“With a population of 2.8 million people within the city limits, there are 25 bookstores for every 100,000 people … The closest [competitor] is Hong Kong, which has 22 bookstores per 100,000 people.” Says one bookstore manager, “Books represent us like [big hint redacted]. We have a culture very rooted in print.”
But What’s The Point Of Taking Emergence And Calling It ‘God’?
If “something new has to have emerged from the staggering complexity of all humanity’s aspirations, interacting”, then what phenomenon, exactly, “just has to have emerged. Human life and culture? What do we gain (a leg up in the religion wars?) by calling that God?”
Dancers, Know What You’re Getting Into When You Join This Guy’s Company
Says one member of Diavolo, Architecture in Motion about founder/artistic director Jacques Heim, “He often puts on a show. He lives to get a rise out of you. And by really nit-picking at what we don’t do so well, he knows he’s going to get something great out of us.” Says another, “On an artistic level, it’s an upstanding trait. But for the younger dancers, it’s a relationship that can potentially be tumultuous.” (video)
Why Esa-Pekka Salonen Is Such A Hot Commodity Right Now
“It’s easy to understand why any orchestra might be eager to get Salonen onto the payroll. At 56, the Helsinki-born musician is at the top of his game as a conductor, with a broad range of both new music and a standard repertoire that he performs with a blend of technical bravura and interpretive insight.”
The Media Needs A History Lesson When Addressing Civic Unrest, Says The Director Of The African-American History Museum
Lonnie Bunch, the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture: “In some ways as I watch the media coverage of Baltimore, Ferguson and other things, I’m amazed at how ahistorical the coverage is. How people do not understand that in some ways this is part of a long tradition where people who feel devalued find ways to find a voice.”
The Weird, Great Story Of The Penny Black Stamp And The Beginning Of Mail
“Along with the fine border work and stars in the corners, the Penny Black didn’t feature the name of the country: Victoria was synonymous with the nation at this point. Instead, the word ‘Postage’ differentiated it from the revenue stamps that had been used for decades. Both that and the price, One Penny, were printed on the stamp.”
Why Emma Rice Is An Excellent, Bold Choice For The Globe
“There’s no doubt that Rice will have respect for Shakespeare, but she is unlikely to be over-awed or cowed by the performance history of the plays. That can only be a good thing, particularly at the Globe.”
The Danger Of A Single Story About ‘Africa,’ According To One Of The Continent’s Best Novelists
“Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the best-selling Nigerian author, wants American readers to know that African writers don’t just write about Africa’s problems. … Though it might seem obvious to point out, she adds, ‘people are diverse, and there are different things that are going on with them.'”
What Tony Nominees’ Parents Told Them About Theatre [VIDEO]
“My mom kept sayin, ‘You know, you could do community theatre if you’re a dentist in the day, because then you could make your own schedule.'”
San Diego Opera Pays Out $1 Million Settlement To Former Execs Who Tried To Shut Company Down
The payment, which includes accrued retirement plan funds and unused vacation pay, to former general director, artistic director and CEO Ian Campbell and deputy director Ann Spira Campbell was negotiated and paid last June, with the money provided by an anonymous donor separately from all operating funds for the company.
Cuba Kept Artist Tania Bruguera From Receiving Herb Alpert Award
“Bruguera, an artist known for her challenging works of performance art, which explore everything from the immigrant condition to the nature of police control tactics, was detained in Cuba on multiple occasions early this year after attempting to stage a performance about freedom of expression in Havana’s Revolution Square. The Cuban authorities are still determining whether to file criminal charges against her.”
Performers Finally Getting Their Time To Shine At This Summer’s Box Office
“The role of Malcolm, a good kid caught up in a bad drug deal, refutes stereotype. The performance of Mr. Moore, a young actor who came up through Atlanta’s hip-hop dance scene, refutes typecasting.”
Universal Settles Over ‘Best Little Whorehouse In Texas’ Home Video Royalties
“The policy of basing profit participation on 20 percent of home video revenues derives from the rise of VCR in the 1980s. The studios would pay independent companies to produce and distribute VHS copies of their films and would receive 20 percent of the revenue, which they would then divide out to the profit participants. When studios opened their own home distribution divisions, they continued calculating the profit participants’ earnings from 20 percent of the home-video revenues.”
Fighting Canada’s Theatre Gender Gap
“Here in the Cage we believe that making theatre is like making a child: If you want to be truly successful, you need more than just a penis.”
A Nearly Lost Harlem Renaissance Opera Returns To NY
“The presenters said they believe that the revival of ‘Voodoo’ will mark its first performances since 1928, when it had its premiere at the Palm Garden in New York more than a decade after it was composed.”
How Theatre Makes A Difference To An Escaped Child Soldier
“If others can relate to this story, maybe they will begin to dream about peace on Earth, a planet where no child suffers unnecessarily from a war for greed, or a mania for power. It can be. At the least, the spectators may find some level of emotional detox themselves, from whatever ails them.”
Protesters Shut Down NY’s Guggenheim Museum Over Labor Practices
“At noon today, a group of artists and activists including members of the Gulf Ultra Luxury Faction (known as G.U.L.F.) unfurled a large parachute in the atrium of the Guggenheim Museum, demanding to meet with a member of the institution’s board of trustees to discuss the labor conditions at its Abu Dhabi site.”
Why Museums Are The Place To Talk About Racism
“Our job is to be an educational institution that uses history and culture not only to look back, not only to help us understand today, but to point us towards what we can become.”
Grooveshark Music Streamer Sued Off The Internet
Under the terms of a settlement reached with Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Warner Music Group, Grooveshark said it has agreed to “cease operations immediately, wipe clean all of the record companies’ copyrighted works and hand over ownership of this website, our mobile apps and intellectual property, including our patents and copyrights.”
Chinese Builder Erects 57-storey Building In 19 Days
“Mini Sky City has 19 atriums, 800 apartments and office space for 4,000 people, with space in the building going on sale in May. The structure is safe and can withstand earthquakes, according to Xiao.”
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Gets A New Artistic Director
Dominic Dromgoole, who took over from Mark Rylance as artistic director in 2006, called it an “excellent appointment in keeping with the Globe’s traditions of boldness and adventure.”
Are We Losing The Art Of Signing Our Names?
“While 61% of responders sign paper at least once a week or more, nearly half do so in a hurry and a full 30% just scribble something fast to get it done. It seems that in our rushed, digital age, the curlicues immortalized by Queen Elizabeth I have become unthinkable.”
The Man Who Collected Every #1 Hit On The British Music Charts
“Single-minded Keith Sivyer bought every new release that entered the UK single charts since their inception in 1952 until his death in February aged 75. Every week, without fail, Keith visited his local record shop with a copy of Music Week and bought the latest songs that had entered the top 40 before going home and adding them to his archive.”
Roberta Smith: New Whitney Signals Change In NY Art Scene
“The new Whitney forces a decisive yet organic realignment of the balance of power among New York’s main museums that is good for all concerned. With its enlarged galleries and the reveal of its collection, the Whitney, and to some extent American art, should begin getting the full respect both deserve.”
How The Frieze Fair Empire Was Born
“Between the quality of the art and the intellectual ambition of the programming and commissions, it was clear that the fair was going to cause a seismic shift across the art world.”