Category: AUDIENCE

Public Art Or Giant Gas Company Logo? Belfastians Duke It Out

“The 11-metre high structure was funded by Creative Belfast, a partnership between Belfast City Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, which invested £900,000 in seven large-scale projects showcasing the city’s cultural heritage. But Origin, which cost £100,000, has attracted poor reviews, with one critic accusing the project of ‘financial frippery’.”

The Latest Front In The War On Ticket Bots: The Bette Midler ‘Hello, Dolly!’

“The situation is exacerbated because Midler’s engagement in the show will be a limited one, beginning performances on March 15th, 2017 and opening officially on April 20. No end date has been announced, … [but] it’s a marathon role and Bette will be 71 when she comes down the steps of Harmonia Gardens Restaurant.”

Publishers Think They’ve Figured Out The Algorithm That Will Make Us Buy. So What Does That Mean For What Gets Published?

“A handful of startups in the US and abroad claim to have created their own algorithms or other data-driven approaches that can help them pick novels and nonfiction topics that readers will love, as well as understand which books work for which audiences. Meanwhile, traditional publishers are doing their own experiments: Simon & Schuster hired its first data scientist last year; in May, Macmillan Publishers acquired the digital book publishing platform Pronoun, in part for its data and analytics capabilities.”

Opera Needs A Radical Overhaul, Says Director Of Britain’s Most Radically Overhauled Opera Company

Graham Vick of Birmingham Opera Company: “So much is encouraging about opera just now, most of it found in the sense of adventure of performances in pub theatres, supermarkets and car parks. … Making this expensive art form accessible does sometimes mean finding less costly ways of presenting it. … But trapped between tyrannical, unyielding musical values and a theatrical inferiority complex, artists and programmers, artistic directors and marketing departments cling on to outmoded models by the fingernails (or do I mean by co-productions?). They fear the implications of radical change. But we need to bend – there’s no use pretending something’s not broken.”

‘Opera Companies Should Just Bite The Bullet And Start To Use Amplification,’ Argues One Maestro

Conductor and radio presenter Guy Noble: “The houses are too big for many of the voices to cut through and as a consequence audiences are leaving with a less than exciting experience. Amplification is seen as such a dirty word. … I sincerely hope that opera doesn’t disappear in a puff of purist smoke. And if it does, might we not even be able to hear it?”

Burning Man’s #SoWhite Problem May Finally Be Getting (A Little) Better

Steven W. Thrasher: “In the summer of 2015, … I interviewed about 30 black people and some other people of color at Burning Man (pretty much all the people of color I could find who would talk to me) … When I returned this year, there was a burning question on many people’s minds: did I think there were more black people at Burning Man a year later? In a word: yes.”

‘Guilty Or Not Guilty? You Decide …’: Viewers Dispense Vigilante Justice Live On Camera

“The alleged carjacker is strapped to a chair as the video stream goes live and a distorted voice is heard describing his crimes. Footage is then shown of an attack before the words ‘Guilty or Not Guilty? You Decide …’ flash up on screen alongside a website address. The verdict is overwhelmingly guilty and the man is killed by lethal injection while the camera is running.”