Today's Stories

How An Old Warehouse Furnished With Scavenged Everything Became London’s Coolest Theatre

The Yard opened in an old industrial estate in July 2011; it was supposed to be a three-month pop-up but stayed for 14 years, presenting edgy stagings of classics and new work — and occasionally sending a production on to the National Theatre. Now it’s reopening after a £7 million renovation. - The Nerve (UK)

Let’s Get Real: Intelligence Is About More Than Optimization

That slide from engineering model to human anthropology is easy to miss. We begin by saying: this is how machines work. Then, almost without noticing, we say: this is what intelligence is. And then, more dangerously still: perhaps this is what we are. - Aeon

Calder Sculpture (His Last Work) Is Restored To US Senate Office Building

The piece was the only one created by Calder to have a separate stabile and a mobile. Set against Hart’s white marble walls and filling nearly the entire nine-story atrium, it was the kind of avant-garde, modern sculpture that defined Calder’s final works. - The New York Times

Trump Explores Landmarking The Oval Office So Future Presidents Can’t Reverse His Changes

In the Time interview, the president said he was exploring the possibility of a new federal designation for the Oval Office, which he suggested could protect the office from being torn down and preserve his changes to it. - Washington Post

Here Are The 2026 Dance Magazine Award Recipients

“This year’s Dance Magazine Awards will honor Germaine Acogny; Ayodele Casel; Final Bow for Yellowface; Cleo Parker Robinson; and Alice Sheppard. The Lydia Joel Award — recognizing behind-the-scenes dance leaders — will go to Alicia Adams, formerly of the Kennedy Center.” - Dance Magazine

Is Writing Really The Best Way To Learn?

Writing can be useful cognitive scaffolding for memory and self-regulated learning, but the notion that it is the best process for developing thinking skills is a fairly recent idea, traceable to the 1970s writing-across-the-curriculum movement. - The New York Times

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Seattle Public Library Program To Make Banned Books Available Anywhere Hits 1M Checkouts

Books Unbanned is designed to give young people multiple ways to access digital books regardless of where they live or what their local library can provide. The library said some participants sign up because their local libraries have been censored or underfunded. - KOMO Seattle

An Alternative Explanation Of Consciousness

Antonio Damasio argues, we “possess the celebrated gift of consciousness because of the continued presence and abundance of your homeostatic feelings.” According to Damasio, the conventional theories of consciousness have it backwards. - Undark

Wave Of Robberies Has Europe’s Museums Wondering What Is And Isn’t Worth Displaying

“Replicas have long been used by museums when originals are too fragile, valuable or difficult to travel, and the recent spate of thefts has encouraged some to consider this practice more widely. … Visitors are finding more stand-ins and, in some cases, an empty space where a treasure used to be.” - BBC (Yahoo!)

One Third Of Britain’s Arts Centres Have “No Financial Cushion”: Report

“Drawing on financial data and member surveys of more than 131 arts centres, the report concludes that … one third of arts centres across the UK have ‘little or no financial cushion’ with which to absorb further increases in costs, reductions in funding or unexpected expenditure.” - The Stage

And The Name Of The Merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Megastudio Will Be … Skydance

“David Ellison on Friday shared on X that once Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery combine, the new corporate brand will take the name of the studio he founded 20 years ago. But while that will be the corporate name, Paramount and Warner Bros. will serve as sub-brands.” - The Hollywood Reporter

After 11 Years, Spain’s Spectacular Royal Museums At El Escorial Have Reopened

El Escorial, the largest building erected anywhere during the Renaissance, was both a monastery and a royal palace; since the 1960s, the compound 45 miles northwest of Madrid has housed museums of painting and of architecture. In 2015 those museums were closed for updating; only now can the public visit again. - Art in Context

That French Novel With The Plagiarism Accusation? It’s Now Number One On France’s Bestseller List

Haitian-Canadian novelist Thélyson Orélien’s C’était ça ou mourir (It Was Either That Or Die) was France’s literary sensation of the fall when another author claimed that Orélien used AI to write the novel. The Prix Goncourt removed the book from contention, but nevertheless, it’s currently the bestselling novel in France. - Rolling Stone

What Librarians Want To Tell Their Fellow Americans About Libraries

“We spoke with dozens of librarians at the A.L.A. conference this summer. They came from rural towns and major cities, elementary schools and universities, local branches and big government agencies. … They want you to know about book bans and budget cuts, but also about career counseling and pop-up medical clinics.” - The New York Times

Kennedy Center Is Selling Off Its Pianos

This week movers were photographed carting off the complex’s Steinway pianos, and a staffer at Steinway’s showroom in Washington, DC told a reporter that it was selling those pianos because the Kennedy Center is “closed.” - AlterNet (MSN)

How Haiku Became Hungarian

A foreign poetic form becomes local not when writers reproduce its original conventions faithfully, but when they discover what the form can do in a new language. In Hungary, Japanese short poetry encountered a literary environment already fluent in irony, epigrammatic compression, linguistic play, and knowing when to leave things out. - Asymptote

Staying Human In The Age Of AI

The first step to building a better future is to acknowledge the reality of today. AI is not going away, and it is immensely capable across a wide range of domains. According to a recent Stanford study, 88% of organizations are using AI and the number is growing. - Think Like a Game Designer

The Real Achievement Of Garry Trudeau’s “Doonesbury”

“(It) hasn’t simply been individual story lines, or how they jived with the historical reality in which we read them, but also the depth and breadth of human experience they charted. … Trudeau held the powerful to account, (yet) kept his attention on everyday people our politicians and (celebrities) often neglected.” - The New Republic

The Conservatives’ Case For Mamdani’s Opera Ticket Giveaway (“Why Didn’t We Think Of It?”)

Realistically, Mamdani and his colleagues may convert a few thousand New Yorkers who would otherwise never have set foot in the Met. Even so, they will have achieved more than armies of arts administrators and music teachers, not to mention the conservative guardians of culture who deplore musical wokery. - Unherd

Why Coltrane Still Matters

First and foremost, to him, the relationship between music and communicating with the divine was ultimately the most important thing. To him, music and doing it with excellence, was about communing with the divine, and his ultimate expression of that that everybody cites is, of course, the album “A Love Supreme.” - The Harvard Gazette

By Topic

Let’s Get Real: Intelligence Is About More Than Optimization

That slide from engineering model to human anthropology is easy to miss. We begin by saying: this is how machines work. Then, almost without noticing, we say: this is what intelligence is. And then, more dangerously still: perhaps this is what we are. - Aeon

An Alternative Explanation Of Consciousness

Antonio Damasio argues, we “possess the celebrated gift of consciousness because of the continued presence and abundance of your homeostatic feelings.” According to Damasio, the conventional theories of consciousness have it backwards. - Undark

Staying Human In The Age Of AI

The first step to building a better future is to acknowledge the reality of today. AI is not going away, and it is immensely capable across a wide range of domains. According to a recent Stanford study, 88% of organizations are using AI and the number is growing. - Think Like a Game Designer

By Biological Definition, AI Is Life

There is nothing artificial about systems built from real atoms, powered by real electricity, running in real machines. The systems reproduce, vary, adapt, undergo selection and gather energy from their environment. By any working definition that draws on biology rather than philosophy or religion, that is life. - Noema

It’s Getting More And More Difficult To Tell What’s Real

Life on the internet has become, among other things, a test of patience and an experience of gruelling duration; the ad somehow continued for more than three minutes. A captive audience, it turns out, gets crude digital puppetry as its just deserts. - The New Yorker

Humanists Versus AI

The vibes, less pollable but perhaps no less palpable, are noxious. Students boo speakers who extol A.I. in commencement addresses, and consumers deride celebrities and brands that embrace the technology. - The New Yorker

One Third Of Britain’s Arts Centres Have “No Financial Cushion”: Report

“Drawing on financial data and member surveys of more than 131 arts centres, the report concludes that … one third of arts centres across the UK have ‘little or no financial cushion’ with which to absorb further increases in costs, reductions in funding or unexpected expenditure.” - The Stage

After 40 Years, Segerstrom Center Is Thriving, Bringing L.A.-Level Performing Arts To Orange County

Building a Lincoln Center-style multi-venue arts center in a county that was a byword for conservative suburbia seemed improbable in 1986, but philanthropist Henry Segerstrom pulled it off. Now, after getting hit hard by the pandemic, the complex is back on track, with a $14.6 million surplus last year. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

Can Trump Really Demolish The Kennedy Center?

The legal fight over Mr. Trump’s takeover of the center has revolved largely around one important statute, first passed by Congress in 1958. It established a National Cultural Center and then was amended in 1964 to dedicate the institution to President Kennedy after his assassination. - The New York Times

Republican Senator Blocks Passage Of Bill To Prevent Demolishing The Kennedy Center

A bipartisan effort to ban the demolition of presidential memorials — including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts — was blocked Monday night in the Senate by an objection from Sen.Mike Lee (R-Utah). - Washington Post

The Numbers Are Clear: Kennedy Center’s Finances Were Fine Before Trump, And They’re Disastrous Now

“In the 19 months since President Trump took over the Kennedy Center, the institution has borrowed everything its bank would lend it, dipped into money donors had given on condition it never be spent, and written off pledges from supporters who stopped paying.” - The Washington Post (MSN)

Carnegie-Mellon University Gets $3 Billion Gift To Build Campus In Miami

“The staggering amount (pledged by hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin) is the largest-ever gift by an individual in higher education, surpassing Michael Bloomberg’s $1.8 billion donation to Johns Hopkins in 2018. Griffin’s donation will be split: $1 billion will support CMU’s original campus in Pittsburgh and $2 billion will help launch CMU’s Miami campus.” - CNN

Kennedy Center Is Selling Off Its Pianos

This week movers were photographed carting off the complex’s Steinway pianos, and a staffer at Steinway’s showroom in Washington, DC told a reporter that it was selling those pianos because the Kennedy Center is “closed.” - AlterNet (MSN)

The Conservatives’ Case For Mamdani’s Opera Ticket Giveaway (“Why Didn’t We Think Of It?”)

Realistically, Mamdani and his colleagues may convert a few thousand New Yorkers who would otherwise never have set foot in the Met. Even so, they will have achieved more than armies of arts administrators and music teachers, not to mention the conservative guardians of culture who deplore musical wokery. - Unherd

Why Coltrane Still Matters

First and foremost, to him, the relationship between music and communicating with the divine was ultimately the most important thing. To him, music and doing it with excellence, was about communing with the divine, and his ultimate expression of that that everybody cites is, of course, the album “A Love Supreme.” - The Harvard...

Atlanta Symphony’s Nathalie Stutzmann On Working With Orchestras

"I think musicians are artisanal people. Every morning we have to try to do better. We have to start again — to practice. Why do we practice every day? Why do we question every day a score? Why do we reread a score that we have known for 40 years?" - ArtsATL

Moribund San Antonio Philharmonic Sues Brand-New Orchestra Harmonium Of Texas

“The Philharmonic alleges (Harmonium founder) Jeffrey Kahane misled the (Philharmonic) when he resigned (as its music director) in January … (and) that Kahane used ‘trade secrets’ to which he had access — including donor lists and an email marketing list — to assist him in starting the competing orchestra.” - San Antonio Express-News (Yahoo!)

Lawsuit Over AI Music Pits Canadian Arts Against American AI Companies

AI music is becoming a battleground over the future of tech, culture and community. - The Conversation

Calder Sculpture (His Last Work) Is Restored To US Senate Office Building

The piece was the only one created by Calder to have a separate stabile and a mobile. Set against Hart’s white marble walls and filling nearly the entire nine-story atrium, it was the kind of avant-garde, modern sculpture that defined Calder’s final works. - The New York Times

Trump Explores Landmarking The Oval Office So Future Presidents Can’t Reverse His Changes

In the Time interview, the president said he was exploring the possibility of a new federal designation for the Oval Office, which he suggested could protect the office from being torn down and preserve his changes to it. - Washington Post

Wave Of Robberies Has Europe’s Museums Wondering What Is And Isn’t Worth Displaying

“Replicas have long been used by museums when originals are too fragile, valuable or difficult to travel, and the recent spate of thefts has encouraged some to consider this practice more widely. … Visitors are finding more stand-ins and, in some cases, an empty space where a treasure used to be.” - BBC (Yahoo!)

After 11 Years, Spain’s Spectacular Royal Museums At El Escorial Have Reopened

El Escorial, the largest building erected anywhere during the Renaissance, was both a monastery and a royal palace; since the 1960s, the compound 45 miles northwest of Madrid has housed museums of painting and of architecture. In 2015 those museums were closed for updating; only now can the public visit again. - Art in...

World Monuments Fund: Funding Is The Biggest Threat To World Heritage

Of 372 nominations for the 2027 Watch list, 65% of nominators cited funding shortages and economic development as a primary challenge, up from 55% in 2024. - The Art Newspaper

It Was Challenge After Challenge To Get Calder’s Clouds Back In Place At The Senate Office Building

They came down in the first place because they were too heavy, so they were remade. Restorers had to find a motor to move them the way Calder intended. Installing them in a Congressional building meant extra bureaucratic hurdles. And the particular black paint Calder used had been discontinued. - The New York Times

Is Writing Really The Best Way To Learn?

Writing can be useful cognitive scaffolding for memory and self-regulated learning, but the notion that it is the best process for developing thinking skills is a fairly recent idea, traceable to the 1970s writing-across-the-curriculum movement. - The New York Times

Seattle Public Library Program To Make Banned Books Available Anywhere Hits 1M Checkouts

Books Unbanned is designed to give young people multiple ways to access digital books regardless of where they live or what their local library can provide. The library said some participants sign up because their local libraries have been censored or underfunded. - KOMO Seattle

That French Novel With The Plagiarism Accusation? It’s Now Number One On France’s Bestseller List

Haitian-Canadian novelist Thélyson Orélien’s C’était ça ou mourir (It Was Either That Or Die) was France’s literary sensation of the fall when another author claimed that Orélien used AI to write the novel. The Prix Goncourt removed the book from contention, but nevertheless, it’s currently the bestselling novel in France. - Rolling Stone

What Librarians Want To Tell Their Fellow Americans About Libraries

“We spoke with dozens of librarians at the A.L.A. conference this summer. They came from rural towns and major cities, elementary schools and universities, local branches and big government agencies. … They want you to know about book bans and budget cuts, but also about career counseling and pop-up medical clinics.” - The New...

How Haiku Became Hungarian

A foreign poetic form becomes local not when writers reproduce its original conventions faithfully, but when they discover what the form can do in a new language. In Hungary, Japanese short poetry encountered a literary environment already fluent in irony, epigrammatic compression, linguistic play, and knowing when to leave things out. - Asymptote

The Real Achievement Of Garry Trudeau’s “Doonesbury”

“(It) hasn’t simply been individual story lines, or how they jived with the historical reality in which we read them, but also the depth and breadth of human experience they charted. … Trudeau held the powerful to account, (yet) kept his attention on everyday people our politicians and (celebrities) often neglected.” - The New...

And The Name Of The Merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Megastudio Will Be … Skydance

“David Ellison on Friday shared on X that once Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery combine, the new corporate brand will take the name of the studio he founded 20 years ago. But while that will be the corporate name, Paramount and Warner Bros. will serve as sub-brands.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Ben Affleck Says He Used AI Extensively In His New Movie

“I used for lots of things in that movie. I’m a little bit hesitant to point out what they are — or even talk about it — because in my business, we’re trying to foster the illusion of reality, right?” - The Hollywood Reporter

Why Reddit Is Shutting Down Its RSS Feeds

In a word (well, two words), AI bots. - TechCrunch

Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Clears Final Hurdle As Judge Approves Lawsuit Settlement

“On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, who is overseeing the antitrust case aimed at blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal approved Paramount’s settlement with the 12 Democratic state attorneys general who brought the case to resolve the litigation.” - Variety

The Downsides Of The Paramount/Warner Settlement

Layoffs seem inevitable, considering, again, the amount of debt Paramount has gone into just to acquire Warner Bros. The settlement demands that Paramount contribute $47.5 million to a “workforce fund” over five years to aid those laid off, but giant corporate mergers have a history of massive layoffs whose costs may exceed that sum. ...

Disney Co. Lays Off Hundreds Of Employees (Yet Again)

“On Tuesday, the ax fell. A few hundred employees, mostly in human resources and tech, were laid off, a person familiar with the situation confirms. … The cuts are the fourth round of layoffs this year.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Here Are The 2026 Dance Magazine Award Recipients

“This year’s Dance Magazine Awards will honor Germaine Acogny; Ayodele Casel; Final Bow for Yellowface; Cleo Parker Robinson; and Alice Sheppard. The Lydia Joel Award — recognizing behind-the-scenes dance leaders — will go to Alicia Adams, formerly of the Kennedy Center.” - Dance Magazine

Choreographer Pam Tanowitz, Contemporary Dance Star, On Working With Ballet Companies

“Yes, I am a ballet outsider. I don’t have all the ballet steps at my fingertips but I have a list of ballet steps and I go through them like a laundry list and experiment. … It’s hard to separate the two systems now. I have my own ideas no matter what.” - The...

Kyle Abraham Renames His Dance Company (Again)

“Kyle Abraham’s company is now officially the Kyle Abraham Dance Vanguard. It’s not the first time the contemporary troupe has changed names: Abraham launched it in 2005 as Abraham.In.Motion, later revising it to A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in 2019.” - Dance Magazine

Xander Parish Opens New Dance Company Patterned After Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes

A Florence-based nonprofit, the New Generation Foundation, is backing the company, called the Nouveaux Ballets Russes. Parish, a Briton who was until 2022 a principal at Russia's Mariinsky Theater, is artistic director, and he aims, as Diaghilev did, to engage collaborators in the vanguard of art, music, tech, and fashion. - Pointe Magazine

Cuba’s Ballet Tradition Continues Amid Blackouts

For months, two-thirds of Cuba had no electricity at night. Some neighborhoods in the capital of Havana have been without running water for more than two weeks. Transportation is scarce and eggs, bread and cooking oil are hard to find. - AP News

The All-Night Song And Dance Parties Of Veracruz

“This syncopated, jubilant folk music is a melange of European, Caribbean and Indigenous influences. While fandangos — where folks gather to play their instruments, sing and dance — are more than 300 years old, their popularity is now spreading around the world.” - NPR

How An Old Warehouse Furnished With Scavenged Everything Became London’s Coolest Theatre

The Yard opened in an old industrial estate in July 2011; it was supposed to be a three-month pop-up but stayed for 14 years, presenting edgy stagings of classics and new work — and occasionally sending a production on to the National Theatre. Now it’s reopening after a £7 million renovation. - The Nerve...

“Glee”s Outsized Impact On Broadway

In the 11 years since the last episode of “Glee” aired, one thing has become clear: The TV series was a game changer for musical theater. - The New York Times

Stage Manager – The Most Stressful Job In The Arts

In theatre – and across dance, opera, musicals and concerts – the stage manager is like the air traffic controller of the production. Without them, chaos would ensue, yet they rarely get acknowledged. - ArtsHub

Houston’s Oldest Black Theater Company Is Now 50

“Back in the mid-1970s, the late George Hawkins, founder of the Ensemble Theatre, imagined a place where Black actors could find work and perform plays that mattered. Even after he passed away, in 1990, his legacy and that dream continue to grow as the Ensemble prepares for its 50th-anniversary season starting this fall.” -...

How Does Broadway’s Current Longest-Running Musical Keep Going? Celebrity Stunt Casting, Of Course

The lead producers of Chicago, Fran and Barry Weissler, now make a point of having someone in the cast with a following from outside Broadway — from film, scripted television, or, most recently, reality TV such as The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Vanderpump Rules, and America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. - Billboard

Why Does Contemporary Australian Theatre Ignore Class?

“Why are our playwrights so ill at ease with middle-class educated characters? ... In our contemporary affluent society, with its energetic social mobility, it is the middle class, not the working class, which gives Australia its character and flavour. - The Saturday Paper

Judge Throws Out Alec Baldwin’s Lawsuit Against Prosecutor Who Tried “Rust” Shooting Case

“A federal judge on Wednesday threw out much of Baldwin‘s civil rights lawsuit against prosecutors in the Rust case, finding they are entitled to prosecutorial immunity. Baldwin sued last year, alleging he was the victim of an out-of-control prosecution that wrongly sought to convict him for the accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.” - Variety

Meet The 2026 MacArthur Fellows (The “Genius Grant” Winners)

The awardees working in the arts are choreographer Trajal Harrell, poet Layli Long Soldier, jazz saxophonist and composer Immanuel Wilkins, novelists Maaza Mengiste and Bryan Washington, and artists Christine Sun Kim, Chip Thomas, Vincent Valdez and Rodney McMillian. - NPR

Turkish Comedian Sentenced To Prison For Insulting Both “Religious Values” And President Erdoğan

“Deniz Göktaş, 32, has been held jailed since July 3 after clips of one of his routines, which included a reference to Erdoğan as a ‘dictator,’ were circulated online. He was convicted Monday …, receiving a combined prison sentence of 19 months and 10 days.” He has been released pending an appeal. - AP

If You’re A Northern Irish Actor, You’ve Probably Been In A Show About The Troubles

Lola Petticrew wasn’t just in one show about the Troubles before she left Northern Ireland; she starred in - and was acclaimed for - two. “A lot of the questions that were raised were questions that I, as a young adult, have about how we heal and move on,” she said. - The New...

The Mighty Sparrow, One Of The Last Great Calypso Singers, Has Died At 91

“A singer, songwriter and guitarist, Sparrow — his given name was Slinger Francisco — was renowned for his sonorous voice, unremitting energy and extraordinary command of the verbal prestidigitation and sly double-entendre that are among the hallmarks of calypso lyrics.” - The New York Times

Sylvester Stallone Finally Reckons With Decades Of Trauma

“When I look at that footage, I look distorted. I was gone for a few seconds. Sometimes in acting or painting or writing, you just subliminally lose yourself. You do not know where you are. ... What was that?” - The New York Times

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Kennedy Center Is Selling Off Its Pianos

This week movers were photographed carting off the complex’s Steinway pianos, and a staffer at Steinway’s showroom in Washington, DC told a reporter that it was selling those pianos because the Kennedy Center is “closed.” - AlterNet (MSN)

The Numbers Are Clear: Kennedy Center’s Finances Were Fine Before Trump, And They’re Disastrous Now

“In the 19 months since President Trump took over the Kennedy Center, the institution has borrowed everything its bank would lend it, dipped into money donors had given on condition it never be spent, and written off pledges from supporters who stopped paying.” - The Washington Post (MSN)

Nashville Symphony “Suspends” Its Season And Furloughs Its Musicians And Staff

“The Nashville Symphony has declared a state of 'financial emergency,' suspending the 2026-27 season effective Oct. 18, as well as furloughing roughly half their staff and all 77 members of the orchestra. At this time, 29 full-time Symphony staff members remain, while 27 were furloughed.” - The Tennessean (Yahoo!)

The Strike Is Over In Cleveland

“In a deal reached late Saturday night and ratified Sunday by the union, the two sides agreed to a three-year contract that includes a 5 percent annual raise for each of the three years, according to the orchestra.” - The New York Times

In Leipzig, Ousted Boston Symphony Orchestra Director Andris Nelsons Feels The Love

“When he conducts, he does not think in English or German or Latvian, even if that would be his own. But he thinks directly in music, and this is so direct. … Sometimes in a concert you have suddenly a new gesture never seen before, that everybody understands.” - Boston Globe

Sylvester Stallone Finally Reckons With Decades Of Trauma

“When I look at that footage, I look distorted. I was gone for a few seconds. Sometimes in acting or painting or writing, you just subliminally lose yourself. You do not know where you are. ... What was that?” - The New York Times

Haitian-Canadian Author’s Book Withdrawn From Goncourt Short List Over Accusations Of AI

“As critics sparred with defenders of Mr. Orélien, who is Black, over whether he was targeted because of his race and his book’s treatment of migrants, he was accused of plagiarism in earlier writings, inflaming the controversy.” - The New York Times

We Don’t Make People Pay To Access Public Parks

Public parks are widely considered a social good, and we know that because our tax dollars go to maintain them, we don’t have to pay every time we go to a park. What if the same were true for theatre? - American Theatre

A Guy Who Scammed Writers And Publishers For Years Sure Appears To Be Back, If Hidden, Online

“The messages bear the hallmarks of Bernardini’s original scheme: look-alike emails, carefully replicated fonts and signatures, fluency in industry slang and an intimate knowledge of relationships in the book world.” Then there are the poop emojis. - The New York Times

Mark Swed’s Farewell Column As L.A. Times Classical Music Critic

“When I accidentally stumbled into music criticism with an academic penchant for music analysis, my crutches for writing about music were technical and of little use in a newspaper. I had to find a way to simply listen. It gave me new ears, and I was hooked.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

Mamdani And The Met To Give Away 70,000 Free Opera Tickets A Year

The program, which the mayor said would continue indefinitely, will draw from the pool of unsold tickets, which will be distributed by lottery via the Metropolitan Opera app. The catch: you’re not eligible if you’ve bought Met tickets any time since fall 2018. - The New York Times

Cleveland Orchestra Musicians On Strike

“Violinist Elayna Duitman, head of the (musicians’ negotiating) committee, said their pay lags both inflation and the other ‘Big Five’ orchestras in Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Chicago, while upper management is well-compensated. … Their most recent contract extension expired earlier this week.” - Ideastream Public Media (Cleveland)

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