We all have books that are waiting for just such an occasion. When the author of Homecoming and Transcendent Kingdom was young, her parents made her "write a report on the children’s book I was reading at the time. I think it was The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. ... I wrote something to the effect of 'This book is very...
The guidelines are stringent - each county must cycle completely out of "colors" of COVID-19 infections before indoor theatre can open, and they have to cycle way lower rates before outdoor theatre can open at a low capacity, with reservations and assigned seating, and only with people from within 120 miles of the theatre. It's weirdly different from movie...
Dupont was a household name in France, where his death was major news and occasioned a press release from the president's office. He was sent to audition for the Paris Opera Ballet School at 10: "His talent and charm made him a favorite of the school’s director, Claude Bessy, who championed him despite his often rebellious attitude and frequent...
At least a little bit: "'The expectation of an elite ballet company is that it's going to be really cutthroat and really scary and really intimidating,' Holloway said, but ABT is a big, supportive family who like to have fun" - and both the older Instagram and fairly new TikTok accounts emphasize that for their younger-skewing audiences. -...
Here we go: "When users open the Netflix TV app, they will be asked to verify their account with a code that is either texted or emailed to the account holder. If they aren’t the account holder, users will be reminded, 'If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.'"...
Representation is a problem across the board in the Grammys, including - weirdly, wildly - the writing of liner notes (which is an actual Grammy), a category women have won three times since the inception of the award in 1964. But women are still writing liner notes: "The ability to take an intricate snapshot of a particular recording and...
So much not fans that they've sued the artist making the images. Hergé's heirs specifically said of Xavier Marabout's images that "it was not funny to take advantage of Tintin by putting him in an erotic universe, especially as Hergé had chosen not to caricature women." - The Guardian (UK)
The head of the Recording Academy, perhaps even downplaying the disastrous pandemic for most musicians: "This has been an extraordinarily challenging year for everyone and the music world in particular." - Los Angeles Times
The details: "Actress Corinne Masiero took the stage in a donkey costume covered in fake blood, before stripping down to a faux gore-soaked gown and, finally, fully undressing altogether, while presenter Marina Fois looked on in shock and (eventually) the audience applauded." The message? Arts workers need a lot more support. - Vulture
Nick Cornwell, the son of both people who created John Le Carré: "It was easy to misunderstand her as just a typist – and many did – not only because she also typed everything, as he never learned how, but also because her interventions were made in private, before the text was ever seen by anyone else. I was...
Yes, we need food and water, air and health care. And we're desperate for cultural nourishment as well. For one family at an outdoor event, "After weeks of seeing very little but the inside of our house, it felt almost impossibly bright and colourful. When we reached a magical glade hung with giant, sparkling thistledown, my eight-year-old tugged on...
Every time a Black-led film makes tons of money - say Girls Trip or heck, even Black Panther - the same stories pop up. Black-led films can make money! There will soon be more! But, a new report says, if Hollywood chose to address racial inequities, "the industry could generate an added $10 billion in revenues a year." -...
When museum staff are preparing for a show, they need maquettes, like an actor's stand-in, to represent the works themselves. But they can't be replicas. They're "'really just trying to evoke the salient features, the sculptural qualities' of the original pieces. Their utility stems from their simplicity." - The New York Times
One reason we tolerate an even more frayed social safety net for artists than we do for everyone else: “The allure of artistic work often obscures — from arts workers themselves and the public at large — the working conditions that arts workers face,” according to the report, noting that organizations frequently ask arts workers to work for nominal...
