Tag: 03.31.20

Playwrights Talk About How Their Dystopian Scripts Look Now That We’re Amidst A Plague

Alexis Soloski: “You could fill a shelf with plays of the past several decades that have dreamed bleak outcomes for humanity. And then, in a pinch, you could burn that shelf and those plays for warmth. Recently, I spoke with several playwrights — via telephone and email — about what it is like to first imagine a cataclysm and then live through one.” (And then there’s this playwright, who picked the wrong time to premiere her play about the Spanish flu.) – The New York Times

Philadelphia Orchestra Gets Pay Cuts But No Job Losses

“Players voted last week to approve an across-the-board 20% reduction in compensation starting April 1 and lasting through the middle of September. ​Pay cuts have also been instituted for orchestra staff on a sliding scale up to 20% depending on salary level, and music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will give up at least 20% of his paycheck.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer

A Week After Getting A $25 Million Grant, Kennedy Center Lays Off 250 Staffers

The five-week furloughs, announced days after all National Symphony musicians were laid off with a week’s notice, cover administrative employees in education, marketing, and development as well as the NSO and Washington National Opera. Said CEO Deborah Rutter, “My hope is that we won’t have to do too many more.” – The Washington Post

Kennedy Center Defends Its $25 Million Bailout Amid Major Layoffs

Facing serious criticism for the furloughs — one congressman introduced a bill to rescind the $25 million, saying “if an organization is receiving assistance from the federal government, we expect them to take care of their workers” — management offered a breakdown of how the grant would be spent and said that, even with the extra money, the Center could run out of cash by July. – The New York Times

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Canceled For First Time Ever

In addition to calling off all events in the June 24-August 30 festival, Jacob’s Pillow administration is making staffing and salary cuts. However, said director Pamela Tatge, “[if] people are able to congregate again in August, we will make every effort to try to bring audiences together in keeping with the public safety guidelines in effect at that time.” – The Berkshire Eagle

Is COVID A Wakeup Call?

We do not yet know what effect the current pandemic will have on worldwide demographics. But it is actually slightly more likely to increase future populations than decrease them. If the actions of governments, or at least of most governments, make people feel more insecure, economically and socially, then younger people may in the near future have more children than they would have had; and the pandemic will, counterintuitively, very slightly increase the total future population. – The Guardian

Classical Music Activity Explodes Online As Shutdown Closes Stages

In-person performances have been replaced by a deluge of digital ones — live streams and recently unlocked archive recordings — that have made for a calendar hardly less busy than before concert halls closed. It’s enough to keep a critic happily overwhelmed, yet also wondering whether the industry is making a mistake by giving away so much for free. – The New York Times

How Public Libraries Are Adapting To The Virus

When libraries closed their doors abruptly, they immediately opened their digital communications, collaborations, and creative activity to reach their public in ways as novel as the virus that forced them into it. You can be sure that this is just the beginning. Today libraries are already acting and improvising. Later, they’ll be figuring out what the experience means to their future operations and their role in American communities. – The Atlantic