Tag: 02.07.20

Fred Adams, 89, Visionary Founder Of Utah Shakespeare Festival

In 1961, Fred Adams — then a theater professor with two years of experience at the College of Southern Utah (now SUU) — and Barbara Gaddie, his girlfriend (they married in 1963), were in a laundromat when they hatched the idea for a Shakespeare festival in Cedar City. Adams went to Ashland, Ore., to study how the Oregon Shakespeare Festival worked. He came back to Cedar City, and cajoled the Lions Club to donate $1,000 — the entirety of the first festival’s budget in 1962. Townspeople and students built sets, props and costumes. – Salt Lake Tribune

Duh – Most Of Us Judge A Book By Its Title

For two of the three most-browsed books in the Codex test, participants said that the books’ titles, not their graphics, were the strongest factors in prompting them to click the read more buttons. “People who buy and read books are word lovers; nothing intrigues them more than a strong message delivered by uniquely crafted title, subtitle, or even a reading line.” – Publishers Weekly

California May Remove Submissions Cap For Freelance Journalists Under New Gig Law

The bill, which is called AB5 and which went into effect on Jan. 1, says that outlets may not accept more than 35 submissions a year from any individual freelance journalist; any more, and the freelancer must be put on staff. Following desperate pleas from affected journalists, the law’s author said, in a series of tweets, that she will introduce an amendment to AB5 to eliminate the 35-article limit. – Los Angeles Times

How Instagram Is Changing Theatre

“Instagram is absolutely shaping the theatre industry,” says Jay Armstrong Johnson, who recently played Raoul in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Johnson notes that Instagram has become “a necessary app, a connecting device” not just for fans and those without access to the arts, but also “to other artists, which has often led to new projects and/or collaborations.” – American Theatre

‘The Inheritance’ Playwright Matthew Lopez Responds To Criticism Of Its Representation Of Queer Communities (Okay, Its Whiteness)

“I wasn’t attempting to create a generationally defining work of theater that spoke for the entire queer experience. I think that if I had started with that intention, I never would have finished. There are some who feel the play should have done just that, and who fault me for not painting on a broader canvas. … Art can be expected to hold a mirror up to society, but it cannot be expected to hold a mirror up to every individual who is engaging with it.” – The New York Times

Edward Munch’s ‘The Scream’ Is Fading. Scientists Are Figuring Out Why

“Since 2012, scientists based in New York and experts at the Munch Museum in Oslo have been working on this canvas — which was stolen in 2004 and recovered two years later — to tell a story of color. But the research also provides insight into Munch and how he worked, laying out a map for conservators to prevent further change, and helping viewers and art historians understand how one of the world’s most widely recognized paintings might have originally looked.” – The New York Times