Arts & Media Round-Up
ARTS & MEDIA
MOST WATCHED YOUTUBE CHANNEL
FOR A MILLENNIAL
As of 4 May 2017, “Ryan ToysReview” had been viewed
12,076,126,791 times since its launch on 16 Mar 2015, more
than any other YouTube channel for a “millennial” (i.e.,
someone born post-2000). It is dedicated to six-year-old
Ryan (USA, b. 6 Oct 2010), who uploads videos of himself (or
his family) playing with toys or games and assessing them.The Louvre has some 650,000 sq ft (60,386 m^2 ) of gallery space –
nearly 10 times the size of the White House.Fastest time to watch
every Shakespeare play
Dan Wilson (UK) wanted to
do something challenging
to mark his 37th birthday,
so settled on seeing all of
the 37 plays attributed to
William Shakespeare. It took
him 328 days, beginning
with a secondary-school
production of Julius Caesar
at Lewes Town Hall in East
Sussex, UK, on 27 Nov 2014.
Last on the list was Pericles
at the Oregon Shakespeare
Festival in Ashland, USA,
on 21 Oct 2015 – Dan’s
38th birthday.Highest-grossing year
for Broadway theatres
According to The Broadway
League, 2016 saw $1.416 bn
(£1.146 bn) in ticket sales
for Broadway in New York
City, USA, from the week
ending Sunday, 3 Jan 2016
to the week ending Sunday,
1 Jan 2017. Attendance
figures reached 13.61 million.First live-streamed
Broadway show
Roundabout Theatre
Company’s production
of She Loves Me! was
broadcast from Studio 54 on
West 54th Street, New York
City, USA, at 8 p.m. (Eastern
Time) on 30 Jun 2016.Most Laurence Olivier
Award wins
Harry Potter and the
Cursed Child (2016)
was produced for the
stage by Sonia Friedman
Productions, Sir Colin
Callender and Harry Potter
Theatrical Productions,
and written by Jack Thorne
based on an original story
by Thorne, J K Rowling
and John Tiffany (all
UK). It won a record nine
awards at the Oliviers on
9 Apr 2017: Best Director
(Tiffany), Best New
Play, Best Actor (JamieParker), Best Actress in
a Supporting Role (Noma
Dumezweni), Best Actor
in a Supporting Role
(Anthony Boyle), Best Set
Design (Christine Jones),
Best Costume Design
(Katrina Lindsay), Best
Sound Design (Gareth Fry)
and Best Lighting Design
(Neil Austin).
The Cursed Child was
nominated 11 times, sharing
the record for most Olivier
nominations received
by a production with the
musical Hairspray (2008),
which took home four of
its 11 awards.Most short films
produced
Epiphany Morgan and
Carl Mason (both
AUS) produced
365 films in 70 cities, as
verified on 7 Jun 2016.
As part of a project entitled
“365 docobites”, the pair
travelled to five continents
during a year. Their goal was
to introduce the world to
a “stranger a day” through
bite-sized documentaries.
The series was initially
distributed via their
website, then picked up
for TV distribution by
SBS 2 in Australia.HIGHEST-GROSSING
CIRCUS TOUR (CURRENT YEAR)
According to Pollstar’s annual
Top 100 tour list, Toruk – The First
Flight, staged by Cirque du Soleil
(CAN), enjoyed estimated takings
of $66.6 m (£54.1 m) in 2016. There
were 293 performances of the
show in 44 cities during the year,
and it is estimated to have sold
957,446 tickets worldwide. Toru k is
based on characters and creatures
from the highest-grossing movie
of all time: Avatar (USA/UK, 2009).OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING
MOVIE THEATER (CINEMA)
The State Theatre in Washington, Iowa, USA, opened in 1893
and began screening movies on 14 May 1897; tickets on the
day were 15, 25 or 35 cents each. As of 27 Mar 2017, the
venue had been in business for 119 years 317 days. It doubled
as an opera house until 1931, after which it became a cinema
exclusively. The picture below was taken in Nov 1894, around
a year after the theatre opened.The next
highest-grossing
circus show of 2016 was
Varekai, also by Cirque
du Soleil, with estimated
takings of $53 m
(£4 3 m).FASTEST THEATRICAL PRODUCTION
Sharpe Academy of Theatre Arts (UK) staged a production
of the musical Annie in just 15 hr at the Watersmeet theatre
in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, UK, on 29 Aug 2016. The
company only learned what they would be performing at
6 a.m., when a sealed box was opened on stage to reveal the
script. The house lights went down at 9 p.m., with the paying
audience counting down in time to a digital clock on stage.
The show received a standing ovation.