“The Philadelphia cable giant achieved a milestone in a sea of industry turbulence, adding a net 80,000 cable TV subscribers in the fourth quarter and 161,000 for the full year — defying the trend of customer cord-cutting that has concerned Wall Street. Comcast now has nearly 23 million cable TV subscribers, gaining on rival AT&T.”
Author: Douglas McLennan
Is Book Collecting Anti-Social?
“One of the concerns in the early 19th century regarding book collecting was the fear that by hoarding books, buyers were denying their fellow countrymen their patrimony. The image of the rich dilettante was one of the conspicuous consumer of books that would never be read – the old TBR pile – therefore keeping books out of an intellectual commons. The collector was often portrayed as having a kind of antisocial disease that kept him from contributing to the greater good by sharing his printed riches.”
List Of Finalists To Lead The Musee d’Orsay
“Michel Draguet, the director-general of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, and Laurence des Cars, the director of Paris’s Musée de l’Orangerie, are among the four candidates shortlisted for the post of director of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The successful applicant will replace Guy Cogeval who has led the museum since 2008.”
Highlights From Today’s AJBlogs 01.26.17
Cause for Cautious Optimism? NEA’s Statement on Continued Federal Funding Widespread reports that President Trump has decided to ax the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities may (or may not) be premature. The only hard information on this that I’ve seen is Alexander Bolton‘s … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-01-26
What our new audience wants Over and over I’ve said that our classical music world doesn’t feel like the world outside, the world most people live in. Including our hoped-for new audience! Not that I’m the only one saying this. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2017-01-26
Picturing the President Insect brain, cold-blooded eye, bared teeth of a human predator.Twitter Fingers looks in the mirror.The total obscenity of the American Dream Comes to fruition in Donald John Trump …— Heathcote Williams, from a poem in … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2017-01-26
Getting from stage to screen In this week’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column, I write about Fences and Manchester by the Sea, and what those two films teach us about the differences between writing for the stage … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-01-26
Want To See Everything The NEA Funded Last Year?
“To illustrate just how beneficial the NEA’s work has been, artist and environmental engineer Tega Brain has programmed a website that scrolls through the types of grants the NEA awarded last year alone. Like end credits of a movie, each funded project moves slowly down your screen in bright colors to form a simple but clear message: we really need the NEA.”
Has Ballet Been Co-Opted To Play To Americans’ Body Image Issues?
“As a fashion influence, ballet has come and gone for decades: legwarmers cycle in and out of style, and American Apparel spent years trying to convince hipsters everywhere that leotards are comfortable. Ballerinas from New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater are currently serving as models for luxe clothing brands like Wolford, Thakoon and Negative Underwear. But ballet’s current mainstream moment goes beyond fashion, crossing over into fitness culture and serving as a revealing reminder of the kind of female athleticism ― the kind of female bodies ― that American culture deems acceptable and admirable.”
A Growing Divide Between America’s Artists And Ordinary Americans?
“This country has some of the strongest art institutions, best-known artists, and the most (and arguably the best) arts professionals in the world, yet the divide between the art community and the American public is something people are constantly trying to figure out. Maybe part of the appeal of American art is the constant desire by artists, curators, and other arts professionals here to expand the audience. What these stats don’t tell us is how we’re going to do that.”
Is Virtual Reality The Future Of Live Music?
“Getting people through the doors into local venues is getting tougher so VR is being seen as a new form of potential income.”
The Man Who Stumbled Into A Thriving Opera Career
Meet Morris Robinson. At 30, in finally attempting to sing professionally, he tried out for the chorus of “Aida” at the Boston Lyric Opera, the biggest company in New England. A week later, the music director handed him music for a solo role, accompanied by a plea: ‘Please don’t screw it up’. “A lot of the purists, they don’t believe my story,” Robinson said. “They don’t believe it until they witness it themselves.”
Shouldn’t Paying Living Wages Be Part Of A Theatre’s Mission?
“Part of the promise of America is the ability to provide for your family while doing work you love, instead of just taking on a job to pay the bills. But for many theatre practitioners and arts administrators, even finding a job just to pay the bills is not in the cards; real living wages are still a rarity in the theatre, especially for freelance theatre workers. With government and private funding for the arts anemic and showing few signs of growth, many theatres are juggling payroll with the overhead needed just to keep the doors open.”