Blog

Will Amazon’s Northern Virginia HQ2 Help Crowd Out DC’s Always-Strapped Small Theater Companies?

Synetic Theater, for instance, has had its stage right in the Crystal City complex that Amazon is taking over. “That catapulted Synetic back to its start-up roots, scrambling for places to perform. But as the Amazon deal proved, real estate near downtown has become more desirable than ever, and prices are only going up. For small and midsize theater companies, that means affordable performance space is harder than ever to find.” — The Washington Post

Orlando Ballet Asks Its Customers Flat-Out If They’re Willing To Pay Extra For Live Music

“A survey from the ballet has been arriving in email inboxes with only two questions for recipients: ‘How much does live music affect your decision to purchase tickets to Orlando Ballet?’ and ‘Would you be willing to pay a small increase in ticket prices for a performance with live music?'” — Orlando Sentinel

C.Y. Lee, Author Of ‘Flower Drum Song’, Dead At 102

“Over a career spanning seven decades, Mr. Lee wrote nearly a dozen volumes of historical fiction, but his best-known work was his debut novel, The Flower Drum Song, which brought instant literary stardom upon its release. He was called an overnight sensation, but in fact, he had spent years toiling in obscurity after having arrived in the United States from China on a student visa during World War II.” — The Washington Post

MoMA To Close For Four Months This Summer, And Will Reopen Completely Reconfigured

“[The goal is] to reconfigure its galleries, rehang the entire collection and rethink the way that the story of modern and contemporary art is presented to the public. The Picassos and van Goghs will still be there, but the 40,000 square feet of additional space will allow MoMA to focus new attention on works by women, Latinos, Asians, African-Americans and other overlooked artists.” — The New York Times

UK’s Last Record Store Chain, HMV, Saved From Bankruptcy By New Buyer

“Doug Putman, who runs the Canadian retailer Sunrise Records, has bought the UK music and film retailer, … [which] collapsed into administration just after Christmas, blaming tough conditions on UK high streets and competition from streaming sites such as Netflix and Spotify.” Two years ago, Putman and Sunrise bought Canada’s HMV stores, rescuing them from closure. — The Guardian

And So It Begins: English-Language Theatre In Germany Won’t Audition British Actors Because Of Brexit

Due to uncertainty over what visa and employment regulations will be in place after March 29, “the English Theatre of Hamburg said it was only interested in seeing actors who held a passport for a European Union member state, and that UK performers must also have an EU passport to be seen for a part.” — The Stage

Bollywood Releases Its First Lesbian Love Story

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (roughly, “I felt something when I saw that girl”) isn’t the first-ever lesbian movie from India — Deepa Mehta’s indie film Fire came out in 1996 (and extremists burned down a few theatres that showed it) — but it’s the first to come from the big Bollywood studio system, and its cast features some of India’s biggest stars. Sharan Dhaliwal writes about seeing the film with other Indian queer folks. — The Guardian

An ‘Unbearable Act Of Cultural Delinquency’: Young Adult Book Fair In Paris Slammed For Using Too Much English

“The proliferation of English words on display at the book fair, where the ‘scène YA’ was set to feature ‘Le Live’, a ‘Bookroom’, a ‘photobooth’ and a ‘bookquizz’, spurred around 100 French writers into action, among them three winners of the country’s Goncourt prize … [to issue] a scalding rebuke to organisers over their use of that ‘sub-English known as globish’.” — The Guardian