"Not once did I catch a whiff that (Reese) Witherspoon, (Jenna Bush) Hager, (Oprah) Winfrey, or any of the other celebrities are not die-hard readers. … While I fully believe that celebrities aren’t playing some nefarious game of imprint chess to benefit themselves, the pieces are still visible on the board." - Esquire
“For decades, the sculpture gallery has had mostly blindingly white marble works, which were exclusively of white people. Now it does not. The intervention is part of a community-led project exploring the gallery’s links to slavery, colonialism and empire, of which there are many.” - The Guardian (UK)
Marketers are leaning in. Wicked and Gladiator II, both releasing November 22, don’t seem to have the same built-in opposition, but they do have the bare minimum: A musical adored by women and gay men, versus the Roman Empire. - San Francisco Chronicle
Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!’s creator and star, “has been a revered cult figure in the comedy and New York cabaret scenes for more than 15 years. But they’ve never come close to such exposure.” - Washington Post
Mark Jones, who stepped in as interim director last summer amid the stolen-items crisis, says that admission should remain free for under-25s and UK residents but, citing the Louvre's €22 fee, suggests a £20 ($25) price for others. Jones also says the Parthenon (Elgin) Marbles should return to Greece. - The Standard (London)
"Aiming to welcome more than 800,000 visits annually, Qiddiya Performing Arts Centre will be home to more than 260 indoor and outdoor performances annually, across three theatres, totaling 3,000 seats. Each theatre promises an immersive experience by blending physical and digital elements." - The National (Abu Dhabi)
“There was a customer on the phone who said something along the lines of 'Just throw out $20,000,' and reported to our staff member to shout that out into the room. And boy did it work, because the first time it came up, it stunned the room and silenced the room.” - Slate
“The excavation of the political from the personal is always worth studying, which is part of the reason People has always been such a rich text. But today’s People Magazine is thinner, less glossy, and generally less substantive.” True for many magazines, but for People? It's Barry Diller. - Culture Study
Zelda Fichandler, a month before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated: "When I look around, however, beyond our too-perfected technique and … the ‘canons of our craft,’ a deep, visceral intuition tells me that the power of our art is being blunted, deadened, and caged.” - American Theatre
We all know nonprofit theatres are struggling, and many are even closing. But oh gods, are they important: “100 percent of the nominees for best new musical, and 100 percent of the nominees for best new play, were developed at nonprofit theatres.” - The New York Times
Overall paid attendance for this past season was 72%, only three points below the pre-pandemic level. There was a record number of new audience members, and the average age of single-ticket buyers is down to 44 from 50 pre-pandemic. Are contemporary operas selling well? Yes, some of them. - The New York Times
Susan Jaffe has some ideas, some plans, and some hopes. But “the challenges facing Ballet Theater, which begins its summer season at the Metropolitan Opera House this month, are daunting. Costs are rising, donations have declined and audience habits are rapidly shifting." - The New York Times
And for worse. “The world of the McKittrick, we believed (or let ourselves pretend to believe), was an enchanted one; not just by the witches who herald Macbeth’s downfall, but by a stranger and more widely suffused magic.” - Slate
