Good Afternoon,
Byron Allen built a media empire on one insight: the money is in owning the content, not performing it (Los Angeles Times). Several of today’s stories read like institutions taking that lesson to heart. Cincinnati Opera is committing $6 million to three new works by Black creators (Cincinnati Business Courier). Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman bought The Rumpus rather than launch something new, wagering an established name is worth more than a clean slate (Publishers Weekly). And Lincoln Center is making its biggest commitment to dance in decades (The New York Times).
The counter-move came from Fox, which spent $22 billion not on shows but on Roku — buying the pipe instead of what flows through it (Vulture). Underneath all of it, the stakes: Sydney’s Song Company, 40 years old and one of the world’s finest vocal ensembles, filed for liquidation (Limelight).
On a lighter note, London’s Shaftesbury Theatre will become the Judi Dench Theatre (The Guardian).
Doug
