For some people, Disneyland or Disneyworld (or the Disneys in other countries) are like church. "People don't just marry at Disney. They mourn lost relatives at Disney. They go to Disney to celebrate surviving cancer. They go there for one last trip before they die." - CBC
"During the dozen years he led the orchestra, Hatton created its annual Young Artist Concerto Competition, and showcased at least one work by a living Northwest composer each season — a commitment ... every orchestra and classical ensemble in Oregon adopt." - Oregon ArtsWatch
Yes, BookTok. But not only BookTok. The woman who self-published her first book while she was earning $9 an hour and whose books outsold the Bible in 2021 says, "It's not me ... The readers are controlling what is selling right now." - The New York Times
Justin Davidson: "I’m not ready to declare the hall a flop or a triumph. Acoustics are not a separate entity from the music that gets played there." - Vulture
Finke, the founder of the site Deadline, was "a tenacious journalist who revolutionized entertainment reporting." She "placed a singularly unforgiving spotlight on the studio executives and high-powered agents who make the industry run" instead of fawning over celebrities. - Variety
"Weinstein, who has been accused by more than 90 women of sexual misconduct, faces 11 charges in his Los Angeles trial, which is expected to last six to eight weeks." - The New York Times
Writer-director Frances O'Connor says, "Sometimes it takes us a while to get the courage to step into something that we really feel passionate about, ... but if you’re going to tell a story now, I think it’s good for it to speak to women in a way that’s alive." - The Observer (UK)
"As a worker’s rights movement, it brought about a slew of upgrades to industry standards and state law. As a major news event, it transformed the way media outlets report on sexual misconduct. And as a consciousness-raising effort, it gave all of us a new language." - Slate
A Netflix exec: "We loved going to see great original family films. ... Sadly, now when you look at what a lot of the offerings are, they aren’t live-action family. It’s usually animated for family, and then it’s reboots, remakes, sequels, low-budget horror." - The New York Times
"The Persian-language Twitter account 1500tasvir, which has been monitoring the state crackdown that has killed dozens, credited the red liquid in the fountains’ basins to an anonymous artist/activist, referring to it as a protest artwork whose title roughly translates to 'Tehran sinking in blood.'" - Washington Post
It all started with tours: "In the early 1800s, opera companies and their star singers traveled from Italy to perform across the country. 'It was like a parade, people would welcome them in the streets of Mexico City.'" Then radio hit. - NPR
Ilya Silchukou was the "lead soloist at the State Opera Bolshoi who represented his nation at official government functions at home and abroad and performed at opera houses across Europe." Now, after speaking out against Belorus' leader, he teaches middle-school music in Boston. - Seattle Times (AP)
Geffen Hall (previously known as Avery Fisher Hall) was an acoustic disaster from the jump. But while "the hall was no Carnegie or the Musikverein in Vienna ... the badness of the acoustics was often overstated. On a given night, a concert there could be terrific." - The New York Times
Or rather not ending, but continuation, as a U.S. company buys and intends to expand the company that hired actors and built elaborate sets for "immersive screenings" of everything from Star Wars to Stranger Things. - The Guardian (UK)
Lina Gónzalez-Granados was 5 "when she joined a 'tuna' — a musical group traditionally made up of college students who ... stand in a semi-circle wielding Spanish guitars of various sizes and shapes and singing ballads." That was her first lesson in the physical nature of music. - Los Angeles Times
