“The legendary festival, known for experimental and boundary-pushing theater, previously offered year-round programming before the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. In recent years, it has seen record-breaking audience growth, prompting producing director Nell Bang-Jensen to expand beyond the month of September.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“Nussbaum, a highly respected culture writer who received a Pulitzer Prize for her television criticism, has been a member of the New Yorker writing staff since 2011. She takes over the position from Helen Shaw, who has left The New Yorker after being appointed chief theatre critic at The New York Times.” - Playbill
When 100 of the restituted sculptures were exhibited last month in Benin City, there was no high-tech security and the labels were on paper stuck to the walls. Meanwhile, the flashy new Museum of West African Art, built to house the bronzes, isn’t permitted to have or show them. - The New York Times
“A major new study led by researchers at Monash University (in Melbourne) … found that daily musical engagement correlates with a marked reduction in dementia incidence.” - Limelight (Australia)
This one, which takes place next October, will involve the Hungarian Radio Symphony and Hungarian National Philharmonic and is being organized by Müpa, Budapest’s equivalent of Lincoln Center. - Bachtrack
A Grammy-nominee (for Leonard Bernstein’s Mass conducted by Marin Alsop) who moved smoothly between classical, musical theater, and gospel, Sykes was found dead in his home following a 911 call from his wife reporting an assault. His 31-year-old son Micah is in custody as the suspect. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
“Kalu, an autistic artist with learning disabilities and limited verbal communication, … (won) for her colourful drawings and sculptures made from found fabric and VHS tape, becoming the first artist with a learning disability to take home the £25,000 ($33,300) prize.” - The Guardian
Richard A. Freeman Jr. served on an interim basis for two seasons, including holding the company together through the turmoil following the firing of 10 dancers for attempting to unionize. - KERA (Dallas)
Christina Vassallo, 45, follows Paula Marincola, who retired in October after serving as the center’s first director, since 2008. After leaving the Fabric Workshop in 2023, Vassallo became director of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati. - Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
Presently, non-fiction filmmaking (in the form of docuseries) stands as a cornerstone of streaming economics, a format bolstered and degraded by an ever-growing demand for cheap, time-consuming content. - Stat Significant
Netflix’s movies don’t have to abide by any of the norms established over the history of cinema: they don’t have to be profitable, pretty, sexy, intelligent, funny, well-made, or anything else that pulls audiences into theater seats. - n+one
This extraordinarily rich design is certainly assertive throughout, but it is completely in synch with the nature of an institution that has been collecting for 255 years, one that inevitably reflects the sprawling curiosity and a worldliness—or lack thereof—among generations of Princetonians. - James Russell