"When friendship exists in the background, it's unremarkable but generally uncomplicated. But when friendship becomes the plot, then the only story to tell is about how the friendship ended." B.D. McClay argues that there can be more options. - Lapham's Quarterly
On 2.4 acres of lush lawns and man-made, sculptured hills, Little Island percolates daily with creative energy, fueled by talent recruited everywhere from the theaters of Broadway to the platforms of the subway. - Washington Post
Elisabeth Vincentelli visits Creede, Colorado (population 350), isolated high in the San Juan Mountains, to check out the Creede Repertory Theater, which came up when she Googled "most remote theater in the United States" and which has attracted serious stage professionals for 56 years. - The New York Times
July 1943 happens to coincide with a window in Balanchine’s known itinerary. He might just have worked on this other wartime Hollywood morale-lifter, which MacNeal names “Star-Spangled Canteen”, for the fictitious Gold Brothers Studios. Alastair Macaulay
Word is that the disgraced producer hopes to return, and he claims he's working to improve his notorious temper. Would he be accepted? Some insiders argue there's nobody else with his set of skills, others that nobody is indispensable, and especially not someone so vicious. - New York Magazine
The German Marshall Fund has issued a policy paper arguing that the CPB, which currently channels federal money to local public TV and radio stations, should be revamped to include various online platforms and content, with a particular focus on local institutions. - Axios
The Moscow troupe has the famous 1,680-seat house, which he calls the Historic Stage, and a venue opened in 2002, called the New Stage, which seats only 900. Vakhar Maziev argues that the lack of another large performance space causes problems both financial and logistical. - Gramilano (Milan)
With all performances outdoors this year, the dance festival hired its first resident meteorologist, Paul Caiano from nearby Albany. And, since this summer's weather is unusually weird and the Pillow sits in an odd little microclimate, they really need him. - The New York Times
If so, it's an inside job: reportedly, the chosen candidate, now said to be in advanced negotiations with Sony Pictures Television, is the quiz show's own executive producer, Mike Richards. (Sources warn that it's not yet a done deal.) - Variety
"The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said it had negotiated with 19 EU member state countries to allow British musicians and performers to conduct short tours visa-free." The only major markets not included so far are Spain, Portugal, and Greece. - The Guardian (PA Media)
The Gesture, an 82-foot sculpture by Nadim Karam, is made of steel debris from last year's catastrophe and stands at the blast site itself. While some Beirutis have welcomed it, others say it's too soon for such a memorial, especially at what one calls "a crime scene." - Artnet
A game-y galaxy that seamlessly fuses with the meatspace. What matters is that metaverse is now the buzzword du jour and that Facebook wants a piece of it. The bad news is that Zuckerberg’s metaverse ambitions sound boring as hell. - Wired
It’s a resumption of business — and, for many arts workers, employment — that’s been eagerly awaited and long in coming. But it’s also a balancing act of safety and economics. - Variety
Birkenhead is barely a mile from Liverpool, situated on the opposite bank of the River Mersey. It was once known as the “New York of Europe” thanks to its shipbuilding, but deindustrialisation and waves of austerity have created significant decline. - The Guardian
