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The Long Fight To Replace Racist Monuments In The United States

“After nearly half a decade, Vinnie Bagwell, a self-taught sculptor-artist, is still waiting for the million dollars that the New York City department of cultural affairs promised for her to work on monument Victory Beyond Sims.” - The Guardian (UK)

There Are Just So Many Bros On Broadway Right Now

One (male) audience member: “We want to see a good, solid male psyche. We want to see the full extent of the male experience. … You don’t always get that in theater.” - Washington Post (MSN)

An Underground Ballet Revival In Ukraine Gives Relief From Relentless War

“In the dark, brick-walled basement of the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, a dance company has created a space protected from drones and bombs where audiences can lose themselves in performances of classic ballets.” - Globe and Mail

What It’s Like Watching The Evita Balcony Scene From A London Sidewalk

“‘We’re both interested in the accessibility of the arts,’ said 25-year-old Sian, who had come with her drama-school buddy. ‘I don’t know the show, but I know that the context of the song is her singing out to the peasants. And we’re the peasants!’” - The Guardian (UK)

Can The Venice Architecture Biennale Use AI To Gain Popularity?

Architects "balked at having their voices clipped. The compromise was to let architects write the texts they wanted (which can be full of jargon and a struggle to parse), and to let A.I. produce shorter, plainer summaries." - The New York Times

Oops, Sorry, Authors – TikTok Doesn’t Actually Want To Publish Books

The news "came as a shock to authors who were swayed by the possibility that 8th Note could help engineer best sellers with elaborate marketing campaigns on TikTok. Instead, 8th Note has started taking down digital editions of their books, effectively unpublishing them.” - The New York Times

Together: Inside The Sonia Friedman-Hugh Jackman-Ian Rickson Low-Cost Theatre Project

While the actors are high-profile, the production costs are kept down: small casts, minimal sets, simple tech, smaller Off-Broadway venue. A quarter of the tickets are free, distributed to community groups; another quarter are sold on show day for $35. Also, equal pay for actors, no star billing, no designated press nights. - The Guardian

Audience Members Explain Why They Went To L.A. Opera Despite Protests, Troops, And Curfew

Steven Lass: “L.A. is not scary. You could be in a bad place at the wrong time, but that can happen anywhere.” Jason Roblee: “They did cancel our brunch reservation though.” Lass: “I lived in Hawthorne during the riots, so if all the buildings aren't burning, everything is good.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

Some Broadcast TV Series Are Getting Impressive Viewer Numbers On Streaming For Weeks After Airing

“The 35-day figures for the 2024-25 season show that for series that originate on broadcast or cable networks, five weeks of streaming can grow a show’s audience by 40 to 50 percent — and in a few outlier cases, practically double it — from its linear total over the same time frame.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Met Opera Attendance This Spring Was Down, Probably Due To Reduced International Tourism

The company sold 72% of capacity this past season, the same as 2023-24 but below projections. General manager Peter Gelb said that attendance was down in April and May, when overseas visitor numbers to New York fell sharply. - AP

Disney And Universal’s Battle With Midjourney May Reshape Copyright

“The only thing that can stop AI companies doing what they’re doing is the law. ... If these lawsuits are successful, that is what will hopefully stop AI companies from exploiting people’s life’s work.” - Time

Remaking Biography, Again

“Biography alters as we do, as our conceptions of motive evolve, as theories of personality float into fashion or fade away. It offers a snapshot of our working notions of selfhood.” - The New York Times

As Live-Action Remakes Tank, Why Does Universal Think It Can Do Better?

"Universal, whose parent company acquired DreamWorks Animation in 2016, was adamant that the new cater not only to young viewers but also to adults who had grown up with the original.”- The New York Times

A Shakespeare Producer Talks About “Translating” A Script Into Comprehensible 21st-Century English

Tracy Young: “I’ve seen nothing to counter the notion that Shakespeare was a populist. All about the people, and the audience’s kind of theater guy. … That to me was the real affirmation of why Play on Shakespeare is worthy. I have no complicated feelings about the rightness or wrongness of it.” - TheaterMania

Some Of Paris’s Leading Museums And Monuments Are Raising Prices For Non-EU Visitors

“Beginning January 1, 2026, major French museums — including the Louvre and the Château de Versailles — will charge non-European Union visitors €30 (about $35), up from €22 ($25). …The new pricing, described as a ‘differential tariff,’ marks a sharp turn in France’s long-professed commitment to universal access to culture. It’s also triggered a domino effect.” - ARTnews

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