Michael Andor Brodeur: “Self-reflection on the matter leads me to believe that my allergy to concert-hall disruption is a direct product of my own anxieties, and the lengths I’ve gone to manage them in service of etiquette. … (Increasingly) I find my frustration sharing an armrest with an unlikely companion, compassion.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
Managing director Raphael Picciarelli: “We weren’t chasing hype for its own sake. We were trying to spark the feeling that draws people to Burning Man or the World Cup: the thrill of witnessing something unrepeatable. … We fell short on revenue, but we doubled our audience. Forty percent were first-timers.” - The New York Times
“The San Francisco Chronicle’s review says the production is ‘the most talked-about play in S.F. It’s also terrible.’” But that might be far, far from the point. - Washington Post (MSN)
Sure, there’s Twlight fan fiction and Huck Finn fan fiction, Murderbot fanfic and Star Trek and etc. But there’s an awful lot of Biblical fanfic out there too, if that’s to your taste. - NPR
“Curzon, which operates 16 venues across the UK, reports there has been a clear shift over the past six years in young people overtaking older audiences,” with notable attention to older films and works by auteurs such as Wong Kar-Wai. Social media appears to be driving much of the interest. - The Guardian
“A customized black track suit. Papier-mâché Little Shop of Horrors fly traps. Friendship bracelets in a range of colors and designs. … Fans are combing stars’ Instagram feeds and TikTok reels for clues to their favorite snacks, their astrological signs and even the names of their pets.” - The New York Times
“The most interesting and fun part of this convention is away from the stage. There are hundreds of RVs, and there are jam sessions everywhere where people trade songs, musical tips.” - NPR
“Unfortunately, the audience for book reviews is relatively low and we can no longer sustain the time it takes to plan, coordinate, write and edit reviews.” - Media Nation
“The consolidation of the English-language publishing industry in the 1980s and 90s gave its most successful writers a worldwide reach and a critical impact that no authors from other countries could aspire to.” But that very success might have changed things. - The Guardian (UK)
“(This is) in part because European cities are teeming with foreigners who use English as a lingua franca and want to connect through laughter. After the COVID-19 pandemic, many people who had been stuck at home watching Netflix comedy specials and YouTube clips suddenly craved a live experience.” - The New York Times
The War Memorial Opera House and Davies Symphony Hall will implement what they’re describing as “frictionless patron screening” — that is, a system using extremely low frequency radio waves, sensors, and AI to detect threats. The system, by Evolv Technologies, is already in place at venues such as Lincoln Center. - San Francisco Classical Voice
At Northern Sky, “There’s kind of an ownership because you saw shows about people that you know, Midwesterners.” Some of them, like Lumberjacks in Love and Guys on Ice, even translate outside of the state. - The New York Times
Or not: “Reading about someone else’s deep dive into forest, field or water furnishes us with the sense that we’re participating in an environment that, for much of the time, is at arm’s length.” - The Guardian (UK)
“Most people aren’t posting, arguing, or fuelling the outrage machine. But because the super-users are so active and visible, they dominate our collective impression of the internet.” - The Guardian (UK)
