“At their current rate – anywhere between 10 and 13 new cinemas a day – China will have 60,000 screens in 10 to 15 years. The centre of gravity is shifting so rapidly to China and Asia – not just the market but also the money and capital for American movies – that their opinions are going to matter much more. Ultimately, China is going to be not just the biggest market but also the arbiter of what can get made and will get made.”
Gee – We REALLY Don’t Like To Be Alone With Our Own Thoughts
“In 11 experiments involving more than 700 people, the majority of participants reported that they found it unpleasant to be alone in a room with their thoughts for just 6 to 15 minutes. Moreover, in one experiment, 64 percent of men and 15 percent of women began self-administering electric shocks when left alone to think.”
130,000 Fans Flock To Comic Con. But Their Value To Marketers?
It’s a “persistent problem of those who would sell products to the 130,000 or so fans who gather here annually to celebrate movies, television, video games and, of course, comics: These costumed folk have far more enthusiasm than buying power.”
Just What Do Poet Laureates Do? And Why Do States Have Them?
For the broader world of people who read poetry — and many who don’t — the brouhaha was a chance to ask a more basic question: Just who are America’s state poets laureate, and what do they do anyway?
Choreographing A Dance Piece For The Façade Of A Building (And Not A Flat Façade, Either)
For Cincinnati’s Lumenocity celebration, a choreographer and two dancers from Cincinnati Ballet create a work to be digitized and projected onto the (enormous and ornate) face of the city’s Music Hall.
In Defense Of The Remaking Of Mecca
“At night, all lit up and crowded with apartments and hotels, Mecca now looks like a Saudi interpretation of Gotham or even Las Vegas … and shopping malls and high-rise blocks are being built in a circle around the pilgrimage zone.” The Saudis are catching a lot of flak for these changes, but Nesrine Malik argues that they are both necessary and (certain excesses notwithstanding) well-considered.
Enough Is Enough: US Senator Pushes For Law Allowing Musicians To Bring Instruments On Airplanes
“In a letter sent Friday, the Rhode Island Democrat urged U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to speed implementation of a 2012 law that requires commercial air carriers to allow musical instruments as carry-on items as long as they can be safely stowed in the aircraft cabin. But Reed said the law has not taken effect because the Department of Transportation has yet to adopt the specific rules needed for the provision.”
PayPal Forces Buyer To Destroy Violin
“Rather than have the violin returned to me, PayPal made the buyer DESTROY the violin in order to get his money back. They somehow deemed the violin as “counterfeit” even though there is no such thing in the violin world.”
This Woman Completely Reinvented The Way Broadway Gets Funded
Karen Walter Goodwin’s “idea was essentially to provide an investment bank for nascent stage productions, putting together producers — who were enthralled by the idea of financial backers who did not crave or require creative input — and investors with proven track records who were willing to try their hand in a new arena.”
Why Do We Love Little Free Libraries So Much?
“Though they owe their spread largely to the Internet, Little Free Libraries often serve as an antidote to a world of Kindle downloads and data-driven algorithms. The little wooden boxes are refreshingly physical—and human.”
Forget Supertitles; Just Bring Your iPhone Or iPad To Wolf Trap’s ‘Carmen’ [AUDIO]
“The larger aim is to give texture and context to the things that we do so it feels a little more integrated into 21st century life.”
Is Audience Participation In Theatre A Good Thing?
“All theater is immersive, whether we want it to be or not. You need to design your audience’s experience from the moment they set foot in your theater door, or, preferably, as they approach it from the street.”
Top AJBlogs From 07.27.14
Detroit Creditors Stir Up More Trouble
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-07-28
Pay Attention to the Show! (Or What You Will)
AJBlog: We The Audience | Published 2014-07-28
What Will Happen To Los Angeles County After Its Most Fervent Arts Advocate Gets Booted From Political Life?
“Manufacturing in Southern California is history. Big corporate headquarters are history in this town. So what’s the future? The arts are explosive, proliferating like bunny rabbits all over Southern California.”
Subbing In At The Last Minute For A Broadway Musician? No Problem
“As recently as the late 1980s, playing in a Broadway musical was not considered the most desirable gig for a musician. Most professionals sought better-paying work in jingles and recording sessions. But as that work dried up, due in part to samplers and digital-audio software, the ace musicians gravitated toward theaters near Times Square.”
Why “Bad” Music Might Be Better Than You Think
“Schlock, at its finest, is where bad taste becomes great art. Schlock is music that subjugates all other values to brute emotional impact; it aims to overwhelm, to body-slam the senses, to deliver catharsis like a linebacker delivers a clothesline tackle. The qualities traditionally prized by music critics and other listeners of discerning taste — sophistication, subtlety, wit, irony, originality, “experimentation” — have no place in schlock.”