ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

Stories

Hollywood Retreats To The Basics: Making Money

As entertainment’s largest conglomerates face a perfect storm of financial pressures and macroeconomic uncertainty, there’s been a clear shift again to embrace the fundamentals and focus on profits, not market share, for new services.  - Variety

Audience Behavior Is Definitely Getting Worse

“There’s a lack of respect for other people in line-ups, they push through, don’t respect ticket takers. Some of them don’t even realize you have to show a ticket to get in." - Toronto Star

Fewer Than A Third Of Artistic Directors At Ballet Companies Worldwide Are Women, A Decrease From 2021

"Of the 198 artistic directors DDP identified at classically-based companies in both the U.S. and around the world, 58 (29%) are women and 140 (71%) are men. In the December 2021 Report, DDP identified 179 artistic directors globally, 59 of whom were women (33%)." - Dance Data Project

Streaming Made The Arts Accessible For Many. But Streaming Is Declining Post-COVID

With live performance now back, and some theaters and concert halls still struggling to bring back audiences, presenters have cut back on their streamed offerings — leaving many people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, who have been calling for better virtual access for decades, excluded again. - The New York Times

Actors’ Equity Has A Deal For A New Broadway Tour Contract

"The deal comes after the union, which represents more than 51,000 stage managers and actors, had announced a strike threat against the Broadway League, which represents industry producers, presenters and general managers, on April 3, at which time a resolution seemed far off." - The Hollywood Reporter

What Happened To The Marketplace Of Ideas?

“A lot of us wanted to believe that we had free and open discussions in this country, and that we can talk about anything, and that we can make changes. It sounds great as cocktail-party chitchat, when we are all in the room with the same beliefs.” - Christian Science Monitor

Pierre Lacotte, Choreographer, Ballet Historian, And Nureyev Rescuer, Is Dead At 91

He spent his career at the Paris Opera Ballet, first as a dancer and then as historian, searching the company archives and reconstructing old ballets as well as choreographing new ones. He became known worldwide for arranging Rudolf Nureyev's dramatic airport escape from his KGB handlers and defection. - BBC

Study: A Relationship Between Music And Mental Health Problems?

We couldn’t ignore that there were more mental health problems among people who play musical instruments and among people who reach higher levels of music engagement. I wanted to see if it was because they were engaged in music, or because they were born with a package. - Van

PBS Follows NPR In Stopping All Further Posts On Twitter

"PBS said it has suspended posting to Twitter after Elon Musk's social network pinned a 'government-funded media' descriptor to its primary account. The public TV broadcaster joins NPR in ceasing Twitter activity following the Twitter changes, which the organizations say inaccurately represent them." - Variety

Are We Searching For Arts Leaders In The Right Way?

What if theatres, instead of expecting new leaders to fix everything, helped surface change opportunities for the next leader within the search process itself? - American Theatre

Spain Seizes Counterfeit Old Master Paintings That Were Being Marketed For $84 Million

"Spanish police are investigating four people for fraud after they allegedly tried to sell forged paintings for more than €76 million. … The four forged works, attributed to Francisco de Goya, and a fifth allegedly by Diego Velázquez were accompanied by abundant documentation, which was also fake." - CNN

At The National Symphony In DC, The Music Director Is Personally Lending String Players His Own Instruments

"Since 2011, Gianandrea Noseda has quietly amassed an impressive collection of string instruments, and since 2019, he's been covertly feeding those instruments into the orchestra. Currently, eight of Noseda's secret stash are in the hands of NSO players – seven violins and one viola." - MSN (The Washington Post)

Former Art Institute Of Chicago Payroll Manager Pleads Guilty To Stealing $2 Million

"Michael Maurello ... falsified payments to employees and funneled museum payroll into his personal bank accounts from 2007 to 2020, the written plea agreement states. To hide the scheme, Maurello kept spreadsheets and notes to track the embezzled funds so later he could make reversals in the payroll system." - MSN (Chicago Tribune)

Texas County Backs Off Plan To Close Its Public Library Rather Than Restore The Books It Banned

"Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham announced that the county's library system will stay open. … Commissioners considered whether or not they would shut down their library system rather than complying with a federal judge's order that they must return 17 banned books to the library shelves." - Texas Public Radio

Philly Pops Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Philadelphia Orchestra-Kimmel Center

"The (federal) suit … claims that the orchestra, since merging with the Kimmel Center, has engaged in 'unlawful, anticompetitive and predatory conduct' to 'eliminate the Philly Pops as a competitor in and monopolize the market for live symphonic popular concert music' in the Greater Philadelphia area." - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

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