After public outcry, Florida legislators have walked back a proposal to cut $650,000 in state grants to the New World School of the Arts.
The School, a collaboration between Miami-Dade public schools, Miami Dade College, and the University of Florida, has produced alumni such as Hamilton music director Alex Lacamoire, and Tarell Alvin McCraney who wrote the play that was the basis for the film Moonlight.
Michael Bloomberg has given $75 million to the Shed Arts Center. The Shed broke ground in 2015 in Hudson Yards (NY). The Center is being designed for flexibility, with a movable shell on rails, allowing for a 1,200-patron seated audience or a 20,000-square-foot plaza for outdoor programs. The Center will also contain a 500-seat black box theater and 25,000 square feet of museum space. $421 million of the $500 million cost has already been raised.
Broadway had another record year. Earnings were up 5.5 percent to $1.45 billion, primarily due to higher ticket prices. Attendance was fractionally lower than last year's record, at 13.27 million.
British theaters took in a record at the box office, largely due to rising ticket prices. Revenue of 1.12 billion pounds was driven by high profile tours of shows including Wicked and Dirty Dancing.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, ad spending on television fell behind digital platforms for the first time last year. Networks are now relying more heavily on international sales and streaming revenue to fund programming.
The world's largest production center is expected to open in China next year. The $8.2 billion Qingdao Move Metropolis in Huangdao will contain 45 sound stages on 400 acres and a record-breaking 10,000 square meters. Films such as Pacific Rim: Uprising are already being shot at the partially completed center.
The South Florida Symphony is moving its office to Wilton Manors. The Symphony will leave its downtown Fort Lauderdale office, which is being sold, for the Zig Zag Building in Wilton Manors sometime in July.
The Philadelphia Orchestra is returning to national radio. The Orchestra will appear three times a week on SiriusXM as the only orchestra with regularly scheduled programming on SiriusXM. Twenty-six programs will be repeated throughout the year.
Metropolitan Opera attendance has improved slightly. The Met took in 67 percent of potential box office revenue, up from 66 percent the previous year. Paid attendance rose to 75 percent, up from 72 percent, and the Opera had 80,000 new ticket buyers.
The Southwest Florida Symphony has renewed the contract of music director Nir Kaberetti for another three years, through the 2019-20 season. Kaberetti also serves as music director of the Santa Barbara (CA) Symphony.