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Theatre-By-Snail-Mail

The audiences interact with characters one-on-one through the letters and can possibly alter the arc of the pieces through their correspondences. For a few of the play tracks, audiences can select particular characters to follow and even determine outcomes based on their response letters. “It’s a bespoke adventure—a tailor-made adventure specifically designed for you and your experience.” – American Theatre

First-Ever National Award For Disabled Artists Launched By Ford And Mellon Foundations

“After a yearlong research study in conversation with disabled people, the initiative” — called Disability Futures — “has named 20 artists, filmmakers and journalists in its first class of fellows, each of whom will receive a grant of $50,000 administered by the arts funding group United States Artists. The 18-month initiative not only pledges financial support, but aims to foster a creative community across mediums and generations.” – The New York Times

Why Do Certain Artworks Get Stolen Over And Over Again?

Munch’s The Scream has been carted off by thieves twice, there are three Dutch Old Masters paintings that have been stolen three times each in the past 50 years, and the poor old Ghent Altarpiece has been taken an unlucky 13 times. Such works become famous, and thus very hard to fence, so why would they be repeat targets? Because, say two experts, stealing them can get the thieves clout — clout of more than one kind. – The Art Newspaper

Publishing Insider Joins A Books-To-Prisons Pipeline

“When he isn’t promoting books for W.W. Norton, Peter Miller, publicity director of Norton’s Liveright imprint, moonlights as the owner of Freebird Books, a small used bookstore he operates in Brooklyn. … A year after buying the store, Miller heard that Books Through Bars, which donates books to prison inmates around the country, needed a space for its collection operations.” – Publishers Weekly

Why Kathryn Morgan Quit Miami City Ballet A Year After Her Triumphant Return To The Stage (It Isn’t Pretty)

Once a very promising young soloist at New York City Ballet, Morgan had to stop performing for years due to hypothyroidism (with its attendant weight gain) and an autoimmune disorder. In 2019, by then a social media star, she was hired by Miami City Ballet in a move that got both dancer and company plenty of positive news coverage. Last week, in a 33-minute video that went viral, she recounted difficulties at the company that culminated in her being humiliatingly cut from a role (she’d be “an embarrassment”) in front of her colleagues. – Pointe Magazine

2,600-Year-Old Egyptian Sarcophagus Opened For First Time

“The newly unveiled coffin is one of 59 sealed sarcophagi unearthed at the Saqqara necropolis — a sprawling ancient cemetery located south of Cairo — in recent months. Found stacked on top of each other in three burial shafts of differing depths (between 32 and 39 feet each), the coffins date to Egypt’s 26th Dynasty, which spanned 664 to 525 B.C.” – Smithsonian Magazine

Herbert Kretzmer, Who Wrote Lyrics For ‘Les Miz’, Dead At 95

A career newspaperman, he started as a film journalist in his native South Africa and went on to be a theatre and TV critic for two London tabloids; he moonlighted as a song lyricist, writing the words for “Goodness Gracious Me,” “Yesterday When I Was Young,” and Charles Aznavour’s “She.” Then came the offer to write the English adaptation of an old flop, a French musical version of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables — and, as he later said, “I was able to give up my day job at 61.” – Variety

How The UK’s Famous Drama Schools Are Responding To Calls For Systemic Change In Theatre

“For many, British drama schools are beacons of excellence, whose training has led to fulfilling careers, but for others they have become symbols of all that is wrong with British theatre. The heads of some of the UK’s most prestigious schools speak to Lyn Gardner about finding the balance between tradition and change.” – The Stage