The River “is a much anticipated return to London’s Royal Court theatre next month for Butterworth after his triumph with Jerusalem, but some fans have been infuriated by the theatre’s decision to sell tickets only on the day of the performance.” What will scalpers do? Get paid to queue up, of course.
Tag: 09.16.12
San Francisco Gets America’s First Freestanding Jazz Concert Hall
“After holding its performances in an improvised mix of venues around the city for the past three decades, SFJAZZ finally has a place to park its piano. When it opens on January 21, 2013, the new 35,000-square-foot SFJAZZ Center will be the first standalone jazz performance hall in the U.S.”
David Byrne Says Acoustics Make All The Difference
“In a sense, we work backward, either consciously or unconsciously, creating work that fits the venue available to us. That holds true for the other arts as well: pictures are created that fit and look good on white walls in galleries just as music is written that sounds good either in a dance club or a symphony hall (but probably not in both).”
Actor John Moffatt, 86
“Although perhaps best known as Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s moustache-twirling detective, on BBC radio, … [Moffatt] was a devastatingly clinical and classical stage actor of irreproachable taste and valour. He seemed something of a throwback, but there are very few today who could rival his armour-plated technique, his almost uncanny empathy with comic style … or his incisive articulation.”
Royal Shakespeare Company Records Record Income, Attendance
“Box office takings have more than doubled to £18.1 million from £8.3 million in 2010/11, when the company had reduced operations due to the refurbishment of the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres. Its audience almost doubled between the two seasons – up to 708,022 people in 2011/12. Percentage capacity remained static at 89%.”
Can Computers Replace Human Teachers?
“While a computer can emulate, and in some ways exceed, the abilities of a human teacher, it will not replace her. Rather, it’s the emerging hybrid of human and computer instruction — not either one alone — that may well transform education.”
New Acting Director Named At Smithsonian History Museum
John Gray, the new director of the National Museum of American History, suffered a heart attack last week, so the museum made a quick temporary appointment.
That Theatre Snacks Lawsuit? Tossed.
Dang it: Price-gouging movie theatre concessions case is thrown out of court in Michigan. (Good news for Netflix, though.)
Will Netflix Lose The Hitler Channel (Not To Mention Dog the Bounty Hunter)?
Eh-oh: “Some of the most popular and longest-running cable series of recent years could be leaving Netflix, including History’s ‘Ice Road Truckers,’ ‘Pawn Stars’ and ‘American Pickers’ and A&E’s ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter,’ ‘Gene Simmons: Family Jewels,’ ‘Hoarders’ and ‘Intervention.'”
Pussy Riot Keeps Up The Fight With An E-Book
“Pussy Riot! A Punk Prayer for Freedom will be published on September 25 by The Feminist Press, part of the City University of New York, with profits going to the Pussy Riot legal defence team.”