Altogether, the Metropolitan Theatre in New York brought to light and recognition over 100 largely forgotten American plays from 1787 through to the present, several of which have found new life around the country owing to the notice they received at Metropolitan. - American Theatre
From Sagrada Familia in Barcelona to the Vatican to Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, the challenge is that "worshippers, who often come because celebrated churches tend to have more services than regular parishes, need free access even as tourists often pay fees that are crucial to maintaining the sites." - AP
"It is the embodiment of a set of feelings about the world that are so richly specified in each case as to amount to something like a set of proposals about what a body can be, about how it can move and how or why it might seek expression.” - The Atlantic
"(In the beginning), there was no real reason for (public radio stations) to pick us up. So …we basically looked for what the stations wanted. And what they wanted and needed, but didn't have, were pledge-drive materials that would bring in money and be entertaining to listen to." - Vulture
Hong Kong officials seem to fear it can, as they are seeking an injunction against a protest anthem called “Glory to Hong Kong.” Officials have asked a court to ban the song from being performed, broadcast, distributed, displayed, sold, printed or published by any means and on any platform. - Washington Post
"Dan Harden's proposal, called the Ravenchord, is shaped like a bird's wing, with strings fanning out from the center. In concert, a pianist would sit in front of the piano facing the audience; viewers would get to see the inner workings of the instrument as the pianist plays." - Fast Company
"Even as Cecilie Hollberg highlights her achievements at Italy's second-most-visited museum" — it's the home of Michelangelo's David — "since arriving in 2015, rumors circulate that Italy's far-right-led government intends to revoke the museum's independence once more," exactly as happened to Hollberg and the Galleria in 2019. - AP
Pantos joined the summer opera festival as president in February of 2022 — with longtime company chief Pelham Pearce remaining as artistic director. But Pearce resigned abruptly as last summer's season began, and late last year a bitter dispute broke out between management and the musicians' union AGMA. - The Colorado Sun
The streaming company added 5.9 million new paid subscribers during the second quarter of 2023, the first period after instituting what it calls its "paid sharing" strategy. - The Hollywood Reporter
"Found at the site of Viejo Sangayaico, 200km southeast of Lima, the floor was built into an open-air platform sometime between AD1000 and AD1400. It then continued in use under Inca rule, from 1400 to 1532, and perhaps during the early years of the Spanish conquest." - The Art Newspaper
Edward Hall, who founded the all-male Shakespearean specialist Propeller Theatre Company, is the brother of actress/director Rebecca Hall and son of Royal Shakespeare Company founder Peter Hall. Edward succeeds the Chicago troupe's founding director, Barbara Gaines, who departed last month after 37 years. - MSN (Chicago Tribune)
"A Swiss teenager is the latest offender to start carving her name into the ancient amphitheatre. The 17-year-old was caught in the act, with a local tour guide managing to video her scratching the letter N into the wall of the famous landmark." - The Independent (UK)
So how do we avoid this catastrophe? Just as in other areas of recent American life where entire industries were imperiled — banks, the auto industry — this crisis requires federal intervention. - The New York Times
What worries me more than money at the moment is the spiritual pall hanging over the theater community – a simmering angry paralysis mirroring our city’s wandering at anchor over its mixture of astonishing wealth, desire for social justice, and more and more people living in tents. - Post Alley
The show’s opening last week raised further questions about its intended audience. On a hot weekday, the heavily trafficked library was closed to its constituents in preparation for a celebrity-studded evening event hosting the rapper and his VIP friends. - Hyperallergic
