ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

Today's Stories

Why The Costumed Performers At Disneyland California Are Unionizing

As one cast member puts it, "After a couple of months … the fairy dust fades away, and you see your friends and people you really care about hurting and burnt out and not able to pay their rent." - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

Florence Is Drowning In Selfie-Seeking Tourists. One Museum Director Suggests A Solution

The city has 360,000 residents, only 40,000 of whom live in the historic center, but receives 11 million tourists each year. Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell' Accademia (where Michelangelo's David is located), suggests the city try a larger version of the crowd-control measures she's introduced at the museum. - The Guardian

Flagship National Museum Of Wales Faces Staff Cuts And Possible Closure

Due to funding cuts and an existing deficit, the main gallery in Cardiff could eliminate up to 90 staff positions, sand it may have to start charging for admission for the first time. Water leaks and deteriorating wiring will require closing the building if funding for repairs isn't approved. - Time Out UK

Brooklyn Museum Appoints Its First Composer In Residence

Cellist and composer Niles Luther, 27, "is kicking off his residency by composing three musical arrangements to accompany the exhibition 'Hiroshige’s 100 Famous Views of Edo' (feat. Takashi Murakami), which opened today." - Forbes

Welsh National Opera Has To Reduce Again After Funding Cuts

The funding received from Arts Council England (ACE) was cut by 35%, which led to WNO performances in Liverpool being cancelled in 2022, while operas in other English cities went ahead as planned. - BBC

Report: Lloyds Bank Estimates Taylor Swift Fans Lost More Than £1M In Ticket Scams

The bank said more than 600 of its customers had come forward to report being scammed, losing an average of £332 each - with some losing £1,000. It added that 90% of the reported ticket scams started on Facebook. - BBC

Culture Is Arguably The UK’s Biggest Industry. So Why Isn’t The Government Supporting It?

Even a hard-nosed economic perspective suggests that arts provision warrants support, rather than a freeze. By the government’s own estimates, the creative industries contribute around £126 billion to the UK economy. That’s more than the car industry, for instance, or aerospace, oil and gas. - The Conversation

NPR Editor Who Criticized The Broadcaster Resigns

Before he resigned from NPR, Mr. Berliner was on a five-day suspension from the network for violating company policy against working for outside organizations without securing permission. - The New York Times

Small Presses Lost Their Distributor. Now What?

Small presses play a crucial role in the American literary landscape, publishing books that have artistic merit but little commercial potential. Without S.P.D., it could be far more difficult for small presses to get their books to readers, or for those books to exist at all. - The New York Times

Disneyland Expansion Approved

The plan wouldn’t expand Disney’s footprint in tourism-dependent Anaheim but would help it add rides and entertainment by letting the company relocate parking to a new multi-story structure and redevelop the massive lot, as well as make other changes to how it uses its properties. - AP

Hugh Grant, Suing One Of London’s Most Notorious Tabloids, Settles For “An Enormous Sum”

"The actor had accused the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun of phone hacking, unlawful information-gathering, landline tapping, bugging his phone and burgling his flat and office. His case was due to go to trial at London’s high court in January 2025." - The Guardian

How Fiction Gives Us Insight Into Ourselves

The philosopher Gregory Currie has examined the implications of how fiction encourages us to imagine a character’s experience. If a character in a film or novel is grieving, for instance, you might find yourself taking on what you imagine to be their thoughts, desires and emotional pain, as if they were your own. - Psyche

How To Install Hundreds Of Solar Panels Atop A 500-Year-Old Church

Said church is the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, where a year-long (and rather delicate) project to place 438 panels on the roof was just completed. A desecration of historic architecture? Says the college's provost, "People don’t come to King’s College Chapel to see the roof." - Smithsonian Magazine

The “Art” Of Variable Pricing

To regular people, raising the price of something precisely when we need it the most is the definition of predatory behavior. To an economist, it is the height of rationality: a signal to the market to produce more of the good or service, and a way to ensure that whoever needs it the most can pay...

A Small Nation In West Africa Looks To The Arts To Grow Its Economy

The Republic of Benin — one of the two long-and-narrow countries wedged between Ghana and Nigeria — plans to spend €250 million to put culture alongside agriculture as the pillars of its economy. Four museums are under construction in various cities, as is a larger arts complex in Cotonou. - The Art Newspaper

Something for The Superfans: Vinyl Records

Although streaming remains the dominant music format, physical media has been a growing niche where the industry can cater to so-called superfans, who express their dedication to artists by shelling out big bucks for collectible versions of new releases, sometimes in multiple quantities. - The New York Times

Remember The “God Hates Renoir” Demonstrations Of 2015?

"Armed with snobbish hipster fury and signage that read 'God Hates Renoir,' 'ReNOir,' and 'We’re Not Iconoclasts, Renoir Just Sucks At Painting,' the group briefly received considerable media attention — though none from the institutions it was heckling." - Artnet

AI Can Enhance Film. But Something Seems Off…

It can be hard to pinpoint what is changed. But there does seem to be a difference, and depending on the viewer, it can feel slightly uncanny. - The New York Times

As Tensions Between Russia And South Korea Rise, Ballets Featuring Bolshoi Stars Get Cancelled

Last month a production in Seoul starring Bolshoi prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova was called off following protests. This week, another show featuring 12 Bolshoi principals was cancelled a day before opening. One banner held by protesters read "Purchasing tickets for Russian performances = Purchasing missiles that will kill civilians." - AFP (Yahoo!)

The Financialization Of Hollywood Is Killing Screenwriting As A Profession

"Profit will of course find a way; there will always be shit to watch. But without radical intervention, whether by the government or the workers, the industry will become unrecognizable. And the writing trade — the kind where one actually earns a living — will be obliterated." - Harper's

By Topic

How Fiction Gives Us Insight Into Ourselves

The philosopher Gregory Currie has examined the implications of how fiction encourages us to imagine a character’s experience. If a character in a film or novel is grieving, for instance, you might find yourself taking on what you imagine to be their thoughts, desires and emotional pain, as if they were your own. - Psyche

How Cultural Values Diverge Around The World

We also find that countries with similar per-capita GDP levels have held similar values over the last 40 years. Over time, however, geographic proximity has emerged as an increasingly strong correlate of value similarity, indicating that values have diverged globally but converged regionally. - Nature

Once We Were Thrilled By Cultural Theory. Why?

Today, now that the passion for theory has been largely spent, it can be hard to explain why it was once felt to be so fascinating. Surely its exotic pedigree played a role. - Boston Review

Pre-History. (What A Concept!)

“Prehistory is about the present day; it always has been. Over the 250 or so years that human origins have been pursued, studied, and taught, the countless stories and theories proposed have said a lot more about the current moment than the distant past.” - The Wall Street Journal

Dying For The Liberal Arts

In 1942, a young man at war wrote a defense of the liberal arts to his family, and to his favorite professor - letters that have inspired his relatives to understand how central ideas are to democracy. - The Atlantic

In Recent US Cinema, Women Loving Women Have Gotten Very Funny And Bizarre

"With their offbeat B-movie feel, these stories are ‘managing to mess with this dichotomy between the good representation and the bad representation,’” one expert says of such movies as Bottoms, Love Lies Bleeding, and Drive-Away Dolls. - The New York Times

Why The Costumed Performers At Disneyland California Are Unionizing

As one cast member puts it, "After a couple of months … the fairy dust fades away, and you see your friends and people you really care about hurting and burnt out and not able to pay their rent." - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

Florence Is Drowning In Selfie-Seeking Tourists. One Museum Director Suggests A Solution

The city has 360,000 residents, only 40,000 of whom live in the historic center, but receives 11 million tourists each year. Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell' Accademia (where Michelangelo's David is located), suggests the city try a larger version of the crowd-control measures she's introduced at the museum. - The Guardian

Culture Is Arguably The UK’s Biggest Industry. So Why Isn’t The Government Supporting It?

Even a hard-nosed economic perspective suggests that arts provision warrants support, rather than a freeze. By the government’s own estimates, the creative industries contribute around £126 billion to the UK economy. That’s more than the car industry, for instance, or aerospace, oil and gas. - The Conversation

Disneyland Expansion Approved

The plan wouldn’t expand Disney’s footprint in tourism-dependent Anaheim but would help it add rides and entertainment by letting the company relocate parking to a new multi-story structure and redevelop the massive lot, as well as make other changes to how it uses its properties. - AP

The “Art” Of Variable Pricing

To regular people, raising the price of something precisely when we need it the most is the definition of predatory behavior. To an economist, it is the height of rationality: a signal to the market to produce more of the good or service, and a way to ensure that whoever needs it the most...

A Small Nation In West Africa Looks To The Arts To Grow Its Economy

The Republic of Benin — one of the two long-and-narrow countries wedged between Ghana and Nigeria — plans to spend €250 million to put culture alongside agriculture as the pillars of its economy. Four museums are under construction in various cities, as is a larger arts complex in Cotonou. - The Art Newspaper

Brooklyn Museum Appoints Its First Composer In Residence

Cellist and composer Niles Luther, 27, "is kicking off his residency by composing three musical arrangements to accompany the exhibition 'Hiroshige’s 100 Famous Views of Edo' (feat. Takashi Murakami), which opened today." - Forbes

Welsh National Opera Has To Reduce Again After Funding Cuts

The funding received from Arts Council England (ACE) was cut by 35%, which led to WNO performances in Liverpool being cancelled in 2022, while operas in other English cities went ahead as planned. - BBC

Report: Lloyds Bank Estimates Taylor Swift Fans Lost More Than £1M In Ticket Scams

The bank said more than 600 of its customers had come forward to report being scammed, losing an average of £332 each - with some losing £1,000. It added that 90% of the reported ticket scams started on Facebook. - BBC

Something for The Superfans: Vinyl Records

Although streaming remains the dominant music format, physical media has been a growing niche where the industry can cater to so-called superfans, who express their dedication to artists by shelling out big bucks for collectible versions of new releases, sometimes in multiple quantities. - The New York Times

Changes Coming At La Scala: Riccardo Chailly Sets Departure Date And New Superintendent Is Named

The current superintendent of La Fenice in Venice, Fortunato Ortombina, will take over in Milan this September. For the first year, he will work alongside outgoing La Scala superintendent Dominique Meyer, who departs in August 2025. Music director Riccardo Chailly will remain until 2026. - AFP (Yahoo!)

Faced With Double Funding Cuts, Welsh National Opera Cancels Shows

The company saw reduced support from the Arts Council of Wales and lost all funding from Arts Council England, which helped pay for tours to several English cities. Planned runs next year in Bristol (England) and Llandudno (Wales) have been called off, as has one production in Cardiff. - BBC

Flagship National Museum Of Wales Faces Staff Cuts And Possible Closure

Due to funding cuts and an existing deficit, the main gallery in Cardiff could eliminate up to 90 staff positions, sand it may have to start charging for admission for the first time. Water leaks and deteriorating wiring will require closing the building if funding for repairs isn't approved. - Time Out UK

Brooklyn Museum Appoints Its First Composer In Residence

Cellist and composer Niles Luther, 27, "is kicking off his residency by composing three musical arrangements to accompany the exhibition 'Hiroshige’s 100 Famous Views of Edo' (feat. Takashi Murakami), which opened today." - Forbes

How To Install Hundreds Of Solar Panels Atop A 500-Year-Old Church

Said church is the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, where a year-long (and rather delicate) project to place 438 panels on the roof was just completed. A desecration of historic architecture? Says the college's provost, "People don’t come to King’s College Chapel to see the roof." - Smithsonian Magazine

Remember The “God Hates Renoir” Demonstrations Of 2015?

"Armed with snobbish hipster fury and signage that read 'God Hates Renoir,' 'ReNOir,' and 'We’re Not Iconoclasts, Renoir Just Sucks At Painting,' the group briefly received considerable media attention — though none from the institutions it was heckling." - Artnet

Warning That Venice’s Historic Houses Are Crumbling

Mario Piana, the Proto (architect) responsible for the maintenance of St Mark’s Basilica, in Venice, has warned that the city’s historic building stock is crumbling from the bottom up because of the rising water level of the lagoon. - The Art Newspaper

Report: British Museum Chairman Clashes With Prime Minister

British Museum chairman George Osborne reportedly clashed with officials from the Prime Minister’s office over the selection of the institution’s next museum director prior to the appointment of National Portrait Gallery director Nicholas Cullinan. - ARTnews

Small Presses Lost Their Distributor. Now What?

Small presses play a crucial role in the American literary landscape, publishing books that have artistic merit but little commercial potential. Without S.P.D., it could be far more difficult for small presses to get their books to readers, or for those books to exist at all. - The New York Times

At PEN America, Major Dissension Over The Israel-Hamas War In Gaza

"Several authors have turned down awards and awards nominations from PEN America, citing unhappiness with the literary and free expression organization’s stance on the war in Gaza." - AP

Book Bans In US Schools Reach Record Levels, Reports PEN America

"The new report, Banned in the USA: Narrating the Crisis, reports 4,349 book bans recorded across 23 states and 52 public school districts from July to December 2023. ... More book bans were recorded during the first half of the current school year than in the entire 2022-2023 year." - Publishers Weekly

AI Is Replacing Translators In Commercial Publishing

Income from commercial translation work has fallen significantly since the beginning of 2023. The loss of non-literary streams of income for literary translators will mean the “raising of the bar to entry into the industry, with only those with wealth able to translate literature for publication”. - The Guardian

Major US Publishers Join Lawsuit To Stop Iowa’s Book-Banning Bill

"Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and Sourcebooks announced that they have joined the initial plaintiffs, which included PRH, the Iowa State Education Association, four renowned authors (Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, Malinda Lo, and Jodi Picoult), and a group of teachers and students." - Publishers Weekly

AI Translators Are Crushing Languages

The generative-AI boom, despite promises to bridge languages and cultures, may only further entrench the dominance of English in life on and off the web. - The Atlantic

NPR Editor Who Criticized The Broadcaster Resigns

Before he resigned from NPR, Mr. Berliner was on a five-day suspension from the network for violating company policy against working for outside organizations without securing permission. - The New York Times

AI Can Enhance Film. But Something Seems Off…

It can be hard to pinpoint what is changed. But there does seem to be a difference, and depending on the viewer, it can feel slightly uncanny. - The New York Times

The Financialization Of Hollywood Is Killing Screenwriting As A Profession

"Profit will of course find a way; there will always be shit to watch. But without radical intervention, whether by the government or the workers, the industry will become unrecognizable. And the writing trade — the kind where one actually earns a living — will be obliterated." - Harper's

“I Have Zero Skill Or Patience For Video Games” Says Playwright Who’s Written Two Plays About Them

Bekah Brunstetter's The Game "is about a fictionalized version of Fortnite Battle Royale, ... where each round ends with only one survivor. It comes seven years after The Oregon Trail, inspired by the game that condemned countless 1990s middle-schoolers to awful deaths (on) the grueling 19th-century passage west." - The New York Times

Former Staffer: Here’s Where The Real Problems Are At NPR

That’s what the core editorial problem at NPR is and, frankly, has long been: an abundance of caution that often crossed the border to cowardice. NPR culture encouraged an editorial fixation on finding the exact middle point of the elite political and social thought, planting a flag there, and calling it objectivity. - Slate

NPR Editor Who Wrote Critique Of The Broadcaster Is Suspended

Uri Berliner has been suspended for five days without pay, starting last Friday, according to NPR’s David Folkenflik. - Deadline

As Tensions Between Russia And South Korea Rise, Ballets Featuring Bolshoi Stars Get Cancelled

Last month a production in Seoul starring Bolshoi prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova was called off following protests. This week, another show featuring 12 Bolshoi principals was cancelled a day before opening. One banner held by protesters read "Purchasing tickets for Russian performances = Purchasing missiles that will kill civilians." - AFP (Yahoo!)

A Philadelphia Ballerina Battles MS In Scotland

After six years dancing with the Philadelphia Ballet, Emily Davis moved to Glasgow in 2021 to do a PhD degree in dance health. Her focus is how dance classes can help patients with multiple sclerosis — of which Scotland has one of the world's highest incidence rates. - BBC

How Harlem Stage Has Helped Create Choreography Careers

The series E-Moves is 25 years old now, and one of its "intended effects has been to take choreographers who work mainly ‘downtown,’ in white-dominated dance institutions, and bring them ‘uptown’ to Harlem." - The New York Times

A Connecticut Civilian At A Pilobolus Workshop

"Emily told us to 'start walking' — all of us, in any direction, or all directions, as she and Matt called out instructions. … With everyone gradually picking up on the same gesture and then letting it transform, by the end of this ever-morphing exercise we were dancing en masse, already unified." - Literary...

AGMA Accuses Miami City Ballet Of Union-Busting Campaign

"Miami City Ballet management has begun an aggressive, coordinated union-busting campaign against their dancers, the majority of whom are fighting to unionize. … Furthermore, MCB management is trying to circumvent the legal process by denying their dancers the right to a union election." - American Guild of Musical Artists

This Guy Founded A Male Exotic Dance Troupe In (Of All Places) Singapore

"There were no success stories of male exotic dance troupes in Singapore, where the nightlife industry isn't as vibrant as in the US. But I wanted to introduce a new perspective on exotic dance that didn't quite exist (here), and at the same time reduce the stigma surrounding the genre." - Business Insider

The Torch-Lighting Ceremony In Greece For The 2024 Olympic Games

"Women dressed as priestesses are at the heart of the ceremony, first held for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Leading the group is an actress who performs the role of high priestess and makes a dramatic appeal to Apollo ... for assistance moments before the torch is lit." - AP

Why Are Broadway Tickets So Much More Expensive Now?

If Broadway feels more expensive than ever before, that’s because it is. Despite crowds that haven’t rebounded to pre-COVID levels, the average ticket price for a Broadway show reached an all time high: $128 in the most recent full season. - Gothamist

Sunset Boulevard, Heading To Broadway, Just Swept The Oliviers In London

The revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber show won seven Oliviers, matching the totals won by Hamilton, Matilda, and Cabaret. - The Telegraph (UK) (MSN)

Suzan-Lori Parks Hasn’t Stopped Fearlessly Reimagining The United States

“Her plays, inventive provocations whose sometimes scathing visions of race and gender can unsettle audiences, have something to tell us about the troublesome relationship between individual identity and national community” - and they’re having a bit of a renaissance. - The New York Times

You Can Reenact Lincoln’s Assassination In Many Theatres, But Not The One Where It Happened

“You know, at Ford’s we have an obligation. We have an obligation to the facts. We have an obligation to truth, we have an obligation to, you know, be respectful and be reverential. This is a memorial site. It’s a national historical site.” - The New York Times

Why All The Broadway Theatre Standing Ovations?

Some have attributed the trend to the tourists who fill many of the seats at Broadway shows; they may be less familiar with theater and therefore especially enthusiastic. But standing ovations are the default even at shows and plays that attract few tourists. - The New York Times

Hugh Grant, Suing One Of London’s Most Notorious Tabloids, Settles For “An Enormous Sum”

"The actor had accused the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun of phone hacking, unlawful information-gathering, landline tapping, bugging his phone and burgling his flat and office. His case was due to go to trial at London’s high court in January 2025." - The Guardian

Patti Astor, Arts Doyenne, 74

With her platinum hair, raspy voice and glamorous ’50s-style dresses, Ms. Astor was a formidable presence among the music, film and art makers who gathered at the Mudd Club in TriBeCa. - The New York Times

Salman Rushdie Recalls The Loss Of His Right Eye In The Stabbing Attack

"'It was kind of hanging out of my face, sitting on my cheek, I've said like a soft-boiled egg. And blind.' Sir Salman said losing one eye 'upsets me every day'. ... But he considers himself lucky to have avoided brain damage." - BBC

Remembering Seiji Ozawa

Ozawa refused to live in Boston, raising his family in Tokyo and commuting when required. His English was never more than functional. Most musicians grasped what he wanted; any who protested did not last long. - The Critic

Artist Faith Ringgold, Who Wove Black History Into Quilts And Books, Has Died At 93

“For more than a half-century, Ms. Ringgold explored themes of race, gender, class, family and community through a vast array of media, among them painting, sculpture, mask- and doll-making, textiles and performance art.” - The New York Times

Eleanor Coppola, Who Made The Documentary About Her Husband’s Apocalypse Now, Has Died At 87

Eleanor was "a writer and film director who documented the making of some of her husband Francis Ford Coppola's iconic films, including the infamously tortured production of Apocalypse Now, and who raised a family of filmmakers." - CBC

AJ Premium Classifieds

Executive Director – Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley

Seeking an entrepreneurial, strategic and creative business leader to contribute to this award-winning youth choir's next chapter of growth.

Executive Director – Ballet Idaho

The Executive Director will work in a shared leadership relationship with the Artistic Director with both positions reporting to and working collaboratively with the Board of Directors.

Executive Director – Opening Act

The Executive Director will steward the organization with a love for theater and arts education combined with a talent for strategic leadership.

CFO- Arena Stage

The CFO is a critical member of the Senior Management Team and important ally to Arena’s co-leaders providing operational leadership and oversight in all matters of ongoing financial management, accounting and strategic business development.

Executive Director – Voices of Ascension

The Executive Director will collaborate with the Artistic Director and program chairs to ensure successful program delivery and with the Board of Directors

AJClassifieds

Chief Programming and Engagement Officer

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust (PCT or the Trust), one of the nation’s premier arts presenters and a major catalytic influence in the city of Pittsburgh, seeks a chief programming and engagement officer (CPEO).

Executive Director, Institute for Contemporary Art

The ICA has become a focal point of Richmond’s energetic arts district, serving as a nexus for creativity and inclusion, where innovative thinking and transformational ideas are drawn from a spectrum of disciplines.

Job Alert: Baltimore School for the Arts, Foundation Director

The Baltimore School for the Arts Foundation is the fundraising partner of the Baltimore School for the Arts.

Payroll/HR Administrator, Mark Morris Dance Group

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION: This position supports the entire organization, interacting regularly...

Assistant Teaching Professor of Dance

The Department of Theatre & Dance at UC San Diego invites exceptional dance educators and dance makers who emphasize interdisciplinary methodologies and whose research is rooted in African and Afro-Diasporic experiences and practices that are varyingly multiracial, trans-geographic and intersectional.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival Seeks Director of Production

The Director of Production will oversee the management of...

Signature Theatre NYC seeks next Artistic Director

The Artistic Director will design and implement Signature’s artistic vision, curating an exciting and diverse season of productions that is in alignment with its organizational mission.

Chief Executive Officer, Motown Museum

The CEO will be a dynamic, high-energy leader with a minimum of 10 years of strategic leadership experience.

Executive Director of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center

They will be accountable for a strategic direction, business model, and adaptive change that are in alignment with the Institute’s Rensselaer Forward plan.

FringeArts seeks CEO & Producing Director

The Chief Executive Officer and Producing Director (CEO & PD) will drive the organization’s next level of growth through a strategic evolution that enhances FringeArts’ impact and reach.

How Harlem Stage Has Helped Create Choreography Careers

The series E-Moves is 25 years old now, and one of its "intended effects has been to take choreographers who work mainly ‘downtown,’ in white-dominated dance institutions, and bring them ‘uptown’ to Harlem." - The New York Times

Disastrous Decisions In The UK As Birmingham Council Slashes All Arts Funding

Birmingham is a bellwether for the UK. Nothing “could be more emblematic of the way that Britain currently devalues life: when we only focus on our most basic needs, dismissing leisure, art, literature and culture as something decadent and middle-class, we do ourselves an injustice.” - The Observer (UK)

Artist Faith Ringgold, Who Wove Black History Into Quilts And Books, Has Died At 93

“For more than a half-century, Ms. Ringgold explored themes of race, gender, class, family and community through a vast array of media, among them painting, sculpture, mask- and doll-making, textiles and performance art.” - The New York Times

The Long-Hidden Sexual Assault Scandal At The New York Phil

Even now, "some employees, particularly female employees, continue to feel unsafe. A current member of the orchestra told me about an incident this past February in which her male colleagues spoke negatively about Asian women performing with the orchestra." - Vulture (MSN)

Roberta Smith On 38 Years Of Art Criticism For The New York Times

"Critics need to be more flexible than artists. You have to be open to being changed and pushed into new directions. ... My main goal has always been to point out art that people would enjoy seeing, and to show them how I saw it and enjoyed it." - The New York Times

Fraud Fail: Musicians Are Seeing Their Music Being Taken Down From Streaming Services

Although distributors and streaming services frequently use language that places the blame on the artist for fraudulent activity detected on their accounts, it has become clear that artists are often caught in the middle of a crossfire between streaming services, distributors and fraudsters attempting to game the system for their own financial gain. - Variety

Librarians Under Threat Of Jail, Lawsuits In Trump 2nd-Term Agenda

In the foreword to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a possible second Donald Trump administration, it says “people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders.” - AP

Conductor Edo De Waart Suddenly Announces His Retirement

Said the 82-year-old this morning, "I woke up at 5:30 yesterday morning to get ready for rehearsal and I thought, what am I even doing? I was wobbly on my feet, and then I thought, I just shouldn't do it anymore." - NPO Radio 4 (Netherlands) (via Google Translate)

Visa Costs For International Artists In The U.S. Have Risen Astronomically, And With Devastating Effect

One musician says, "Every time I go over there, I'm losing money. … We’re never making money, it's not a possibility. I'm lucky enough that I'm signed now and I've made two albums so I have the money to lose in America.” - BBC

An Oral History Of Playing Mrs. Lovett, One Of Theatre’s Bloodiest Roles

Lea Salonga, on the song “The Worst Pies in London": "There are a whole lot of built-in reversals and crazy shifts. And I don’t mean vocal, but rather where she goes emotionally. It’s like this woman is the multitasking queen.” - Washington Post

What Happened To Berlin?

The city was a beacon of artistic freedom. Then came October 7. Now, "a climate of fear and recrimination has put Berlin’s status as an international cultural capital in greater hazard than at any time since 1989." - The New York Times

West End Production Of Romeo And Juliet Sees Barrage Of Racist Abuse Toward Its Leading Lady

The theatre company said, "We are working with a remarkable group of artists. We insist that they are free to create work without facing online harassment.” - BBC
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