The former chief executive of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s entertainment group has obtained a near-£15m investment for his UK music tech startup that hopes to recreate classic concerts by manifesting musicians as digital avatars. - The Guardian

At the event, about workers’ rights and the upcoming Olympics in L.A., “protesters from the Fair Games Coalition — wearing Jedi robes and Jar Jar Binks masks and carrying lightsabers — rallied together outside the new museum.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

Sure, they started with Miss Marple and the written word, but “the Small Murder Town really came into its own with the advent of film—and not just any film. Small Murder Towns thrive on the small screen; this is a trope that was made for television.” - Reactor

For instance: “Macklemore, who hasn’t had a major hit since the 2010s, is relevant again. He has the support of artists, fans and thousands more outraged by his dismissal.” Then there’s NAZA. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)

As A.I. leaders warn about the dangers of their own technology, the dissonance between optimism of university leaders and the fears of many students and professors may increase. Professors and students are often in a bind about what they should do: Use more A.I. to stay relevant, or dial back to preserve learning and thinking? - The New York...

In at least 36 states, opponents of the technology have taken matters into their own hands, destroying or impairing ALPRs rather than wait for local governments to step in. - The Conversation

Now there’s a fuller picture of the finances Trump inherited—and of what happened during his first months in charge. A previously unseen federal tax filing captures an institution in transition. - The Atlantic

Airey recalled that on her first visit as chair to ACE’s London office, “it felt quiet, a little bit subdued. I didn’t expect that.” She said she wanted ACE to get its “swagger” back. - The Guardian

“Muse’s default avatar is a beige-colored cross between an Ewok and a Labubu, with its arms outstretched, presumably to scoop up all my data.” - Wired

“Rooney—the author and Mayo native whose novels have become a cultural phenomenon over the past decade—lodged an objection to the proposed data center back in January, writing to Mayo County Council that permission for the facility would increase carbon emissions and create a risk of blackouts.” - LitHub

The English singer apologized while blaming his promoter for dropping the U.S. musician. In addition, “he described the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks as ‘horrific’ and called the situation in Gaza ‘unjustifiable.’” - BBC

To himself, of course. - The Atlantic

Louisa Proske: "It was insane and thrilling. … It was like, ‘the director has to assemble a team, and we kind of need the design yesterday.’” - The New York Times

The boycott is because of “the ‘appalling’ ongoing killing in Gaza, the national broadcaster has said.” - The Guardian (UK)

“It was Sandler ... who both came up with the idea that they could create an income source by building opera sets and renting them out to other companies, and also Sandler who sold that idea,” including to Missouri’s Republican governor. - Kansas City Stack

This summer the Chicago Symphony’s summer home re-opened its concert pavilion after a $70 million revamp. Next on the to-do list, with work starting in October, is a $38 million makeover of the Martin Theatre, the last remaining structure from when Ravinia’s park-like grounds first opened in 1904. - WBEZ (Chicago)

The 68-year-old (as of Thursday) Austrian will become Principal Conductor of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra in 2028, succeeding Santtu-Matias Rouvali.  That same season he starts as the San Francisco Symphony’s Festival Director, a new title in which he’ll program and conduct a three-week festival for each of the next five seasons. - Moto Perpetuo

“San Francisco Opera management and its orchestra musicians have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, ending a strike that began nearly a week ago and forced the cancellation of multiple performances at the start of the company's 2026-27 season.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

In a blow to New York investigators, an appellate court has found they inappropriately cited a penal law to seize an Egon Schiele drawing from the Art Institute of Chicago. - The New York Times

“Since the dig began, they've watched the Bering Sea creep closer and closer to the site. Shorelines in this part of Alaska are now more vulnerable to erosion due, in part, to decreasing sea ice and permafrost thaw.” - NPR

“I look for the colorful scenes of decay on the tunnel walls, the rusted iron beams, patterns formed in crumbling tiles and peeling paint. I’m drawn to the strange forms found in discarded bubble gum.” - The New York Times

The watchmaker inscribed words about Fort Sumter being attacked, and then wrote, “Thank God we have a government.” - NPR

“The paintings were among many looted from Goudstikker by the Nazi Reichsmarshall Hermann Goering in 1940 and later recovered by Allied forces who returned them to Dutch officials.” - The New York Times

Rarely does such a cohesive, poignant theme emerge from any given New York Fashion Week. But this September, a surprising number of designers showed work that seemed to yearn for a breath of fresh air, for the obliviating embrace of the wilderness and the natural world. - Washington Post

A court filing unsealed Thursday details internal messages and testimony laying out how OpenAI employees—including executives—talked about the company’s use of pirated books to train an early ChatGPT model, as well as their technology’s potential impact on authors. - The Wall Street Journal

Across categories—fantasy, horror, even coloring books—writers say they’re seeing AI-generated listings crop up on their Amazon author pages. Some of these works are in entirely different genres from their usual work. - The Atlantic

Why not? Her creator sure did - and, originally, Death on the Nile was supposed to be a Marple mystery, so Miss Marple can travel. - The Guardian (UK)

“(The literature-and-human-rights advocacy group) has named Phil Klay as its new president. … Klay's appointment comes after novelist Dinaw Mengestu resigned from his post as president in July following the organization’s report on cultural boycotts and the ‘rising isolation and exclusion’ of Israeli and Jewish writers.” - Publishers Weekly

“Under the scheme, readers accrue points that can be redeemed for a few cents. People will have to log 50 daily reading sessions (of 15 minutes or more) on a government website to earn S$1 (80 cents US). ... One reading session is allowed daily.” - The Guardian

Joseph-Beth Booksellers, which has two locations in metro Cincinnati, is the third independent retail business that B&N has acquired in three years. The chain bought Denver’s Tattered Cover in 2024 and the Bay Area's Books Inc. last year; both companies had filed for bankruptcy. - Publishers Weekly

The company said earlier this year that a slump in overall digital page views had been driven by a 46% year-on-year decline in traffic from Google as features such as Google’s AI Mode and AI Overviews negate the need for readers to click through to its websites. - The Guardian

The parties have discussed compromises including Paramount agreeing to operate the two companies’ movie studios separately for a period rather than immediately combining them, the people said. - The Wall Street Journal

“The award, voted on by audiences, can be a bellwether of the best picture Oscar, as in 2018 and 2020, when Green Book and Nomadland went on to win at the Academy Awards.” - The New York Times

“The 2026 summer box office take is already the largest since 2020, and unadjusted for inflation, the largest ever. Most of that money comes from films that played in premium formats.” - Washington Post (MSN)

“A true representation of what it’s like to play a video game would be one of the most avant-garde movies ever made. (Imagine a four-hour stretch where the main character fights the same enemy over and over again.)” - Slate

While California AG Rob Bonta is hinting at some progress toward a settlement, other state AGs who have standing in a lawsuit aimed at stopping the merger are not having it. - Los Angeles Times

The kids have Ideas, too, like their dream roles: “I kind of want to be a rat. … I think a rat just is fun because it makes you laugh a lot.” - Boston Globe

Nicholas Dragga, currently executive director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, will take the same job at the Fort Worth-based company as of January 1. He succeeds Vanessa Logan, who stepped down in June 2025 to become managing director of Goodspeed Musicals in Connecticut. - Fort Worth Report

“During Angelini’s (31-year) tenure as artistic director, Tulsa Ballet has grown from a well-regarded regional troupe — best known for its efforts to preserve the Ballet Russe traditions championed by its founders, Roman Jasinski and Moscelyne Larkin — into a versatile dance company that many critics consider among the best in the United States.”...

For four weeks, MoMA is turning its large second-floor atrium over to choreographer Sarah Michelson, who has made a piece titled “nowhere.” “At the forefront of ‘nowhere’”, writes Gia Kourlas, “is a question that only seems simple: What is a dance?” - The New York Times

The Ratmanskys’ arrival coincided with one of the worst periods of the war, a time of constant attacks on the capital that sent them and others scurrying to bomb shelters multiple times a day. “It is difficult in every sense,” Tatiana said, “mental, physical.” - The New York Times

Architecture critic Inga Saffron observes that, if the company wants to be welcoming to the community and engage potential new fans, their new headquarters does exactly the wrong thing. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

If these institutions were really facing an existential financial situation, “they’re acting commercial” wasn’t much of a fair, nor novel, accusation. The question soon turned to: Once commercial capital entered the nonprofit stream, whose risk did the nonprofit’s advantages reduce, and who captured the resulting value? - Jared Harbour

The Toronto production was “a Rosetta stone of funny people that featured then unknowns such as Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas, Victor Garber and Paul Shaffer.” - The New York Times

What if actors and backstage workers who live in Inwood could walk home from work? That’s part of the appeal of the new, Lin-Manuel Miranda-supported, permanent buildling for the People’s Theatre: Centro Cultural Inmigrante on 206th Street. - The New York Times

J. Harrison Ghee, who won a Tony in 2023 for playing Jerry/Daphne in Some Like It Hot, was cast as Mary’s Husband for the first part of the tour, then Mary herself as of January. Ghee, who lives with kidney disease, has been advised not to perform until at least November 1. - TheaterMania

There’s a new play atop the list: Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor Is the Villain, followed by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's Purpose and Bess Wohl’s Pulitzer-winning Liberation. Among playwrights, once-perennial leader Lauren Gunderson is down to fourth place; the late August Wilson is number one, followed by Belflower and Jacobs-Jenkins. - American Theatre

“August Wilson and I were very close, but also we fell out a lot. Every time he and I had a debate, the word from the cast was always ‘They’re going to fire you.’ And instead of firing me, he would write another role for me.” - The New York Times

The book sold a reported 22,646 copies in its first week, landing it at #3 on The New York Times bestseller list. They are very low relative to the names involved. MrBeast has one of the largest communities with over 515 million YouTube followers. - Ben Liebmann (LinkedIn)

The actor, known for her ten years on New Tricks as well as the film Sexy Beast, was meeting her then-boyfriend’s parents, one of whom was an award-winning director. They left her alone in the room with the trophies. - The Guardian (UK)

“Do not whine to Kathy Griffin about cancel culture. She’s lived through it, not the version stand-up bros claim to have suffered during their latest Netflix specials.” - Salon

He directed more than 35 titles for film and TV, including The Lady Vanishes and Middlemarch, but had even greater impact in theatre: he staged numerous classics in London and New York, notably by Beckett and Albee, and won a Tony for directing Janet McTeer in Ibsen's A Doll’s House. - Playbill

“(His) alt-pop hit ‘Barely Breathing’ became a Generation X touchstone, but (he) squirmed under the label of MTV heartthrob and eventually decamped to Broadway, winning two Tonys for composing the smash musical.” - The New York Times

“Through savvy marketing, his … color-saturated, almost hallucinatory depictions of stars, sun rays and people in profile showed up on walls and coffee mugs, on clothing, clocks, stationery, and even airplanes and cruise ships. In some ways, Mr. Max created the graphic equivalent of the rock-and-roll revolution in music.” - The Washington Post (Yahoo!)