CMU School of Drama


Monday, March 18, 2024

Supreme Court declines to intervene in a dispute over drag shows at a public university in Texas

PBS NewsHour: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal from a student group that has been blocked from staging a drag show at a public university in Texas. The justices did not comment Friday in refusing to issue an order that would have allowed Spectrum WT — a group for LGBTQ+ students and allies — to put on a charity show on March 22 on the campus of West Texas A&M University in Canyon, located just south of Amarillo.

Video game designer, animator, Jeopardy! contestant: Meet Julian Glander

Visual Art | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: In the upstairs office of his Lawrenceville home, Julian Glander demonstrates to Pittsburgh City Paper how he makes his digital 3D artwork. “Here’s something I used to do a lot,” the 33-year-old artist says, grabbing a nearby how-to guide by children’s book artist Ed Emberley. A page at the start of the book, Glander says, displays simple shapes and promises that, so long as an aspiring artist can draw those shapes, they can draw any of the animals in the book.

How Artists are Keeping Mountains of Dead Pointe Shoes Out of Landfills

Dance Magazine: Pacific Northwest Ballet goes through roughly 2,000 pairs of pointe shoes per year. New York City Ballet uses 500 pairs per month during Nutcracker season. Some pros exhaust multiple pairs of shoes in a single performance day.

Broadway Cares' Post-Show Red Bucket Fundraising is Back March 15

Playbill: Starting tonight and until April 28, Broadway audiences will get a special after-show appeal on behalf of theatrical non-profit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. It’s fundraising time on Broadway, which means the iconic Red Buckets of Broadway Cares will be out in full force as you exit the theatre, ready to take any and all donations, large and small.

18 NYC Public High School Students Participated in the Broadway League's Shadowing Program

Playbill: Eighteen students from various New York City public high schools recently participated in The Broadway League’s 12th annual High School Broadway Shadowing Program, which was held March 5–14.

NYC Students Granted Behind-the-Scenes Access To Careers On Broadway

www.broadwayworld.com: The Broadway League's 12th annual High School Broadway Shadowing Program successfully concluded this season as 18 students from across various New York City public high schools participated in this unique behind-the-scenes theatre experience. The High School Broadway Shadowing Program connects students from racially diverse and underrepresented backgrounds with industry professionals working in marketing, advertising, press, technical, management, and creative teams, who share what goes in to launching and maintaining a Broadway production.

Misty Copeland: A pioneering black principal dancer at ABT

AFRO American Newspapers: Misty Copeland knows firsthand what it’s like to struggle to fit in the predominately white world of ballet. She fought against being criticized for having a curvy body and pushed back on being told to lighten her skin for a dance role.

Jennifer Morrison Realizes a Childhood Dream

AMERICAN THEATRE: Obsessions fuel a writer’s most inspired and joyful prose, even when those obsessions are messy, ugly, painful. That’s certainly true of Margaret Atwood’s work. At the Goodman, performer Jennifer Morrison, known for her work on series House, Once Upon a Time, and film Warrior, lets that buoyancy of Atwood’s vision be her guide around the violent Trojan War.

‘Our destroyed theatre’s heart still beats’: Mariupol’s actors return to the stage, two years on

Ukraine | The Guardian: When the bombs hit the Mariupol Drama theatre, Vira Lebedynska did not hear a boom or a blast. From the recording studio in the theatre’s basement, where she was sheltering along with a few other theatre employees, the sensation was more like a vacuum.

Robe celebrates 30 years at Prolight+Sound

TPi: There will be some new products launched in Hall 12.1 on stand D10, the centrepiece of which will be the iBOLT. Other products being launched include the iESPRITE Fresnel, the T15 Fresnel, T15 PC the Footsie1 and Footsie2 Slim versions, the T32 Cyc and the T32 Cyc Slim, the iProMotion Landscape + iProMotion Portrait, the FORTE Fresnel / PC and the iSpiiderX.

IATSE Negotiations: Local-Specific Issues to Be Tackled Next Week

www.hollywoodreporter.com: After nearly a week of internal conversations on both sides, IATSE and Hollywood’s major studios and streamers will be resuming their ongoing negotiations on Monday by covering craft-specific issues.

Riverfront Theater Company's 'If/Then' is a Stellar Production that Questions Fate, Coincidence, and All of Life's "What If's"

onstagepittsburgh.com: No matter our age, occupation, personal relationships, or where we currently live, I feel like we have all, at one point or another, thought about the “what if.” What if we had gone somewhere on a different day, not gone there at all, choose one partner over another, and never met someone? How would our life be different? Would it be better or worse?

Sunday, March 17, 2024

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

Here are the top five comment generating posts of the past week:

John Cena’s Oscar Modesty Garment Explained

www.yahoo.com: At the 2024 Oscars on Sunday, John Cena took the stage — seemingly in his birthday suit, save for a winner’s envelope, a Rolex Explorer and some Birkenstocks — to present the award for best costume design. But the wrestler turned actor was actually wearing an item called a modesty garment, often used in film and television to cover an actor’s intimate areas.

Turn Your To-do List Into Data to Maximize Your Productivity

Lifehacker: You know it's important to prioritize your to-do list, and may have tried various methods to do so, from the Eisenhower Matrix (to determine how timely and urgent each task is), to the Pareto principle (to decide how to allocate your time to maximize your results). The problem is that determining what's actually a priority can be an abstract problem.

How to Be More Creative With 10 Actionable Tips

Envato Tuts+: With this definition, creativity isn't just for artistic folks. It’s not just about creating an original piece of artwork, writing, or music. It’s a quality you can have in your personal life and even at work. For instance, getting an idea for a new solution to a persistent problem is creativity. It includes not just artistic expressions but also problem-solving and innovative thinking.

Watch LEMPICKA Stage Manager Cody Renard Richard Talk Safety During Tech

www.broadwayworld.com: Watch Stage Manager Cody Renard Richard talk the cast through important safety measures during tech rehearsal at the Longacre Theatre! The video was posted on the production's official TikTok account.

Is This Image AI-Generated? Here's How You Can Tell

Envato Tuts+: Imagine scrolling through your social feed and stumbling upon an image that made you wonder, "Is this image AI-generated?" How do we recognize what is an AI-generated image and evaluate the source or authenticity of what we see? In this article, I've compiled a few tips and telltale signs to help you spot AI creations.

 

Friday, March 15, 2024

Opinion | The ‘Rust’ Shooting Case Shows What’s Wrong with Hollywood’s Approach to Guns

The New York Times: In my first job as a military adviser on a film set, I witnessed the stark contrast between the gun safety culture of my Navy SEAL days and the cavalier attitude toward firearms that permeates Hollywood. During a break in filming, the lead actor, fresh off a stint as a teen heartthrob, picked up a gun and began waving it around, joking with the cast. Instinctively, I leaped toward the actor, grabbed the gun and gave him a hard thump to the chest, admonishing him for “flagging” the entire crew — using the military term for aiming a firearm at someone.

Rock Steady: Building Successful Onstage Relationships With Popular Artists

ProSoundWeb: It’s a milestone moment in an engineer’s career when the call comes to work with an artist whose music means something to them personally. Working with emerging artists is great fun and it can be inspiring to hear new music, perhaps introduce a band to working with monitors, and play a part in them learning their stagecraft.

Latest Vectorworks Update Introduces New Capabilities in AI Visualization, Virtual Reality & BIM Collaboration

ProSoundWeb: Design and BIM software provider Vectorworks announced that it has released its fourth update to the Vectorworks 2024 product line, granting customers access to AI and virtual reality (VR) technologies through two brand new tools, with the latest update also offering integration with L-Acoustics, the Vectorworks Partner Network’s first platinum audio industry member.

Can You Hear the Fear? How Sound Shapes the Daring Missions of "Masters of the Air"

The Credits: Masters of the Air, Apple TV+’s new World War II epic showcasing the heroics and travails of a fleet of young U.S. pilots in Europe, has been lauded for its classical filmmaking and realistic approach to mid-century flight. Focusing on sober, earnest Buck (Austin Butler) and Bucky (Callum Turner), a battle-ready scamp, the show toggles between dogfights in the air and quiet moments on the ground, on airfields in the English countryside and in medical wards where some of the crew suffer from as-yet undiagnosed PTSD.

Is DeWalt a Good Brand and Are DeWalt Tools Any Good?

Pro Tool Reviews: DeWalt is arguably the most well-known name in the tool industry. But is DeWalt a good brand? Are DeWalt tools any good? We’ve been reviewing DeWalt tools for more than a decade, and we’re reaching deep into our experience to answer those questions.

Fantasia Works | Mylly Shopping Centre playground

blooloop: Fantasia Works (FKA Lappset Creative), a leader in designing and building educational, playful and themed visitor attractions, has announced the completion of a new indoor playground at Mylly Shopping Centre in Raisio, Finland. The unique design follows Mylly brand criteria and features a Wonder Mill in the centre of the area. The new playground is already attracting positive feedback from visitors.

John Cena’s Oscar Modesty Garment Explained

www.yahoo.com: At the 2024 Oscars on Sunday, John Cena took the stage — seemingly in his birthday suit, save for a winner’s envelope, a Rolex Explorer and some Birkenstocks — to present the award for best costume design. But the wrestler turned actor was actually wearing an item called a modesty garment, often used in film and television to cover an actor’s intimate areas.

Running The Numbers: Using "Old School" Math To Help Optimize Loudspeaker Placement

ProSoundWeb: Computer software has made the job of audio engineering much easier on the tech of today. From SPL prediction software to room dimension and aspect ratio matching, finding the right loudspeaker to cover an audience or figuring out how to work with the gear that you have efficiently can be a quick process and a lot of fun.

IATSE workers prepare to fight as union signals another contract betrayal is in the works

World Socialist Web Site: Unions bargaining for tens of thousands of below-the-line workers in the entertainment industry began contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) on March 4, five months ahead of the July 31 expiration of the current contract.

Life With Scottish Opera: 'I have been working in costume design for 37 years, no two days are the same'

Scottish Field: I start work around 9.30am, reading morning emails. I am not very good at eating lunch so it is straight through regardless of activity. If it is a technical rehearsal day, the days lengthen and I am often one of the last to leave the theatre at around 11pm. During these weeks, it is often back to work the next morning for 8.30am. There is no typical day.

The media servers behind Epson's ISE 2024 giant umbrella

www.avinteractive.com: Visitors to ISE were greeted by the sight of a custom-made 7.5m umbrella in February, where 61,500,000 pixels of animations enlivened every panel using six 10-bit, 4K, 20,000-lumen projectors from Epson which were driven by Green Hippo's Hippotizer Boreal+ MK2 Media Servers.

12 extraordinary runway sets from the A/W 2024 shows

Wallpaper: A charred desert of Murano-glass cacti, a damask-curtained boudoir, a simulacrum of an art gallery – this season’s runway sets were an exercise in the theatre of fashion. Here, we select 12 of the very best runway sets and show spaces of A/W 2024 fashion month, which concluded in Paris last week.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

SXSW Audiences Loudly Boo Festival Videos Touting the Virtues of AI

variety.com: Conversations about the future of artificial intelligence can be found all over SXSW this year — and not all of the festival’s attendees are thrilled with the idea. Specifically, the film and TV fans catching screenings of world premieres including “The Fall Guy” and “Immaculate” made their AI displeasure loud and clear on Tuesday at the Paramount Theatre in Austin.

Off-Broadway Stagehands’ Union Organizing Gains Steam

AMERICAN THEATRE: When Sarala Pool was in college, she dreamed of working Off-Broadway. She wanted to harness her skills to make magic happen onstage at places like the Public Theater. Her dream came true as assistant prop manager on Suffs in 2022, but the job, like all Off-Broadway gigs, was short-lived. She left it scrambling for another job with health insurance as coverage from her parents’s insurance expired.

OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video generator will be publicly available later this year

The Verge: You’ll soon get to try out OpenAI’s buzzy text-to-video generator for yourself. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati says Sora will be available “this year” and that it “could be a few months.”

This AI Tool Can Make Joaquin Phoenix Sound French in 'Napoleon'

www.indiewire.com: We’ve long championed subtitles, but dubbing has only gained popularity in an increasingly global entertainment industry. And what about those movies where Americans are supposed to be Italian, or French, but they’re speaking English with an accent that might be generously described as “continental”?

"True Detective: Night Country" Costume Designer Alex Bovaird Fashions a Frozen World

The Credits: Costume designer Alex Bovaird creates a tactile, frozen world in True Detective: Night Country. In the fourth season of the HBO series, filmmaker Issa Lopez takes Bovaird and audiences to the fictional town of Ennis, Alaska. As the True Detective formula goes, two badge-wearers, Chief Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis), try to crack a mystery. A past case once brought the two together, and a new case – eight men gone missing and found frozen to death in ice – reunites them.

Turn Your To-do List Into Data to Maximize Your Productivity

Lifehacker: You know it's important to prioritize your to-do list, and may have tried various methods to do so, from the Eisenhower Matrix (to determine how timely and urgent each task is), to the Pareto principle (to decide how to allocate your time to maximize your results). The problem is that determining what's actually a priority can be an abstract problem.

Know a Theatre: Indy Convergence

AMERICAN THEATRE: Located just across the White River from the central hub of downtown Indianapolis, Indy Convergence has made a comfortable home for itself serving the residents of Indianapolis’s Near Westside. Founded in 2007, the company is centered around its flagship artist residency, Convergence, aimed at providing creatives the agency and time needed to fully explore free expression through rehearsals and workshops. The other main branch of Indy Convergence’s work centers around community-focused programming, allowing local residents to find support for their ideas, dreams, and artistic projects.

High Fashion at Carnegie Mellon University Takes the Stage

Pittsburgh Magazine: Lunar Gala’s annual Lunar New Year Fashion Show, which started in 1997, is Pittsburgh’s longest-running fashion show and one of the largest. “We’re planning on holding a capacity of 1,250,” says one of Lunar Gala’s producers and previous models, Anita Cheng.

Lights, Camera, Action! How Tax Breaks and Funding Can Lure Film Productions to Germany

The Credits: The panelists on stage at the law firm Greenberg Traurig for a discussion held in conjunction with the Motion Picture Association during the 74th Berlin International Film Festival represented a notable list of luminaries from across the film and television industry. Mediated by Greenberg Traurig Partner Laura Zentner, they were largely in agreement regarding the panel’s topic, German film funding in 2025 and beyond.

Everything New In BEYOND 5.5 from Pangolin Laser Systems

www.limelightwired.com: In the latest BEYOND 5.5 update, Pangolin Laser Systems' introduces groundbreaking features for laser programmers. These include MoboLaser, an app for seamless control via mobile devices, and Q-Shift, a tool for creating dynamic offset effects. A new 3D Preview offers an overhauled visualizer for programming in a 3D environment. New cue types like Node Image and Particle Image foster creative display construction, while FIFO Image enhances capturing signal recording.

Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks Heads Indoors for April’s ‘Week of Will’ and Outdoors for ‘Twelfth Night’ in September

onStage Pittsburgh: The 20th season of Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks – which coincides with The Bard’s 460th birthday – gets under way with the 11th annual Week of Will and includes an indoor reading of the new one-act play This Could be True by Charles David “Stoney” Richards.

What Will It Take For the Field to Become Truly Inclusive of Plus-Size Dancers?

Dance Magazine: Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts have raised awareness about exclusionary practices in all kinds in dance, and the mainstream body-positivity movement has led to some progress—most noticeably impacting the dance world since the rise of social media. Yet sizeism remains an especially recalcitrant, systemic issue that continues to plague dancers worldwide.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

How Suffs on Broadway Built Its Team of Powerful Women

Playbill: In 2016, Shaina Taub found herself at a crossroads. On one hand, she was living the dream. She was a working actor busy on some big projects: the original Off-Broadway casts of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 and Hadestown. On the other hand, Taub was also blossoming as a composer, having been commissioned to write a musical adaptation of Twelfth Night for the Public Theater. She had a choice to make: Should she continue on as an actor in those very ambitious, potential-filled projects and probably go to Broadway that way? Or should she focus on composing?

IATSE Talks With Studios Conclude for Week, Resuming on March 18

variety.com: The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and Hollywood’s major studios have concluded their first week of talks Thursday evening, with both parties planning to resume negotiations for a new union contract on March 18.

Naked John Cena: Costume Designer Wage Gap Steals Show at Oscars 2024

www.indiewire.com: What do John Cena and Bella Baxter have in common? At the 96th Academy Awards, both drew attention to the gender pay gap Hollywood costume designers have alleged for years.

Biden administration seeking a 3.7% budget increase for OSHA

Safety+Health: The White House is proposing a relatively modest budget increase for OSHA under the Department of Labor’s fiscal year 2025 budget request, released March 11.

All Glammed Up For Oscars 2024

Live Design Online: When the red carpet is rolled out in front of The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 10 for the 96th Academy Awards, the sets on stage will evoke the kind of glamour for which Hollywood is known. The designs are by production designers Alana Billingsley and Misty Buckley, who made history last year as the first female designers to create the sets for the Oscars.

I Used Resume Spammers to Apply for 120 Jobs. Chaos Ensued.

www.businessinsider.com: In the fall of 2020, I found myself in unfamiliar territory: I was looking for a new job. In theory, it was something I should have known a lot about as an economics reporter. But in practice, I was lost. Because I had stumbled into a great job right out of college, and stayed with that company for a decade, I was blissfully unaware of how soul-crushing it was to be a job seeker in 21st-century corporate America.

TV Activations Return to SXSW — and Why They Should Never Leave

www.indiewire.com: The year is 2296. The place is Filly, the post-apocalyptic “vault” where Lucy (Ella Purnell) must fight to survive in a world already on the edge of extinction. The place is filled with scavengers, ne’er-do-wells, and rules you can’t learn until you’ve broken them. The place is actually Hotel San Jose in Austin, Texas — but it’s an impressive disguise.

How Do We Know What Sounds Good?

ProSoundWeb: Most of us feel that we know good sound when we hear it. We also have tools to help us analyze the properties of sound, and we’ve learned to interpret those measurements and equate them with good and bad. But I find it fascinating that sometimes even when things measure “poorly,” we say that it sounds good anyway. Or, conversely, sometimes the measurements look spectacular but “there’s just something wrong.” The challenge is defining what actually constitutes “good” sound, and how we know it is so.

Jimmy Kimmel at 2024 Oscars Says Hollywood Will Stand with IATSE

www.hollywoodreporter.com: During the telecast for the 2024 Oscars ceremony, host Jimmy Kimmel, in his opening monologue, addressed the current IATSE contract negotiations and the possibility of an impending strike, telling below-the-line workers: “Know that in your upcoming negotiations we will stand with you.”

Sphere Entertainment Reveals New Details on Powering High-Resolution Video Content at Sphere

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: Sphere Entertainment Co. and Hitachi Vantara, the data storage, infrastructure and hybrid cloud management subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., revealed new details on how the two companies leverage Hitachi Vantara's data processing software to help power the LED screens at Sphere, a next-generation entertainment medium in Las Vegas.

The Oscars Were Glorious. But There's a Storm Brewing

TIME: The weeks and months leading up to the Oscars—including the campaigning, the chatter of prognosticators, the rushing to catch up with every nominated picture—are usually a jubilant time. But the storm clouds hovering over this most recent season, which culminated in Sunday night’s efficient and entertaining Oscars broadcast, are about to break, and Hollywood knows it. As viewers, we’re just bystanders, right? Consumers who wait for the “content” to happen. But that line of thinking is also a colossal part of the problem. It’s long past time for all of us to ask for more—even if we’re not quite sure what more is.

America Ferrera Details Barbie Monologue Research

www.thewrap.com: America Ferrera revealed that her research to prep for her monologue in “the film”Barbie” yielded some galvanizing results. Her singular scene in “Barbie” about the tensions of being a woman has connected with women of all ages and drawn references such as Kevin Costner’s recitation of the speech at the Golden Globes.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

$133 Billion in Content Spend in 2024? Not Unless We Get Back to Work

www.indiewire.com: The key players in film and television will spend a combined $132.7 billion on content in 2024, MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman estimates. You know, if IATSE, the teamsters, and Hollywood Basic Crafts don’t walk out on AMPTP productions and onto the picket lines. But let’s be optimistic for a moment — much of the industry is.

Is This Image AI-Generated? Here's How You Can Tell

Envato Tuts+: Imagine scrolling through your social feed and stumbling upon an image that made you wonder, "Is this image AI-generated?" How do we recognize what is an AI-generated image and evaluate the source or authenticity of what we see? In this article, I've compiled a few tips and telltale signs to help you spot AI creations.

Barco | illuminates ARTE MUSEUM DUBAI

blooloop: Barco, the technology company focusing on innovative visualisation solutions, is celebrating the launch of ARTE MUSEUM at Dubai Mall. The firm has supplied the technologies for this immersive experience, which has been created by digital media content and technology design company d’strict.

Theater Producers Have First Amendment Right to Choose White Actor Instead of Black

reason.com: Plaintiff Kim Moore is a black woman who works as an actress. Defendant is a company that produces and stages "Hadestown," a musical that runs on Broadway …. On or about January 30, 2020, Defendant hired Plaintiff to perform as an actress in its production of the Musical. Plaintiff played the role of "Worker #1" as part of the Musical's "Workers Chorus," as well as other parts in the Musical.

"Iwájú" Visual Effects Supervisor Marlon West on Bringing Afrofuturism to Animation

The Credits: Disney+ just released an exciting new 6-part animated series called Iwájú, representing the first collaboration with an outside studio in its partnership with Pan-African storytelling company Kugali Media. Kugali’s co-founders created a uniquely African story, which takes place in a futuristic Lagos, Nigeria. In fact, every single character that appears in Iwájú is Nigerian.

UCLA Theatrical Diversity Report 2023

nofilmschool.com: After last year's box office bonanza, it's fun to look at the report and see how movies like Barbie, John Wick 4, and Scream used diverse casts to their advantage. And how they were able to draw additional audiences with those casting choices as well.

Agog Aims To Help Immersive Projects Focused On Social Good

www.uploadvr.com: Announced by co-founders Chip Giller and Wendy Schmidt, Agog: The Immersive Media Institute is a new philanthropic organization that aims to promote social justice and equality using immersive media. The effort aims to open "new avenues for empathy, understanding, and activism" while promoting positive social transformation.

Reducing Seams In FDM Prints With Scarf Joint Seams

Hackaday: One unavoidable aspect of FDM 3D printing is that each layer consists out of one or more lines that have a beginning and an end. Where these join up, a seam is formed, which can be very noticeable if the same joint exists on successive layers.

How to Be More Creative With 10 Actionable Tips

Envato Tuts+: With this definition, creativity isn't just for artistic folks. It’s not just about creating an original piece of artwork, writing, or music. It’s a quality you can have in your personal life and even at work. For instance, getting an idea for a new solution to a persistent problem is creativity. It includes not just artistic expressions but also problem-solving and innovative thinking.

MIT's 4D knit dress and robot arm make custom clothing

www.designboom.com: MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab team develops the 4D Knit Dress, a new way to personalize a dress in any size using a six-axis robot arm typically used in the automotive industry, computerized knitting, and heat-activated yarns. Led by Sasha MicKinlay, a recent graduate of the MIT Department of Architecture, in collaboration with fashion company Ministry of Supply, 4D Knit Dress can generate clothing that fits the wearer by sculpting the garment around their body and using a robot arm that blows dry the heat-activated yarn to style the fabric.

IAAPA North America Summit 2024

IAAPA Honors | blooloop: IAAPA held its second annual North America Summit from 3 – 5 March 2024 in Las Vegas, following the first dedicated IAAPA Honors celebration. The event featured a well-balanced program of keynote speakers, fireside discussions and educational elements intertwined with exclusive visits to attractions and entertainment venues.

Vari-Lite for Jonas Brothers

TPi: One unique issue for the design was the 360-degree seating environment. “The biggest challenge was the dichotomy between needing a suitably scaled wall of lights and the fact that the tour was sold 360,” explained Reardon. To achieve the look, Reardon used pods of VL5LED Wash luminaires connected to a motion control system that could pull the rig out of the way when the band moved to the B Stage.

Monday, March 11, 2024

Vari-Lite VL5LEDs and VL3600s create “wall of light” for Jonas Brothers

LightSoundJournal.com: Looking to create a modern spin on a classic “wall of light” look for the latest tour of multiplatinum pop music group the Jonas Brothers, lighting designer Alex Reardon looked to VL5LED Wash and VL3600 Profile IP luminaires from Vari-Lite, the originators of the modern moving head light fixture and Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) entertainment lighting brand. The design includes 108 VL5LEDs and 145 VL3600s from Solotech.

Review: PMT's Production od 'Grease' is a Dance-tastic, Heavy on the Camp and Fun!

onstagepittsburgh.com: Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s Grease” was practically an interactive experience with its Byham Theater audience on opening weekend. And really, who could blame anyone for clapping and singing along? It’s Grease! Like that flaming-red, hot rod car, it has only high gears.

Lookingglass Theatre announces new artistic director, plan for upcoming productions

Chicago Sun-Times: Lookingglass Theatre Company on Wednesday announced Kasey Foster has been named the company's new artistic director. Foster steps into the role formerly held by Heidi Stillman, who will remain a member of the company’s ensemble.

Watch LEMPICKA Stage Manager Cody Renard Richard Talk Safety During Tech

www.broadwayworld.com: Watch Stage Manager Cody Renard Richard talk the cast through important safety measures during tech rehearsal at the Longacre Theatre! The video was posted on the production's official TikTok account.

2024 Women’s Storytelling Festival to feature 21 performers

DC Theater Arts: The Women’s Storytelling Festival (WSF), hosted by Better Said Than Done, will take place March 14 – 17, 2024, in Fairfax, VA, as well as streaming online. Showcasing a wide range of storytelling styles, the 2024 festival features 21 storytellers who will be performing spoken word stories, intended for a mature audience.

Review: ‘Fat Ham’ Turns Hamlet on Its Head at City Theatre

onStage Pittsburgh: “They staged a play, and a party broke out,” said a patron at City Theatre on March 8 at the Pittsburgh premiere of Fat Ham, the boisterous, in-your-face version of Hamlet – without the handwringing.

Screenwriters Skeptical of Claims 'The Holdovers' Was Plagiarized

www.thewrap.com: Writer Simon Stephenson, who has a story by credit for the Pixar animated film “Luca,” ignited a debate in the screenwriting community Saturday following his claims that a script of his was plagiarized by “The Holdovers.” While the charges are serious, many screenwriters have taken issue with the charge that the Oscar-nominated screenplay was plagiarized “line-by-line” from Stephenson’s 2013 Black List script “Frisco.”

'Grand Theft Hamlet' Review: When Shakespeare and Gaming Collide

www.hollywoodreporter.com: Innovative, highly amusing and often touching, this collaborative project, competing in the documentary feature strand at SXSW, takes place entirely within the open game world of Grant Theft Auto Online. In this sprawling virtual space, temporarily out-of-work U.K.-based actors Sam Crane (who has played Harry Potter in the London production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and his friend Mark Oosterveen decide to mount a production of Hamlet, a first for both the theater and gaming worlds.

Inside the Six-Figure Gift Bags Given to Oscar Nominees

www.thedailybeast.com: Luxury vacations in Lake Como and Kauai’s south shore aren’t enough. In his 25 years in business, Lash Fary, founder of marketing company Distinctive Assets and the architect behind the world’s most elaborate gift bags, has fantasized about giving Hollywood royalty even more come Oscar night. “Oprah beat me to it, but I’ve always wanted to give cars,” Fary says, recalling the landmark episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in which the host gave audience members Pontiac G-6 sedans.

Festival amplifies the female voice

Pasatiempo | santafenewmexican.com: The opportunities that Talia Pura wanted to see in the world didn’t exist. So she had to create them. Pura, the founder of Santa Fe’s Blue Raven Theatre, created the Fearless Female Voices Festival because she wanted to correct an imbalance in the playwright world. And now, as it enters its fourth season, its purpose is as clear as ever.

‘Warning bell’: Montreal festivals worried after Just for Laughs cancellation

Globalnews.ca: The cancellation of the Just for Laughs comedy festivals in Montreal and Toronto this year underscores the vulnerability of an industry struggling to manage ballooning costs while vying for increasingly in-demand but inadequate government grants.

Oscar-Worthy Plastic Fantastic! "Barbie" Designers Sarah Greenwood & Katie Spencer Share Their Dreamhouse Secrets

The Credits: “It was trying to find a solution to what makes a toy,” says production designer Sarah Greenwood about creating the charmed sets of Barbie alongside set decorator Katie Spencer. The two have been near inseparable, having worked on over thirty projects together. Darkest Hour, Beauty and the Beast, and Anna Karenina are among their six Academy Award nominations. “It became this huge journey of discovery, and it started with us buying a Barbie Dreamhouse and playing with it.”