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- When The Andrew Lloyd Webber Canon Becomes Experimental Theater
Critic Zachary Stewart considers how the new immersive adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera (titled Masquerade), the drag-ball production of Cats (subtitled The Jellicle Ball), and director Jamie Lloyd’s unconventional revivals of Sunset Boulevard and Evita demonstrate how interesting the ALW shows we all thought were old chestnuts can still be. – TheaterMania
- San Diego City Council Promises Not To Cut Arts Funding In Next Budget
“Council members have declared city arts funding off limits for budget cuts next spring, even as they face a projected $111 million deficit. … While the move falls far short of a long-unfulfilled council pledge known as ‘penny for the arts,’ council members said it’s a strong message.” – The San Diego Union-Tribune (MSN)
- Bill Ivey
Bill Ivey died this past weekend; he was eighty-one years old. It came as a shock to us – just last week he was here in Bloomington meeting with our arts policy students, something he loved doing. He was a great friend to our program, generous with his time and advice to students and to younger faculty. He had studied Folklore and Ethnomusicology here at IU, and enjoyed visiting.
He is best known for having been Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts in the last years of the Clinton administration – you can read more about his career here.
I really enjoyed his 2010 book Arts, Inc. – an idiosyncratic look at American cultural policy, and what he saw as issues that were, unwisely, being neglected, such as with large corporations taking ownership of what ought by rights to be public domain national heritage. I used to assign to my students this essay he wrote for the Chronicle of Higher Education – “America Needs a New System for Supporting the Arts” (2005 – paywalled, sorry) – where he, rightly I’ve always thought, took aim at a public and big-philanthropy sector that assumed nonprofit arts presenters were the unique and special home of anything seriously worth consideration in the arts.
I first met him a little over twenty years ago, and enjoyed the chance to talk with him whenever I could – he was a very fine listener as well as a speaker, a really stimulating conversationalist. We could disagree on things – when Obama was first elected President, Bill was much more keen that the US create an executive position akin to a “Secretary of Culture” than I was – but our disagreements were always friendly, always with a smile.
We will all miss him here in Bloomington, and I send my condolences to his family and everyone close to him.
Cross-posted at https://michaelrushton.substack.com/
- The Resurgence Of Music On Physical Objects
Continuing one of the more surprising comebacks of the digital age, vinyl album sales in the United States increased for the 18th consecutive year in 2024.” While CD sales are on the decline, “Cassette tape sales jumped by 204.7% in the first quarter of 2025, hitting 63,288 units. – ToneArm
- The Muppets Come To Netflix And Go Global
More than almost any other children’s show, Sesame Street seemed to crack the code on how to simultaneously educate and entertain children. – The Guardian
- LA’s TV Commercial Business Is Tanking Too
Production in the third quarter of this year was 18 percent lower than last year, and 40 percent lower than the five-year average, according to a new report from FilmLA, the local government organization that tracks production in the area. – The New York Times
- Explainer: The Crisis At The BBC That Cost The Director-General His Job And Drew A Billion-Dollar Lawsuit Threat From Trump
“(A journalist) takes a deep-dive into all the facts of this fast-developing story, and why it’s brought the BBC to an inflection point.” – The Hollywood Reporter
- The Antique Movie Camera Reviving A Technology
A handful of rare and cranky antiques are powering the ungainly Hollywood resurgence of VistaVision. The format, developed in 1954 by Paramount, was once used to glorious effect by filmmakers such as Cecil B. DeMille. – The Wall Street Journal
- Masterworks Sold Shares In $1 Billion Of Art. Good Investment?
In just eight years, it has become one of the art market’s biggest buyers. Its collection of 500 artworks is now valued at more than $1 billion and its platform has drawn 70,000 investors. – The New York Times
- London’s Royal Opera Institutes Dynamic Pricing, And Top Ticket Prices Soar
“(The house) is selling tickets for Siegfried, the third instalment of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle, for up to £415 ($546). This is the priciest known ticket offered for sale in Britain by any publicly subsidised performing arts organisation. RBO receives a state subsidy of over £22 million each year.” – The Times (UK)
- Netflix’s First Venture Into Theme Parks
“This is the first permanent physical manifestation of Netflix for our fans,” says the company’s chief marking officer, Marian Lee. “They’ve been inviting us into their homes for years and years.” – NPR
- Striking British Library Workers Expose Dire Low Pay Consequences
According to their union, they are offered pay deals so dire that many of them work multiple jobs and live in substandard housing. Seventy-one per cent of respondents to a union survey find their salary insufficient to meet basic needs. – The Guardian
- Hollywood Has Slipped Dramatically In Diversifying
To my shock, when I looked at the numbers, I found that not only are things not significantly better, 2025 has been worse than any moment in recent times; worse, in fact, than pre-#MeToo. – The Ankler
- Choreography In Space: Exploring The Possibilities
“How? The answer in (one) case was Velcro-covered suits, … just one form of technology that dancers are using to simulate the effects of weightlessness here on Earth. But for some, the end goal is to experience a true lack of gravity by bringing dance to space.” – Dance Magazine
- Staffers Call Strike At Britain’s Tate Galleries
Workers at all four galleries — Tate Britain and Tate Modern in London, Tate St. Ives in Cornwall, and Tate Liverpool — represented by the Public and Commercial Services Union voted 98% to 2% to walk out from November 26 to December 2 over a pay offer they insist is too low. – The Guardian
- Some US Bookstores Have Set Up Food Banks To Help Cut-Off SNAP Recipients
“With the (federal government) shutdown creating anxiety and uncertainty for those who depend on government aid, many independent bookstores took on a new role as hubs for food donations.” – The New York Times
- US Museums Have Had A Pretty Rough 2025, Finds Survey
An American Alliance of Museums survey of over 500 museum directors found that one-third of responding museums have lost government grants or contracts under the Trump administration, one-fourth of them have had to cut targeted programs (e.g., for students or senior citizens), and over one-fourth have canceled programs for the general public. – The Guardian
- Disney’s Standoff With YouTube Could Cost It Quite A Lot
“Disney may lose $30 million in revenue per week as its carriage dispute with YouTube TV has left ABC, ESPN and more of the media giant’s channels and programming dark on the Google-owned platform for 12 days.” – TheWrap (Yahoo!)
- Antiquities Stolen From National Museum Of Damascus
Thieves smashed open a door on Sunday night and reportedly took ancient Roman marble statues and gold items. The museum had reopened for good, with its collection intact, only this past January after extended closures due to the Syrian civil war and subsequent uprising against the Assad regime. – ARTnews
- Actress Sally Kirkland, 86
A Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award winner and Oscar nominee for the 1987 film Anna, in which she plays a great Czechoslovak actress trapped in New York’s avant-garde scene, she had over 260 roles in a decades-long career, from Andy Warhol to The Sting to 2006’s Factory Girl. – The Hollywood Reporter
- Good Morning.
Here are today’s AJ highlights.
In Venice, musicians from Teatro La Fenice marched through the city to protest the political overreach of their music director—a defense of artistic independence that sounded through St. Mark’s Square (AP). On Broadway, the actors’ union nearly went dark before a deal was struck in the eleventh hour (The Hollywood Reporter), while director Bartlett Sher explained to the Observer that theatre’s job isn’t to instruct, but to “help us live with ambiguity” (New York Observer).
The Louvre is racing to rebuild its sense of security—literally—after a jewel heist forced a $92 million “master plan” for its defenses (Artsy). Two U.S. art museums face their own reckonings: a revolt over the Palm Springs Art Museum’s new director (Los Angeles Times (MSN)) and the firing—after investigation—of the Philadelphia Museum’s chief (The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)).
And the BBC is burning: its top two news executives quit under political and legal fire as Trump threatens a billion-dollar lawsuit (The London Standard).
Editor’s Note: Maybe we don’t crave stability in the arts at all—just a better class of turbulence. The rest of today’s stories below.
- Musicians Of Venice’s Opera House Lead March Through City To Protest Music Director
“On Monday, musicians, singers and stagehands (from Teatro La Fenice) marched through Venice with workers from other Italian opera houses. … They were joined by season-ticket holders, music students and Venetians worried about the future of artistic independence at La Fenice — and across Italy.” – AP
- Bart Sher: Theatre As Catalyst For Change
“I think theatre is a catalyst for change,” Sher said. “I don’t think you make theatre pieces to tell people how to change. We tell stories that express people’s ability to handle ambiguity, deal with problems, see conflicts and make decisions.” – New York Observer
- Inside The Negotiations That Ultimately Kept Broadway Actors From Striking
As the union’s executive director, Al Vincent Jr., tells it, Actors’ Equity was much closer to declaring a work stoppage than we might think. – The Hollywood Reporter
- We Have A Growing AI Slop Problem
Of course, with mass production comes surplus and, then, refuse. We containerize actual trash because otherwise debris gets on everything else and makes everything less good. AI is, arguably, doing the same on the internet. It’s clear we think of a lot of AI as trash, though we’re not doing much to clean it up. – Fast Company
- The Brilliant Critic Who Took On Raising American Literature
Cowley’s power and influence lay in opening, not shutting, the door to a new generation. He came of age at an especially fertile literary moment, after World War I, and he had a special interest in the work of his contemporaries, in the homegrown modernism of Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway. – The Atlantic
- Controversy Over Appointment Of Palm Springs Art Museum’s New Director
Christine Vendredi may well have proven to be the best candidate, but that the bungled process of simply elevating the chief curator to the directorship behind the scenes also did a disservice to the new director, as it “put her legitimacy in question.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- There Are Two Farmer’s Almanacs In The US. Only One Is Shutting Down.
There are The Farmer’s Almanac and The Old Farmer’s Almanac. Both are over 200 years old and both are annual publications known for their seasonal weather forecasts. The Farmer’s Almanac (founded in 1818) is the one closing; The Old Farmer’s Almanac (founded in 1792) “isn’t going anywhere.” – Nieman Lab
- AI Chatbots Can Make You Smarter. Or They Can Make You Dumber. Here’s How To Avoid The Latter
Whether we like it or not, chatbots are here to stay. It’s not necessarily a problem, but it risks becoming one if people use chatbots in harmful ways. I’m going to help you avoid that. – Psyche
- How Our Brains Are Wired For Motivation
People with higher levels of dopamine are more likely to choose a harder task with a higher reward than an easier, low-reward task. Low dopamine doesn’t reduce focus, but it’s believed it provokes giving more weight to the perceived cost of an activity instead of the potential reward. – 3 Quarks Daily
- Rural Libraries are Struggling For Oh So Many Reasons
Communities are already feeling the impact: Some rural libraries in Florida and Mississippi, for example, have frozen interlibrary loan programs, sharply reducing the range of materials available to residents in more remote areas. – The New York Times
- Protesters Disrupt Opening Of Nigeria’s New Museum Of West African Art
“Videos circulating online show more than a dozen young people on Sunday evening rushing the grounds of the multi-million-dollar Museum of West African Art in Benin City. … The demonstrators asserted that the museum’s opening is a violation of Benin City’s cultural heritage, which falls under the authority of its traditional ruler.” – AP
- What NYT Staff Learned When They Asked People To Spend Ten Minutes Look At A Piece Of Art
For the team that works on the series, the project has been an enlightening experience. Mr. Buchanan said he had begun noticing subtle things in his own life, like how cracks zigzag across the sidewalk, or the way light hits the water, or the way a plant is squeezed against a rock. – The New York Times
- Sarah Jessica Parker’s Year Of Reading 153 Books As A Booker Prize Judge
My husband and children knew what this meant. No one tried to compete with the Booker. Anytime after dinner, when there was a discussion about what movie to watch, no one asked me. Everybody knew what I would be doing. – The New York Times
- Claim: End Of Public Funding Will Make Public Media More Polarizing
Losing the rest of the public funding is likely to make the problem worse. In the face of cuts, many stations are issuing renewed appeals to their traditional donor base, making public radio even more reliant on private donations and an audience that’s older, whiter, and richer than the average American. – NiemanLab
