One major takeaway: Most theatregoers will not immediately be ready to return to theatres even when they reopen. The survey found that around half (49 percent) of those questioned say they will likely wait a few months before returning. Only 25 percent think they would attend right away. – American Theatre
Author: Douglas McLennan
What Does “Liberal” Mean?
There’s of course the simple dictionary definition, but as a label for a political ideology its meaning is fuzzy. – Dissent
Artists Have To Turn On Peak Performance On Demand. So Do Athletes. Enter Sports Psychologists
There’s a lot more money in pro sports, and athletes have benefited from psychologists who teach them how to turn in their best on demand. So it makes sense that the sports doctors are working with artists. – San Francisco Classical Voice
The Complicated Legacy Of PT Barnum And What It Says About America
Showman, yes. Bamboozler, con artist, fantasist and entertainer. Each generation seems to need to revisit accounts of Barnum and mine from him the spirit that is core to America. – New York Review of Books
Professional Wrestling Has Been Declared An Essential Business By Florida’s Governor And Will Resume
The decision, outlined in an April 9 memo from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office, could open the door for other sports to resume in the state. – ESPN
The Metropolitan Museum Turned 150 Monday – Its Doors Closed And Debts Mounting
So is Boston’s MFA 150. Both institutions are hemorrhaging money: a projected $100 million at the Met; $12 million to $14 million at the MFA by the end of June. Thousands of events, including long-planned 150th-anniversary celebrations and fundraising galas, have been canceled. – Washington Post
Italian Cultural Leaders Petition For A National “Save Culture” Fund
The museum chiefs have signed a petition launched by the culture advocacy group Federculture which states that “we have to make Italian culture live, to give it oxygen… the repercussions of the coronavirus crisis on the vast world of cultural enterprise are extreme and could be fatal”. – The Art Newspaper
Will We Lose A Whole Generation Of Artists?
Chances are the current pandemic has them considering whether a creative life is possible – feasible, affordable, open to someone like themselves – at the very moment when that world began cancelling, shuttering, and laying off the teaching artists who was the first person to say to them “Yes, absolutely, poetry (or choreography or set design) could be yours.” – Creative Generation
If Travel Is Shut Down Do You Need Travel Books? Lonely Planet Shuts Down
“I was fearing bad news about a big travel firm this week: perhaps an airline, holiday company or cruise line. But I never expected to hear that the world’s leading travel-guide firm is proposing to shut its two main hubs: the original HQ in Melbourne, and the London office where much Lonely Planet content, including the magazine, is created.” – The Independent (UK)
The Arts Helped Build The Berkshires’ New Economy. Now It’s Gone
For a region whose economy was rebuilt on the most hopeful of things — a social economy, based on the gathering of people — the level of cruelty feels almost farcical. Mass MoCA sees around 300,000 annual visitors, which it says generates about $52 million every year to the local economy. – Boston Globe