“There is no question that Broadway shows should be closed,” Racaniello said. “Any large gatherings of people, especially here in NYC where we know the virus is circulating, need to stop.” Joining Broadway, other New York City institutions that have closed because of the pandemic include the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. – HuffPost
Author: Douglas McLennan
Warning: US Theme Parks Will Likely Close
Amid the worries on Wall Street, stock prices have tumbled for Orlando-based SeaWorld Entertainment, which operates 12 theme parks across the country. The stock, previously trading above $35 per share for several days in February, fell to about $15 Wednesday before the market had closed. – Orlando Sentinel
Theatres Need To Get Ahead Of This: Cancel Now
Apparently, the show must go on even if it kills us. While the country is staring down the barrel of a public health catastrophe, theaters are up against a different enemy: their ragged balance sheets. But by staying open, theaters are not just acting shortsightedly. They’re betraying their core constituency, older patrons, who are the group most vulnerable to coronavirus. – Los Angeles Times
Rise Of The Internet Celebrity Talk Shows
The passive celebrity interview is over. Now celebrities must work for their press — or, at worst, they have to be interviewed by another celebrity. These practices makes sense in the social media era. Instagram, Twitter and other platforms are designed to let fans feel closer to celebrities than ever before, and have allowed those celebrities a control over their personas that they did not used to have. So, the new shows do what they can to soothe — or rattle — celebrities into a state resembling authenticity. – The New York Times
Germany Promises Help To Cultural Institutions For Virus Disruption
German Culture Minister Monika Grütters promised government financial help to cultural institutions and artists whose livelihoods are threatened by the coronavirus as theatres and concert halls close and dwindling numbers of people attend events and museums. – The Art Newspaper
Arts Activist Named New NYC Cultural Affairs Director
Gonzalo Casals is an immigrant from Argentina who identifies as queer. Since 2017, he has led the Leslie-Lohman, a museum with roots in the L.G.B.T.Q. civil rights movement, diversifying its collection and programming with contributions from the gay community. Mr. Casals previously served as deputy and interim director at El Museo del Barrio in East Harlem, a major center for Latino art and culture, where he stepped in after Margarita Aguilar left amid turmoil. – The New York Times
Remembering McCoy Tyner
It’s enough, more than enough, really, for an artist to simply find a voice, to chisel it out of the noise and to keep it ringing clear across a lifetime. Though he tried lots of modes and moods, Tyner began his professional career in the early sixties as a fully formed artist, and his last albums, from the aughts, are not unlike his first. – Paris Review
Sound, Music And Damage To Our Lives
“I know of numerous composers who suffer from tinnitus — that ringing or other sound in the ears which never shuts off. And even violinists tend to end up with hearing damage in the left ear, since that is the one closest to the sound of the instrument. It is, of course, the sounds we don’t make ourselves that we are most disturbed by. Noise from neighbours can be fatal. It is not unknown for disputes to end in murder or suicide.” – Irish Times
Digital Entertainment Surpasses Box Office For First Time
Consumer spending on digital home entertainment surged to $48.7 billion last year, up 24% from 2018, according to a new report from the Motion Picture Assn. Worldwide theatrical ticket sales were $42.2 billion, up 1% from the prior year, said the MPA, the Washington-based lobbying group that represents the major Hollywood studios and Netflix. – Los Angeles Times
Robots Will Change Everything
The day is coming when practically anything that a human can do—at least anything that the labor market is willing to pay a human being a decent wage to do—will soon be doable more efficiently and cost effectively by some AI-driven automated device. If and when that day does arrive, those who own the means of production will feel ever increasing pressure to discard human workers in favor of an artificially intelligent work force. They are likely to do so as unhesitatingly as they have always set aside outmoded technology in the past. – Boston Review