Paul Frommer’s initial parameters were that the language had to sound “nice” (director James Cameron’s word), since they are a relatively peaceful race, and that it had to be feasibly easy for actors to learn to pronounce. Beyond those, almost everything — phonetics, grammar, vocabulary — was up to Frommer. - Deutsche Welle
When all time is flattened into the present, narrative form begins to erode. Instant communication collapses tenses into an interminable “now,” and live streams keep us there. Finally, storytelling demands leisure, or at least a relaxed mind, since immersion requires the mental margin to forget ourselves and linger in the unfolding. - LA Review of Books
The key is hiring — in particular, hiring dancers proficient in both classical and contemporary techniques, since Nedvigin wants to present top-tier renditions of both classical and new repertoire with a relatively small roster of performers. - ArtsATL
The main takeaway, for me, is that museums have a vulnerability—a technical, physical vulnerability—that is mirrored by the vulnerability of the public’s reaction, the idea that you can be culturally wounded in a profound collective manner. - The New Yorker
It felt like visiting your childhood home stripped of its furniture — intimately familiar yet deeply disorienting. How would Paris get through five years without this place? - The New York Times
Like many audiobook devotees, I’m sheepish about my conversion, which seems blasphemous for a writer at the Book Review. I wonder whether listening “counts” as reading. - The New York Times
“While Sotto's best-known masterworks are overseas, (such as) the creation of Main Street, U.S.A., for Disneyland Paris …, he had a reputation for fighting tirelessly to enhance the theme park experience, pushing for improvements to everything including ride vehicles and the food on guests' plates.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
This is not a “best of” list. What we asked hundreds of theatre folks to do was send us 10 titles they felt had been the most influential on the theatre in the past 25 years. - American Theatre
While the technology quietly reshapes the industry, the first-order effect of AI’s ease of use is simply the existence of more music—a lot more. Suno users generate 7 million new tracks a day, which every two weeks nets out to about as many songs as exist on Spotify. - The Atlantic
The world’s largest music streaming service has been scraped by a pirate activist group. According to a blog post from Anna’s Archive, it says it gained access to over 250 million pieces of metadata and millions of audio files from the streamer. - PC Magazine
“Starting on 1 February 2026, the Italian capital is introducing €2 tickets for tourists to descend the steps to the area around the water-filled basin - from where it is customary to toss a coin into the fountain. Viewing the aquatic masterpiece from the piazza above will remain free.” - Euronews
The theater festival involves collegiate theater students from across the United States, and includes eight regional competitions that have long culminated in a week-long national festival, including the awarding of scholarships and other honors, at the Kennedy Center. - Deadline
In the Abbey’s century-long history as a public institution lies a persuasive story about what a national theater could have done—or still might do—for the United States. Through the decades, the Abbey’s output has regularly showed how effectively theater can process national trauma at times when the public desperately needs an outlet. - The Atlantic
Much of the sculptural, breathtaking artistry of haute couture finds a way to dramatize the friction between the composed selves we offer the world and the fragmented, chaotic sensation of being alive. We only look coherent; inside, it’s chaos. - The New Yorker
Staffers are feeling cautiously hopeful about new CEO Daniel Weiss. The “cautiously” part would seem to be because of what staffers have been through over the previous three years. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“Newcomers to opera (many are self-described theater enthusiasts), … they share with their followers their delight and surprise at what they have found: the lack of a dress code; the English-language translations on the backs of seats; the Hollywood-worthy projections and videos; and, yes, the existence of cheap seats.” - The New York Times
“A decade after Hamilton opened on Broadway and the Public Theater began reaping roughly $100 million for helping to develop the blockbuster musical, the legendary downtown nonprofit company is undergoing its third round of layoffs in four years.” - Broadway Journal
“The United States Senate voted to confirm Mary Anne Carter as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. It will be Carter's second time leading the agency, after serving ... during President Donald Trump’s first term. Carter succeeds Maria Rosario Jackson, a Biden appointee who resigned from the post on January 20.” - Publishers Weekly
According to the lawsuit, Playwrights Horizons promoted the discount with the language ‘For this BIPOC Night performance, we welcome folks who are Black, Indigenous or People of Color to use code BIPOCNIGHT to unlock ($39) discount seats.’ The plaintiff, Kevin Lynch, who is white …, (paid) $90.” - The New York Times
“On Monday, Skydance-owned Paramount announced that Larry Ellison — the founder of Oracle and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison — had personally agreed to be responsible for $40.4 billion of equity financing for the company’s offer (to buy Warner Bros. Discovery), as well as any damage claims.” - AP
When all time is flattened into the present, narrative form begins to erode. Instant communication collapses tenses into an interminable “now,” and live streams keep us there. Finally, storytelling demands leisure, or at least a relaxed mind, since immersion requires the mental margin to forget ourselves and linger in the unfolding. - LA Review of Books
Much of the sculptural, breathtaking artistry of haute couture finds a way to dramatize the friction between the composed selves we offer the world and the fragmented, chaotic sensation of being alive. We only look coherent; inside, it’s chaos. - The New Yorker
Not long ago, many online casino experiences were built around flashy graphics and simple luck-based mechanics. Today, game development has become a sophisticated data-informed process. - The Walrus
Generative AI will indeed make many tasks easier and quicker to perform, increasing efficiency and decreasing costs. But we think that one of the biggest promises of this technology lies elsewhere: in unlocking new forms of human creativity that can drive innovation and growth. - Harvard Business Review
“The United States Senate voted to confirm Mary Anne Carter as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. It will be Carter's second time leading the agency, after serving ... during President Donald Trump’s first term. Carter succeeds Maria Rosario Jackson, a Biden appointee who resigned from the post on January 20.” - Publishers Weekly
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH), one of the Congressional representatives on the Center’s board, argues in her court filing that Trump and the trustees who voted to add his name to the place are “willfully flouting the law to satisfy defendant Trump’s vanity.” - Bloomberg (MSN)
If someone has spent years of their life on a work, they deserve a serious, sustained response. Critics who write such reviews aren’t just offering something to the maker of a work but to the world. Look here, a critic says. Imagine what culture could be like. - Asterisk
The differences between Europe and the United States when it comes to AI regulation aren’t so easy to fix; they’re rooted in deep cultural differences that have informed how the tech industries have developed on both continents. - Politico
Why? Because a comedian knew what was coming. “Morton isn’t in the game to sell off his domains. ... Instead, he buys them with the express purpose of turning them into seemingly legit websites that, upon closer inspection, often skewer their namesakes.” - Washington Post (Yahoo)
The history of Montréal’s night-time regulation reveals how managing nightlife expanded police power and budgets — and how burdensome effects of these changes fell disproportionately on sex workers, the queer community and hospitality industry workers. - The Conversation
While the technology quietly reshapes the industry, the first-order effect of AI’s ease of use is simply the existence of more music—a lot more. Suno users generate 7 million new tracks a day, which every two weeks nets out to about as many songs as exist on Spotify. - The Atlantic
The world’s largest music streaming service has been scraped by a pirate activist group. According to a blog post from Anna’s Archive, it says it gained access to over 250 million pieces of metadata and millions of audio files from the streamer. - PC Magazine
“Newcomers to opera (many are self-described theater enthusiasts), … they share with their followers their delight and surprise at what they have found: the lack of a dress code; the English-language translations on the backs of seats; the Hollywood-worthy projections and videos; and, yes, the existence of cheap seats.” - The New York Times
“Organ tuners make brief records of their visits and often jot down observations, including the temperature and humidity inside the building. Materials within organs are sensitive to climatic changes, which can knock the majestic instruments out of tune.” - The Guardian (UK)
“We didn’t have a lot of information before the show started, and the local authorities were telling our team that the best and safest course of action for everyone present was to proceed with the show and not have large crowds of people out on the streets.” - Boston Globe
"Death, collapsed relationships, the passing of youth and the inexorable passage of time: these are sombre themes that fit a quite spectacularly grim year. But in the broader context of what’s happening to music, these albums about loss are, oddly, cause for optimism.” - The Guardian (UK)
The main takeaway, for me, is that museums have a vulnerability—a technical, physical vulnerability—that is mirrored by the vulnerability of the public’s reaction, the idea that you can be culturally wounded in a profound collective manner. - The New Yorker
It felt like visiting your childhood home stripped of its furniture — intimately familiar yet deeply disorienting. How would Paris get through five years without this place? - The New York Times
“Starting on 1 February 2026, the Italian capital is introducing €2 tickets for tourists to descend the steps to the area around the water-filled basin - from where it is customary to toss a coin into the fountain. Viewing the aquatic masterpiece from the piazza above will remain free.” - Euronews
Staffers are feeling cautiously hopeful about new CEO Daniel Weiss. The “cautiously” part would seem to be because of what staffers have been through over the previous three years. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
As some political leaders double down on the old memorial language, they ask: What if we thought of our memorials as works in progress, to be improved, edited, reconfigured and even deleted? - Washington Post
“Funds apportioned for the Smithsonian Institution are only available for use in a manner consistent with Executive Order 14253 ‘Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History." - Washington Post
Paul Frommer’s initial parameters were that the language had to sound “nice” (director James Cameron’s word), since they are a relatively peaceful race, and that it had to be feasibly easy for actors to learn to pronounce. Beyond those, almost everything — phonetics, grammar, vocabulary — was up to Frommer. - Deutsche Welle
Like many audiobook devotees, I’m sheepish about my conversion, which seems blasphemous for a writer at the Book Review. I wonder whether listening “counts” as reading. - The New York Times
I can write a book for my own reasons, but I can sell the book only if readers like it more than what they can get from, say, a chatbot. If readers prefer A.I.-generated fiction, then authors won’t be able to stop it. - The New Yorker
David Walliams, “one of Britain’s most successful children’s authors, was reportedly the subject of complaints that he had ‘harassed’ junior female staff at HarperCollins UK, prompting the publisher to decide it would no longer release new titles by the author.” - The Guardian (UK)
“Here’s what I love about listening: I can do it all the time, not just while sitting still. I read … while making my bed, brushing my teeth, unloading the dishwasher, commuting to work, waiting in line, driving and occasionally while falling asleep.” - The New York Times
“On Monday, Skydance-owned Paramount announced that Larry Ellison — the founder of Oracle and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison — had personally agreed to be responsible for $40.4 billion of equity financing for the company’s offer (to buy Warner Bros. Discovery), as well as any damage claims.” - AP
In 2023, “Meyers had written a semi-autobiographical rom-com called Paris Paramount. She’d originally written it for Netflix, but they did not want to give her the budget she needed.” And that was all the news - until this weekend. - Vulture
Bari Weiss is said to have spiked the show a few hours before it was supposed to run. "The report … was to have featured correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi interviewing deportees who the Trump administration has sent to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison in El Salvador.” - Variety
You know the word - the f-word. “A single use of the F-word requires at least a PG-13, while additional uses will elevate it to an R.” - The New York Times
“I covered the 3-D boom from the start, and even early on one could see that the golden goose was cooked. It was clear that the marginal returns on 3-D screenings were rapidly diminishing.” - The Atlantic
The key is hiring — in particular, hiring dancers proficient in both classical and contemporary techniques, since Nedvigin wants to present top-tier renditions of both classical and new repertoire with a relatively small roster of performers. - ArtsATL
In 2023, when he was ballet director at Germany's Hannover State Opera, Marco Goecke did this and was promptly fired. Now he’s been given another chance: he’s artistic director of Ballet Basel in Switzerland. Critics have set aside any grievances, but Goecke’s big mouth has nevertheless gotten him into trouble. - The New York...
Ballet West in Salt Lake City reported Monday a “dramatic spike” in people “arriving at performances with fake or invalid tickets purchased from third-party sellers.” - The Salt Lake Tribune
“Having worked with the Ballets Russes, most notably with Vaslav Nijinsky …, Marie Rambert became a pioneer in British ballet: setting up a ballet school, and then establishing her own company, the first in the UK, Ballet Rambert, which she led for 40 years after its founding in 1926.” - Bachtrack
“Average seat occupancy is 97 percent, among the highest in Europe. … Now with confidence in its survival skills” — and an adept, energetic director — “the ballet company is eager to raise its profile from a company of regional importance to one that can rank among Europe’s best.” - The New York Times
The magazine, called something else earlier, has been around since before the Great Depression. In the 1960s, though, "dance emerged as a potent form of political expression.” - Dance Magazine
This is not a “best of” list. What we asked hundreds of theatre folks to do was send us 10 titles they felt had been the most influential on the theatre in the past 25 years. - American Theatre
The theater festival involves collegiate theater students from across the United States, and includes eight regional competitions that have long culminated in a week-long national festival, including the awarding of scholarships and other honors, at the Kennedy Center. - Deadline
In the Abbey’s century-long history as a public institution lies a persuasive story about what a national theater could have done—or still might do—for the United States. Through the decades, the Abbey’s output has regularly showed how effectively theater can process national trauma at times when the public desperately needs an outlet. - The...
“A decade after Hamilton opened on Broadway and the Public Theater began reaping roughly $100 million for helping to develop the blockbuster musical, the legendary downtown nonprofit company is undergoing its third round of layoffs in four years.” - Broadway Journal
According to the lawsuit, Playwrights Horizons promoted the discount with the language ‘For this BIPOC Night performance, we welcome folks who are Black, Indigenous or People of Color to use code BIPOCNIGHT to unlock ($39) discount seats.’ The plaintiff, Kevin Lynch, who is white …, (paid) $90.” - The New York Times
“It’s just so difficult for (producers) to get their money back. These shows are now upwards of $25 million. Ten years ago, you could have a musical on Broadway that was probably in the $13 million range." - CNN
“While Sotto's best-known masterworks are overseas, (such as) the creation of Main Street, U.S.A., for Disneyland Paris …, he had a reputation for fighting tirelessly to enhance the theme park experience, pushing for improvements to everything including ride vehicles and the food on guests' plates.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
“Ransone was born in 1979 in Baltimore, an advantage in the early 2000s when The Wire, then a little-watched drama on HBO, was looking to cast actors from the city for the show’s second season.” - The New York Times
“His second feature, entitled It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives, premiered at the Berlin film festival in 1971 and has since been described as Germany’s 'Stonewall moment,’ radically breaking conventions in its portrayal of queer life.” - The Guardian (UK)
“(He) was the Netherlands’ best-known choreographer for over sixty years and regarded as one of the great masters of contemporary ballet. He was also one of the most productive, creating more than 150 works. … All bear his distinct signature – clarity in structure, refined simplicity and an aversion to unnecessary decorative frills.” -...
In the 1960s, he was producer and then host of flagship arts magazine Monitor before supervising all music and arts programming. He co-founded London Weekend Television, then hosted ITV’s first major arts program, Aquarius. In the mid-1970s, he returned to the BBC, presiding over a golden age of arts on television. - The Telegraph...
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The Trump administration threatened “to withhold federal funds if it does not submit extensive documentation for a sweeping content review. … It was not immediately clear how much money the White House might try to withhold, from which parts of the Smithsonian or on what authority.” - Washington Post (MSN)
Bari Weiss is said to have spiked the show a few hours before it was supposed to run. "The report … was to have featured correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi interviewing deportees who the Trump administration has sent to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison in El Salvador.” - Variety
How to pick an (Oscar) winner: "The presumptive top five in the Best Picture race includes two auteur-driven blockbusters, one old-school weepie, one timely social drama, and one family saga by a venerated European director.” - Vulture
News broke late Sunday night that "the Los Angeles Police Department said it was investigating an ‘apparent homicide’ at the couple’s home in West Los Angeles.” - The New York Times
But sadly, he’s not here to see it. “Why the opera was not performed when it was written, in 1995, offers a snapshot of the classical music scene in Italy at the time, which snubbed Morricone as a mere composer of film soundtracks.” - The New York Times
“The archives ... said that no curators of ‘The American Story’ were available to speak, citing staff departures that have left the institution with only two curators, neither of whom had a substantial role in the exhibition.” - The New York Times
“Long before he became an unlikely political force, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani was just another 20-something trying to squeeze a laugh out of his Saturday improv class in Manhattan.” - The New York Times
“The ‘Goldberg Variations’ was Gehry’s favorite work. He loved its otherworldliness and its worldliness. He loved its invitation to dance and to dream. He loved its astonishing sense of design, complex yet flowing with the ocean’s grace, its depth and its inviting surface.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)
“What is the Kennedy Center now? For one thing, it’s getting a Trumpian revamp. He ordered new marble and the repainting of the exterior columns in austere white. Portraits of the first and second couples now hang in the center’s Hall of Nations.” - Washington Post (MSN)
“There is no escape in the Sphere. The walls are screens. The ceilings are screens. The floor, swooping underneath you at an impossible angle, is a screen, too.” - Slate
Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, and the Netherlands have all withdrawn from the 2026 competition. The Dutch broadcaster: "After weighing all perspectives, Avrotros concludes that, under the current circumstances, participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organisation.” - The Guardian (UK)
Hollywood. “At one point in the early 1990s, Stoppard earned $500,000 for a five-week stretch polishing various projects for Universal Pictures. … He seemed to have a particular fondness for dog movies, contributing to both Beethoven and 102 Dalmatians.” - The New York Times
