In the United States, there are two symbols that represent the highest level of stage acting: Lincoln Center and Broadway. They are both in New York, but the difference is: Lincoln Center represents high artistic standards, while Broadway is the benchmark for successful commercial performances. During my short 6-day trip to New York, the author spent more than 3 hours visiting the Lincoln Center for the Arts in Manhattan, New York.

The author originally did not want to post this experience of visiting the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on a blog, but after seeing a post forwarded by a Beijing alumni criticizing the professional standards of a doctoral thesis from a famous university (the paper was based on the analysis of an American film The director is the content (this link is attached to this article). I feel that if more friends can understand the current overview of American entertainment industry, perhaps this can also be a small window to broaden cultural horizons.

Most of the donors to Lincoln Center are famous figures in the past American financial circles. Among them, the Rockefeller family's highest donation was US$100 million, and the total social donation for the construction of Lincoln Center was approximately US$400 million. After the completion of Lincoln Center, in order to support the sustainable development of this creative and exploratory stage art that is different from commercial performances, the U.S. government granted a number of tax exemptions.

The main buildings of the center are the New York State Theater, the Metropolitan Opera House and the Everly Fisher Concert Hall. Among them, the New York State Theater is the permanent performance venue of the New York City Ballet; the Metropolitan Opera House is the resident venue of the American Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera; and Everly Fisher Concert Hall is the performance venue of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The center also holds art festivals every year, inviting the best dance, opera, drama, concerts and other programs to perform here

As can be seen in the picture, the theater at Lincoln Center has strict control over the building volume and internal space. , so that the total construction price will not be too high. This is in sharp contrast to the large-scale theater buildings in our country that often have huge spaces. However, when it comes to the use of building materials, Lincoln Center uses a large amount of precious natural stone, which costs a lot of money.

The picture shows theater staff putting down the large crystal chandelier for cleaning. It is said that this chandelier is very expensive. As can be seen from the picture, the stairs and floor slabs in the building are light in structure, which should be considered to satisfy the function while also controlling the cost.

In addition to these three theaters, there are outdoor concert halls, the New York Performing Arts Center, the New York City Library, the Audiovisual Library, movie theaters, and the world's top performing arts school: Juilliard School, from Students from all over the world are very proud to receive a seat in this college.

I heard from friends in New York that the college’s teaching is mainly ballet, with music, vocal music and other majors. With the rapid development of my country's economy and performing arts, the college now has outstanding students from mainland China. In addition, Chinese singers have also performed in the Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center for the Arts. The center also has supporting service facilities such as restaurants, sales departments, props production centers, and hotels.

Lincoln Center is not only a performance theater, but also an open public cultural space. Interested parties can make an appointment online to visit. The author only stayed in New York for 6 days and had too many things to see, so I couldn't make an appointment to visit. So I can only take a quick look at the flowers in the central open space, but I have a lot of feelings.

Because this is also a collection place for performing arts-related research, learning and exchange, props and costume production, and various performing arts documents. Compared with the current management of performing arts venues in Shanghai, Beijing and other places in China, I deeply feel that it has many advantages. The place is worth learning from.

Nowadays, many large-scale performing arts venues have been built in large cities in my country. In terms of building volume, they are no worse than the Lincoln Center for the Arts. However, there is still a big gap in terms of functional development and management. For example, the Wanping Theater in Shanghai, which was only completed in 1988, was demolished recently. It was said that it was being renovated and renovated. The waste was staggering! Look at this Lincoln Center built in the 1960s and it still looks like a new building!

In the traditional Western cultural and artistic classification, the status of drama and music is far higher than that of movies. So the Lincoln Center movie theater was placed next to the casual dining area. The picture shows the ticket window and release poster of the theater affiliated to the center. Among the six new movies of the season on the movie poster on the left is "Dunkirk", which has been released in mainland China.

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Picture description: Groups of students learned about theater culture and performing arts activities under the guidance of Lincoln Center’s commentators

In the gallery of the museum, important historical events are displayed. Original sketches of creative designs such as costumes, character modeling, makeup designs, props, etc. used in performing arts works. These exhibits vividly explain to people the truth: a successful performing arts work is inseparable from the wisdom and cooperation of the group.

Looking at the United Nations Headquarters from today’s perspective, I feel that its interior and architectural specifications are too crude. This feeling is particularly strong after visiting buildings such as Lincoln Center and the New York Library.

Postscript: I read the following article forwarded by an alumnus working in Beijing and found it quite interesting. While my country's film and television art has made many achievements, it also has many problems. The emergence of such professional papers is an example.