Sorry, multiplexes: It’s the indies that will survive. “To put it bluntly, people who just want to gobble popcorn while gaping at the latest special-effects extravaganza … will be happy enough doing so in their basements and living rooms, whereas folks who appreciate the theatrical experience as the communal, quasi-religious ceremony that it is will be back.” – Oregon ArtsWatch
When Corporate High Streets Collapse, Perhaps ‘Craft Beer Social Democracy’ Can Have A Turn
Urban planning is having a bit of a hard time with Covid-19 hitting Britain’s corporate-driven main streets and malls – but better spaces are possible, says critic Owen Hatherley, when small crafts get involved. “The notion of community wealth building, rather than disconnected projects, is so important.” – The Guardian (UK)
UK Moves To Protect Garden Treasures
As the growing popularity of metal detecting as a hobby meant that more historical objects were being found, museums have missed out on items of archaeological significance that did not fall within the law’s definition, including Bronze Age axes, Iron Age caldrons, and medieval weapons and jewelry. In 2017, 1,267 pieces went through the process in which a committee determines whether an item should be considered a treasure, up from 79 pieces in 1997. – The New York Times
Amsterdam Is Going To Regulate People’s Christmas Lights
According to rules going into effect next year, all lights in outdoor displays must be LEDs, and 70% (90% in the historic city center) must be “warm white.” (Rules for the historic district have even more detailed specifications.) “The city’s crackdown on excessive Xmas cheer was spurred by a recent lighting-display arms race raging among residents and building owners.” – CityLab
Inside The Flamboyant Self-Destruction Of Johnny Depp
“There are few examples of a movie-star implosion of Depp’s magnitude that have been so sudden and spectacular. … Over the course of four short years, Depp has spiraled from an A-list star responsible for more than $10 billion in worldwide box office to Hollywood persona non grata” — not least because of the calamitous defamation lawsuit he just lost. “It wasn’t just erratic and violent behavior that wrecked one of the world’s most bankable stars. It was his unquenchable thirst for revenge.” – The Hollywood Reporter
The Ancient Monuments Of Karabakh Are Endangered In Latest Conflicts
Alongside the humanitarian crisis caused by the displacement of Armenians, this land transfer also threatens a large number of Armenian monuments located in Karvajar, Kashatagh, Hadrut and Aghdam provinces. – Apollo
Berlin’s Staatsballett’s First Black Dancer Accuses The Company Of Racism
Chloé Lopes Gomes, a French citizen, who joined the Staatsballett as a corps de ballet member in 2018, said she had faced recurrent racial abuse from her ballet mistress. In an interview with the Guardian she also accuses the company of institutional racism after managers failed to act even after various incidents were brought to their attention. – The Guardian
Bigger Than The Oscars? The Video Game Awards Point The Future
Created in 2014 by the game media entrepreneur Geoff Keighley, the awards attracted almost 50 million viewers last year because, unlike the Oscars, The Game Awards are a forward-looking news and entertainment show, not a backward-looking nostalgia vehicle. – Protocol
Ten Best Canadian Performing Arts Performances Of 2020
And most of them you can see here streaming. – The Globe & Mail (Canada)
Why This Music Critic Clings To CDs
“Perhaps there’s a middle ground. Many recordings may reach more listeners, do more good and remain available longer online. But it is worth keeping at home recordings I cherish and albums of archival value, like a six-disc set of Bartok at the piano, or Artur Rubinstein’s 82-disc RCA catalog.” – The New York Times
Grading On A Curve? How The Pandemic Has Changed Jesse Green As A Critic
“At a time when an anonymous newcomer can turn out theater faster than an institutional battleship can, it’s impossible not to feel grateful for even shaggy efforts to keep the art form alive…. As I learn to approach this new material with a new eye, I’ve slowly realized that as much as the pandemic has changed what it means to be a theater critic, it has also changed what I as a critic want and need from theater.” – The New York Times
How Dallas Opera Plans To Resume Live Performances Next Spring
The conductor and director for each production have teamed up to create the abridgments, which contain most of the famous arias, but omit the chorus because of social distancing requirements. One set will be slightly altered between productions, and there will be no intermission. Costumes and makeup will be minimal. – Dallas Morning News
A 2020 Best Theatre List Requires Expanding Your Mind
Peter Marks: “Putting the most positive spin I can muster on the stricken field I cover — identifying the best of what has transpired in the worst of theatrical times — requires a look beyond play X and musical Y.” – Washington Post
Knopf Hires LitHub Editor As Its New Executive Editor
In addition to having edited Lit Hub and Granta, John Freeman is the founder of Freeman’s, a literary annual published in several countries around the world. – Deadline
How Do You Convey Tone Of Voice In A Text? The Kids Are Finding A Way
Tone indicators, formed with a slash and one to three letters (e.g., /j for joking, /hj for half-joking, /srs for serious) and inserted at the end of a comment, developed in various online communities of young people as a way to be inclusive of neurodivergent people, who often have difficulty interpreting subtle clues. But they address a problem most of us have had at some point. – The New York Times
Little-Known Chapel by Louise Nevelson To Be Renovated And Reopened
The Chapel of the Good Shepherd, as the Nevelson Chapel is formally named, dates from 1977 and is part of St. Peter’s Church, a Lutheran parish known for its modernist sanctuary and weekly Jazz Vespers, located in the basement of a midtown Manhattan office tower. – Artnet
Carnegie Hall Board Chairman In Multi-Million Tax Scandal
“[Robert F.] Smith’s admission that he had failed to report [more than $200 million] of income to the I.R.S. made Carnegie Hall the latest in a line of major cultural institutions that have found themselves facing questions about the actions of the benefactors that they rely on for their very survival. Carnegie’s leaders are standing firmly behind Mr. Smith, even as some philanthropy experts question whether he should remain in the position.” – The New York Times
Renovation Of Toronto’s Massey Hall Turns Into Seven-Floor Multiple-Venue Project
When the 125-year-old concert venue closed in 2018 for construction, the plan was only to renovate the lobby, auditorium and stage. Now real estate developer Allied Properties has made a major investment: Massey will become the anchor for an adjacent seven-story building called the Allied Music Centre that will include additional performance stages and workspace for artists. – Ludwig Van
Flemish Old Master Painting Discovered Hanging On Brussels City Hall Wall
While taking a routine inventory of the Belgian capital’s public art, researchers from the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage determined that a work on display at Saint-Gilles City Hall, long believed to be a copy, is actually the oldest known original version of 17th-century artist Jacob Jordaens’s The Holy Family. – Smithsonian Magazine
Venice Floods Again: They Spent €6 Billion On That Barrier But Didn’t Raise It
Just a couple of months ago, after years of delays and heaps of money, the MOSE floodgates in the Venice lagoon passed their first major test, protecting the city from the acqua alta flooding that had been causing ever more damage year after year. But this past Tuesday, as the tide rose ever higher, MOSE wasn’t raised and the city was inundated. Why not? The Venice authorities don’t yet have the decision power to raise it. – CNN
Canadian Broadcasters Struggle With How To Deal With Legacy Shows With Inappropriate Content
Robert Hackett, an emeritus professor in Simon Fraser University’s communications department, suggested broadcasters are “caught between a rock and a hard place” when it comes to addressing the problems with beloved content, where they risk facing accusations of cultural insensitivity on one hand or censorship on the other. – Toronto Star
An Arts Funding Crisis Requires Drastic Action
Reimagining is required if we expect to sustain a thriving arts sector that expands economic opportunity, heals communities, strengthens democracy, and inspires creative solutions to global challenges. – Artnet
Why Mega-Publishing Consolidation Is Bad For Books
If you’re an independent or even a chain bookseller who gets, say, 50 percent of your fiction, 50 percent of your nonfiction, 50 percent of your kid’s books, and so forth from one giant publisher … well, it owns your checkbook. You are in its thrall. – The Atlantic
FDR, Radio, and What’s Wrong Today
During the Depression, during World War II, FDR and radio bonded; he was even, as Murray Horwitz remarks, “the biggest star of old-time radio.” – Joseph Horowitz