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Theatre And Opera Director Ian Judge Dead At 79

“(He) enjoyed a wide-ranging career as a theatre and opera director without any of the obvious attributes for being so – no university or musical education, no artistic background, no connections – yet he succeeded over many decades in opera houses around the world, and for 10 years at the Royal Shakespeare Company.” - The Guardian

Meet America’s New Poet Laureate

“You can’t speed-read a poem,” he explains. “You have to read it, hear the sounds, the rhythms, reread it, not be in a hurry. Slowing down helps us realize that for our speed, we sacrifice things.” - Christian Science Monitor

Jean Nouvel’s New Museum In Paris Upends The Traditional Gallery

Nouvel’s latest movie: a new home for the Fondation Cartier, a private art foundation established in 1984 that’s dedicated to the accumulation, display and creation of contemporary art. It is now headquartered in a remodelled 19th-century building in the heart of bourgeois Paris, right across the rue from the Louvre. - The Guardian

Why, With Broadway’s Stresses, Revive A Long-ago Flop?

Put simply, “Chess,” first produced in the U.S. in 1988, didn’t work on Broadway. So remounting the show, even though it’s become a cult favorite, is risky at a time when the box office is largely driven by long-running, big-brand musicals like “Wicked” and “Mamma Mia!” - Variety

After A Very Rough 2024-25, Nashville’s Arts Funding Agency Is Finding Its Way Back On Track

“As the Metro Arts Commission works its way back from several years of instability, it’s hoping the more than $3.2 million in grants it’s awarded for the 2026 fiscal year will be a sign of progress.” Most stakeholders seem to be relieved, though there’s one in particular which is still unhappy. - The Tennessean

Backlash Grows Against Comedians Who Participated In Riyadh Festival

Of course, some will argue that performing in authoritarian or oppressive countries is a means of reaching the masses; opening up art to those underserved. And while that may be true on occasion, it is a different thing entirely from being sponsored by the state itself to launder its sovereignty.  - The Guardian

The Controversial History Of The Union Jack (And Why It’s Prominent Right Now)

Its meaning and symbolism are under the spotlight in debates often producing more heat than light. Is the increasingly widespread public display of the union jack – and the St George flag – patriotism or provocation?  - BBC

Judge Rules Music Publishers Can Sue Anthropic Over Copyright

US District Judge Eumi Lee on Monday ruled that Universal Music Group, Concord Music Group and ABKCO can press forward with claims that Anthropic bears legal responsibility when users of its Claude chatbot generate copyrighted lyrics. - Music Business Worldwide

Librarian Fired For Refusing To Remove Books, Wins $700,000 In Court

A library director in Wyoming who was fired two years ago because she refused to remove books with sexual content and L.G.B.T.Q. themes from a library’s children and young adult sections was awarded $700,000 in a settlement on Wednesday. - The New York Times

At Last Minute, New York City Ballet Dancers Boycott Fall Gala Dinner

They did the evening’s performance — fulfilling their contract obligations, as they pointedly mentioned — but skipped the red-carpet photo ops and left vacant their places alongside wealthy patrons at the dinner tables. The quasi-strike comes amid contract negotiations, with dancers insisting that their pay reflect New York’s soaring cost of living. - Page Six

How Artists Are Incorporating AI Into Traditional Work (And Ideas)

While A.I. speeds along, upending any number of careers and lives, some in the art world have chosen to embrace it while also, in a sense, subverting it. These artists integrate A.I., gaming and other tech-heavy aesthetics into their work. - The New York Times

Debates Around The Saudi Comedy Festival And American Comedians Are Frustratingly Vague

More than any other artists, comedians are alert to how language reveals meaning, and what all the explanations have in common is a maddening vagueness. What does this specific festival represent? - The New York Times

How Did The Nobel Literature Committee Lose Its Sense Of Fun?

So: a victory for high literature, for inevitability, for oppositional culture, for men. But for the obsessives who have been attending to the saga of the Nobel Prize in literature over the past decade, it’s also something of a bummer. - The New Republic

The Other Way That David Henry Hwang Is An American Theater Pioneer

It’s not just that he was the first famous Asian-American playwright. With Face Value in 1993 and then Yellow Face in 2007, Hwang took on the issue of onstage racial representation and explored the possibilities of autofiction years before either became ubiquitous in the American theater. - T — The New York Times Style Magazine

With Their Largest Distributor Gone, US Libraries Try To Figure Out Where To Turn

“With the announcement of Baker & Taylor’s imminent closure, … librarians are scrambling to find new wholesaling partners.” - Publishers Weekly

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