The key seems to have been Rudin's high-profile, high-stakes production of The Music Man, set to start previews in December. While some of the key people involved in the revival reportedly showed "apathy" about the allegations of Rudin's appalling office behavior, the two stars did not: Hugh Jackman told others he was "very concerned" but did not give an...
The COVID lockdown hit Britain just days before this production was to open and put the company's entire operations on hold; the show was set to start again last autumn when a second lockdown had to be imposed. Now, by heaven, they're doing it, at least for broadcast on BBC Four. "What's curious is that, if you were looking...
"NPR cut spending in areas including staff and executive pay to offset a decline in revenue spurred by the pandemic, particularly in corporate sponsorship. The network's revenue is 'slightly above' its 2019 income but hasn't reached 2020 levels, Cowan said. Next year, NPR will aim to completely roll back the budget cuts that staffers agreed to last year...
One of the departing execs, the director of human resources, left over conflict with his boss, the deputy director, and alleged retaliation which he said constituted a "hostile environment." The other was senior curator Mia Locks, who joined the museum in 2019 in part to oversee its new IDEA Initiative (for inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility); in her resignation...
Last June, English National Opera and a branch of the NHS launched ENO Breathe, a program that offers what are basically online voice lessons adapted for patients suffering from ongoing shortness of breath weeks and months after (partially) recovering from COVID. The program's administrators report that more than 90% of participants have experienced both improvements in breathing and reduction...
" Hammer is bemused at the lengths to which China has gone to stop its citizens catching even a brief glimpse of his latest film" — Do Not Split, about the 2019 pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong. "In the rest of the world, that move has earned him the type of press coverage he could never have dreamt of."...
Public philosophy isn’t simply popularizing philosophical ideas (though it typically involves that). It is more often a matter of instigating a kind of thinking, a kind of thinking that can be disorienting, heretical, and frustrating. - 3 Quarks Daily
"In the marketplace of books, it can be hard to find that next, necessary book. I keep a list of what to read next – lots of people do. But what is offered to me? Mostly big books from big names, published in editions up into the millions of copies (Michelle Obama’s initial print run for Becoming was 3.4...
Human consciousness depends on a body that developed through evolution. If we want to create AI that is conscious in the same way we are, should we be building it in something like the way that evolution built us? - Commonweal
About 26% of Gen Z said video games are their top entertainment activity, and 87% of those in the age bracket said they play video games daily or weekly. That’s followed by listening to music (14%), browsing the internet (12%) and engaging on social media (11%). Only 10% of Gen Z respondents said watching TV or movies was their...
There may be fundamental problems with the way the Academy Awards connect with contemporary Hollywood films and their audiences. “For some time the movies nominated for best picture represent only a tiny fraction of the tickets sold – there is chasm between the Oscars and the moviegoing public. The Marvel and DC films are hardly ever up for best...
Four party-affiliated organizations, including the Republican National Committee, collectively spent more than $1 million during the past election cycle mass-purchasing books written by GOP candidates, elected officials and personalities, according to Federal Election Commission expenditure reports. The purchases helped turn several volumes into bestsellers. - Washington Post
For 30 years, Mr. Peterson had been a composer, pianist and professor at San Francisco State University, respected by most musicians who knew his work and highly regarded by his students. The Pulitzer — and the ensuing squabble — changed his life. Another composition, Ralph Shapey’s hour-long piece for orchestra, “Concerto Fantastique,” had been the unanimous choice of the...
“We dancers bonk up against the insanity of pining after someone else’s pair of legs day after day, but with age and maturity and years of fixating on our bodies – our instruments – we come to grips with what we have and what we can do with it. … I scrutinize my physique in the same way a...
He was a star British choreographer who staged a prodigious number of works and was assured a major international career. But "after allegations of sexual misconduct at the Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School, the company severed ties with him; an independent investigation found there were 'no matters to pursue' in relation to students." - The Guardian
