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How Do You Keep “Nutcracker” Costumes Looking Fresh For 30 Years?

The National Ballet of Canada’s costumes, designed by Broadway mainstay Santo Loquasto, have absorbed a lot of wear, tear, and sweat over three decades. Here wardrobe chief Stacy Dimitropoulos, resident cutter Chris Read, and several company dancers talk about costume care and maintenance. - Toronto Life

The People Who Are Using AI To Do Their Thinking

For this set of compulsive users, AI has become a primary interface through which they interact with the world. The emails they write, the life decisions they make, and the questions that consume their mind all filter through AI first. “It’s like a real addiction.” - The Atlantic

How Warner Bros. Sale To Netflix Could Change Movies

In Hollywood, concern about whether Warner Bros. will remain a theatre-centered business is haunted by historical echoes of earlier seismic shifts in the movie business. It seems existential, perhaps portending the end of mainstream moviegoing. - The New Yorker

The Trumped Up Kennedy Honors

Every detail of the ceremony appeared to have been plucked from Trump’s mood board, an indelible blend of revanchist impulses and eighties camp. - The New Yorker

Disney Will License Its Characters To OpenAI’s Video Platform And Invest $1 Billion In Company

“The three-year licensing deal will let users generate videos using Sora, OpenAI’s short-form AI video platform, of more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar characters. ... ChatGPT will also be able to generate images of Disney’s multibrand licensed characters.” - The Wall Street Journal (MSN)

Broadway Attendance From New York’s Suburbs Is Lowest In 30 Years

“According to data released ... on Wednesday, less than 13% of admissions in (2024-25) came from the surrounding New York suburbs, which was the lowest percentage on Broadway in 30 years. The demographic, which once made up 20% of the audience, has been trending down over the past few years.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum To Open Its First Satellite

And no, it’s not in Abu Dhabi. It will be in the south of the Netherlands, in the high-tech hub of Eindhoven. The new museum, planned to cover more than 3,500 square meters (37,673 square feet) near the city’s central railway station, is scheduled to open in six to eight years. - AP

Nathalie Stutzmann, Atlanta Symphony Music Director, Takes On A Second Position

Next September, the French contralto-turned-conductor will begin a four-year term as music and artistic director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo in Monaco. She succeeds Kazuki Yamada, music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the UK. - Moto Perpetuo

“The Sistine Chapel Of The New Deal” In Danger Of Demolition By Trump Administration

The Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building in Washington, D.C. contains perhaps the most important New Deal-era murals in the city — works by Philip Guston and Seymour Vogel as well as Ben Shahn’s monumental The Meaning of Social Security. The Trump administration is currently soliciting bids for the building’s demolition. - The New Republic

The Muny In St. Louis To Get $9.5 Million Renovation Next Fall

The beloved outdoor theater will replace all 11,000-odd seats and make structural improvements to protect against flooding, which caused serious damage after a torrential 2022 rainstorm. - St. Louis Public Radio

Performance At La Scala Ends Early After Conductor Riccardo Chailly Falls Ill

During the second intermission of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk on Wednesday evening, a very weak Chailly was taken to a Milan hospital and the third act was cancelled. The 72-year conductor, who has a history of heart disease, is in his last season as La Scala’s music director. - Gramilano (Milan)

Royal Ballet Star Matthew Ball Is Moving Into Choreography

And he’s not going to be a rule-breaker, trying to revolutionize the art form: “There’s nothing wrong with organic movement. … There’s a reason why it’s attractive, in the way nature’s attractive. There’s an inbuilt idea of beauty, and you can play with that.” - The Guardian

The Best Classical Music Performances Of 2025

I love to be surprised: to come across premieres and fresh interpretations that upend my expectations and open my mind to new possibilities. When I think about the past year, those are the moments that stuck with me most.  - The New York Times

What If Laziness And Apathy Have Neurological Causes?

When these systems become dysfunctional, people who were once highly motivated can become pathologically apathetic. Whereas previously they might have been curious, highly engaged and productive – at work, in their social lives and in their creative thinking – they can suddenly seem like the opposite. - The Guardian

2025’s Best Dance

Emotion was often the bedrock of the dances and dance artists who rose to the top this year. - The New York Times

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