"Acting is not so much a job for Dafoe as a way of being, a practice so essential he can't go without it. ... 'He wants very much to be needed,' says (director Elizabeth) LeCompte. 'And if he's needed, he'll give everything. He has to work.'" - T — The New York Times Style Magazine
Did it start out as a few modest tweaks but got out of hand? In any case, there’s a loss in these changes—in vivacity, vigor, concreteness. As any good writer can tell you, we all know what a screechy voice sounds like, but an annoying one could be anything.
"Encyclopedias are not like rose bushes, for which pruning is everything. They are usually the opposite, more like Japanese knotweed, spreading wildly and germinating freely, invasive and persistent in all countries where a foothold is possible." - Literary Hub
If we take away music’s “shop window”, it recedes yet further out of view. There is not even the possibility that someone might walk past, see a display of shiny saxophones or attractive mahogany-hued violins and have their curiosity piqued. - The Critic
Classical instruments have been sampled for hip-hop for decades, but in recent years such hip-hop stars as Mos Def, will.i.am, Pharrell Williams, and Kendrick Lamar have had their songs arranged for orchestra and performed with such major ensembles as the Seattle, Atlanta, and Houston Symphonies. - Andscape
Everything the music industry had learned in the twentieth century pointed to vinyl’s demise in the twenty-first. And it’s true that physical formats are now a tiny proportion of the overall market: 10 percent to streaming’s 84. But while streaming drove CD sales into the ground, it precipitated vinyl’s resurgence. - The Critic
"The show didn't just annoy Swedish viewers, though — it wholly divided them. Three Dads has become a sensation during a winter of political turbulence, where there's been an emerging sense that the culture wars are only getting started." - Slate
Although the link between J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic and Italy's far-right is not new, it's a phenomenon that has re-surfaced with new vigor since politician Giorgia Meloni was elected as the country's prime minister. - CBC
"In-flight licensing (is) unique in the licensing business in that it raises questions among everyday consumers — like how titles are chosen, why a given film might be censored, or why a show canceled and removed from, say, HBO Max might still be flying around the world." - Vulture
Mali and Burkina Faso are blessed by active art scenes and scores of museums — and afflicted with militias causing murder and misery, and often targeting those museums for looting. Now the International Council of Museums and the Aliph Foundation are training museum staffers to defend their collections. - The Art Newspaper
"We have ranked the Largest 50 U.S. ballet companies based on their equity score. ... Included are DDP's 'Best of' Awards for companies in specific categories, as well as several Honorable Mentions for companies who have created opportunities for full-length premieres by female choreographers." - Dance Data Project
"By the end of the month, 12 Broadway productions in total ended their runs. It may sound bleak, and many have reported these numbers using terms like 'record-breaking.' But ... January closures are part of the typical rhythm of Broadway and the number of closures this year is not record-breaking." - Broadway News
"The theatre is set to be razed and redeveloped into a 76-storey, mixed-use building. ... The smallest of Mirvish's four venues, the 700-seat CAA Theatre has been a bridge between local theatre artists and Mirvish's wider audiences. ... Theatre artists and producers say (its) closure would mark an immense loss." - Toronto Star
"Of the hazards that Westminster Abbey's 700-year-old Coronation Chair has survived – a suffragette bomb, schoolboys with penknives, thick brown paint, the violent theft of the Stone of Scone from inside it, Oliver Cromwell – the one that perhaps came closest to destroying it was an outbreak of white fungus." - MSN (The Telegraph)
"The ancient throne, known as the Coronation Chair, has been at the centerpiece of English coronations for centuries, including those of Henry VIII, Charles I, Queen Victoria and the late Queen Elizabeth II." It is likely the world's oldest piece of furniture still used for its original purpose. - CNN
