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Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,838,516 times
Reputation: 3672
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWereRabbit
Boston
duhhhhhhhhh
what dumby put Houston? If high culture = drinking lean in a parking lot. Ya. That's right. All Houston is is a PARKING LOT. And there is no density and their opera is probably wishy-washy at best. What're you gunna do about it?
.............this thread will go nowhere.
Um.... wow.
Hope you don't actually believe that. Once again, another example of how awesome a job Houston does with its PR (or... not.)
Houston has a great arts/culture scene. The theater district ranks 2nd in size in the US to that of NYC. Houston ranks 3rd in the country in fine arts museum space. The Natural Science Museum is 3rd or 4th most visited in the country, and attracts many exhibits from overseas that only stop through a handful of US cities. And, Houston is one of only 3 or 4 cities in the country with companies in all - symphony, opera, ballet, and theater.
I could go on but don't want to be accused of having some stupid Texas attitude. But you can look all of this up. In fact, please do next time before saying something so foolish.
Oh, and since you asked about the opera... the Houston Grand Opera is the only opera company to have won a Tony, two Grammy awards, and two Emmy awards (and the New York Times likes it, to boot!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by PDX_LAX
But you and I probably don't know much about Houston's high culture so I figured I would give Houstonians a chance to elaborate.
Um.... wow.
Hope you don't actually believe that. Once again, another example of how awesome a job Houston does with its PR (or... not.)
Houston has a great arts/culture scene. The theater district ranks 2nd in size in the US to that of NYC. Houston ranks 3rd in the country in fine arts museum space. The Natural Science Museum is 3rd or 4th most visited in the country, and attracts many exhibits from overseas that only stop through a handful of US cities. And, Houston is one of only 3 or 4 cities in the country with companies in all - symphony, opera, ballet, and theater.
I could go on but don't want to be accused of having some stupid Texas attitude. But you can look all of this up. In fact, please do next time before saying something so foolish.
Oh, and since you asked about the opera... the Houston Grand Opera is the only opera company to have won a Tony, two Grammy awards, and two Emmy awards (and the New York Times likes it, to boot!)
Thanks. I guess...
oh. my bad. I didn't realize they had the book learnin' in Houston.
(for the record, if I say "duh" in a post I am usually not seriously. ....In fact, I fully support drinking lean in a parking lot and would rather do that then some stupid ballet any day. Luckily, there is Houston where I can drink some syzurp in a parking lot and then spend all day checking out their top-ranked museums and 10 billion fortune 500 companies. BEST OF BOTH WORLDS! YEEEEHAAAA!)
Ballet and other dance
The American Ballet Theatre, The New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, San Francisco ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet (Seattle).
Opera
The top three opera companies are The Met (New York), San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago. The other companies are not really in the same league as those three. By the way, live opera performances in the US have approximately the same number of attendees as live NFL games (Over 20 million tickets).
Theater
Chicago is unquestionably the second-city for live theater. Other top cities include Seattle, San Francisco, DC, and Minneapolis.
Symphonies/Orchestras
The big-five symphonies are Boston, Chicago, Philly, Cleveland (yes, Cleveland) and New York.
Museums
The is a composite category. It really depends on what type of museum. For example, the second best contemporary art museum in the country is the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. If I had to pick the top 5 cities as a whole, I would say New York, Chicago, Boston, Philly and DC. (LA is very good too, although it doesn't have then number of world-class masterpieces that that other cities do.)
Art galleries/shows
This is really about the sale of art. Lots of art sales are in odd places, like New Mexico. I don't think this is a useful category.
I would also add:
Research libraries
The top are Harvard (essentially Boston), New York Public, and The Library of Congress in DC.
In the end, the Boston and Chicago symphonies are so good that they cancel each other out. I give the edge to Chicago because it has a better opera company and such a tremendous live theater scene.
Actually I think the top 4 cities are roughly equal. Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Washington DC. I am sorry, I sort of have a SLIGHT bad vibe about Washington, alot of the high culture seems phoney because it is patronized by phoney politicians! I also wanted someone to recognize Chicago, which has a decent theater district btw.
TOP CHOICES: Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Washington D.C.
IMMEDIATE RUNNERS UP: Los Angeles, Philadelphia
DARKHORSE: Houston (up and coming but not there yet)
UNSURE: Atlanta
OTHER: Miami, Dallas
perfect.
^^ hrrmmm how would educational institutions factor in? as I know they provide and put on many shows... i.e. harvard/uchicago/stanford...
Ballet and other dance
The American Ballet Theatre, The New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, San Francisco ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet (Seattle).
Opera
The top three opera companies are The Met (New York), San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago. The other companies are not really in the same league as those three. By the way, live opera performances in the US have approximately the same number of attendees as live NFL games (Over 20 million tickets).
Theater
Chicago is unquestionably the second-city for live theater. Other top cities include Seattle, San Francisco, DC, and Minneapolis.
Symphonies/Orchestras
The big-five symphonies are Boston, Chicago, Philly, Cleveland (yes, Cleveland) and New York.
Museums
The is a composite category. It really depends on what type of museum. For example, the second best contemporary art museum in the country is the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. If I had to pick the top 5 cities as a whole, I would say New York, Chicago, Boston, Philly and DC. (LA is very good too, although it doesn't have then number of world-class masterpieces that that other cities do.)
Art galleries/shows
This is really about the sale of art. Lots of art sales are in odd places, like New Mexico. I don't think this is a useful category.
I would also add:
Research libraries
The top are Harvard (essentially Boston), New York Public, and The Library of Congress in DC.
In the end, the Boston and Chicago symphonies are so good that they cancel each other out. I give the edge to Chicago because it has a better opera company and such a tremendous live theater scene.
Wow, I was only guessing but my top 4 cities came out the same as yours! The Chicago theater was a deciding factor for me also.
One difference is you did not mention Los Angeles. Although not part of the Big Five, I have the impression that the Los Angeles Philhamonic is pretty decent and the Getty has taken major strides.
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,838,516 times
Reputation: 3672
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWereRabbit
oh. my bad. I didn't realize they had the book learnin' in Houston.
(for the record, if I say "duh" in a post I am usually not seriously. ....In fact, I fully support drinking lean in a parking lot and would rather do that then some stupid ballet any day. Luckily, there is Houston where I can drink some syzurp in a parking lot and then spend all day checking out their top-ranked museums and 10 billion fortune 500 companies. BEST OF BOTH WORLDS! YEEEEHAAAA!)
Well this is City-Data, so my impression was always that people come here looking for real information. Not for chat rooms or jokes or snide comments or self-proclaimed comedians. Don't mean to be a downer, but I think that is best saved for other sites, perhaps ones with fewer rules. This is supposed to be an informational site.
BTW I have no idea what "drinking lean" is. So I guess there's something missing in our books.
Wow, I was only guessing but my top 4 cities came out the same as yours! The Chicago theater was a deciding factor for me also.
One difference is you did not mention Los Angeles. Although not part of the Big Five, I have the impression that the Los Angeles Philhamonic is pretty decent and the Getty has taken major strides.
Yes, but we're really about talking the-best-of-the-best on the world stage.
For theater, Chicago is second only to New York and London. The Chicago and Boston symphonies can stand comparison with Vienna and Berlin. The San Francisco Opera can hold it's own against Covent Garden in London, if not La Scala or Vienna (but The Met can).
In Europe, the government funds the arts. In the US it's all about donations and endowments and it takes a lot of money to be the best. The best universities in the country, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. are not coincidentally also the best endowed. Cultural institutions are no different. It's no surprise that the older, eastern cities dominate. Those organizations are older and have been building up their endowments longer.
What's really extraordinary is a city like Seattle. Its citizens have worked very hard to build its dance, theater and opera to world-class levels, without the 150 years or more of donations that Boston and New York have had.
Frankly, LA is a little late to the party. Especially when you consider the size and wealth of the city. Angelenos realize this and they're making a concerted effort to catch up.
LA has all those things Chicago, Philly, Boston, and San Francisco has and they rank the top on numerous ratings yet people fail to give LA credit.
- Ballet and other dance
LA has numerous Dance and ballet institutions
- Opera
LA has a opera house - Theater
LA has many theaters houses and live boradway shows, and improv clubs along with acting and performing arts and live entertainment. - Symphonies/Orchestras
The LA Philharmonic in Disney Concert Hall ranked one of the best. - Museums
The Getty, and Getty villas are top notch and boast the finest pieces of art and ranked on a international scale - Art galleries/shows
There's the Art walk in downtown every month and the LACMA, and MOCA fine art galleries
- any other criteria you can think of
etc.
Last edited by Hollywood Inquirer; 09-30-2009 at 10:46 PM..
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