“With the terror of a global pandemic sending anxiety sky high and rendering TV one of the few safe entertainment outlets, the desire for comfort has become particularly noticeable.” - The New York Times
When performances started up again in the UK over the summer, masks weren't made mandatory (much to the alarm of some visitors from abroad). But with Delta and Omicron coronaviruses continuing to sicken people, venues are starting to insist that patrons wear face coverings. - The New York Times
The creator of Hamilton says the show's filmed version o on Disney+ has only increased demand for tickets to the staged production. (If only all shows could be hits like that one …) Lynn Nottage's new play, Clyde's, is streaming as well and could offer more data. - Playbill
Hosting platform Acast says that the average episode length of its 100 most popular podcasts is 38'10" — but it's not that simple. Comedy shows average 55½ minutes, news/politics programs 28 minutes. Podcasts aimed at commuters run about 40 minutes, those for people doing chores about 20. - Inside Radio
A study that used biometric feedback to measure immersion found that participants were more deeply engaged by content delivered via radio or podcasts than via TV or social media. (The research was commissioned, unsurprisingly, by a radio and podcast company, Audacy.) - Inside Radio
Sales are down by a third from 2019, and research indicates that many audience members remain wary of attending while COVID case numbers are high. As with Nutcracker for American ballet companies, English theatres depend on panto income to help finance the rest of their seasons. - BBC
At the Washington Ballet, for instance, "Dancers younger than 12 will be wearing custom-designed masks to match their party frocks, clown costumes and mouse fur. These kids will also need a negative coronavirus test 72 hours before any performance." - Washington Post
"After months of relative normalcy, Europe’s opera houses, concert halls and theaters are reintroducing measures all too familiar from earlier phases of the pandemic, restricting audience numbers and mandating testing, if not canceling shows outright." - The New York Times
A museum in Benin offers free bus rides to students and recruits popular musicians to help with publicity. MACAAL in Marrakech invited taxi drivers for a Friday couscous lunch, and they started telling family, friends and customers. Those are just a couple of examples. - Hyperallergic
"Wading through the streaming menus felt akin to babysitting hundreds of small children, all of them clawing at me, desperate for my attention. … Of course, that sentiment was wholly irrational and entirely wrong." Anne Helen Petersen explains why. - The Guardian
The nonprofit company producing Lynn Nottage's new Clyde's, which opens this week and closes in January, will offer viewers the opportunity to watch a real-time stream of one of the last 16 performances. The price: $59, the same as the cheapest in-person tickets. - The New York Times
The 19th century brought about the popularization of the proscenium arch: an architectural feature that effectively separates the audience from the actors on stage. Alongside this structural shift, a change in lighting also reinforced the separation between audience and performers. - The Conversation
Netflix has released its Top 10 lists. But "the obsession with the numbers generated by films in the first few days of their release has had ... a negative effect on the quality of the films themselves, squeezing out the offbeat in favour of franchises and sequels." - Irish Times
BookTok, as it's known, is an unusually lively corner of the mini-video app's subculture: the most popular reviewers can get a couple hundred thousand followers, the most watched videos rack up a million or more views, and yes, they can affect sales. - The Guardian
