“Video streams at network TV sites were nearly two times more likely to be viewed by women ages 18-34 than men, who accounted for 22% and 12% of streams, respectively.”
Tag: 02.15.08
How Basketball Is Like Jazz
“Anyone with knowledge of both basketball and jazz recognizes natural affinities between the two pursuits: a marriage of form and improvisation, of individualism with teamwork; a primacy of rhythm (watch how basketball players dribble the ball before taking foul shots to re-establish a sense of tempo); and a requirement that players respond to one another’s choices and to rapidly changing situations in real time.”
Inside The Art Thief’s Mind
“Why do people steal art at all? Art theft is a labor-intensive, high-risk business. Works of art are hard to store and even harder to get rid of. High-profile thefts, such as those that have occurred in the past two weeks, attract extensive publicity — making the pictures widely recognizable and therefore too ‘hot’ to be easily fenced.”
Controversial Play Gets Thumbs Down From Schools
A new play that “deals realistically with ghetto life in Toronto and the gun culture that young people are drawn into” is seeing multiple cancellations from school groups in the city after two area school boards issued cautions about its content. Producers are attempting to calm the controversy and lure the schools back to the theatre.
Writers’ Strike: Where’s The Outrage?
“In the post-strike world of television, fans seem to be hiding their disappointment about lost episodes, truncated seasons and mothballed shows… Not to crank up a jeremiad here, but shouldn’t viewers be a little more annoyed?”
Will Macbeth Jump To Broadway?
A highly stylized production of Macbeth currently running at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with Patrick Stewart in the title role could be on the verge of making the cross-borough leap to Broadway and shaking up the Tony race. The only thing holding up the move is logistics – there may or may not be a venue available for the Scottish play.
Who Won The Strike? Maybe Conan
Watching TV’s late-night comedians ply their trade without writers was certainly instructive, if nothing else. Jon Stewart and Jay Leno proved that even talented performers need a writing team, but Conan O’Brien took an entirely different approach. “He alone of the late-night hosts respected the call for ‘pencils down.’ He not only surrendered to the strike, he embraced the moment, used it to engage in MacGyver television.”
Playwrights Protest CSC Cuts
“Two prominent Canadian playwrights – Florence Gibson and Brad Fraser – are protesting against the Canadian Stage Company’s recent decision to suspend its play-development program… The letters come against a backdrop of deepening crisis for the 20-year-old company, the largest regional theatre in the country.”
Giving The Bangers Their Due
Percussion concertos aren’t exactly standard concert hall fare, but in the next month alone, four major premieres in the US will bring percussionists to the fore. “These pieces are the latest sign that the percussion concerto, inherently a modern invention, has moved beyond its novelty phase. Orchestra administrators see percussion works as a draw for new audiences, with their athletic spectacle and ability to exploit non-Western sounds.”
EU Seeks “Lifetime Copyright” For Music
“The European Union said Thursday that it would seek to extend copyright protection for singers and musicians to 95 years — rather than the current 50 — in a move intended to let performers receive royalty payments later in life.”