"Orchestra After 5" concerts begin with a cocktail hour in the Kimmel Center lobby, followed at 6:30 by a one-hour concert with an informal chat afterward. "If the goal was to lure listeners beyond the traditional base," writes Peter Dobrin, "it was a wild success." - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
Yes, the Hallmark Channel. After all, some have claimed Jane Austen’s extensive novels of manners (and so much more) as “romance novels,” and after all, Hallmark has declared this month “Loveuary." - NPR
"Some of the world’s most renowned museums" — among them the British Museum, SF-MOMA, MFA Boston, and van Gogh Museum — "have been using the marketing research technique to fine-tune exhibitions, develop marketing materials and ensure they entice the broadest possible audience." - The New York Times
In Boston as in many other places, "financial struggle has become a grim common denominator among theaters with different aesthetic identities and sense of mission.” Which companies will survive? - The Boston Globe (MSN)
“No one like Milo Rau exists in American theater, because commercial producers need to make money, and no government body is willing to match the generous artistic subsidies handed out by European governments. … Some of that subsidy will end up going to plays that disgust the audience." - MSN (The Atlantic)
Candlelight Concerts aren’t about digital projections, but are about curating and customizing full experiences. And that’s striking a major chord. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Before the war, many comedians performed their sets in Russian and eyed major comedy festivals in Russia as the pinnacle of career achievement. ... the audience won’t laugh at jokes delivered in Russian, comedians say. Unless, of course, the Russian language is the butt of the joke." - The Atlantic
"Heading into 2024, one of the most noticeable things about the ties that unite the live theater-scape, from the Great White Way through to touring houses around the country, is how it is happily riddled with all that is Stephen Sondheim." - The Smart Set
Basically, indies. (And, don't tell the Oscars of 2025, but a lot of women directors crushed it at Sundance too.) In the Summers, the movie that won the top dramatic prize, "snuck up on us," wrote the jury. - The New York Times
It's not just TikTok - "The average song length peaked at 4 minutes 21 seconds in 1992," or about 30 years before TikTok came on the scene, but now, a need for quick-engagement dances and memes means the average song length is plunging again. - Washington Post
"Culture Pass Dallas was created by the Office of Arts and Culture and the Dallas Public Library in 2019. Six months after launching, the pandemic hit and put the program on hold. Now, the Office of Arts and Culture is prioritizing rebuilding (the free-admission program)." - The Dallas Morning News (MSN)
"One way ..., perhaps, is to turn competition into cooperation. Maybe a path forward for theater is to write new rules of decorum — or to be the first to violate them. If theater goes viral, it should be on behalf of the artists’ intentions, not in spite of them." - San Francisco Chronicle
