With the rest of the company’s summer season in Sydney cancelled, including the popular and lucrative outdoor Opera on the Harbour, CEO Rory Jeffes said, “suddenly we were in a position where we had to show [the board] that we could refund all our tickets sold for the future and have no income from ticket sales for the foreseeable future.” – The Sydney Morning Herald
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India’s Film Industry, World’s Largest, Freezes All Production
“After an emergency meeting over the weekend, the India Motion Picture Producers’ Association said Monday that it would request the suspension of all film, TV, advertising and web series shoots in the country from March 19 to 31. The body also advised all Indian film crews currently at work on projects overseas to return to the country within the next three days.” – The Hollywood Reporter
All U.S. Movie Theatre Chains Close As COVID Restrictions Spread
AMC will keep its theatres dark for six to 12 weeks; Regal, Landmark, Alamo Drafthouse, Showcase, Harkins, and Bow Tie have closed indefinitely; ArcLight and Pacific Theaters will close this week. Only Cinemark has not announced plans as yet. (Update: Cinemark will shutter as well.) – The Hollywood Reporter
Doriot Anthony Dwyer, Longtime Boston Symphony Principal Flute And Pioneering Female Musician, Dead At 98
A grand-niece of Susan B. Anthony, Dwyer was only the second woman ever to win a principal chair in a major U.S. orchestra. She joined the BSO in 1952 (negotiating a higher-than-usual salary) and retired in 1990, premiering a new concerto by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich in her final season. – The Boston Musical Intelligencer
England’s Arts Funding Will ‘Refocus’ To Help Artists With Loss Of Income Due To COVID
“We will refocus some grant programmes to help compensate individual artists and freelancers for lost earnings,” said a statement from Arts Council England. “This will require further planning. It may take about ten days before we can announce the details.” Institutions will continue to receive grant money, with funding requirements suspended for three months, and advance payments can help those with cash flow problems. – The Art Newspaper
All Major UK Theatres Are Now Dark
“The Society of London Theatre (Solt) and UK Theatre, the industry body that represents nearly every British theatre, announced that, as of Monday night, all its members would close their doors [due to the COVID-19 epidemic]. The groups represent about 50 London theatres and almost 250 others throughout the UK.” – The Guardian
Are You An Artist And Need Help?
New York Foundation for the Arts has created a page of resources for artists who have found themselves in difficulty during the virus crisis. – New York Foundation for the Arts
Naomi Klein: Crises Can Be Opportunities For Systemic Change
Crises like coronavirus are opportunities as well as threats. Naomi Klein writes that ideas that were heretofore beyond consideration can sometimes become possible – for example no-strings bailouts of big companies or medicare for all. Depends on how you treat them. – The Intercept
The Social Costs Of Shutting Down Getting Together
The economic fallout of event cancellations is making headlines. However, little attention has been paid to the social costs. Events play an important role in community life and research has repeatedly shown that attending festivals and community events has many benefits. – The Conversation
The Dazzle Of George Steiner (And The End Of An Era)
Dazzle was, of course, the very essence of the Steiner sound. The magisterial tone, the cosmopolitan content, the very assumption that the reader was as intimately familiar with the history of European literature and philosophy as he was: it all went to form the “aura” of his criticism. Names were dropped like confetti, sprinkled from such a height that at times they inevitably missed their target. But he was interested in big pictures, not small incisions. – Times Literary Supplement