“Premium tickets for Broadway shows can cost north of $200. Adjusting for inflation, the $25 ticket in 1984 should cost only about $58 today. Something is not sufficiently aligned. The questions I often ponder are: How do high ticket prices limit accessibility? How much profit is profitable?” Marshall Jones III, producing artistic director of the Tony-winning African-American troupe Crossroads Theatre Company, discusses the ways he and some of his colleagues have addressed this issue.
Category: issues
‘Creative Hubs’ May Be The Thing Every City Wants, But They’re ‘Still Largely Misunderstood And Undervalued’, Says Report
“The British Council report, ‘Creative Hubs: Understanding the New Economy’, finds the tendency to conflate creative hubs with cultural quarters, clusters of economic activity and creative zones ‘unhelpful’.”
The Idea Of America As A Fiction
“America cannot be made great again because America isn’t real. America never was real. America is 325 million different ideas that disagree with each other just enough for human lives to be lost in the process of translating between them. America is nothing but miscommunication and unspoken secrets and fragmentary dreams that fail to cohere. It’s a multiplicity of states, none of them united. America, like money, isn’t the final product of human creativity.”
Technology, Art, At Some Point The Two Are Indistinguishable
“In these cases, the engineers are as much creators of the work as the named artists are. What is the difference between art and technology here? After all, the most advanced of technology has always been indistinguishable from magic.”
Toronto’s Three Big Theatres Need A Miracle Worker To Reinvent
I’d call it a rescue mission, because each of these three theatres has lost its way in recent years. Now, they need to be reinvented in order to help Toronto solidify its place as one of North America’s top theatre destinations – a reputation that also depends on the Mirvish organization with its four theatres, a lively fringe scene and two internationally renowned summer festivals (Stratford and Shaw) within easy reach of the city.
Selling Out? Why Is That Always A Bad Thing?
We’re all familiar with the way the artistic life gets romanticized as a struggle, but it’s time to put this harmful stereotype to rest; some may be happy waiting tables, asking their friends to support their Kickstarter campaigns or taking every odd gig in hopes they’ll finally get noticed or “make it.” But it’s not the only way. “Selling out,” when it enhances our work without compromising our creativity or our values, is a good thing, and putting a priority on revenue is not the same as betraying our principles. Indeed, nothing compromises our principles more than not having the resources to promote them.
After Oakland Fire, Cities Around America Are Evicting Artists In Sub-Code Spaces
In Baltimore, for example: “We have a shortage of those spaces,” he said of properties where artists can live, work or perform. “This is a great arts city, and it needs to continue to be that way. No one wants Baltimore to become like D.C., where there are no artists who can afford the rent. If we don’t get a space out of this, then that’s basically Baltimore City telling us they don’t want us to exist.”
Even A Century Ago, There Was A Campaign Against The Crass Commercialization Of Christmas
Here’s the story of the Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving, co-founded by a famous stage actress and the daughter of J.P. Morgan.
Where Did The Whole ‘War On Christmas’ Issue Come From, Anyway?
Blame a book with a too-incendiary title and a conservative media star.
What The Oakland Ghost Fire Tragedy Says About Need For Artist Spaces
“If we need art in our lives — and I am thinking not only of painting and sculpture but also of music and literature and performance and entirely new forms of expression yet to be invented — then we certainly must have places where the constant fear of eviction does not stifle every generative urge, where creators can share and encourage each other’s growth, where the outsider feels safe to live according to their true nature.”