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More Staff Layoffs At Nashville Symphony

The orchestra is facing “financial challenges driven by inflation, shifting consumer behavior, an increasingly competitive landscape and broader economic uncertainty.” - Nashville Business Journal

David Geffen And The Billionaire Who Bought And Ate The Banana On The Wall Are Fighting Over A Giacometti

“In January 2024, the work” — titled Le Nez — was sold to Geffen, seemingly on (Patrick) Sun’s behalf. Sun now says the sale was illegitimate.” The two are suing each other. - Vulture

Broadway Is Selling A Lot Of Tickets To Young Adults

The 18-to-25 demographic isn’t usually considered a target audience for a circuit where tickets are so expensive, but the last couple of seasons have seen productions of shows deliberately aimed at that age group. It seems to be working. - The Guardian

Have A Look Around The Grand Egyptian Museum, Now Open At Long Last

“There is perhaps no institution on earth whose opening has been as wildly anticipated, or as mind-bogglingly delayed. ... Its construction has been such a fiasco — mired by funding lapses, logistical hurdles, a pandemic, nearby wars, revolutions (yes, plural) — that it begs comparison to that of the pyramids.” - The New York Times

All About The Ocarina

This odd wind instrument, whose name is Italian for “little goose,” was invented more-or-less by chance in 1853 in a little town near Bologna. That town now manufactures hand-crafted ocarinas, boasts an ocarina septet which tours internationally (and sells out concerts in East Asia), and hosts an international ocarina festival. - Atlas Obscura

Coachella’s Tickets Are So Expensive People Buy Them On Installment Plans. Good Idea? Or Financially Reckless?

Coachella’s payment plan is just this: For a $599 GA ticket (including fees), fans had the option to put $49.99 down when tickets went on sale in November 2024, then pay off the remainder of the balance in monthly installments through March of this year. - Los Angeles Times

Maybe “Glengarry Glen Ross” Isn’t A Critique Of Cutthroat Capitalism

“What if … Glengarry is instead celebrating the deceit, in fact presenting it as the epitome of manliness? What if Glengarry Glen Ross, quite possibly in ways a younger Mamet himself did not entirely fathom, offers us a joyful ethnography of Donald Trump’s America?” - The New Republic

How Architecture Shapes Everything About Video Games

 These virtual spaces do more than serve as mere backdrops for gameplay. The design of buildings, streets and entire cities guides player emotions, behaviours and even advances the narrative. - The Conversation

A History Of Spelling Reform (Please Make It Simpler!)

In the early 20th century, the industrialist Andrew Carnegie provided the seed money for the Simplified Spelling Board, which, unlike the Spelling Reform Association, was committed to subtracting letters from the alphabet rather than adding them. - The Wall Street Journal

Study: Number Of Theatre Productions In UK Has Declined By A Third In The Past Decade

In 2024, the 40 best-funded theatre companies that make their own productions - ranging from the National Theatre to the Colchester Mercury - opened 229 original productions, compared with 332 in 2014, a drop of 31%. - BBC

Ancient Greek And Roman Statues Smelled As Good As They Looked

“An archaeologist and curator … in Copenhagen finds that Greco-Roman statues were often perfumed with enticing scents like rose, olive oil and beeswax. These fragrances were ‘not merely decorative but symbolic, enhancing the religious and cultural significance of these sculptures.’” - Smithsonian Magazine

Why “Close Reading” Can Miss The Plot

When you studied literature in school or university, I expect that you were taught, implicitly or explicitly, that this plot-focused way of reading was simplistic, and that you were trained to read in new ways where plot was largely irrelevant. The message is: Only amateurs read for the plot. - Public Books

A Conservative Argument For Culture Funding Betrays The Problems With Such Arguments

Its curious incoherence is emblematic of a movement of cultural conservatives that’s lost the plot. - Artnet

SoulPepper Theatre Launches A Community “Public Domain” Project

 With a full slate of free programming that ranges from workshops and classes to performance, the company is hoping to become a neighbourhood hub. - Ludwig Van

It’s Not Easy Finding Jurors For Harvey Weinstein’s Retrial

“Several dismissed jurors were open about why they couldn’t serve fairly. (One) told a pool reporter, ‘I don’t like the guy; he is a really bad guy.’ One woman said she was the victim of sexual assault. A restaurant maître’d explained, ‘I don’t see how anyone can be impartial.’” - Vulture (MSN)

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