Tag: 02.12.19

How Social Media Got ‘Be More Chill’ To Broadway

“The origin story of Be More Chill is already one of musical theater legend. After a month-long run at the Two River Theater [in New Jersey], the creative team … thought the show’s lifespan had unjustly passed. About two years later, … fan art [began] popping up on Instagram. … By the spring of 2018, the album had been streamed over 100 million times.” – Dance Magazine

Broadway Is Being More Chill About Licensing Shows To High Schools

“‘There is starting to be an understanding and a sensibility that, in certain cases, the high school market does not necessarily cannibalize the commercial run of a show,’ observed Sean Cercone, the president of Broadway Licensing. ‘In fact,’ he said that ‘we have always made the argument that nobody chooses to go to a little league game, and not buy a ticket to see the Yankees.'” – Forbes

Those Who Bought Glass Houses Shouldn’t Throw Lawsuits: Judge Tosses Out Case Brought By Neighbors Of Tate Modern

“More than half a million visitors a year get lifts up to the 10th floor of the gallery’s £260m extension and breathe in fresh air as they look out to St Paul’s, or the Shard, or the luxury interiors of expensive flats in the Neo Bankside development a little over 34 metres away.” The owners of four of those apartments sued the Tate Modern to try to force the museum to close that side of the viewing platform; in effect, the judge told the plaintiffs, as the former Tate director did 2-1/2 years ago, to buy some damn curtains. – The Guardian

The Cities That Fall Into A Branding Trap

“Look at any piece of city marketing material, from promo videos to airline magazine ad inserts. It’s amazing how so many of them rely on the same basic ingredients: hipster coffee shops, microbreweries, bike lanes, creative-class members, startups, intimations of a fashion scene, farm-to-table restaurants, new downtown streetcars, etc. These are all good things, mind you: things cities should be happy to have. Some of them may even be modern necessities. But you can’t help but notice how few unique things about these cities manage to come through.” – CityLab

What Makes Us Human: Laughter?

Something that sets us apart from these ancestors and primate relatives, and should be of special interest to anthropology, is our unique propensity to laugh. Laughter is a paradox. We all know it’s good for us; we experience it as one of life’s pleasures and a form of emotional release. Yet to be able to laugh, we must somehow cut ourselves off from feelings of love, hate, fear or any other powerful emotion.  – Aeon

New Conservation Center & Stellar Van Gogh Show: David Bomford’s Last Hurrahs at MFA, Houston

Gary Tinterow, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has a knack for attracting distinguished staff. After Gary’s homecoming to Houston (where he grew up), to assume the MFAH’s directorship in 2012, one of his first and best hires was David Bomford, who became chairman of conservation and curator of European art. — Lee Rosenbaum