Stories

Tenor Antonello Palombi, 58, Found Dead In Hotel Room

Though he had an active career spanning four continents, he’s best known for stepping in mid-performance as Radames in Aida at La Scala after Roberto Alagna stormed off the stage because he was booed. Palombi’s body was found during a wellness check after he failed to show up for rehearsal in Mainz, Germany. - OperaWire

Postcards Were Social Media Before Social Media

People themselves made the choices. They selected the postcards they bought, the people they wrote to, and the images they collected. More than a century before platforms started automating this process, political communities were already creating selective environments of their own. - Eurozine

Alden Ehrenreich’s Huron Station Playhouse Is The “Coolest New Theater Venue” In L.A.

“Artistic director Alden Ehrenreich turned a historic 1906 Pacific Electric Railway power station into an artistic playground with hipster vibes, alluring music, a younger-than-usual audience and high-end soap in the bathroom.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

The Connections Between Rock Music And Fascism

Such a superhuman magnification of the individual is unsettling to behold at close range. I witnessed the internal mechanics when I followed Radiohead on tour in 2000. Members of the band were variously thrilled, unnerved, and scared by what they were unleashing—a healthily complex reaction. - The New Yorker

In Medieval Times, Curiosity Was A Negative

Curiosity was seen as a largely vacuous interest in novel or forbidden information. The curious person was thought to reach for what was hidden and secret, beyond their proper purview, and thereby isolate themselves from spiritual and social community. - MIT Reader

On Poets And Reputations

The maker of an anthology can’t help being aware of the contemporary reputation of poets. But he knows, too, that this enterprise, this book, will be a chance to amend that reputation. - Hudson Review

San Francisco Ballet Is Releasing A Virtual-Reality “Nutcracker”

In a partnership with Google, immersive media company YB and augmented reality company XREAL, SFB is presenting Nutcracker: The Immersive Experience, a specially recorded performance of the company’s production (choreography by Helgi Tomasson) for home viewing on VR platforms. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

Why Do Things Exist?

This very obvious fact about the world – that things exist – can shift from seeming mundane and trivial to very surprising, even downright weird.  - Aeon

How America Developed A Culture Of The Telephone

Advertising could turn people into customers, but helping phone owners form what Bell called a “telephone habit” required a different tool.  - JStor

New Play Festival Says It Will Now Program Year-Round

The South Carolina New Play Festival (SCNPF) announced that it will move from a summer-only festival to a year-round festival with a summer and winter season. - Greenville Business Magazine

Phoenix Symphony Is Back Onstage For Now, But Its Problems Aren’t Over

The $2 million raised in an emergency campaign after the orchestra was abruptly furloughed last month is only enough, according to the musicians, to keep the Symphony running through the end of 2026. An 11-member commission of musicians, management, and civic leaders is trying to develop a “sustainable” plan to keep the PSO operating. - Phoenix New Times

Broadway Box Office Rebounds

Overall the industry gross rose 24 percent and attendance 15 percent thanks to the addition of the two new shows, as well as the rebound from Halloween and marathon weekend. - The Hollywood Reporter

Can These Economists Build A Better Case For Public Arts Support?

These discussions, championed by at least one economics research and advisory firm in partnership with a major Australian arts festival, are instead thinking about the arts activities as powerful economic ‘enablers’ and strategic assets which help facilitate wider cultural, economic and social objectives. - ArtsHub

The Case For Humanities

Encompassing history, literature, philosophy, art, and more, the humanities provide a lens through which one can view one’s personal experiences—making the universal personal and the personal universal. - Jstor

Russia Is Requiring Theaters To Hire Ukraine War Veterans As Ballet Dancers And Choir Singers

Laws passed in various regions of the country are requiring state-funded employers such as schools, universities, and performing arts institutions to hire veterans of the “special military operation” as instructors ranging from kindergarten to college-level, ballet dancers, choristers, and piano accompanists. (And they’re forbidden to ask about PTSD.) - Meduza

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