“I watch the Oscars memorial presentation and sit there going, Did him, did her, didn’t do that one. For obit writers, the whole world is necessarily divided into the dead and the pre-dead. That’s all there is.”
Tag: 09.23.14
Amtrak’s First Writers In Residence
Amtrak has chosen its first class of 24 writers for its residency program. There were 16,000 applications. They’ll ride on long-distance trains and write about the experiences.
Joshua Bell To Try Busking In The D.C. Metro Again
But this time he’s doing it during lunchtime instead of morning rush hour, he’s announcing the place and date in advance, and there will be a video crew.
Using Mel Gibson Movies And Korean Soap Operas To Save Endangered Languages
A new project is using crowdsourced translation to provide subtitles for popular films and television programs in such tongues as Cherokee, Maori, and Basque.
A Troubled Orchestra In An Inexplicable Death Spiral
“You would think that in the midst of so much calamity in recent years Vallejo would want a symphony, would do whatever it could to have one, but sometimes the fact is that there’s just no place for a symphony in a particular town.”
Study: Average UK Theatre-Goer Spends £71 Per Visit
“The survey of 2,000 British theatregoers by Ebay-owned online ticket marketplace StubHub found that almost a third spent between £41 and £75 on their own ticket plus drinks to the last show they saw in the past year.”
Leading UK Theatres Say They Commit To Better Gender Balance
“Gender equality organisation Tonic Theatre analysed productions staged on September 13. This found that of the 24 productions staged across the top 20 theatres in receipt of the most Arts Council England core funding, women accounted for just 8% of writers, 37% of performers and 38% of directors. Women made up 17% of sound designers, 22% of lighting designers and 57% of set designers.”
Florence’s Museums Severely Damaged By Freak Hailstorms
“Freak weather events caused around €1.5m worth of damage to Florence’s institutions last week, including the Uffizi Galleries, which were evacuated and closed for the day.”
What Riccardo Muti’s Resignation From Rome Opera Says About The Current State Of Italian Culture
In his resignation letter he declared that he was leaving “with great regret, and after long and tormented reflection”. Responding in a public statement, the theatre’s general manager Carlo Fuortes and the mayor of Rome, Ignazio Marino, said that Muti was “undoubtedly influenced” by “continual protests, internal conflicts and strikes that have lasted months”.
Where Are Our Mormon Composers?
“Until fairly recently, the Mormon composers who were known as such weren’t, frankly, all that known outside of Mormon circles. Conversely, those who were more well-known as composers weren’t readily identified with their native religion.”