zomba Enterprises has launched SEE, whose music catalog will be used specifically for motion picture advertising.

The San Antonio Film Council has announced plans for construction of a movie studio in San Antonio. They hope to pick up a share of the $2.5 billion in film work done in Canada.

Snocap, which uses digital fingerprints to identify songs swapped on peer-to-peer networks, has agreed to allow independent artists and small record labels to register their songs. Universal, EMI, and Sony BMG already register their songs with Snocap, and Warner Music is in talks to do so as well.

Symphony

Funding Arts Broward has announced grants to thirteen local organizations totaling $115,000. Grants range from $3,000-$10,000 and recipients include Florida Grand Opera, Florida Youth Orchestra, Miami City Ballet, Gold Coast Jazz Society, and Symphony of the Americas.

Culture Shock, a program funded by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, makes tickets from over 60 local arts groups available to students between the ages of 14 and 22 for a flat fee of $5. More than 1300 tickets, which are donated by the arts groups, were distributed this past season.

Florida Grand Opera’s new marketing campaign appears to be a success. Since the debut in 2003 of the campaign aimed at dispelling the stuffy stereotype of opera, ticket sales have increased 14 percent. Three of the opera’s best-selling productions took place in the past two years, including their all-time best seller, Mozart’s Magic Flute, which sold $957,000 in tickets.

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