Alex Ross goes home to Washington, D.C. to watch Ma’s “day of action,” the meetings with students and community members in poor neighborhoods (in this case, Anacostia) that he combines with each concert appearance in his 36-city Bach Project. — The New Yorker
Category: AUDIENCE
How To Present ‘Problematic’ Plays — And How To Handle The Fraught Talkbacks Afterward
Maddie Gaw, who was part of the selection panel for the first-ever Problematic Play Festival this past fall, writes about what makes plays “problematic” (i.e., subject matter violent or controversial enough to make most theatres and funders flee) and about how the festival altered the standard post-play talkback to make it safe for audience members to process what they had seen. — HowlRound
Our “Algorithmic Music Culture” Is Making Music Poorer
On the consumer side, streaming and social-media platforms have transformed the nature of music discovery, which was previously more proactive by necessity—requiring manual effort to open up a newspaper, dig through crates at a record store, or attend a live show. Nowadays, “discovery” can be as easy and passive as scrolling mindlessly through a personalized feed or shuffling an algorithmically -curated playlist in the background of a holiday party, without help from a critic or other human guide. Because of its inherently passive nature, algorithmic curation has also made one core function of criticism defunct. – Columbia Journalism Review
Blockbuster Films With Female Leads Sell Better: Study
“In a report compiled by media research agency Shift7 in collaboration with leading agency CAA, revenue for 350 high-grossing films released between 2014 and 2017 was assessed, and the average results for female-led films did best, at every budget level.” What’s more movies that pass the Bechdel Test do better box office than those that fail it. — The Guardian
Dinner Theater In The 21st Century: Upscale, ‘Immersive’, And Actually Related To The Play
Back in 1973, the Times described the then-popular phenomenon as “restaurants that feature live theater.” Now it’s the other way around, writes Elisabeth Vincentelli: “The productions I caught this fall at least tried to make food an integral part of a show’s aesthetic and thematic universe. In turning New York venues into giant food courts, some even succeeded.” — The New York Times
At Cleveland Orchestra, Deficit Is Down And Audience Is Up
The budget shortfall for fiscal 2018 was $1.3 million, but that’s down from $4.2 million the previous year. At the orchestra’s main venue, Severance Hall, attendance rose by 8%, while audience numbers for summer concerts at Blossom Music Center were up by 28%. — The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
Meet The Guy Who Makes Sure The Guthrie Theater’s Shows Are Accessible To Folks With All Sorts Of Disabilities
Says one of many admiring advocates and clients, “If a school is supposed to make programs accessible to students with disabilities — say, blindness — they might put things on tape and say it’s accessible. They don’t say to the person: What would be your preference? Hunter [Gullickson] does that. And he’ll get the program on tape, but also in Braille.” — The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Can Art Help The Families Of Opioid Crisis Victims? This Museum Is Finding Out
“The Currier Museum of Art in New Hampshire has created an unprecedented program that uses art as a healing tool for those affected by the epidemic in a state that’s ranked third in the nation for drug overdoses.” — Hyperallergic
Tiny Books Are Another Symptom Of The Great Twee-ification Of American Culture
Katy Waldman (using the Dutch name under which tiny books have become popular in Europe): “A dwarsligger‘s teeniness is inseparable from its tweeness. But dwarsliggers embody twee in another respect: as displays of individualism, idiosyncrasy, quirkiness.” (Nevertheless, she kind of likes them.) — The New Yorker
As The Field Museum Revamps, It Starts To Ask Exactly Whom Its Native American Hall Is For
The remodel of the Native North American Hall is overdue (at any natural history museum), and it’s vital. The hall hasn’t changed since its inception in the 1950s, and it’s a mess. How will the Field Museum do it right? “The renovations are taking place under the guidance of a robust advisory committee made up of contemporary Native American tribal leaders, scholars, artists, historical society representatives, and cultural caretakers.” (And it won’t remain stuck in time for 65+ years, either.) – Chicago Reader