Outdoor theatre was a risky bet in 2020, but in the Berkshires, it more than paid off. The artistic director of the Barrington Stage Company on the conversation that changed this winter’s planning: “My development director almost passed out.” – The New York Times
Tag: 10.29.20
Bay Area Theatre Is Devastated
“This is hitting our sector in a way it’s not hitting any other sector and no one has a plan for it. We are all frantically treading water just to stay afloat… “We have unemployment that is about three times the national average. Because of how the arts work and people having to physically be together, it’s one of the sectors that will be closed the longest and have the longest road to recovery.” – San Francisco Chronicle
How Women Have Made Progress In American Orchestras
Musicians in American orchestras are now generally balanced between the sexes, largely because blind auditions — during which candidates play behind screens — were introduced in the 1970s and 1980s. But stereotypes surrounding which instruments women should play remain. Most harpists are women; brass sections are dominated by men. – Dallas Morning News
Should Rimbaud And Verlaine Be Re-Interred In The Panthéon? (A Very French Contretemps)
Adam Gopnik: “Obsessing as so many are on the small niceties of American politics — i.e., the final confrontation between the forces of light and darkness on which all of humanity’s future depends — let us spare a moment’s thought for a couple of obscure French poets and their fate.” – The New Yorker
Galleries Experiment With Art On Subscription
Even before the silent spring of 2020, a growing number of sellers beyond the art world had already converted to the wisdom of subscription e-commerce. After all, why force your business to secure an endless string of one-off transactions with an ever-shifting consumer base in an uncertain market if you can lock in recurring revenue with a core group of faithfully committed clients? – Artnet
Online Theater Gets More Interactive
“Several months into the pandemic, performers, designers and writers are using technology … with more ingenuity. They’re skillfully adapting some of the devices honed in live performance over the years — namely, techniques to break the fourth wall and lure spectators into the show. And in the process, theater is reclaiming for these trying times its rightful status as the most intimate of art forms.” – The Washington Post
The Art Of The Horror-Movie Scream
“Bloodcurdling from an A-lister is uncommon: Often, the screams we hear in movies and TV are created by doubles and voice actors, in Burbank studios, with specialists standing by to ghoul them up. It’s physically taxing and emotionally draining. And bizarro as a job.” (includes sound clips) – The New York Times
Book Industry Starts Taking Real Steps To Become More Diverse
“Publishing houses across the industry are making senior-level hires and structural changes to try to make their companies, and the books they acquire, more diverse — racially, ethnically and even geographically. While critics, including authors and publishing insiders, have accused publishers of paying lip service to these issues, the companies are increasingly making lasting changes to the way they do business, and in some cases they are already being driven by newly hired executives of color.” – The New York Times
As COVID Carries On, How Should Live Performance Inch Back? And How Should Arts Journalists Cover It?
“As some Bay Area artists and producers take tentative steps toward reopening, The Chronicle Datebook team is wrestling with new ethical questions: Is it responsible for an in-person event to take place? How do we cover that news in responsible ways? Senior Arts and Entertainment Editor Mariecar Mendoza got to discussing this with theater critic Lily Janiak, classical music critic Joshua Kosman and pop music critic Aidin Vaziri, exploring how they approach their jobs in the coronavirus era.” – San Francisco Chronicle
How L.A. Dance Project Made Its Drive-In Dance Performances Work
It took quite a lot of planning and (re-)thinking about everything from pricing and number of people per car to turning the parking lot into a performance space to setting up quarantine pods of dancers and choreographers. – Los Angeles Times