Thanks again Cassandra - the Standard is mostly for subscription now, so it may be a vain effort to find the article. No doubt there will be more in tomorrow's press.

My goodness. After reading all this it seems, to me anyway, that Sadler's Wells is lucky that Mr Choplin is leaving (and it also seems like a good bet that he won't last until 2006).
From everything I have read Sadler's Wells has been doing quite well, what with all the awards and nominations dance at Sadler's has garnered recently.

You're right corrival that Sadler's has been "doing quite well", but remember that Mr Choplin's first year of involvement with programming, which he also describes as a "transition" year, is 2003-4 and the 7 nominations for the forthcoming Olivier awards will be at least half for the previous year 2002-3, given that the 2003-4 year started in September.

Unfortunately the first product of his new vision, "The Temptation of St Anthony" with singing and a little dance, received very poor reviews for the most part. Mr Choplin was unlucky that another cornerstone of his vision - a concert performance by Jessye Norman - was deferred due to ill health, but does not seem to have been rescheduled. I guess the booking of a solo singer is always going to have a higher risk of cancellation than a dance company.

<small>[ 21 January 2004, 10:06 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Sadler's Wells chief to leave
By Maev Kennedy for The Guardian


The end of a short, bumpy career in British theatre was announced yesterday with the news that the French chief executive of Sadler's Wells theatre is to leave early to become director of the Châtelet theatre in Paris.
Jean-Luc Choplin took over at Sadler's Wells, in central London, last year on a contract which would have lasted until 2007. Instead he will take up his new post in late 2006.

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Sadler's Wells chief resigns
From the BBC website


Sadler's Wells chief executive Jean-Luc Choplin has resigned from the venue to take a post at Paris' Chatelet Theatre.
Mt Choplin, who joined the London dance theatre in 2002, will leave in 2006.

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