Bad, really bad. "It’s a mistake to compare this stuff to other films. It is, indeed, a mistake to compare it to any other artistic enterprise. What we’re dealing with is closer to tinsel or snow in a can. Christmas movies are mere decoration.” - Irish Times (Archive Today)
How to pick an (Oscar) winner: "The presumptive top five in the Best Picture race includes two auteur-driven blockbusters, one old-school weepie, one timely social drama, and one family saga by a venerated European director.” - Vulture
The first club meetup included “an exclusive Theater Club post-show talkback with artists who worked on the show, and a drink ticket that can be used at the Chopin bar so folks can hang out after the talkback and chat theatre with likeminded folks.” - American Theatre
One way is by, let’s say, not being intense with their audiences. “My first covenant is with the audience, and I care about what they think. … People don’t want to spend money on a show they don’t think they’re going to like.” - The New York Times
“One of my friends has cultivated a list of 30 movies about ‘Fucked-Up British People,’ while I made ‘crash out cinema,’ a collection of films to watch when you’re in the throes of a maybe-unrequited crush.” - The Guardian (UK)
But sadly, he’s not here to see it. “Why the opera was not performed when it was written, in 1995, offers a snapshot of the classical music scene in Italy at the time, which snubbed Morricone as a mere composer of film soundtracks.” - The New York Times
Sometimes it’s timing - or a good translation. Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection didn’t find its audience in Italy, but English readers love it. It “has now sold more copies in specific London bookshops than in the whole of France.” - The Guardian (UK)
Sorry, it’s truly the Christmas music race. “There are 20 Christmas songs overall in the Top 40. But these classics will have new rivals for the Christmas No 1 next week, as a number of charity and novelty singles enter the race.” - The Guardian (UK)
More than 14.7 million seats were filled in 2024-25, according to the latest audience-demographics report from The Broadway League. Among other findings is that, yet again, the average ticket-buyer is a 41-year-old, college-educated woman whose household income is over $275K a year. - Deadline
“According to data released ... on Wednesday, less than 13% of admissions in (2024-25) came from the surrounding New York suburbs, which was the lowest percentage on Broadway in 30 years. The demographic, which once made up 20% of the audience, has been trending down over the past few years.” - The Hollywood Reporter
“The archives ... said that no curators of ‘The American Story’ were available to speak, citing staff departures that have left the institution with only two curators, neither of whom had a substantial role in the exhibition.” - The New York Times
“Austen's characters are archetypes. That's what makes them so relatable today. We all know someone who's awkward and ingratiating, like Mr. Collins, clever and independent, like Lizzie, or reticent and reserved, like Mr. Darcy.” - NPR
