Arts news

• Broadway’s Next Stage Comes With Lifeboat Drills

  05-08-2026 00:54 via artsjournal.com
  Good Morning,Cruise lines have quietly become one of the largest employers of musical theatre performers, and they’ve stopped commissioning schlocky revues in favor of real productions (The Guardian).
  The container keeps moving faster than the field’s map of it. Microdramas — vertical, two-minute, phone-native — are already spawning microsports (The Hollywood Reporter). And a Bay Area critic argues classical music is now underground music (San Francisco Classical Voice) &
  
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• Some Cruise Lines Are Shifting Onboard Entertainment From Schlocky Revues To Legit Theatre

  04-08-2026 21:03 via theguardian.com
  Okay, they’re not doing Long Day’s Journey Into Night or Titus Andronicus; after all, the audience is on vacation. But cruises from the UK have started presenting professional productions like Come From Away and the RSC staging of The Constant Wife. Ambassador Cruise Line even has a playwriting competition. – The Guardian
  
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• Are These The 25 Most Significant Sculptures Of The Modern Age?

  04-08-2026 20:31 via nytimes.com
  To choose the 25 most important works of sculpture made since 1945, we asked a panel of experts to gather at the New York Times building in March. – The New York Times
  
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• Torn To Shreds: The Writers Workshop

  04-08-2026 20:15 via theguardian.com
  Joyce Carol Oates is known for her strict style. One of her students once described her crossing through the first several pages of a story and asking: “What’s the point?” I commiserated with him, but he looked at me and said: “No, that’s what I want. To be ripped to shreds.” – The Guardian
  
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• You Know About Microdramas. Get Ready For Microsports.

  04-08-2026 20:01 via hollywoodreporter.com
  
  “Brett Morris, the CEO of World 1, wants you to watch his ‘Microsports,’ which he describes as ‘entirely original sports where world titles are won or lost in 30 seconds.’” – The Hollywood Reporter
  
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• Reading Isaac Butler’s The Perfect Moment

  04-08-2026 19:53 via artsjournal.com
  Isaac Butler has written a history of the controversies – dubbed the “culture wars” – that arose in the United States around the arts and arts-adjacent fields from the mid-1980s to around 2000. These were fights over state censorship of art, and the separate issue of restrictions on the content of art that could be available for government funding, even if quite indirectly.
  Butler tells a vivid story with good portraits of the artists whose work was at issue. He is
  
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• San Francisco Opera Signs Matthew Shilvock For Another Five Years

  04-08-2026 19:15 via operawire.com
  
  Shilvock became San Francisco Opera’s seventh general director in August 2016, following in the footsteps of his mentor David Gockley. He has led the company for ten seasons and has introduced several premieres. – Operawire
  
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• Other Minds, Bay Area New-Music Nexus, Sees Its First-Ever Change In Leadership

  04-08-2026 19:04 via msn.com
  Composer Charles Amirkhanian, who co-founded the festival/audio producer/archive in 1992, is retiring as executive and artistic director as of January. Joseph Bohigian, currently Other Minds’ associate director, will become artistic director, and the search process for a new executive director is currently underway. – San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
  
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• Is Classical Music Now A Form Of Underground Music?

  04-08-2026 18:44 via sfclassicalvoice.substack.com
  
  These days, classical music is underground; it is no longer part of mainstream culture. By “underground,” I don’t mean that the San Francisco Symphony is punk, but that classical music has become something you will only hear if you seek it out.  – San Francisco Classical Voice
  
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• Evolve Or Die: How Jeopardy! Is Evolving

  04-08-2026 18:31 via msn.com
  As strong as Jeopardy! remains on broadcast, rapid changes to the television business have demonstrated how quickly viewing habits can shift and why studios and platforms need to constantly rethink how they connect with audiences.  – Vulture (MSN)
  
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• Hollywood Has Its Biggest Box Office Weekend In History

  04-08-2026 18:15 via variety.com
  
  A powerful one-two punch from “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey” has fueled the biggest collective weekend in box office history, with roughly $430 million across all movies in the marketplace. – Variety
  
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• Jacob’s Pillow Amid The Palms? A New Dance Festival In Florida

  04-08-2026 18:02 via wlrn.org
  
  As co-founder Ericka Squire puts it, “Palm Beach County is ripe for a festival that feels like Jacob’s Pillow” — a pitch that worked on the right funders. The first-ever Banyan Dance Festival is running this week in downtown West Palm Beach. – WLRN (Miami)
  
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• A Small Arts Project Supporting Emerging Artists Hits A Home Run. What Can We Learn?

  04-08-2026 17:44 via artshub.com.au
  This innovative new venture is perhaps best described as a super-smart business strategy that could also be a blueprint for other entrepreneurs to ignite arts spaces in their own communities, boost social connectedness and give young, emerging artists some much-needed financial support. – ArtsHub
  
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• Founding Donor Of Human Rights Museum Suspends Funding Over Palestinian Exhibition

  04-08-2026 17:31 via theartnewspaper.com
  
  She complained of a “lack of context” in the exhibition about the forced displacement of Palestinians during the creation of Israel, such as the omission of information about the Palestinian rejection of a state that was offered in the United Nations’ 1947 partition plan and about Jews displaced in Arab lands. – The Art Newspaper
  
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• Our Complicated Relationship With Boredom

  04-08-2026 17:15 via porticoquarterly.com
  
  Boredom isn’t merely the result of a boring external environment, as a schoolchild might think, or inadequate mental resources, as my mother suggested. It is either a mysterious nexus of dysfunction or a healthy adaptive function (it’s complicated) that afflicts both individuals and societies at large. – Portico Quarterly
  
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• Lorenzo Da Ponte, Mozart’s Best Librettist, Ended Up In The US. His Descendants Are Still Here.

  04-08-2026 17:01 via nytimes.com
  After a life and career around Europe that might euphemistically be described as picaresque, da Ponte fled to Philadelphia and New York, ran a grocery store in rural Pennsylvania, and ended up as Columbia University’s first professor of Italian. For eight generations, his family has held onto his memory. – The New York Times
  
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• Sacramento Philharmonic And Opera Names Ari Pelto Music Director

  04-08-2026 16:33 via moto-perpetuo.com
  
  The Connecticut-born maestro, who is also music director at Opera Colorado, has been Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor at the California company since 2023. As of the coming season, he is Music Director and Chief Conductor, a newly-created title. – Moto Perpetuo
  
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• Looks Like An Educational-AI Company Scraped The Poetry Foundation’s Website For Content

  04-08-2026 16:05 via publishersweekly.com
  “According to its website, Giggle Academy is a nonprofit and was started by cryptocurrency mogul and Binance founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao in 2024. It also claims to have one million users in 182 countries.” Hundreds of poems, evidently copied from the Poetry Foundation’s website, are on Giggle Academy’s website without permission. – Publishers Weekly
  
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• Why New York Historical Is Deliberately Displaying Copies In Its Latest Show

  04-08-2026 15:36 via nytimes.com
  “This is because it was only as the exhibition — ‘Democracy Matters’ — was about to open on June 18 that the museum fully reckoned with the fact that windows in the new gallery would shower sunshine on some very light-sensitive artworks.” – The New York Times
  
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• Trump White House’s Proposed Budget Includes Funding Cuts And Staff Layoffs At Smithsonian

  04-08-2026 15:04 via artnews.com
  
  “For fiscal year 2027, the White House has proposed giving the Smithsonian $961.3 million in federal funding, roughly an 11% cut from the $1.08 billion Congress provided to it fiscal year 2026 and the institution’s lowest proposed funding level since at least 2020.” – ARTnews
  
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• London’s Royal Ballet And Opera Says It Needs £60 Million Just To Keep Its Building Open

  04-08-2026 14:32 via thetimes.com
  “The historic Covent Garden venue … has reported a ‘critical’ need to invest in its stage infrastructure and the ‘fabric of our building’. Without doing so, the theatre is at risk of equipment failures and performance cancellations, according to a review of the organisation’s financial health.” – The Times (UK)
  
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• Hirshhorn Museum’s New Sculpture Garden Has Its Opening Date

  04-08-2026 14:00 via msn.com
  “After a long period of being fenced off and closed to the public, a reflecting pool will soon be reopening after a major renovation. No, not that one. This reflecting pool is in the center of the Hirshhorn Museum’s sculpture garden, which will reopen Oct. 31.” – The Washington Post (MSN)
  
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• Nobody Boos At A Screen

  04-08-2026 03:25 via artsjournal.com
  Good Morning,The U.S. has lost a fifth of its movie theaters and nearly a third of its bowling alleys since 2001 (Fortune). That’s not a taste story, it’s an infrastructure one — the places where strangers used to end up sitting next to each other are disappearing.The consequence shows up inside the rooms still standing: moviegoing has stopped being habit meeting spontaneity, and the question of what to see has collapsed into whether to go at all (The Atlantic). Instagram, mean
  
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• Immediate Opening: Vice President of Marketing and Audience Development

  01-08-2026 02:22 via artsjournal.com
  THE POSITION:Reporting to the President & CEO, the Vice President of Marketing & Audience Development is a key member of the senior leadership team responsible for developing and executing statewide strategies that achieve earned revenue, audience growth, patron loyalty and institutional communications objectives. The Vice President provides executive leadership for marketing, sales, audience development, communications, brand strategy, patron experience, and patron loyalty initiatives,
  
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• Galleries, Gatekeepers, And An 82-Year-Old Pole Dancer

  01-08-2026 02:20 via artsjournal.com
  Good Afternoon,Ocula asks the question the art trade would rather not engage on: do artists still need galleries (Ocula)? The answer depends on what the gallery was ever really selling — access, or permission. Philadelphia offers a blunter version: Curtis is putting $25 million into the building it acquired out of University of the Arts’ collapse, rehearsal hall included (MSN).
  Follow the money and the pattern holds. Universal Music posted a 13% revenue jump (The Hollywood Reporter)
  
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• Behold The World’s Oldest Competitive Pole Dancer. She’s 82.

  31-07-2026 20:50 via nypost.com
  
  Idanna Abignente, who lives in a suburb of Turin, started pole dancing at around age 70 to keep fit. She developed a passion for it and eventually joined the competition circuit, where she frequently wins her age division for lack of other competitors. – New York Post
  
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• Do Artists Still Need Galleries?

  31-07-2026 20:22 via ocula.com
   It is often assumed that a gallery is a prerequisite to finding commercial success and a place in the history of art. But a growing number of artists are rejecting that notion and going—to use the kind of commercial lingo that the art market likes to avoid—Direct to Consumer (DTC).  – Ocula
  
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• Gunther Von Hagens, Creator Of Controversial Exhibition “Body Worlds,” Is Dead At 81

  31-07-2026 20:03 via apnews.com
  
  An anatomist by training, he developed a technique called “plastination” which prevents the decay of corpses and leaves them flexible. He used that technique on dozens of bodies, many with skin removed to display musculature, and set them in various poses for his traveling exhibitions — which attracted both excited crowds and horrified criticism. – AP
  
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• Why Hollywood Loves The Cello

  31-07-2026 19:44 via theguardian.com
  Why, out of every option in the orchestra, did the cello become the instrument of introspection? “It’s the cliche, but it’s probably because the cello comes closest to the human vocal range.” – The Guardian
  
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• Streamers Are Pressuring France To Drop Their Requirements To Invest In France

  31-07-2026 19:31 via variety.com
  
  Since January 2022, subscription streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ have been required to invest 20% of their annual French revenue in local film and television production under France’s implementation of the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive. – Variety
  
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• Is There Any Upside To The Paramount/Warner Merger?

  31-07-2026 19:15 via cjr.org
  
  If the deal does go through, it will saddle the new corporate entity that emerges with nearly eighty billion dollars in debt. –
  
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• Boy George Withdraws From West End’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” After Backlash Against His Latest Song

  31-07-2026 19:02 via playbill.com
  
  Next month, the 1980s New Wave pop icon, now 65, was going to play King Herod in the London revival of the musical. But his June release, “We Will Dance Again,” takes strong and controversial positions on the Israel-Palestine conflict; after weeks of heavy criticism, he cancelled his run in the role. – Playbill
  
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• The Modern Stadium And Monumentality

  31-07-2026 18:44 via dezeen.com
  Nearly all monumental architecture is expected to convey some set of values greater than its stated purpose. This is especially true of stadiums with their straightforward program – a pitch for a game to be played and seating from which to observe it. – Dezeen
  
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• Should We Stop Listening To Technocrats?

  31-07-2026 18:31 via aeon.co
  International civil servants do not in fact escape power. They rearticulate it with the help of technical experts. By framing this rearticulation as real impartiality, however, they conflate technocracy and expertise. This conflation lies at the heart of the legitimacy crisis that international organisations face today. – Aeon
  
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• Translator Emily Wilson On Reaction To Her Scathing Review Of “The Odessey”

  31-07-2026 18:15 via ew.com
  “You can disagree about some or all of it! I may well be wrong!” she added. “But it’s not ‘personal’ to analyze a film or other work of art, even negatively. Criticism is more than ‘Hurray!’ or ‘Hiss!’” – Entertainment Weekly
  
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• At Tanglewood This Summer, Things Are Feeling Pretty Tense

  31-07-2026 18:04 via nytimes.com
  “During a recent week on the grounds, it felt anxious, angry, combustible. It was impossible to escape the warfare that the Boston Symphony is waging on itself: a crisis that is drowning out the music. Somebody needs to quiet things down before even more serious damage is done.” – The New York Times
  
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• Universal Music Posts A Blockbuster Revenue Quarter

  31-07-2026 17:44 via hollywoodreporter.com
  
  Recorded revenues grew about 13 percent to 2.516 billion euros ($2.89 billion), while publishing revenue grew about 8 percent to 616 million euros (about $710 million). – The Hollywood Reporter
  
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• Filmmakers Sue Netflix For $105 Million Over Stolen Hard Drive With Unreleased Nicolas Cage Film

  31-07-2026 17:01 via hollywoodreporter.com
  
  “In a lawsuit filed on Thursday in California federal court, writer-producer Simon Afram and his company, Op-Fortitude, accuse Netflix of compromising the sale of the World War II spy thriller” — titled Fortitude — by losing a copy of the movie that was shared for screening. He seeks at least $105 million.” – The Hollywood Reporter
  
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• Historic Japanese Castle Damaged By Earthquake For Second Time In Ten Years

  31-07-2026 16:33 via hyperallergic.com
  
  Kumamoto Castle, built in 1607 on the island of Kyushu, is considered one of Japan’s three great surviving castles. A portion of its moat wall collapsed following Tuesday’s 7.1 earthquake. In 2016, a different portion of the wall came down in another temblor. – Hyperallergic
  
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• Kennedy Center Stops Public Tours Three Days After NY Times Feature On Tour Guide

  31-07-2026 16:05 via nytimes.com
  On Monday, The New York Times posted an article featuring a longtime volunteer tour guide who said of the currently-dormant institution, “Now it’s a black hole.” On Thursday, a Kennedy Center official sent a memo to all volunteer tour guides telling them not to come there “until further notice.” – The New York Times
  
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• Trump Administration Organizes “Patriotic” Art Exhibition Near White House. Yes, There’s Cronyism Involved.

  31-07-2026 15:32 via nytimes.com
  What with all the complaints Trump has about the Smithsonian’s “bias,” the State Department has decided to “make visual arts great” (their phrase) with the exhibition “Passport to Patriotism: 250 Years of Diplomacy.” No historians or professional curators are involved, and the show includes pieces by the planners’ friends. – The New York Times
  
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• What Curtis Institute Has Planned For Its Latest Building, Which It Bought After UArts Collapse

  31-07-2026 15:04 via msn.com
  The old Art Alliance building near Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square had belonged to the University of the Arts, which abruptly closed in 2024. Curtis bought it in January 2025; it was badly damaged in a fire that July 4. Repairs are underway, and the conservatory will house its vocal/opera department there. – The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
  
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• Florida College Professor Fired For Assigning Ottessa Moshfegh Short Story

  31-07-2026 14:36 via tallahassee.com
  
  Vinita Prabhakar, until recently an adjunct professor at South Florida State College, had used Moshfegh’s “Bettering Myself” in an introductory reading-and-writing course there without incident since 2023. But someone complained about the story’s content to the college president, who fired Prabhakar, who’s now suing. – Tallahassee Democrat
  
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• Trump Administration’s Overhaul Of Historical Preservation Rules Alarms Preservationists

  31-07-2026 14:00 via nytimes.com
  “A draft of the rule changes that circulated in recent weeks prompted an outcry from preservationists, architects, archaeologists and organizations representing Native American tribes. … ‘It’s both a scalpel and a bludgeon,’ said Greg Werkheiser, a lawyer who specializes in preservation cases.” – The New York Times
  
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• Remembering Bill McGlaughlin: 1943-2026

  31-07-2026 04:16 via artsjournal.com
  
  I once described Bill McGlaughlin, who has died at the age of 82, as manifesting “a singular combination of gravitas,
  
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• New York Theatre Ballet seeks Executive Director

  31-07-2026 03:19 via artsjournal.com
  New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB) seeks an Executive Director to lead the organization’s strategic direction, drive fundraising and revenue growth, and oversee both operational and artistic functions. The ED partners closely with the Artistic Director, the School Director, and Board of Directors to ensure NYTB’s artistic and educational excellence, financial sustainability, and community impact. Key Responsibilities • Lead organizational strategy and deliver a Board approved multi
  
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• Institutions reinventing themselves

  29-07-2026 00:37 via artsjournal.com
  Good Morning,Several stories today about institutions discovering they don’t actually need a center. Alabama’s WLRH dropped NPR programming and its audience grew (AL.com); public media more broadly is finding that losing federal money surfaced a donor base it had assumed was tapped out (Current). Neither result makes the cuts a good idea, but still. Makes you think…Rethinking the model shows up in Australia too, where four regional performing arts centers have pooled resources
  
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• A Chagall Etching Is Liberated After Languishing For 20 Years In Customs

  28-07-2026 21:03 via news.artnet.com
  
  The etching, L’Acrobate au violon (1924), and another work were confiscated from a shipment of art being taken from France to Switzerland in 2005 after French agents determined that the items weren’t authorized to leave the country. The pieces were rediscovered after two decades, and the Chagall is now on display in Besançon. – Artnet
  
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• The Ancient World Beyond Greece, Rome and Egypt

  28-07-2026 20:31 via aeon.co
  The de facto equation of ‘ancient history’ with ancient Mediterranean history, at least in most of the Anglosphere, has endured for many generations. But we are on the cusp of a dramatic shift in perspective that is producing a much bigger, broader and more exciting view of ‘the ancient world’. – Aeon
  
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• Meet The Costumer Who Paints New York City Ballet’s Pointe Shoes

  28-07-2026 20:01 via nytimes.com
  “To be a shoe colorist for New York City Ballet, as Tim Foster has been for 15 years, is to occupy a small yet important niche. Most pointe shoes and ballet slippers are manufactured in a pale pink. But the company’s repertoire requires a rainbow of hues.” – The New York Times
  
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