COVID-19 Update, April 15, 2020: How Much Is a Human Life Worth?

The President's decision to cut funding for World Health Organization sparks widespread fury: tinyurl.com/ullgcn3. The CDC and FEMA are circulating a plan to reopen the economy, a decision not really theirs to make: tinyurl.com/tb5p6hy. But if your stimulus check is late, it may be because the President wanted his name on it: tinyurl.com/v7tr3o5. And a GOP Congressman says an increased death rate is the lesser of two evils compared to an economic shutdown: tinyurl.com/yx4p253m.

Meanwhile:

Consumer spending is in the cellar: tinyurl.com/s3tlh4o.

Coronavirus testing slows dramatically: tinyurl.com/tstzsj7. And antibody tests aren't coming anytime soon: tinyurl.comv5aakxz.

But GM and Ventilec are ahead of schedule with those ventilators: tinyurl.com/wuh3462.

A new survey shows that Washington, DC audiences are not going to be rushing back to the theatre: tinyurl.com/uz7t8v3.

The President wants professional sports back: tinyurl.com/wtxokf6.

The LA Times, absent any ad revenue, furloughs staff members: tinyurl.com/sgr32xz.

How dallying led to mass death: China waited six days to announce the pandemic: tinyurl.com/s849keb.

Many cruise ship personnel are experience a peculiar form of lockdown: tinyurl.com/ufmzsb2.

How Andrea Bocelli's Easter livestream became a global blockbuster: tinyurl.com/th9u39t.

Mobilizing:

Global Citizen has announced a second round of artists for its One World: Together At Home global broadcast Saturday night, with Taylor Swift, Celine Dion, Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello, Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys, Sam Smith, Usher, and Pharrell Williams among the musicians newly set to join the telecast. The six-hour digital stream pre-telecast show will begin at 2:00pm ET, 11:00am PT: tinyurl.com/v7dkg43.

Learning/training:

ETC introduces On Headset, a new audio series that allows listeners to program a major theatrical production in real time while listening to the audio cues of a lighting designer. The series features esteemed Broadway's Ken Billington and a lightly curated recording of the headset conversations during technical rehearsals of the New York City Center Encores' Me and My Girl in May of 2018. The recordings are broken into 13 episodes, which start as Billington begins putting cues into the console and end after the dress rehearsal -- which for Encores, is about 90 percent of the lighting time allowed. Users can find the audio series on their preferred podcast streaming service or at www.etcconnect.com/onheadset/.

Meyer Sound launches a comprehensive daily online training session: tinyurl.com/rluxk5n.

Synthax is also hosting daily online training: www.synthax.com/webinars/.

Company news:

As an alternative to its annual vendor event, 4Wall's Virtual Vendor Showcase currently has a total of 30 manufacturers signed on. Starting on Monday, April 20, at 10:00am PT through Friday, April, 24, 4Wall will premiere prerecorded videos on its Facebook page, live for a little over an hour. The concept and creative direction were left in the hands of each manufacturer, so 4Wall is expecting some fun and entertaining videos. In addition, 4Wall and each manufacturer will participate in a Code Word Challenge. Each vendor video will incorporate a code word. If you collect all the code words, you will be entered to win swag packages from the 30+ manufacturers and 4Wall.To RSVP for the event and see a complete list of manufacturers, go to tinyurl.com/weyrdrc.

Cancellations/postponements:

The Cannes Film Festival won't happen as planned. Since this story was published, the sidebars Critics' Week and Directors' Fortnight have been put off, too: tinyurl.com/u6ohfdl.

San Francisco Opera cancels its summer season: sfopera.com/summer2020/.

Connecticut's Westport Country Playhouse postpones its summer season: tinyurl.com/qu77xea.

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