The move to the arena, for one night only (Feb. 26), is meant to give a more diverse audience a chance to see the show; 18,000 tickets will be given for free to New York City public school students. – Variety
Blog
Due To Injury, Bryn Terfel Withdraws From Met Opera’s New ‘Flying Dutchman’
The 54-year-old bass-baritone fractured his ankle this week while in Bilbao to perform in a different production of Dutchman; he has returned home to Wales for surgery. The March 2 opening would have been his first Met appearance in eight years. – The New York Times
It’s Official: MoviePass Files Bankruptcy To Go Out Of Business
Unlike Chapter 11, where companies can be reorganized and survive, this gang is dissolving, shutting its doors and everyone has resigned. Four months after the MoviePass service closed down it’s clear it’s not coming back. – Deadline
Simplifying And Minimalizing Our Lives: What If It Doesn’t “Spark Joy”?
It is rarely acknowledged, by either the life-hack-minded authors or the proponents of minimalist design, that many people have minimalism forced upon them by circumstances that render impossible a serene, jewel-box life style. Nor do they mention that poverty and trauma can make frivolous possessions seem like a lifeline rather than a burden. Many of today’s gurus maintain that minimalism can be useful no matter one’s income, but the audience they target is implicitly affluent—the pitch is never about making do with less because you have no choice. – The New Yorker
BBC To Cut 450 Jobs From Its New Operation And Reduce Number Of Stories It Reports
“Never in my career have I felt this organisation is quite under the threat that it currently is. There are many that believe that how we are funded is no longer appropriate when consumers seem to prefer to pay just for what they use.” – The Guardian
Openings Of Norway’s New Munch And National Museums Are Delayed
The handover of the building from a contractor to the constructor has been delayed due to incomplete delivery of fire and security doors as well insufficient performance and unsatisfactory operation of the building’s climate systems, the newspaper Dagbladet writes. The new Munch museum has already been the subject of criticism over its design. Architecture editor Gaute Brochmann, in comments to Dagbladet, has likened it to a “threatening black shadow, a coal-grey block looming over the Opera”. – The Local No
China Closes Down All Its Movie Theatres In Coronavirus Scare
In the wake of a coronavirus outbreak that has infected thousands and claimed more than 100 lives in China, the movie industry is grappling with the unthinkable: Nearly every cinema in the country, totaling about 70,000 screens, has shut down. – The Hollywood Reporter
Arts Council England’s New Plan Imagines A Different Role For The Arts
The emphasis on participation – on culture as something that more people should actually do – is newer. This is the difference between being in a play or a band and buying tickets to watch them, and for ACE to play a more active role in promoting the former would be beneficial. This begins in childhood, and ACE clearly hopes that the government will think again about policies that have seen music, drama and other arts subjects systematically downgraded in favour of science, technology and maths. – The Guardian
When Barack Obama’s Half-Sister Brought L.A. Teenagers To Do Shakespeare In Small-Town Kenya
Actor and educator Kila Packett writes about the Los Angeles Drama Club’s Shakespeare Youth Festival (active year-round in Watts and East L.A.) and the trip by four students and six teachers, at the invitation of Dr. Auma Obama, to give a week of workshops to disadvantaged young people in the Luo heartland of western Kenya. – American Theatre
Rally for the Right to Bear (& to scare with) Arms Prompted “Extensive Precautions” at Virginia MFA
I hadn’t wanted to write anything about this beforehand (for fear of putting a dangerous idea into someone’s head), but I was worried about the welfare of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts during the Jan. 20 gun-rights rally in Richmond. I was concerned that there might be a replay of what had happened in August 2017 in Charlottesville. – Lee Rosenbaum