AUDIENCE

"Consuming culture is good for your health and wellbeing – and generates £8bn a year worth of improvements in people’s quality of life and higher productivity. That is the conclusion of the first major UK research to quantify the impact the arts and heritage can have on physical and mental health." - The Guardian

For many of Jeremy Reynolds's friends, $40 was too much for taking a chance on the unfamiliar. "It’s the low end of ticket prices that will keep out the casual listener, the friend of someone who wants to go, the young couple interested in trying something new for date night." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"In 2024 the average most expensive ticket outside of London was £56.46, compared to £49.19 last year. This is 63% cheaper than the average top-price ticket across West End theatres, which was £154.56. The average cheapest ticket in theatres across the UK was £20.96, a 1.5% decrease on 2023." - The Stage

The orchestra's 2023-24 annual report shows a sixth consecutive year of a balanced budget as well as endowment growth of 11% to $296 million; audience numbers have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. - Ideastream Public Media (Cleveland)

"Beautiful brick early 20th-century town halls were once venues for council meetings, award nights and country dances. But in recent decades many have been under-used or left entirely empty." Now municipalities are offering them to strapped arts organizations, often without rental fees. - The Guardian

It’s been more than three decades and more than 17,000 performances Off-Broadway. But apparently, it’s time to head to Florida. - The New York Times

"The project responded to ongoing reports of record-breaking levels of first-time attendance. Since full houses are central to the artistic and financial health of opera companies, OPERA America set out to uncover ways to retain and convert these newcomers into a sustaining audience for the future." - Opera America

The outlet, near Independence Hall, will offer 30% to 50% discounts, up to three days before curtain, to select music and dance performances (including the Philadelphia Orchestra and Philadelphia Ballet) as well as theater. This is the first TKTS booth in the US outside New York City. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Yes, even if we don’t play, or know anything about it. The massive game has been a campaign tool, an academic study subject, one of the first social networks, and a test run for subscription services and micropayments. - The New York Times

"Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan and her top aides directed employees to remove certain objects and details over the past year in order to avoid angering Republican legislators and making visitors feel ‘confronted.’” - Hyperallergic

“The Cultural Olympiad (can’t we go back to the friendlier Arts Festival?) is special. It is the only aspect of the Olympics that needn’t be politicized or commercialized.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

Turns out star power helps a lot - and so does having a city own the theatre and fund its costs. - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

Stopgap, a contemporary dance company which integrates variously disabled and neurodiverse performers, has a piece titled Lived Fiction in which audio description is integral to the work. Partially-sighted writer Caroline Butterwick came to find out if description can work with an art form as purely visual as dance is. - The Guardian

In student writing, teachers and professors are paid to do the reading. But books? That’s a whole different exchange. - LitHub

"In the nation's oldest opera house," begins correspondent Scott MacFarlane, "seats for this performance cost less than a movie ticket. Opera Philadelphia is launching a pick-your-price model, starting at just $11, as they try to lure more diverse and younger audiences." - CBS News