Jason Farago: “Tokyo 2020, its name unchanged, will now take place in July 2021 if it takes place at all. Yet all around the Japanese capital is the legacy of another Olympics: the 1964 Summer Games, which crowned Tokyo’s 20-year transformation from a firebombed ruin to an ultramodern megalopolis.” – The New York Times
Tag: 07.30.20
TikTok Will Give Billions To Creators
The video-sharing social media app said in a blog post Wednesday that it will give creators in the U.S. over $1 billion in the next three years, and more than double that globally. – CNBC
America Needs A Truth And Reconciliation Commission — And It Should Be Televised
Wesley Morris: “What would an American version be? Court, theater, a hearing, a telethon, therapy, TV, church, Ken Burns, Anna Deavere Smith? Each perhaps — and more. Who would make it? I don’t know…. The production, however, is merely the second hurdle to clear. The first would be convincing executives that it’s worth doing in the first place. Here’s what to say about that: The entertainment industry itself has more than a century of harm to atone for and ameliorate. Any company that believes the solution to ‘systemic racism’ is The Help shouldn’t mind a surrender of its airwaves.” – The New York Times
What’s The Most Popular Book In Russian Prisons? Not ‘Crime And ‘Punishment’
No, Dostoevsky’s novel is only the second-most popular title among inmates there; Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita is in the top spot, with Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo at number three. The data was released by Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service as part of a nationwide government program to encourage reading called “Books Are Your Friends.” – The Moscow Times
John Homans, Longtime Editor At New York Magazine And Vanity Fair, Dead At 62
“Because he was not a celebrity editor, he was not particularly well known outside the publishing universe. But let us assure you, because we saw it firsthand: There was nobody quite like him. A disproportionate number of the best things you ever read in New York came through his hands. .. We’ve invited his colleagues at New York, past and present, to talk about him. Here’s John in their words.” (And here’s a similar piece from his colleagues at Vanity Fair.) – New York Magazine
Washington Ballet Loses Another Executive Director
In a statement that also announced the cancellation of all remaining 2020 performances (including The Nutcracker), the company revealed that Michael Pastreich is departing after 14 months. He’s the third executive director to resign since Julie Kent succeeded Septime Webre as artistic director in 2016. But a pattern of Washington Ballet CEOs quickly coming and going was established quite some time ago, writes Sarah Kaufman. – The Washington Post
First Indoor Play Approved By Actors’ Equity Won’t Be Indoors After All
Barrington Stage Company in the Berkshires was all set to go with a production of playwright David Cale’s one-man play Harry Clarke — the union had given the go-ahead, and the theater had had seats removed and the bathrooms and air conditioning system redesigned to meet COVID safety guidelines. But the state of Massachusetts has refused to waive its ongoing ban on indoor performance. The show will go on, however — in a tent. – The New York Times
As COVID Cases Continue To Rise, South Carolina Reopens Performance Spaces And Cinemas
“Venues newly allowed to reopen to customers include movie theaters, auditoriums, stadiums and performing arts centers. Those represent the last of the business restrictions not rolled back two months ago. However, they must keep capacity at 50 percent or 250 people, whichever is less.” – The Post and Courier (Charleston)