For years, standing and sitting in that hours-long queue for free Shakespeare in the Park tickets has been almost as much a part of the experience as the performance itself. But not everyone is able to take a day off work and sit out in the elements. So, for its last Central Park production of the season, the Public is making its tickets available only by lottery. – The New York Times
Author: Matthew Westphal
Composers Putting Listeners In Headphones: Innovation? Or Control-Freakiness? (Or Both?)
Headphones can enable an intimate listening experience even in a busy venue such as a train station. They can make up for the acoustic inadequacies of a room (or the outdoors), so that there’s no bad seat in the house. And “live processing sound allows composers and sound designers control over everything from volume and blend to reverberation and saturation.” – San Francisco Classical Voice
Moving Toward Fair Pay For Dancers
“The dance field isn’t immune to the ‘gig economy’ that’s disrupting everything from buying groceries to getting a ride to the airport. … So it’s no surprise that artists feel anxious about making ends meet. But this can also be an opportunity to discard old ways of doing business.” Zachary Whittenburg looks at “three movements towards fair pay in dance [that] have gained the most traction.” – Dance Magazine
People Who Attend Cultural Events Feel Better About Their Lives And Hometowns: Study
“A new study [commissioned by Arts Council England] has quantified just how much arts offerings influence people’s choice to relocate or stay in a particular city. And as it turns out, the presence of arts and culture overwhelmingly affected respondents’ sense of well-being and satisfaction, their attachment to a place, and their sense of community.” – Artnet
Louvre May Return Parthenon Frieze To Greece, At Least Temporarily
A proposal discussed by the French President Macron and Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis would see a “temporary exchange,” timed for the 2021 bicentennial celebration of Greek independence, of a 5th-century BC frieze removed from the Parthenon in the 1780s for a collection of ancient bronze artifacts. – The Art Newspaper
A First: Edinburgh Fringe Ticket Sales Pass Three Million Mark
“A record overall tally of 3,012,490 for Fringe events was announced as the international and book festivals also reported a surge in business at the box office. The combined audience for cultural events in the city has topped four million when the 217,000 attendees at the Tattoo and the 290,000 estimated attendees at visual art festival shows and exhibitions are taken into account.” – The Scotsman
Watching The Chief Lighting Technician Of ‘Hamilton’ At Work
“Brian (Rizzo) Frankel, … a veteran of both the Air Force and Broadway — he’s been in the business since 1980 — is long-haired and goateed, with necklaces, bracelets, a wildly patterned shirt, and a genial, easygoing manner. Since 1994, hes worked at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, on West Forty-sixth Street, Hamilton’s home for the past four years. He’s in charge of the show’s spotlight, and also all of its electricity.” (video) – The New Yorker
How Spain Became A Case Study For The Global Streaming Wars
“Netflix may have been the first to crack the key European market, with locally produced hit Money Heist, but the streamer is now facing heated competition from the likes of Amazon, HBO, Viacom and local player Movistar, which are all vying for Spanish talent and content.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Despite Tyranny And Censorship, Ugandan Women Are Leading A Literary Renaissance
“Uganda was once at the fulcrum of African literature. It was at Makerere University, on a hill above Kampala, that giants such as Chinua Achebe and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o gathered in 1962 for the first African Writers’ Conference, a landmark event held on the eve of independence for many countries. But Uganda would soon sink into an abyss, where power flowed from the gun and not the pen. … Yet in a place where history and politics weigh heavy, writers are finding fresh voice.” – The Economist
An Exit Interview With The Two Teens Who Debated Heidi Schreck In ‘What The Constitution Means To Me’
With the Broadway run of the show having ended, 14-year-old Rosdely Ciprian will travel with the production to the Kennedy Center whole 17-year-old Thursday Williams heads off to college. The pair talk to a reporter about juggling a Broadway schedule with high school and the thrill of having two Supreme Court justices (Sotomayor and RBG) visit them backstage. – The New York Times