Tag: 10.25.17

Opera In The Living Room: An Old Tradition Reappears In Italy

“Such private concerts were common in the 1750s … They started in France when musicians began to host events to show off their work – and their new status. The practice expanded to Austria, Germany, England, and Italy. It was also the way friends and families simply spent time together – as any Jane Austen book illustrates – before the onset of radios, televisions, and iPhones.” Now the Festival Verdi in Parma is trying out the practice anew.

An Online Reader Community Of 60 Million Is Revealing Fascinating Insights On Readers

“With some 60 million monthly users—90% of whom are Millennials and Gen Z—spending more than 15 billion minutes per month reading content on Wattpad, the Canadian-based storytelling platform is a goldmine of information about what’s most popular with young readers around the world. What’s unique about Wattpad is that fanfic is treated like any other genre, living alongside other forms of fiction. This makes it more fluid for readers of an original fiction to discover a new fanfic, or inspire a fanfiction writer to start a new story and bring their audience along with them.”

Henry Moore’s Sculpture ‘Old Flo’ Is Finally Back Home In London

“The much travelled Henry Moore sculpture of a draped woman, affectionately known as ‘Old Flo’, is back on public display in east London having survived vandalism, the demolition of her original setting, a custody battle in the courts and attempts by a council to raise cash by auctioning her off. However, the statue is now sited on private land – though still accessible to the public – among the towers of Canary Wharf, and not as originally intended by the artist to bring a little joy into the heart of a council estate.”

Why The Wealthy Turn To Philanthropy

“Studies show that, in general, people who feel good, do good – and likewise, people who do good, feel better. The rich are no exception. Giving to charity activates parts of the brain related to reward and pleasure. Yes, the rich do have some distinctive reasons for giving to charity, such as the desire not to ‘morally corrupt’ their heirs. But like others, they also give to strengthen their identity – and probably, to relieve their guilt.”

Filling The Empty Spot In Detroit’s Theater Ecosystem – With The Work Of A Fast-Rising Hometown Playwright

Dominique Morisseau (Pipeline, Skeleton Crew) is seeing her work produced by the Detroit Public Theater, which is filling a gap in a city whose professional theater consists largely of touring Broadway shows. Company co-founder Courtney Burkett says that DPT “could not have existed 10 years ago. Now that the city’s stabilizing and even thriving in so many ways, our artists are also thriving and getting the attention they always deserved.”