“Until 2001, many of the capital’s most important cultural institutions required visitors to pay for entry. … It’s impossible to overstate just how revolutionary this (change) was. In the decade after free admission was introduced, visits to formerly paid-for museums in London increased by around 151%.” - LBC (UK)
The San Diego Arts Pass — inspired by New York City’s Culture Pass, Britain’s National Art Pass, and the like — will offer purchasers reduced-price or free admission to over 40 organizations, including the Old Globe, San Diego Symphony, and La Jolla Playhouse, in San Diego County and metro Tijuana. - The San Diego Union-Tribune (MSN)
Okay, they’re not doing Long Day’s Journey Into Night or Titus Andronicus; after all, the audience is on vacation. But cruises from the UK have started presenting professional productions like Come From Away and the RSC staging of The Constant Wife. Ambassador Cruise Line even has a playwriting competition. - The Guardian
“The idea with the channels seems to be that making the secret, private shame of scrolling into a collaborative activity will give it a new place in the home.” - The Atlantic
Er … not really. "Moviegoing used to be a matter of habit meeting spontaneity. … Today, patrons generally plan their cinema visits in advance, and the question of what to see has collapsed into the question of whether to go at all.” - The Atlantic
On Monday, The New York Times posted an article featuring a longtime volunteer tour guide who said of the currently-dormant institution, “Now it’s a black hole.” On Thursday, a Kennedy Center official sent a memo to all volunteer tour guides telling them not to come there “until further notice.” - The New York Times
“A Chorus Line celebrates artists’ commitment while demonstrating — both at the story level and in the way the script itself was assembled — how easy it is to bully or exploit them.” - The New York Times
The FOMO is real. “Complicating things further for The Odyssey is that it’s available in so many premium formats—six, altogether—that the film’s official website includes a guide to their various strengths and aspect ratios.” - Wired
“Covers today are expected not only to attract readers in bookstores, but to circulate fluidly through Instagram posts, TikToks, Substack photos, and carefully curated apartment interiors. Books are now asked to function simultaneously as texts and as lifestyle objects.” - LitHub
Abbey Theatre "is one of the State’s most important cultural institutions. It was founded by William Butler Yeats and Augusta Gregory in 1904; the 1966 structure has been described by the government as a ‘deficient’ building for audiences and performers.” - Irish Times
The parameters are different for each company — Opera Philadelphia, an early adopter, sets an $11 minimum — but a number of different troupes and presenters in Philly have been trying the scheme. Here are some of the lessons, expected and unexpected, that they’ve learned so far. - Broad Street Review (Philadelphia)
“The distinction between a preview and an official opening night, once a universally understood boundary, has become increasingly blurred. In an era dominated by instant social media reaction, some no longer seem to realise there is a difference at all.” - WhatsOnStage (UK)
“Contemporary readers remain as eccentric as ever. Some buy two copies of each book: one to read messily and another to display smartly on the shelf. ... And many, many of them annotate. Furiously. Dedicatedly. Fanatically.” - Irish Times
“In 2023, English was represented by only a handful of productions, and last summer the majority of Arabic-related offerings were dance shows, rendering the question of language somewhat moot. But the focus on Korean at this year’s festival ... has opened an inviting window.” - The New York Times
