"Sir Ian McKellen will not be returning to his starring role for the final three West End performances of Player Kings, after falling from the stage on 17 June. It is hoped the veteran actor will return to the cast when the play moves to Bristol on 3 July." - BBC
Two members of Just Stop Oil sprayed orange paint (which they say is made of cornstarch and will rinse off) on the ancient monument just a day before summer solstice crowds arrive. Their reason is that the Labour Party's promise to stop new oil and gas exploration licenses is not enough. - AP
In the rest of the country, they’re arguing about statues of Confederate generals. In Palm Springs, they’re arguing about Marilyn Monroe’s underpants. This is fitting, perhaps, for a make-believe city, an oasis in the desert created by unsustainable water policies and the Hollywood studio system. - Slate (MSN)
Wiener Zeitung is now WZ, an about-face from its roots in print and an aging audience. WZ has a dedicated website, several newsletters, podcasts, and a growing following on TikTok and Instagram. - World Association of Newspapers
‘I definitely think that over the COVID-19 lockdown period people discovered a new talent or passion for art. And I think now, we are seeing some of those people trying to break through into the industry more and potentially look for ways to have exhibitions, and art prizes are a good first step.’ - ArtHub
An unprecedented 14 new shows opened in April. A wide slate with something for everyone. Yet, still, suburban visitors to Broadway are down roughly 20%. What’s it all about and what can we, as supporters of a vibrant Broadway community who rely on suburbanites, do about it? - LoHud
“Under Mr. Moog’s stewardship, we have seen a loss of talented and expert staffers and continued revenue declines, stunting our efforts to achieve sustainability even as we receive generous foundation support that should fuel growth,” the unions wrote in the letter. - WBEZ
Key findings by the City include that Greater Sydney has the largest creative workforce in the country, but the number of artists who live in the local area decreased by 11% from 2011 to 2021. - ArtsHub
Yasmine Naghdi, a principal at London's Royal Ballet, was cast as the lead in Swan Lake (complete with the 32 fouettés) for a performance to be simulcast to cinemas around the globe, and she could feel herself freaking out and self-sabotaging. So she turned to sports psychologist Britt Tajet-Foxell. - The Guardian
Beginning in September, this is what the majority of elementary-school kids in New York City will be doing. More than two-thirds of its school districts selected the Into Reading curriculum. For those kids, learning to read will no longer revolve around books. - The Atlantic
"Sometimes we associate the word 'operatic' with big, extreme feelings. But I think mixed emotions — ambivalence — are what opera does best. It conveys the complexity of emotions that might be hard to hear in everyday speech. The book (Fellow Travelers) had a lot of that." - San Francisco Classical Voice
Works by white writers dropped from 88 percent to 75 percent in five years. It is by far the biggest such change in U.S. literary history. Although these findings point to significant gains, they also demand that we reckon with what appears now to be the beginning of their reversal. - The Atlantic
"Today, figures like Schomburg and … W.E.B. Du Bois are hailed as the founders of the 20th-century Black intellectual tradition. But increasingly, scholars are uncovering the important role of the women who often ran the libraries, where they built collections and — just as important — communities of readers." - The New York Times
The historically lamentable lack of government support for the arts in the U.S. is taking another turn for the worse. California and San Francisco are facing large deficits, and meager support for the arts here is certain to decline further. - San Francisco Classical Voice
"Audiences love big, stage-filling choreography with dramatic music and luscious dancing. But every once in a while, a short, spare dance packs a punch. And that’s what people remember when they walk out of the theater." Wendy Perron lists some of the greatest. - Dance Magazine
