The queen had the little playhouse built as part of her pretend village at Le Petit Trianon; she and her friends attended plays and operas there and even performed themselves. (Her Majesty once played Rosine in Beaumarchais’s The Barber of Seville.) The theatre is now so fragile (much of the interior is made of papier-mâché over wire mesh, just like a stage set) that it can only be used for performances once a year or so, but it has the only surviving 18th-century stage machinery in all of France. – Apollo
Murdoch Admits It Out Loud: Fox News Is The ‘Opposition’ To Democrats And Biden
Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert’s elder son, told a group of investors that Biden’s presidency would be good for Fox News (which, of course, used the slogan “Fair and Balanced” for decades): “The main beneficiary of the Trump administration from a ratings point of view was MSNBC … and that’s because they were the loyal opposition, That’s what our job is now with the Biden administration.” – NBC News
What’s Wrong With Just Stopping During The Pandemic?
“We are living through a collective trauma, a once-in-a-lifetime historical moment, and taking “time off” is not a symptom of laziness. In fact, I see this time as a gift. I am thrilled to see folks develop other interests and skills that support their income. I am inspired to see artists explore other parts of their creative practice. I am encouraged by those cultivating systems that foundationally sustain making our art. I am affirmed in caring for the people who facilitate our dancemaking, including dancers, musicians, company managers and even our families. I am heartened to see investment in the communities for which we dance.” – Dance Magazine
Dr. Seuss’s Estate Made Its Decisions Based On Its Creator’s Legacy
“We make changes to the books our children read all the time. In 1812, the Brothers Grimm changed the evil mothers in traditional fairy tales to wicked stepmothers, because they wanted to preserve the sanctity of motherhood. The Faraway Tree’s Dick and Fannie are Rick and Frannie in newer editions – a fact which seems to infuriate nostalgic readers (I genuinely don’t understand why).” – The Guardian
A Year Of Turmoil At The American Shakespeare Center
Over the last year, American Shakespeare Center—a $4.3 million theatre company in Staunton, Va., known for producing the Bard’s work in repertory with a stripped-down style and a resident company of actors—became a contentious, mistrustful, even traumatic place for many who had called it home. – American Theatre
Sydney’s Museum Of Contemporary Art Is The Most Visited In The World
And Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, its director of 22 years, is leaving. “When Macgregor took over in 1999, the MCA was just eight years old and already on the verge of bankruptcy. Fewer than 100,000 people each year were visiting the converted Maritime Services Board art deco pile, which commands an imposing presence overlooking Circular Quay. Today more than 1 million visitors – almost half under the age of 35 – pass through the museum each year.” – The Guardian (UK)
Six Philadelphia Museums Combined Resources During COVID. It Transformed How They Do Their Work
“After much discussion, we developed structures to jointly fundraise and equitably disperse proceeds between us relative to budget size. More importantly, we learned about each other and the audiences we individually serve. We committed to the concept that we could advance arts leadership in this city by sharing knowledge, expertise, and contacts, and that we all want our varied communities to become more deeply connected to other organizations.” – Artnet
COVID Accelerated Trends By Ten Years. What Does That Mean For Classical Music?
According to NYU Stern School of Business professor and New York Times best-selling author Scott Galloway, the pandemic has accelerated the progression of trends in all industries, including music, by approximately 10 years. This means that whatever trend affecting a music organization before the pandemic is now ten years ahead of schedule. – Ludwig Van
Still Trying To Sort Out The Critic’s Role In A Very Changed Reality
“Critics no longer have the power to make or break an artist’s career. Rather, art critics depend more and more on maintaining friendly relationships with artists, galleries, and publicists in order to consistently secure paid work. In other words, art critics today seem less “in the middle” between artists, dealers, and public than tailing all three.” – Hyperallergic
Artists Hope Biden Immigration Policies Will Make It Easier To Collaborate Internationally
Now that the bans are reversed, immigration lawyers who work with artists, including Ashley Tucker, director of programs at the Artistic Freedom Initiative in New York, will turn their attention to applications for visas and refugee status by artists who were on their radar but stood no chance during the last four years. – Artnet
The Mind As Computer? It Doesn’t Work That Way
These kinds of metaphors reduce us to achievement-driven and advantage-seeking entities, condemned constantly to self-optimise, as if our highest purpose is to be effective instruments. But effectiveness for effectiveness’s sake is an empty aim. Such imagery also casts us as competitors vying for scarce resources in a playing field in which the fittest survive – in this case the mentally fit, the emotionally agile, those who are the best self-managers. – Psyche
The Man Whose Job Is To Convince Us To Go Back To Movie Theatres
Adam Aron’s job is to persuade movie studios and moviegoers to re-embrace the theatrical experience, once things open up again and more of the population has been vaccinated. Now 66, he joined AMC as chairman and CEO in 2015. – Chicago Tribune
Dr. Seuss Sales Soar After Publishers Withdraw Six Books With Racist Caricatures
In the wake of the decision by Dr. Seuss Enterprises to stop printing and selling If I Ran the Zoo, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, and four other titles — and of conservative media’s ginned-up outrage — American customers are snapping up all of the author’s children’s books. On Amazon’s bestseller list as of Thursday morning, nine of the top ten and 30 of the top 50 slots were occupied by Dr. Seuss titles. (Naturally, people with used copies of the withdrawn books were charging hundreds of dollars for them.) – The Guardian
Illinois’s Reopening Rules Make No Sense For Chicago’s Arts Venues
Under the current Phase 4 of Gov. Pritzker’s five-phase plan, indoor gatherings are limited to a maximum capacity of 50% or 50 people per room, whichever is lower. That makes sense for restaurants, bars, multiplex cinemas and possibly even Chicago’s storefront theaters — but, Chris Jones points out, the Auditorium Theater, Orchestra Hall, the Civic Opera House, and other such venues can safely hold many more than 50 people. And there’s no intermediate stage between Phase 4 and reopening everything at full capacity. – Yahoo! (Chicago Tribune)
BAM Gave Its President Nearly $1 Million To Buy New Apartment (And Then She Quit)
When the Brooklyn Academy of Music hired Katy Clark as its new CEO, the board wanted her to live in Brooklyn, where real estate prices were higher than in the upper Manhattan neighborhood she was moving from. So they gave her $968,000 toward the price of her new home — a figure well over 2½ times her $355,000 annual salary. Clark’s contract said she’d have to pay part of that money back if she left her position before five years had passed — and not long after the five-year mark, she resigned to take a very different job. – The New York Times
New York City Is Reopening Movie Theaters
“It was a surprise to many when Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced without fanfare last week that movie theaters in the five boroughs could open at reduced capacity starting on March 5. That gave film exhibitors less than two weeks to rehire staff members, many of whom had been furloughed or laid off, reorder concessions and outfit their cavernous venues with plexiglass, hospital grade air filters and other safety measures. Though welcomed, the process was no simple endeavor.” – Variety
COVID Is Back At La Scala Ballet
The opera house’s regular testing regimen revealed that 35 dancers and three administrative staffers at the ballet company had the novel coronavirus. Performances, rehearsals, and classes have been suspended. (On the opera side, there are currently no cases among the orchestra or chorus.) – Gramilano (Milan)
Germany To Start Reopening Museums
“Chancellor Angela Merkel and German state leaders have agreed to start easing restrictions. If coronavirus cases are below 100 per 100,000 people over seven days – as in Berlin with a rate of 67.8 – people should be able to visit museums from Monday after booking a slot.” – Reuters
Streaming Music Is Big Business — So Why Do Classical Musicians Get So Little Money From It?
The payout to a musician from a Spotify subscriber is about $.003 per stream — and only one-fifteenth of that tiny figure for a stream on YouTube. What’s more, any new release of, say, the Bach Cello Suites “will be in direct competition with 133 other cellists, from Rostropovich to du Pré to Yo-Yo Ma. [It] will also be in competition with every recording in every genre on the planet.” – Bachtrack