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Little room for arts in new First Night
By adamg on Wed, 06/03/2015 - 7:47am
The Globe reports the city has picked Dusty Rhodes's Conventures to run First Night this year - a version that will include the Grand Procession, the fireworks and the ice sculptures, but apparently few if any of the performances seen in past First Nights.
Also of note: The city was unable to provide the Globe with a copy of the proposal from the company that lost out because "that information resided on the computer of a vacationing official" - so apparently some city departments not only use typewriters for documents, they don't use network storage, either.
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Comments
Public procurement
Only two bids? I'm not sure that squares with public procurement law...
Remember
The same mayor who is telling us that it is impossible for the city to run First Night because it is so complicated to do one night a year thinks that that same city can host tens of thousands of people and the Olympic games for three weeks.
Then again, he also thinks that the city has standing to sue against a casino plan in a city next door, but that pushing said games on the entire Commonwealth without talking to anyone else is just fine, too.
Hypocrisy, thy name is Marty "One Term" "Mayor Olympics" Walsh.
First Night and July 4
First Night was charming when it began in the late 70s. But now both First Night and the Esplanade July 4 celebrations have gotten so far away from their original intentions and meaning that it isn't even funny. They have essentially consumed themselves.
Describes The Olympics?
At one time the Olympics was about excellence in sports, international cooperation, creating at least an appearance of international goodwill between nations. Now it's about taking over cities, flowing obscene amounts of money from one set of goldplated hands to another, giving construction companies work and giving international corporations prime exposure to billions of eyesballs. The sports? A necesary evil needed to justify the corporate orgy.
Commercialism is the name of the game, inho.
The Olympics, as has sports and sports events, generally, have become so incredibly commercialized that there is no regard for the overall physical, mental, and emotional welfare of the people who are on sports teams and who participate in sporting events, whether they be international or domestic. This may be a bit off-topic, but it also has to do with the fact that there are so many serious injuries in many sports. The total disregard for human beings that all too often comes with commercialism has had deleterious consequences, which have been cropping up more and more, especially in more recent years.
I remember going to the very
I remember going to the very First Night, it was my last. I never found it charming.
However, I do love the July4th Pops. Not so much the "entertainer" but the Pops themselves. I always make sure I tune in for at least the 1812 Overture. I've been in person but find it much better to watch at home.
The original years of First Night
The original years of First Night it did not involve hordes of people gathering in Copley Square. I'm not exactly sure why they do this. Nothing actually happens there and the fireworks can't be seen from there. But they do gather and stand around aimlessly, and it is deemed a newsworthy event judging from the amount of TV coverage it gets. It also seems that the vast majority of people that do it are not from Boston, and it constitutes their once or twice annual trip "in town".
ahhh yes
I remember Boylston & Newbury had actual artists performing in the windows and on the street. That went away years ago as more and more events became ticketed and move to indoor locations...
ahhh yes
That's a shame.
Having the arts there was one of the main purposes of First NIght. It would be a shame to see that go.
I volunteered at First Night, as a face-painter for a number of years...and enjoyed it, but the commercialism has become painfully obvious.