“There is perhaps no institution on earth whose opening has been as wildly anticipated, or as mind-bogglingly delayed. ... Its construction has been such a fiasco — mired by funding lapses, logistical hurdles, a pandemic, nearby wars, revolutions (yes, plural) — that it begs comparison to that of the pyramids.” - The New York Times
“The slow collapse of the postwar avant-garde’s underlying tenets (no figuration! no storytelling! no obvious skill!) has allowed many to admit that Wyeth was onto something specific and powerful …, (and) I find it tends to overwhelm most reservations. What he was onto, in short, was mortality.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
“In this excerpt, adapted from Seller’s memoir, Theater Kid (out on May 6 from Simon & Schuster), the producer lays out the musical’s long road from dispiriting workshop to its simultaneously triumphant and tragic first preview performance.” - Vulture
“Vargas Llosa, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010, gained renown as a young writer with slangy, blistering visions of the corruption, moral compromises and cruelty festering in Peru.” - The New York Times
A spokesperson wrote that the Obama portrait was simply moved. “Last month, the Trump administration and the Kremlin confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin gifted a portrait to the president. It is unclear whether the portrait now hanging in the White House was a gift from Putin.” - Hyperallergic
"The Irish Times used the phrase 'freak pictures’ in a review, and Russell again had a field day, referring to their work as ‘artistic malaria.’ It all weighed heavily on them both.” - The Guardian (UK)
They reinstalled Eric Gill’s statue, is what they did. Now it’s behind a “protective screen” (to protect the sculpture, that is), but, uh, "visitors can now scan a QR code near the building to understand the dark background of the sculpture’s creator.” - The Guardian (UK)
“More than 40 years after the start of the epidemic, the full numerical scope of the toll AIDS took on the world of theater in New York remains difficult to assess. It’s not just inaccurate death notices that are the enemy of historical precision; it’s the passage of decades.” - New York Magazine (MSN)
Philip Kennicott on the administration’s attitude toward the Smithsonian's African-American and Indian Museums: “Simply put, Trump would like the actual practice of history — a complex process of research, interpretation and ongoing revision — to resemble the more limited, and often distorted, sense of history offered by statues, monuments and memorials.” - The Washington Post (Yahoo!)
A team of artists and neuroscientists took white blood cells donated by the composer (who cooperated with the project), reprogrammed them to be stem cells, grew cerebral organoids (clusters of neurons that mimic the human brain) and used customized technology to render the organoids’ neural signals into music. - The Guardian
“The historic fantasy of the Great White Way as a glamorous montage of gleaming marquees, sparky backstage romances, and elegant audiences reveling in black tie was a Hollywood concoction, arguably false from the start.” - New York Magazine (MSN)
But this surprise is of the good, even great sort: The theatre “has paid $9.5 million to buy back the campus it lost in bankruptcy in 1970 — a remarkable feat for a theater organization, and a building, brought back from the brink.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
“His departure comes as President Trump has targeted the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, in an executive order,” though the museum’s official statement was that he wanted to focus more on his writing. - The New York Times
The proposed reforms go far beyond universities and hospitals, calling on Congress to use the following means to eviscerate section 501(c) of the federal tax code, which gives tax-exempt status to nonprofits: - Chronicle of Philanthropy
For 2025-26, the company will again offer all seats at $11 each (or higher if the buyer chooses). There are twice as many performances as this season, and five works scheduled rather than this season’s three — but only one of those works is a conventional opera. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“(He) experienced the ups and downs of fame more dramatically than most. His break came in 1984’s spy spoof Top Secret! … (and) his movie career hit its zenith in the 1990s ... as a dashing leading man” in Tombstone, True Romance, Top Gun, The Doors (as rockstar Jim Morrison), and Batman Forever. - AP
One (really) good thing: “While the vice president, along with the chief justice of the United States, is a member of the board by law, the executive branch does not have authority over the institution.” - The New York Times
"When I was coming up in the ranks, no one ever talked about the complicated ethics of fundraising. How do you decide when to say no to that check because it comes with strings attached, or … you take the money and you hold your nose?" - Nieman Storyboard
“A Tarrant County grand jury declined to take action against the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth or artist Sally Mann in (the) case of … four photos that were confiscated months ago from Diaries of Home, a temporary exhibition at the museum.” - KERA (Dallas)
