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How Did This Tiny Theatre Become Such A Powerhouse Los Angeles Destination?

“In a city where the so-called Theater Row has more ‘For Lease’ signs than marquees, New Theater Hollywood feels improbable. Yet since opening in early 2024, it has already become something of a small cult phenomenon.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

The Politically Trenchant Movies Of An African Animation Pioneer

Alassane Moustapha, a filmmaker from Niger, was “as much a multimedia artist as a cineaste, he took an idiosyncratic approach to folkloric storytelling.” He’s been left out of some film histories - but it's time for a reevaluation. - Current

The Past Is Never Dead, Despite Attempts To Devalue Historical Fiction

While some in the literary world are snobs, one author says she considers the best of historical fiction “a lens forged from the experience of the past, through which we may view the concerns of the present with renewed clarity.” - Irish Times

Will Audiences Who Love Animation Be Able To Save It?

As animation studios wither, one indie animator, whose fan-supported series has now been picked up by Amazon Prime: “I’ve been online since, like, late middle school. … So I have gone through every level of being cringe, being a dumb teenager, making mistakes, drawing really weird stuff.” - Slate

Doctors May Now Prescribe Attendance At A Montreal Symphony Concert

“Physicians will get prescriptions that they will give to patients. ... And we will give each patient that calls us two tickets for free,” said the orchestra’s CEO. Though Montreal’s concert-prescription program is still new, many doctors elsewhere in Canada have already expressed interest, as have orchestras in Toronto and Quebec City.  - CBC

Can Hollywood’s Fresh New Love Affair With Microdramas Last?

Wow, do streamers have a show (or 450, all produced quickly) for you. "Though vertical dramas are the length of a movie, they are spliced up into small chapters and produced quickly. A 100-page script might be shot in just one week." - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

How To Enjoy Horror Movies Without Suffering Through Gore And Jump Scares

If you love thinking about how horror reflects societal concerns, but you’d rather not hear the screaming or throw your popcorn all over your fellow cinemaphiles, do we have a deal for you: Horror documentaries. - Reactor

Is The Colosseum About To Host Raves And Rock Concerts?

Not really, but there will be “acoustic and jazz” concerts, poetry readings, dance performances and more — including possible “historical reenactments of gladiatorial battles.” - AP

In Britain, A Plan To Funnel Money To Small Music Venues Is Gaining Steam

But small venues “should not be valued solely for their role in nurturing future superstars. Live music has an intrinsic value and venues can be part of a town’s identity. A scheme to put them into community ownership has had striking success, with five secured so far.” - The Guardian (UK)

How A Hardline Evangelical Christian Childhood Can Lead To Mainlining Supernatural Horror As An Adult

“With his insistence on seeing only god’s will in the Catholic vs. Protestant religious wars of his Europe, Luther reminds me of nothing so much as the character Beverly Keane (played by Samantha Sloyan) in the 2021 Netflix horror series Midnight Mass.” - The Flytrap

Can Broadway Truly Be Captured On Film?

Good question, one that 1948’s biopic about Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart - Words and Music, starring Mickey Rooney as a heterosexual Hart - got very wrong. But: “That the ’40s biopics are so bad on the facts as well as the spirit doesn’t render them entirely worthless.” - The New York Times

Obama’s Presidential Library – And Basketball Court – Rises On Chicago’s South Side

"Only the museum will require a paid ticket. Nearly a dozen other spaces — meeting rooms, classrooms, parks, an N.B.A.-size basketball court, even a branch of the Chicago Public Library — will be reserved for visitors or the activities of the foundation.” - The New York Times

How Chicago’s Timeline Theatre Is Building A New Space Despite, Well, Everything

“‘To build a building like this, it required public investment, it required private investment, and it required a lot of belief through those dark days of the pandemic,’ said TimeLine’s charismatic artistic director, PJ Powers, during a recent tour of the still shell-like structure.” - WBEZ (Chicago)

What’s Going To Happen To The English National Opera In Manchester?

Tensions still exist between London and Manchester, and not everyone is pleased. The ENO's artistic director says, "“The way this happened was not something that anyone involved would want, and we were then forced to build the road as we drove the car.” - Manchester Evening News (UK)

Why Thousands Of People Are Converging On A Museum In Germany

Museum Wiesbaden is seeing an uptick - a rather large uptick - in visitors thanks to none other than Taylor Swift. - BBC

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