Robots Perform Shakespeare

Wired.com: "A Midsummer Night’s Dream has been updated for the 21st century with seven small robots playing fairies alongside carbon-based co-stars.
Beyond being a cool thing to do, researchers saw bringing bots to the Bard as a chance to introduce robots to the public and see how people interact with them. Their findings could influence how robots are designed and how they’re used in search-and-rescue operations."

Disney Legends recall Walt Disney and the 'Yes, if....' way of management

Theme Park Insider: "Walt Disney didn't create or build the theme park industry, contrary to what some folks have claimed over the years. What he did, veteran attraction designer Bob Rogers said, was to create and manage the team that built the theme park industry."

Time management: How an MIT postdoc writes 3 books, a PhD defense, and 6+ peer-reviewed papers — and finishes by 5:30pm

I Will Teach You To Be Rich: "I’m always on the lookout for “hidden gems,” or people who are doing remarkable work that the whole world hasn’t caught on to, yet.
Today, I asked my friend Cal Newport to illustrate how he completely dominates as a post-doc at MIT, author of multiple books, and popular blogger. How does he do it all?
Cal writes one of the best blogs on the Internet: Study Hacks. His guest post shows how you can take I Will Teach You To Be Rich principles — plus many others — and integrate them into a way to use your time effectively."

In The Wings - Dance Captain - November, 2009

American Theatre Wing: "Greg Graham, Dance Captain of Billy Elliot, talks about the ongoing task of maintaining the choreography of the show; how one becomes a dance captain; and the mix of civilian movement and tradition dance styles in this production. He is seen here teaching a tricky tap routine to new cast member David Hibbard."

Crew for short film "The Apartment

Craigslist: "Crew call for short festival movie."

The Best Alternative Alarm Clocks (Windows/Mac/Mobile)

Make Use Of: "Waking up can be very hard. And not only because it got that late yesterday night. No, beds are just too comfy these days.
Without an extremely good (read: loud) alarm clock ruining the party, it’s all too tempting to stay in bed just a little bit longer.
So if you don’t have a decent alarm clock, you know you’re in big trouble. A lot of people use their cellphone’s alarm, but that’s often just a mediocre solution.
We’ve scoured the internet looking for free alternative alarm clocks; great applications for your PC, Mac, Windows Mobile, iPhone and even Android that’ll make waking up a delight. Or at least a little bit easier."

The backlash against over-parenting

TIME: "The insanity crept up on us slowly; we just wanted what was best for our kids. We bought macrobiotic cupcakes and hypoallergenic socks, hired tutors to correct a 5-year-old's 'pencil-holding deficiency,' hooked up broadband connections in the treehouse but took down the swing set after the second skinned knee."

The Week In Tools: Toolmonger Top 5

Toolmonger: "It’s been a busy week here at Toolmonger. If you’ve been spending time in the shop — you should! — and you haven’t had a chance to keep up with Toolmonger this week, we suggest you start with these posts, which our readers helped to select"

The Shubert stimulus package.

PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE: "Earlier this week, the theatrical royal family known as The Shuberts announced an unprecedented three year development deal with two commercial producers, Frederick Zollo and Robert Cole. Zollo and Cole (has a nice ring, doesn't it?) have been responsible for a bunch of shows between them including Angels in America, Chitty2 Bang2, and, this season, they teamed up like the Wonder Twins to produce a little event known as A Steady Rain."

Ruhl’s Flighty ‘Vibrator Play’ Lives Up to the Buzz

Bloomberg.com: "Wonders will never cease. Sarah Ruhl, whose previous work I execrated, has written a smart, charming, iridescently funny-serious jewel, “In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play.”"

A Theater Scene Sparkles in Seattle

NYTimes.com: "LIKE a reminder of theater’s past, the face of the playwright August Wilson stares out from a gleaming glass door set in a 12-foot steel portal at the top of August Wilson Way here, a sloping side street behind the Seattle Repertory Theater."

OFT investigates ATG Live Nation purchase

The Stage: "Ambassador Theatre Group’s £90 million purchase of Live Nation’s UK theatres is being investigated by the Office of Fair Trading, in a move that will prevent the two businesses being fully integrated until early 2010."

Lincoln Center Unveils New Public Space

Backstage: "Lincoln Center and Target opened the new David Rubenstein Atrium to the public for a preview of Manhattan's new 'vibrant theatrical garden,' Nov. 19. In its 50th anniversary season, the New York City performing arts center is furthering its goal of being open to the public as a civic and cultural gathering place, Lincoln Center President Reynold Levy explained at a press conference."

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Pittsburgh City Paper: "When it comes to sheer snarkiness, you can't beat the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and a script by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert)."

Ravenstahl: We’ll Pass The Tax

WDUQNews: "Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl says he is going ahead with his 1% tax on tuition paid to Pittsburgh colleges and universities and he will let the lawyers sort it out in court. Ravenstahl says he will be separating the 2010 budget and the tuition tax and moving forward with both at the same time."

Costumes, music enhance fall plays at North Hills, Pine-Richland

Post Gazette: "Plays have been a mainstay each spring at local high schools, but fall productions are becoming more commonplace -- and complex.
This fall, North Hills and Pine-Richland are undertaking productions with unusual aspects that are taking center stage: The costumes in North Hills' production of 'M*A*S*H' are authentic uniforms from the Korean War, and the music for Pine-Richland's presentation was written by a senior at the school."

For the love of 'Plaid'

Post Gazette: "Plaid is back in fashion, but 'Forever Plaid' has never gone out of style.
For those who missed 'Forever Plaid' during its initial run at CLO Cabaret in 2004-'05, a quick recap: The musical tells the story of The Plaids, a boy band killed when the car carrying the four boys collides with a busload of fans headed to the Beatles' first appearance on 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' The Plaids are miraculously able to return and perform the gig that they were denied because of the fatal crash."

'The Queens' finds cattiness in bid for the crown

Post Gazette: "The women of prime-time drama would have a field day with some of the dialogue in 'The Queens,' a play that defies conventions despite its hints of Shakespeare and history, although strictly of the revisionist kind."

Live on the Web: Forum on how to measure artists' economic impact

Los Angeles Times: "In the arts, composers, writers, painters, sculptors and performers grab all the glory, but they also serve who sit and wonk.
And we, the people, are invited to watch 'em in action Friday as the National Endowment for the Arts presents a live webcast of its daylong Cultural Workforce Forum. From 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, an assortment of academics, federal bureaucrats, and staffers from private think tanks and research organizations will assemble in Washington, and in cyberspace at www.nea.gov."

Shubert Strikes 3-Year Deal to Produce Shows In-House

NYTimes.com: "The powerful Shubert Organization, which owns the most theaters on Broadway, has struck a new business deal with two respected theater producers that may lead to greater competition among other producers for the best Broadway houses and spur more entrepreneurial stage ventures."

Stephen Sondheim at Sanders Theater

Everything I Know I Learned From Musicals: "Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending A Life in the Theater - An Evening With Stephen Sondheim, which took place at the lovely Sanders Theater in Cambridge, Mass. The event comprised a conversation, of sorts, between Stephen Sondheim, looking rather spry for his 79 years, and Frank Rich, the man formerly known as the 'butcher of Broadway' during his stint as chief drama critic for the New York Times."

BMI Requirement Causes Uproar

thelincolnianonline: "Lincoln University students will now have to endure a physical exam determining each student's BMI (body mass index) before they are permitted to graduate. An individual's BMI measures the amount of body fat.
Amid fierce criticisms, Lincoln University has recently installed a new requirement for its undergraduate students. If your BMI is over 30, you are required to take a physical education class."

Still Sucks to Be a Female Writer in Hollywood

Women & Hollywood: "The Writers Guild of America West has released its most recent report on the status of women and people of color in Hollywood and just like the report of two years ago (and the ones before) women seem to be making no traction. In fact, in movies, it’s getting worse."

Carnegie Hall Selling Bonds to Remodel, Refinance

Bloomberg.com: "Carnegie Hall, the 118-year-old landmark concert venue in midtown Manhattan, is offering $110 million of bonds to remodel rental studios into an education wing and replace debt frozen in the auction-rate market last year."

Shuberts, producers strike deal

Variety: "The Shubert Organization has struck an unusual three-year deal with producers Robert Cole and Frederick Zollo under which the org will invest in Cole-Zollo projects that would be guaranteed one of the Shuberts' 17 Broadway theaters."

Audiences join The Pillow Project movement

Postr Gazette: "In the middle of summer, when most of us like to take, at the very least, a mental vacation, Pearlann Porter and The Pillow Project stir up their creative juices to begin a seasonal run of Second Saturdays. An offshoot of Penn Avenue's First Fridays, this collaborative group event embraces movement, music, multimedia art forms and a hefty dose of camaraderie."

Attack Theatre's creativity hits new high

Post Gazette: "Attack Theatre is spending a 'Year on Wheels' this season, alluding to the company's move to the Pittsburgh Opera in the Strip District. But, for its official debut Monday at the opera's urban chic facility, Attack stayed close to home ... in a sense"

Compelling drama lifts City Theatre's 'Blackbird'

Post Gazette: "Plays have long been the way artists express their concerns with the difficulties of being human. City Theatre's 'Blackbird' is one such example. While as imperfect as its troubled characters, this play involves the audience in surprisingly intimate ways by putting a human, often sympathetic face on one of life's most uncomfortable realities -- pedophilia."

Review: Attack Theatre's 'Incident(s) in the Strip' creative, energetic

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The creativity and energy of Attack Theatre flourished Saturday in its new home in Pittsburgh Opera's headquarters in the Strip District. The group's first show created there, 'Incident(s) in the Strip,' will be repeated today, Friday and Saturday."

Pitt, PICT kick off a new-play series collaboration

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "A collaboration of the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Theatre Arts and Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre will create a series of three new-play readings beginning this weekend."

Review: 'Blackbird' preys on the minds of its audience

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The tension is obvious as soon as the lights come up.
During the next 90 minutes, that tension lags only long enough for the two actors — maybe the audience — to catch their breath.
'Blackbird,' David Harrower's drama that opened Friday at City Theater is not unlike a high-stakes boxing match with two evenly matched, highly trained pros."

Stage Right gets into the meaning of Christmas

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Greensburg attorney John Noble returns in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge that he played when the professional theater company and theater school staged 'A Christmas Carol, the Musical' by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens last holiday season. As the familiar story goes, Scrooge is a crotchety old man who needs an attitude adjustment to remind him of the real meaning of Christmas."

Period costumes help define Public Theater's 'The Little Foxes'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Costume designer David R. Zyla believes people would enjoy 'The Little Foxes' if it were done as a seated reading without scenery, costumes, lighting or movement.
But that hasn't stopped him from creating nearly 30 multi-piece period costumes to wow the audience."

Imagination Movers bring high energy to Byham Theater

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The problem-solving children's rock band from New Orleans known for its high-energy concerts will be coming to the Byham Theater on Thursday.
Imagination Movers -- the four-man band in the blue jumpsuits known as 'the Beastie Boys meets Mr. Rogers' -- aim to bring the energy of a Van Halen show to the stage, with age-appropriate lyrics and themes, says member Scott 'Smitty' Smith."

The Rep's 'Queens' goes from uplifting to 'dark and destructive'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "As the annual arrival of multiple 'Nutcracker' and 'A Christmas Carol' shows take over area stages, director Sheila McKenna is staging a play that she describes as 'something new and strange and beautiful.'"

Take a Vacation from Your Email!

Stepcase Lifehack: "Considering how useful – revolutionary, even – email is as a communication tool, it can also be an incredible drain on productivity. If you’re anything like me, you have discussion listservs, newsletters, Google alerts, Facebook updates, blog comments, advertisements, automated backups, reminders, and all manner of other stuff pouring into your inbox all the time – all in addition to emails from actual people actually trying to communicate with you."

Chicago Storefront Theatre Summit II

Theater For The Future: "After going through notes for the first storefront theatre summit, we’ve just launched a couple tools to try this whole “let’s all coordinate and meet” thing on for size. If you missed the first summit, December 6th at 7:00 pm at the Dank Haus in Lincoln Square is the next one (feel free to invite other theatre companies – one or two representatives from each theatre company would be ideal), and we hope you’ll share your thoughts."

To take pictures or not to take pictures, that is the question.

PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE: "I had to wonder . . . are the actors really opposed to curtain call photos, or is this just one of those union positions that we’re holding on to that no one is that concerned about anymore? Wouldn’t those actors benefit from having their mugs on facebook pages and tweeted like the ones at Fuerza Bruta on 12/3? Could we get a curtain call provision that would allow photos to be taken only then? It's not 'uncontrolled' because the actors know what they look like, what they are wearing, etc. It's much better than a shot on the street, which we can't prevent."

American Buffalo: Ready, Set, Research!

Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog: "One of the best parts of my job as Steppenwolf Literary Apprentice is creating Actor Research Packets. What is an actor research packet? Good question! An Actor Research Packet is research compiled to support and contextualize the world of the play for the actors."

Refine Your Image Search With Google Image Swirl

Lifehacker: "Google released Image Swirl today, a new experimental Labs feature designed to make it easier to find related images on the internet and tease out elusive images from the millions already on the web."

10 Best Productivity Books of 2009

Stepcase Lifehack: "These are 10 books I read this year that made a powerful impression. I read a ton of non-fiction – not only do I read for my own pleasure but I’m a non-fiction reviewer for Publishers Weekly and I’m also regularly approached with titles to review for Lifehack. Of course, not everything I read has anything to do with personal productivity – I also quite enjoyed Timothy Egan’s The Big Burn and Michael Chabon’s Manhood for Amateurs this year – but given my role here you can expect that my reading tends to lean rather in a Lifehack-y direction."

Regional Theatre - October, 2009

American Theatre Wing: "The role of Regional Theatre in supporting and presenting new works to their communities was among the topics discussed by our panel: Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse, Gordon Edelstein, Artistic Director of Long Wharf Theatre, Sara Garonzik, Producing Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Theatre Company, and Eric Rosen, Artistic Director of Kansas City Repertory Theatre. They also explored how they share works and resources; the kind of show they feel best serves their audiences; their interaction with the local community; how they deal with competition within the theatrical community in their cities; what they learn from visiting Directors to their theatres; and the effect it has on their theatres when one of their shows moves to Broadway."

How to Manage a Group Project in Google Wave

Lifehacker: "The mere promise of Google Wave inspired a rainbow of potential use cases, but Wave's best real-world use boils down to this: it helps a group get things done together. Here's how to manage a group project in Wave.
Wave's invitations have been rolling out steadily over the last few weeks, so you and your co-workers might have already gotten some Wave love. If so, let's take a look at how you can manage a project in the real world, even given Wave's current unfinished state."

King Charles Threesome Sparks Play About Aphra Behn

Bloomberg.com: "Liz Duffy Adams’s “Or,” from New York’s Women’s Project, is a quasi-historical farce about the bisexual 17th-century English playwright, novelist and adventuress Aphra Behn."

Playwright Marisa Wegrzyn wins 2009 Wasserstein Prize

Los Angeles Times: "Chicago-based dramatist Marisa Wegrzyn has won the 2009 Wasserstein Prize for her new play, 'Hickorydickory.' As part of the award, the twentysomething playwright will receive a significant chunk of change -- $25,000, to be exact. In addition, 'Hickorydickory' will receive a reading at Second Stage Theater in New York."

Can recession resuscitate our theatre?

guardian.co.uk: "After a dozen fat years, it seems there will follow as many lean ones for the arts world. However politicians fudge it, the cuts that are coming after the election will be deep. They will also bring an end to the affluent salad days of culture feeding off government grants and corporate indulgence."

CMU production succeeds in 'Business'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "When the criteria are talent, training and eagerness to entertain, there's no faulting the cast of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama's production of 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.'"

Turning Our Backs on Anton Chekhov

The Moscow Times: "If you do what I do — write about Russian theater — there is no getting away from him. He is everywhere, he haunts your every move, your every thought, your every dream and nightmare.
He is Anton Chekhov."

City proposes "fair share tax" on tuitions

The Tartan Online: "Last Monday, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl proposed a 1 percent “fair share tax” that would add about $400 to Carnegie Mellon’s annual tuition. The mayor proposed the tax in order to fill a $15 million void in the city budget for pensions and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh system. If enacted, the tax would be the first to tax college tuition in any city in the nation. Carnegie Mellon’s official position is with the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education (PCHE), a coalition of all Pittsburgh colleges and universities, which opposed the tax at a press conference last Tuesday."

Dressers help actors in 'Irma Vep' make lightning-fast costume changes

baltimoresun.com: "The production of 'The Mystery of Irma Vep' running at Everyman Theatre has a portrait that drips blood, an Egyptian sarcophagus, hidden passages out of which characters unexpectedly pop, a mad woman in the dungeon and such deliberately tongue-in-cheek dialogue as, 'He killed the wrong wolf!'"

Tax Money For Unions

John Stossel: "They had no reason to hurry because no one ever got fired. There was no reason to work harder because union rules demanded everyone be paid the same. May union workers were masters not just at killing time but at killing innovation. “Can’t be done.” “Against the rules.” “Equipment won’t do that.” It stunned me that so many of them could be so indifferent to what I thought was important work. They cared about overtime. And lunch. They had endless discussions over where to eat."

Official wants colleges to pay city based on land value

Post Gazette: "In the wake of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's Monday proposal of a 1 percent tuition tax, Mr. Burgess said that next week he'll introduce related legislation. He would have the city appraise higher education properties, estimate the costs of serving their students and press them for consistent, voluntary donations."

Greenfield-Central cast gets a case of stage flight

The Indianapolis Star: "Jordan Best spent a lot of his time lately helping another person learn to fly.
Best, 16, a junior at Greenfield-Central High School, is a stagehand and operates pulleys, ropes and wires needed to lift the title character into the air in the school's production of 'Peter Pan.' A Louisville, Ky.-based company, ZFX Flying Effects, assists the students."

ABC Family fills comedy, 'Liars' roles

Hollywood Reporter: "Harding, who graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in the spring, will play a recent college grad who becomes Aria's high school teacher and gets in a relationship with her. He is repped by Gersh and Authentic."

Film studio planned for West Side

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: "The owner of a Toronto film studio said Tuesday he has purchased 48 acres on Chicago's West Side as the home of a complex for movie and TV show production.
Nick Mirkopoulos, chairman of Cinespace Studios, said he signed a contract for the Ryerson Inc. headquarters and old metals plant at 2558 W. 16th St. The property contains nine buildings, and Mirkopoulos said he'll start converting some of the space as soon as January."

NEA chairman Rocco Landesman visits Peoria

pjstar.com: "Rocco Landesman, the guy who was willing to bet that theater in Peoria wasn't as good as theater at the Goodman or Steppenwolf in Chicago, had his chance Friday to see 'Rent' at Eastlight Theatre and judge for himself."

Arena building site is canvas for creativity

Post Gazette: "Shepard Fairey isn't the only one jazzing up Pittsburgh's landscape these days with murals and messages.
Colorful murals and whimsical construction debris art by 100 local youths are adding color to the construction site of the new Penguins arena in Uptown."

Obama adds star power to arts panel

Post Gazette: "Ronald Reagan picked Frank Sinatra and Bill Blass. Bill Clinton appointed Quincy Jones, Rita Moreno and violinist Isaac Stern. The Bushes, father and son, chose a whole bunch of people you probably never heard of (except for Pittsburgh's own Bill Strickland)."

ESTA announces 2010 Board of Directors

LSI Online News: "The Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA) has announces the election results for its 2010 Board of Directors. Elected to their first terms were Manufacturer Director, Charlie Davidson and Professional Services Director, Jules Lauve. Davidson is the Chief Operating Officer for ARRI Inc. and Lauve is an associate at Theatre Projects Consultants."

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

Amateur rigging can result in injury, or death.

Backstage at BackstageJobs.com: "Recently, @thtrbob posted some Youtube videos on his blog “Confessions of a Chicago Theatre Addict.” They were intended to be a followup to his previous post about his love of “Peter Pan” and not being able to get access to the Flying By Foy rig in third grade. The videos show 3 different amateur productions of “Peter Pan,” each with disastrous accidents involving the unlucky actors in the fly harnesses."

Posted by David at 11/15/2009 06:00:00 PM <-- Comments Here

Can you spot who did what in a play?

guardian.co.uk: "It might seem like a stupid question, but when you watch a piece of theatre, do you ever wonder who has done what? There's no real reason why you should. You liked so-and-so's performance, the set looked nice, theatre is a collaborative effort and you enjoyed the show. End of story."

Posted by David at 11/14/2009 01:16:00 PM <-- Comments Here

Could Michael Jackson return as a hologram?

DVICE: "Broken yesterday, the story that Michael Jackson had his body scanned back in the '90s presents a number of interesting possibilities, particularly since there's a big push for 3D video tech right now."

Posted by David at 11/15/2009 05:59:00 PM <-- Comments Here

AutoCAD 2010 on my MacBook Pro

Between the Lines: "The new version of Parallels Desktop 5 for the Mac OSX has a new crystal view mode. This crystal view mode blurs the lines between Windows and Mac on your desktop as it shows none of the Windows OS UI. Parallels 5 also feels much faster than previous versions in my unscientific testing. Apple Bootcamp is still faster performance overall because it is running Windows natively, but you also must boot to Windows on your Mac with Bootcamp."

Posted by David at 11/14/2009 01:15:00 PM <-- Comments Here

Props in the last century

Props: "I just wanted to share some great old prop photographs I’ve come across on the Life photo archive hosted on Google. Remember, it’s also a great place to find primary photographic research since the invention of photography."

Posted by David at 11/11/2009 04:19:00 PM <-- Comments Here

Rockettes manager strives to keep troupe fit and healthy

Post Gazette: "How do the 200 Radio City Rockettes dancing across the country in the 77th annual 'Radio City Christmas Spectacular' keep up the stamina and stay free of injuries to perform hundreds of jump splits and thousands of eye-high kicks over seven weeks?"

Amateur rigging can result in injury, or death.

Backstage at BackstageJobs.com: "Recently, @thtrbob posted some Youtube videos on his blog “Confessions of a Chicago Theatre Addict.” They were intended to be a followup to his previous post about his love of “Peter Pan” and not being able to get access to the Flying By Foy rig in third grade. The videos show 3 different amateur productions of “Peter Pan,” each with disastrous accidents involving the unlucky actors in the fly harnesses."

Could Michael Jackson return as a hologram?

DVICE: "Broken yesterday, the story that Michael Jackson had his body scanned back in the '90s presents a number of interesting possibilities, particularly since there's a big push for 3D video tech right now."

e-tipi: The Collaborative Idea Machine

Web Worker Daily: "e-tipi sounds like a weird name for a web-based service, and when you find out it stands for “Espresso Thinking Platform,” things don’t become much clearer. But once you find out what the app’s developers think “Espresso Thinking” is, then you start to get the idea"

Dan Hoyle’s ‘Tings Dey Happen,’ About Nigerian Oil Politics

NYTimes.com: "Many things have happened since Dan Hoyle performed in the premiere of “Tings Dey Happen,” his incendiary and brilliant solo show about Nigerian oil politics, nearly three years ago at the compact theater the Marsh in San Francisco."

Ayesha Antoine, 28, Plays 8 in ‘My Wonderful Day’

NYTimes.com: "WHAT Alan Ayckbourn remembers from Ayesha Antoine’s audition for his play “My Wonderful Day” is that she didn’t look at him directly. That might not sound like a good thing, but since Ms. Antoine, who is 28, was reading with Mr. Ayckbourn for the role of an 8-year-old — and a thoughtful, reserved 8-year-old, at that — it definitely was."

Tarell Alvin McCraney Digs Up Gods From the Bayou

NYTimes.com: "TARELL ALVIN McCRANEY enters. Miami, 1980s. He is a boy growing up in the Liberty City housing projects, among the nation’s worst. He stays with his father and grandparents on some nights. They feed him peanut butter and jelly, and he is content. They are devout Baptists and fill up the boy with God’s stories, and he is content."

Attack Theatre spreads creative wings in Strip District location

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "A new home can be an exhilarating experience, especially when the stress of moving is past.
Attack Theatre's first creation in its new home in Pittsburgh Opera's building in the Strip District draws inspiration from its new environment.
'We can't help ourselves being incredibly affected,' says the company's co-director Michele de la Reza. 'Our new neighborhood is very different from when we were on Penn Avenue' in Lawrenceville."

Review: 'Glengarry Glen Ross' remains spellbindingly topical

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "For a 25-year-old play, 'Glengarry Glen Ross' remains distressingly contemporary.
The barebones productions' version of David Mamet's 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama now playing at the New Hazlett Theater feels as immediate as it does unsettling.
There's at least three reasons"

Review: Wise choices make 'Light: The Holocaust' compelling dance

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Choreographer Stephen Mills attempts the impossible, to deal with the incomprehensible, in his 'Light: The Holocaust & Humanity Project' that Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre presented Thursday night. Performances continue through Sunday."

Bricolage's 'Neighborhood' horror tale snares audience in its web

Post Gazette: "The kids are definitely not all right. They are huddled together or locked in their rooms day and night, absorbed in an online game. Parents lead separate lives under the same roof and within a community of mirror-image suburban houses.
A son seems troubled? Buy him a Hummer. A daughter needs attention? Work longer hours."

Holocaust ballet extracts beauty from tragedy

Post Gazette: "We've been watching the collective 'Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project' unfold in the Pittsburgh community over the past month as 19 local organizations participated in assorted panels, exhibits and performances that exposed a great human tragedy from all angles."

A new language for a new American theater

The Denver Post: "As many theater companies retrench into the economic safety of familiar seasonal fare, Curious Theatre ventures forth into the thrill of the unknown.
While more than 30 area companies are readying safe, holiday-themed plays, Curious on Saturday opens 'Ameriville,' a form-bending, socially conscious new fusion of spoken-word poetry, hip-hop, jazz, comedy and politics.
'When theater loses the pulse of what its community really needs, that's when I think it has failed,' said Chay Yew, who is directing this piece written and performed by the nationally regarded Bronx-based ensemble Universes."

Can you spot who did what in a play?

guardian.co.uk: "It might seem like a stupid question, but when you watch a piece of theatre, do you ever wonder who has done what? There's no real reason why you should. You liked so-and-so's performance, the set looked nice, theatre is a collaborative effort and you enjoyed the show. End of story."

‘Spider-Man’ Creep Dafoe Golfs With Duck in ‘Savant’

Bloomberg.com: "Willem Dafoe, the brooding, fiery- eyed bad guy of the “Spider-Man” films, trades psycho- nastiness for befuddlement as the hero of Richard Foreman’s “Idiot Savant” at New York’s Public Theater."

AutoCAD 2010 on my MacBook Pro

Between the Lines: "The new version of Parallels Desktop 5 for the Mac OSX has a new crystal view mode. This crystal view mode blurs the lines between Windows and Mac on your desktop as it shows none of the Windows OS UI. Parallels 5 also feels much faster than previous versions in my unscientific testing. Apple Bootcamp is still faster performance overall because it is running Windows natively, but you also must boot to Windows on your Mac with Bootcamp."

The Week In Tools: Toolmonger Top 5

Toolmonger: "It’s been a busy week here at Toolmonger. If you’ve been spending time in the shop — you should! — and you haven’t had a chance to keep up with Toolmonger this week, we suggest you start with these posts, which our readers helped to select"

When Artists Ripped Holes in the Iron Curtain

NYTimes.com: "IN 1985 a dissident troupe of Polish actors called Theater of the Eighth Day defied the ruling Communist Party and its censors by creating a play about the bleakness of daily life under martial law, imposed from 1981 to 1983. With ragged costumes and only a few props — most notably a sailboat that symbolized the dream of escape — the actors prepared to mount “Wormwood,” an unusually blunt and unvarnished work of protest theater."

The Supper Club of Lost Causes' - At Theater for the New City, Jim Farmer’s Poconos Tale

NYTimes.com: "Jim Farmer must have had some bizarre experiences in restaurants or in the Poconos — or both — over the years. At least that is the impression left by his daffy play “The Supper Club of Lost Causes,” a fractured look at faded glory that is being given a strange, smart production at Theater for the New City."