“Although Disney’s behemoth … has shown no signs of wavering since its debut in 1997, the smash hit is about to conquer a musical theater milestone, becoming the first Broadway musical to top $1 billion in cumulative grosses.” (That’s on Broadway alone, not worldwide.)
Tag: 10.16.13
Melbourne’s Arts Centre Posts $7M Deficit
“The anticipated financial loss for Melbourne’s premiere arts venue was officially put at $7.2 million in the annual report for 2012-13 laid before the State Parliament yesterday. … Judith Isherwood, Chief Executive of the troubled venue, defended the cost of investment in loss making projects like Einstein on the Beach and Robert Lepage’s nine-hour theatre piece, Lipsynch.”
What Happens When A Language Has No Numbers?
The Pirahã people of Brazil’s northwestern jungles speak a language with no words for integers and only three that express quantity in even vague terms. How do they count, or even ask for three of something instead of two or one? The answer is difficult for us even to comprehend.
What Hollywood Is Getting Wrong About Kerouac And the Beats
“The current Beat revival arguably goes too far with its re-imagination of the Beat writers’ livelihoods as simple adolescent goofing around … This crop of films diminishes what was so radical about the Beat Generation in the first place: their iconoclastic approach to life, which extended far beyond their 20s and into adulthood proper.”
A Small Army Of Volunteers Proofreads The Complete Tolstoy
“When Leo Tolstoy’s great-great-granddaughter, the journalist Fyokla Tolstaya, announced that the Leo Tolstoy State Museum was looking for volunteers to proofread some forty-six thousand eight hundred pages of her relative’s writings, she hoped to generate enough interest to get the first round of corrections done in six months.” 3,000 people signed up.
Is This The Cello Of The Future? (Or Is It A Stratocaster With A Bow And Some Lights?)
“The 150-year-old German polymer giant Bayer MaterialScience has fashioned the ‘futuristic cello’ from utterly transparent, lightweight cast resin … making what is normally a rather cumbersome instrument easier to play and carry … [and] creating a cello body that acts as a blank canvas for a range of optical effects using integrated technology.”
Oreos May Really Be More Addictive Than Crack
“According to the new study, eating the iconic black and white cookies activated more neurons in the [lab] rat brain’s ‘pleasure center’ than drugs such as cocaine.” (Well, that’s certainly been our experience.)
Writing A Book That Is Never Finished
“The tools of online collaboration are still relatively primitive and often discouragingly awkward. But they’re improving, and I’m seeing glimmerings of hope that in a few years we’ll have vastly more capable systems. That’s particularly important because without better collaboration tools, we won’t be able to take advantage of the ways in which e-books can be truly superior to traditional print.”
28 People Who Accomplished Amazing Things By Age 28
Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton, 28, is the youngest to win. Here are some other precocious 28-year-olds.
New Off Broadway Theatres For Midtown
The complex will include three theaters with different capacities — 99 seats, 199 seats and 249 seats. “General managers consistently tell us that the West Side of Manhattan in Midtown is where every producer wants to be, but there are too few venues.”