First, they repeatedly play a little melody on a glockenspiel or dinner chime or marimba as they stroll through the lobbies. Then, says one longtime usher at the Metropolitan Opera, “We have to push them, kind of like moving cattle.” - The New York Times
“As a sports obsessive and avid theatergoer, I’ve always found the communal experiences staggeringly similar. Either way, we root and cheer and gasp in unison. Worship-worthy idols emerge — and nothing beats seeing them ply their trade in person.” - Washington Post (Yahoo)
Bob Iger knows it’s, uh, interesting to be suing some AI companies while courting others. “'It's obviously imperative for us to protect our IP with this new technology,’ Iger said.” - NPR
Disgusting. “What you have here is 50,000 tracks a day that are competing with human musicians. You have a new, hyperscalable competitor and, moreover, this competitor that was built by exploitation.” - The Guardian (UK)
“The institution has announced an experimental art lending program that coincides with its new exhibition ‘Letters for the Future,’ created in collaboration with the artist-organized group Department of Transformation, which opened earlier this month.” The effort mirrors an art lending initiative the library had in the 1950s and ‘60s. - Artnet
“(The house) is selling tickets for Siegfried, the third instalment of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle, for up to £415 ($546). This is the priciest known ticket offered for sale in Britain by any publicly subsidised performing arts organisation. RBO receives a state subsidy of over £22 million each year.” - The Times (UK)
“The day before a fall show, Minnesota Orchestra musicians rushed through the stage door for rehearsal. At the bottom of the stairs was the orchestra’s social media manager with an iPhone … to record their most anxiety-inducing performance stories.” - The Minnesota Star Tribune (MSN)
The plan: Rena Bransten Gallery will turn into a pop-up. "I have uncertainty about whether the model that we all grew up in, going to galleries, is viable,” the gallery director says. “I need to really look around and see what people are doing.” - San Francisco Chronicle
“Buchanan said he had begun noticing subtle things in his own life, like how cracks zigzag across the sidewalk, or the way light hits the water, or the way a plant is squeezed against a rock.” - The New York Times
"Without being clued in to the content of the play, connected with the show’s intimacy director … to go over the show’s simulated sexual choreography. They signed intimacy riders that detailed what they were agreeing to do onstage.” - The New York Times
“There’s an inherent theatricality to church, and a furtive spirituality to theater. In form, they’re similar: Everybody crowds into a room, usually sits facing the same direction, and focuses on a central action — at least for a while.” - The New York Times
Bob Mondello says yes: "I love seeing movies in a theater, and if I can possibly avoid watching them at home, I do. ... is 55" which is, I guess, not bad for a television screen. But it doesn't compare to the tennis court-size screen.” - NPR
Microsoft really tried. “It had a bunch of interface design ideas that are still very present in our lives today. The universe in which the Zune was a smash isn’t so far away. … Maybe if it hadn’t been brown?” - The Verge