“In the West End, average ticket prices rose by a nominal 0.92 per cent over the last year. When measured against the annual UK inflation rate of 3.4 per cent, this represents a real-terms price drop of 2.5% for consumers. Compared to 2019, this real-term drop extends to 8.9%.” - WhatsOnStage (UK)
That’s the allegation in a lawsuit filed by the production company (called Iceberg Ahead LLC) in Virginia against former general manager Carl Flanigan. In March the company won a $4.3 million default judgment against Flanigan, who never responded to the suit. - Broadway Journal
Currently S&P Global has a “BB+” issuer credit rating on Paramount. On Wednesday, the firm said it will “lower the issuer credit rating on PSKY to ‘BB’ when its acquisition of WBD closes, assuming no material changes to the structure or terms of the transaction. - Variety
My fellow nonfiction writers: AI can be a helpful tool. If you rely on it for factual accuracy you are putting your reputation, your career, your very livelihood in peril. - The AI Humanist
“The founding artistic director of the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in southwest suburban (Chicagoland), (he was) widely regarded as the founder of dinner theater in America.” - Chicago Tribune (Yahoo!)
Until the new conductors settle in, we won’t fully know how transformative their impact will be, but early signs suggest they could accelerate changes already reshaping the field since Covid—in programming, outreach, diversity, education, and institutional purpose. - Strings Magazine
The whistleblower complaint made numerous detailed allegations. Among them are claims that the museum improperly reclassified funds in its endowment to meet cash crunches. - ARTnews
Among those selected are two sites that have drawn the ire of the Trump administration, the Stonewall National Monument in New York, often considered the birthplace of the gay right’s movement, and the President’s House Site in Philadelphia, which served as the presidential home prior to the capital’s relocation to Washington. - ARTnews
“Data from the first quarter of 2026 shows signs that the United States is halting the exodus of film and television productions to other countries. But it is doing so as greenlights on high-budget productions continue to decrease worldwide, leaving dozens of production hubs fighting for slices of a smaller pie.” - TheWrap (Yahoo!)
The 55-year-old London native has long been active as a guest conductor, and not only of his own music. He has now been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, starting this September. - Moto Perpetuo
“Traditionally, museum wall text has been no more controversial than signs pointing visitors to the restrooms, and the Smithsonian still has descriptions placed near objects in most of its galleries. But there have been changes at exhibitions in some museums where the subject could be potentially contentious.” - The New York Times
“A Paris judge has rejected a request to halt the removal of six 19th-century stained-glass windows by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc from Notre-Dame Cathedral, which are to be replaced by government-commissioned contemporary works (by artist Claire Tabouret).” - ARTnews
“’The Serpent in the Grove’ was named as the winning entry for the Commonwealth Prize from the Caribbean on Saturday and published in Granta magazine. … Shortly (afterward), internet sleuths — and a few literary critics — seized upon the work and its author, Jamir Nazir, reportedly a 61-year-old from Trinidad with few publications to his name.” - The Guardian
“While piracy has long been an issue for the book business, the rapid rise of unauthorized audiobooks” — typically with vocally flat narration and unrelated visuals — “on YouTube, which publishers and authors believe are eroding sales for their books, poses a new challenge for the industry.” - The New York Times
