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Chicago’s Commercial Theatre Is Devastated. Will It Return?

Why have Chicago’s for-profit institutions been so hit? The main reason is their total revenue dependence. A big non-profit potentially can rely on its board members to bankroll it through these hard times, or can sweet talk its big donors. In some rare cases, endowments can be tapped. But that’s not true of for-profit theaters, entirely reliant on ticket sales, bar takings and concessions for their survival. – Chicago Tribune

Philippine Artists Fight Against Duterte’s Anti-Terrorism Bill

“The bill’s vague provisions make it easy for the state to target artistic and creative productions, especially critical, satirical or protest forms it subjectively deems as anti-government or subversive – or terrorist, in today’s cruder parlance,” says Concerned Artists of the Philippines secretary general Lisa Ito, who compares current conditions under Duterte’s government to the martial law period under Ferdinand Marcos. – South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)

NYC Slashes Arts Education In Schools

Budgets across departments have been slashed as the city looks to recover from an estimated $9 billion loss in tax revenue due to the shutdown. Among the hard hit is New York City’s Department of Education, which will see $15 million cut from the $21.5 million budget for arts education services in middle and high schools—a roughly 70 percent reduction. – Artnet

Dance Magazine’s Editor In Chief Judged A Major Competition, And Here’s What She Wants Contestants To Know

Jennifer Stahl, who juried this year’s Boston semi-finals of Youth America Grand Prix: “Putting exact numbers to qualities like ‘musicality’ and ‘épaulement’ is just as tricky as it sounds. But I learned a few surprising takeaways that could make a big difference in a dancer’s final score. Whether you’re competing virtually right now or just starting to plan your solo for next year, keep these six things in mind.” – Dance Magazine

Can This Movie Make An AI Robot Into A Star?

A “synthetic actor” called Erica “has been cast in b, a $70 million science-fiction movie … about scientists who create an AI robot named Erica who quickly realize the danger of this top-secret program that is trying to perfect a human through a non-human form. Variety caught up with the filmmakers [Tarek] Zohdy and [Sam] Khoze to discuss b.” – Variety

Smithsonian Chief Lonnie Bunch: ‘I Want Museums To Be A Place That Gives The Public Not Just What It Wants, But What It Needs’

“I believe very strongly that museums have a social justice role to play. … I’m not expecting museums to engage in partisan politics. What I’m expecting museums to be is driven by scholarship and the community. … And if that means that museums have to take a little more risk, … then so be it. I would rather the museum be a place that takes a little risk to make the country better than a place where history and science go to die.” – The New York Times

BBC Proms Announce ‘Flexible’ Plans For Two Weeks Of Live Concerts

After six weeks of “fantasy Proms” consisting mostly of rebroadcasts from previous years’ festivals, the hope is to present live performances (without live audiences) in the Royal Albert Hall from Aug. 28 through the Last Night on Sept. 12. But “organisers … are having to devise multiple programmes for every concert, because of uncertainties over how many performers will be allowed on stage due to the coronavirus pandemic. … Conductor Sakari Oramo says he is currently planning ‘four different options’ for the first night.” – BBC

Here Are The Ten Artists Sharing What Would Have Been The Turner Prize

“Tate, the British museum network that facilitates it, reconstituted the prize in light of the coronavirus pandemic. In lieu of the main £25,000 ($32,200) award, 10 artists and collectives are taking home what are being called Turner Bursaries awards of £10,000 ($12,500). … Half of the winners this time are nonwhite, and as usual for the Turner Prize, which often skews toward conceptual art, most do not work in traditional mediums such as painting and sculpture.” – ARTnews

Hugh Downs, Anchorman Whose Career Spanned TV History, Dead At 99

“In a broadcast career that spanned more than a half-century” — he began in radio in 1939 and was on television within a decade, ultimately hosting or co-hosting The Tonight Show opposite Jack Paar, the NBC News morning flagship Today, the game show Concentration, and the ABC primetime newsmagazine 20/20 — “Hugh Downs was one of the most versatile and durable personalities on television. A mainstay of American TV-watching rituals for generations, he held for years the world record for most time on air — more than 10,000 hours — before Regis Philbin officially surpassed him in 2004.” – The Washington Post