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Gay Soap Operas Are Helping Revive Thailand’s Pandemic-Battered Tourism Industry

"A recent wave of Thai dramas known as 'boys' love' (BL) ... has attracted a large following across Asia," especially among women around age 30. "As Thailand tries to rebuild its travel industry, the country's tourism authority has sought to capitalise on their popularity." - The Observer (UK)

Taiwan’s National Palace Museum Is Preparing To Hide Its Collection In Case Xi Jinping Orders An Invasion

"With China stepping up military pressure on the self-ruled island, the institution ... which boasts one of the world's finest collections of Chinese imperial relics ... last week conducted its first ever 'wartime response exercise' centered on evacuating its artifacts." - CNN

Teodor Currentzis Is Forming A New Orchestra, This One Not Funded By Russia

"The ensemble, to be called Utopia, will bring together 112 musicians from 28 countries, many of them soloists and principal players in renowned orchestras, for a European tour that is to begin this fall and go through 2023." - The New York Times

More “Paradise Square” Drama As Director And Choreographers Sue For Unpaid Compensation

"The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society is seeking to enforce payment of (more than $140,000 in) owed royalties, fees and pension and health contributions to the musical's director, Moisés Kaufman, choreographer Bill T. Jones, and three specialty choreographers who worked on the production." - The Hollywood Reporter

French Government Declares That Notre-Dame Will Reopen For The 2024 Paris Olympics

Culture minister Rima Abdul-Malak: "We're all quite confident that 2024 will be the year of completing a large part of this reconstruction site and the reopening of the cathedral to worshippers and the public, although there'll be more work to do after 2024, of course." - Artnet

Actress Pat Carroll Dead At 95

From the 1950s through the '70s she was star of TV comedies and game shows before reinventing herself, at 50, as a classical stage actress, winning awards for playing Falstaff, Juliet's Nurse, Mother Courage, and Gertrude Stein.  (Oh, and she voiced Ursula in The Little Mermaid.) - The New York Times

Chicago’s Victory Gardens In Turmoil As Artistic Director Out

Three resident theater companies that present work at Victory Gardens have pledged not to work there until the artists’ complaints are addressed. - The New York Times

The People Who Probe For Meaning In Abandoned Theme Parks

As it turns out, there's an entire community of people captivated with defunct, abandoned or retired theme parks and attractions around the world. - NPR

Why Music Evokes Memories

The connection is one of the reasons why music — especially old music — is so meaningful to people. It's also why music became such an important coping strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, in part to connect us with people we could not be with during lockdowns, physical distancing, and travel restrictions. - CBC

Adapting To The Medium: Acting In Video Games

Games are kind of ragtag, and there’s not really a standard. For actors, there’s never been a guide what to expect, from auditions to showing up on set.” - Los Angeles Times

The Art Of Pretending To Have Read Books

Now, as a life-long pseud, I learned years ago how to float in an implied familiarity with an author or their work, without telling an outright lie. I have a shell like a Galapagos Tortoise when challenged on this sort of thing. But I have noticed that such libertine manners are fast becoming normalised. - The Critic

The Death Of London’s Great Orchestra Festival

The death sentence was delivered by the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, in a statement terminating BBC Four, which televises most of the Proms, and urging the BBC’s six orchestras in London, Manchester, Scotland and Wales to look for “alternative sources of income where possible.” - The Critic

In A World Where Nothing Is Forgotten, The Past Looks Different

Human experience is now recorded on something that looks a bit like an informal version of the blockchain – the distributed public ledger whose unforgiving mathematics underpins cryptocurrencies. - The Spectator

When Stories Of Sad White Men Were Groundbreaking

Could it be that the stories of the average middle-class white man — the ones we grew up on — were once a novelty? In one sense, yes: there are novels that were as groundbreaking and shocking then as they are considered passé today. - The Critic

Triumphant Debut For New Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra At London Proms

It was an impressive start for an ensemble that didn’t exist a fortnight ago, rapidly assembled from professional Ukrainian musicians in Ukraine and across Europe. - The Guardian

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