Stories

CBS Says It Will Be Making $15 Million In Profit From Stephen Colbert’s Former Time Slot

A network spokesperson argued that producing its own programming for the late-night talk-show slot is now “cost-prohibitive” — and that, by leasing that airtime to comedian/TV mogul Byron Allen, CBS will turn a $40 million annual loss into a $55 million annual profit. - Variety

Broadway’s “The Book of Mormon” Reopens After Three-Week Closure Due to Fire

“The Book of Mormon, one of Broadway’s biggest hits, resumed performances on Wednesday night after a three-week shutdown prompted by a damaging three-alarm electrical fire at the theater where the musical comedy has been running for 15 years.” - The New York Times

Trump Camp Announces Summer Pop Concert Series On National Mall. Stars Promptly Start Withdrawing.

“A day after the President Donald Trump -affiliated Freedom 250 announced the ‘first wave’ of performers for ‘The Great American State Fair’ shows on Washington’s National Mall in June and July, the lineup has been hit with a wave of cancellations.” - AP

America’s First Late-Night Talk-Show Host Was A Woman

Faye Emerson was a Hollywood actress specializing in noir films; then she married FDR’s son, moved to New York and got into TV. From 1949-1951, she hosted a 15-minute program, The Faye Emerson Show, weeknights at 11:00 pm — becoming such a success that she was called “the First Lady of Television.” - Smithsonian Magazine

Colbert’s Late Night Replacement On CBS Pulls Small Ratings

According to The Daily Beast, even Colbert's YouTube channel is nearly outperforming Allen's show. Colbert's appearance on the public access TV show "Only in Monroe" drew 928,000 views on Colbert's YouTube, which doesn't include viewers who watched via other channels and platforms. - TV Insider

How Does A Choreographer Make Dance About Her Hometown Getting Ravaged By A Wildfire?

Alice Topp, a former principal dancer and choreographer-in-residence at the Australian Ballet, already had the idea of basing her first commission for Houston Ballet on the Finnish concept of sisu (stubbornly determined resilience). Then, this past January, came unhappy inspiration: bushfires struck her rural hometown 75 miles northwest of Melbourne. - Houston Chronicle (Yahoo!)

How Have The Great Pyramids Survived Millennia Of Earthquakes? By Design, Of Course

“The Great Pyramid behaves as a single, cohesive unit that naturally vibrates at a fundamental frequency of approximately 2.3 Hz. The frequency difference prevents the destructive phenomenon of resonance, the primary culprit behind the collapse of modern buildings, when a structure’s frequency matches the earthquakes vibrations.” - Artnet

Spotify Has Become A Huge Player In Audiobooks

Spotify announced that the total number of hours of audiobooks listened to on the service are up 60% year-over-year, with one million people having paid for Audiobooks+, an add-on launched last year that allows listeners to unlock additional hours of audiobooks on top of those already included with its premium service. - Publishers Weekly

Opera Is Being Reinvented In The Australian Outback

Song has always been a part of storytelling in our country. And perhaps, in remote towns, opera finally sheds the elitism that has followed it for decades. Out there, it becomes what it was always meant to be: a connection between people and place. - ArtsHub

Margot Wellington, Campaigner Who Helped Save Grand Central Station From Wrecking Ball, Has Died At 91

“During her seven-year tenure (as executive director of the Municipal Art Society), she led pioneering campaigns to form historic landmark districts, renovate blighted blocks and rescue threatened edifices like Radio City Music Hall. … Saving Grand Central was her crowning achievement.” - The New York Times

Hollywood Largely Skipped Cannes This Year. Did Anyone Miss Them?

Whether you were a sales agent eyeing a leisurely buyer’s market or a freelance journalist picking up fewer interview commissions than usual, this felt like a low-key Cannes. - Variety

The Economics Of Late Night TV Are Moving To Streaming

Roughly 20% of lost late night dollars ends up going to YouTube, data insights company Guideline found last year, with 6% going to Amazon and another 6% going to Instagram and Facebook. - The Wrap (Yahoo)

The Special Kind Of Knowledge That Can’t Be Taught

It’s not the kind of knowledge that you gain from reading a textbook or listening to a lecture, nor is it the kind of knowledge that subjects report when they try to describe their experiences to others. It can’t be expressed in natural language – at least, not fully. - Psyche

Royal Shakespeare Company Gets An Extra £2 Million For Touring England

Arts Council England, the national funding body, gave the RSC £2 million for two large-scale Shakespeare tours in 2028 and 2030 to regional theatres in Blackpool, Norwich, Newcastle, Bradford-Leeds, Nottingham, Canterbury, Truro (Cornwall), and York. - British Theatre Guide

NYC Culture As Basic City Infrastructure

Right now, culture represents just 0.21% of the city’s budget, below its long-term average. Recent investments have been meaningful, including $75 million in last year’s budget. But $30 million of that funding remains for one-time support. That is not how essential infrastructure should be funded. - Hyperallergic

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