“As novelist William Faulkner said about writing, but is applicable to all creative endeavours: ‘You must kill all your darlings.’ That said, killing your darlings can be really painful because you love them so dearly.” Lyn Gardner talks to theatre folk who’ve had to do it about why and how. (One groused, “I wonder if auteur directors are asked to kill their darlings. Does anyone ever say to Ivo van Hove: ‘Could you just cut 10 minutes?'”) — The Stage
Blog
Study: Video Games Are Getting More Popular With Girls
Despite the growing popularity of gaming among girls, there remains a large gender divide in how many children claim it as their favourite activity: for boys it is second only to football, with 14% of four- to 12-year-olds and 21% of 13- to 18-year-olds saying it was their favourite activity, compared to 3% of girls. – The Guardian
Albert Einstein’s ‘God Letter’ Sells For $3 Million At Auction
“The one-and-a-half-page letter, written in 1954 in German and addressed to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, contains reflections on God, the Bible and Judaism. Einstein says: ‘The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.'” (Even so, Einstein maintained that he was not an atheist.) — The Guardian
This Man Has Choreographed Four Different Nutcrackers (And Danced In Two Others)
Val Caniparoli has created different versions of the piece for the Cincinnati, Louisville, Grand Rapids, and Royal New Zealand Ballets, and at San Francisco Ballet he’s danced the settings by Lew Christensen and Helgi Tomasson. He talks to Avichai Scher about how he keeps them all straight in his head and different on the stage. — Dance Magazine
C’Mon People – Your Behavior In The Theatre Is Dreadful!
Every night there is bad and thoughtless behavior conducted by people who may have spent hundreds of dollars on theater tickets yet seemingly have no idea how to behave in an actual theater. Why should you check that your phone is off, because, gee, that would be way too much trouble. Puleeze, that recorded announcement doesn’t refer to you! An hour later, that ringing sound: Oh, sorry everyone, is that me? Yes, it’s you! Look, you’re in public at the theater! Who knew! – The Daily Beast
Esa-Pekka Salonen Is Next Music Director Of San Francisco Symphony
“Salonen, 60, will succeed Michael Tilson Thomas at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season, when Thomas steps down after 25 years at the orchestra’s helm.” — San Francisco Chronicle
Together, Salonen And San Francisco Symphony Could Change Everything
Joshua Kosman: “It’s really something of a coup. If that assessment sounds a little breathless, consider that it could not have been made about any other conductor the Symphony might have chosen. … If Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony can forge a partnership that addresses [their] challenges successfully, the repercussions could well be felt across the orchestral landscape, well beyond the confines of Davies Symphony Hall and the Bay Area.” – San Francisco Chronicle
Standardized Tests Determine Which Young People Get A Chance And Which Don’t — So How Well Do They Work?
“The question, then, isn’t so much whether the tests measure anything significant; they do, at least to a point. The meatier questions are these: whom do the tests overlook? And how does our culture’s dogged focus on test-measured potential shape what those in the system become?” — Aeon
Simon Rattle’s Seven Pieces Of Advice For Every Young Musician
4. Being an amazing musician doesn’t make you an amazing grown-up. (There are important aspects of adulting he didn’t learn in time.)
5. Even world-famous musicians have identity crises. (He once tried going an entire year without listening to any music.)
6. The bonds you make with fellow musicians will be intense. (This would be why he keeps marrying his singers.) — BBC
The Whole Concept Of The ‘General Audience’ Is A Myth
Playwright Alana Valentine: “Are we not part of a generation whose success has been to interrogate all forms of generalisation? So why do we continue to refer to a general audience? And please, I’m not taking issue with the nature of the adjective as a collective descriptor, I’m actually leaning into the definition of general as imprecise, inexact, sweeping, and vague. I’m questioning what it is that we’re referring to as general.” — ArtsHub (Australia)