The EP-1320 comes “pre-loaded with a selection of playable musical instruments from the Middle Ages, from frame drums, battle toms, and coconut horse hooves to bagpipes, bowed harps, and, yes, hurdy-gurdies.” - Open Culture
When’s the big reveal after the surprise five animal appearances this week? Is the artist protesting far-right rioters, climate change, or … what? - The Guardian (UK)
“At a time when costs for Broadway shows continue to rise … the necessity is producers so committed to projects and their potential to find audience favour that they will fight conventional wisdom to give shows the opportunity for recognition and financial success.” - The Stage (UK)
That is, until it opened. “The muted response to the show itself suggests that fewer British people are riled by the debate than the media coverage implies — or at least that when activists engage with potentially inflammatory art, outrage can quickly vanish.” - The New York Times
Christopher Wu has some ideas to make symphony-going seem less of a chore to newbies. “Culture is always shifting. Everyone is into TikTok now. ... So maybe we need to be open to reimagining the presentation of this music we love, not the music itself.” - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
How did The Great Gatsby get excitement for its cast album flowing? TikTok, of course - and also YouTube, Instagram, and X/Twitter, not to mention a party for influencers on all of these channels. Brand strategy: Snag the kids now, and it’ll pay off later. - The New York Times
Now, on the 25th anniversary of the iconic horror film, Burkittsville, Maryland, the new mayor “thinks the town deserves to see some benefit from the landmark movie’s success.” - Washington Post
The company is really hoping to make enough money to produce As You Like It in September. "The 50th anniversary performance ... is supposed to mark its return to self-produced Shakespeare after operating exclusively as a rental house for other companies.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
“Only in an era when everything gets politicized would a campaign come out aggressively against boisterous laughter. What next? Running against puppies and ice cream? Laughter transcends party politics.” - The New York Times
TV show memes lit up Instagram, texts, and group chats when President Biden stepped down. “One thing someone on text thread said is that Aaron Sorkin could never have thought this one up. … This is beyond what we were capable of imagining.” - Washington Post
These movies, made outside the the big studio systems, usually in languages other than Hindi, forgo Bollywood's song-dance-melodrama formula in favor of stories about ordinary people's lives. Since the pandemic, theaters avoid these films in favor of crowd-pleasers, while Modi's government has intimidated streaming services away from them. - The Washington Post (MSN)
For the fiscal year just ended, US visitors totaled 5.5 million, slightly above the (pre-pandemic) figure for 2019. What's more, just over half of those visitors were nonwhite, the highest level ever. The attendance totals for those from abroad, however, are still half of what they were before COVID. - Hyperallergic
