“Of the 14.1 million people who went to a West End show last year, 8.4 million chose a musical. Since 2000, ticket sales have increased by almost 25 per cent. Last year, we spent more than £305 million on them – and probably not much less again on parking, and drinks and snacks at the interval.”
Tag: 12.28.11
Study: Maybe The Way To Stop Venice From Sinking Is To Add More Water
“The results showed that, after 10 years of continuous seawater injection (a total of almost 150 million cubic meters of water), the city could be lifted 25-30 centimeters.”
Is Social Media Really Changing The World? (Yes And No)
“Acts of communication, by themselves, aren’t especially interesting. We’ve always had protests, riots, and revolutions, and the people who carried them out have always found ways to spread the word. If the medium for those communications shifts from word of mouth, to printed flier, to telephone, then to texts and Twitter, what does it really matter? Technology becomes an important part of the story only if it’s changing the nature of the events — and the nature of the social groups that are carrying them out.”
How Important Was Helen Frankenthaler?
“Over the course of a six-decade career, Frankenthaler jump-started American painting not once, but twice… Frankenthaler’s achievement is to have put the language of abstraction to the service of art’s historic need to address large ideas. As such she occupies an enduring place in the pantheon of American masters. Yet her legacy already seems in peril. “
Who Needs Political Theatre? (It’s Lost Its Edge)
“Political Theatre? No thanks. There is too much of it, and too much that is just no good. This is therapy for the middle classes who stopped protesting on the streets long ago, choosing instead to sit in the dark, watch a political display, and reassure themselves that they are doing something.”
Don’t Like That Plot Twist Or Close-Up Shot? IM The Director About It
Online screenings at which filmmakers host live chats and answer questions “are the latest effort by the movie industry to try to follow viewers online as the traditional movie business struggles.”
The Mad Scramble When Classical Musicians Call In Sick
“On Broadway when the star can’t go on, management simply taps the eager understudy. When classical musicians and singers bow out, an occupational hazard what with all that international travel and all those international viruses, there’s generally no backup waiting in the wings.”
Invasion Of The Robot Sculptures
“The kinetic sculptures of Dutch artist Theo Jansen are giant, self-propelling winged and jointed constructions. Made of PVC tubes and plastic bottles, each Strandbeest’s movement is powered by the wind, while ‘artificial intelligence’ means it can change course to avoid obstacles.”
The World’s Biggest Girl Group
“[It’s] Japan’s AKB48, a group of 92 mostly teenage girls, armed with sugar-sweet pop tunes and sometimes-suggestive lyrics (‘My school uniform is getting in the way’) that has saturated the country’s popular and commercial culture.”