CMU School of Drama


Thursday, July 01, 2010

Broadway's Jimmys honor high school performers; Two Pittsburgh students among 44 chosen nationwide

Post Gazette: The two Kelly winners who represented Pittsburgh on the Marquis stage were Alex Field from Central Catholic in Oakland and Andrea Weinzierl from Avonworth in the North Hills. Field was one of the seven finalists chosen from the 44 by the judges to do their solo piece -- in most cases, not the number from their winning show back home. By general consent he was the best dancer in a competition that focused on acting and singing.

Tony campaign recasts stars

Post Gazette: The preponderance of Hollywood stars at this year's Tony Awards ceremony gave the New York theater community an invigorating jolt of celebrity cachet. But not everyone was happy about the presence of so many L.A. carpetbaggers during Broadway's biggest night.

Racy, raw 'Killer Joe' offers murder and mayhem

Post Gazette: There are some families -- a lot, if you're honest -- you wouldn't want to be part of or even know, but you wouldn't mind visiting, from a safe distance, with your timely escape assured. Such are the losers in Tracy Letts' very dark comedy, "Killer Joe," a guilty pleasure from barebones productions -- which is redundant, that being the company's signature taste.

The Perils of Being Too Funny

NYTimes.com: Somebody recently told me that one of my plays, “The Understudy,” was “too funny.”
Comedy is historically undervalued, and one does wonder when we’re going to get over that. But “too funny”? Now we have to deal with “too funny”?

‘Bridget Jones’ Musical Gets Underway

Deadline.com: Lily Allen is writing some of the songs for the new Bridget Jones stage musical, which has staged its first workshop reading. I’m told this was a rough assembly of Helen Fielding’s script and some songs with the Billy Elliot creative team

Universal Creative's very, very, very good year

Theme Park Insider: It's the last day of June and - wow! What a month for theme park premieres. I can't remember a string of such impressive debuts as I has the good fortune to attend this month, starting with Disney's World of Color, followed by The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando and wrapping up yesterday with the King Kong 360/3-D here in Los Angeles.

Okay, kids, play on my lawn

Roger Ebert's Journal: I was a fool for mentioning video games in the first place. I would never express an opinion on a movie I hadn't seen. Yet I declared as an axiom that video games can never be Art. I still believe this, but I should never have said so. Some opinions are best kept to yourself.

Disney's World of Color Show Control

- John's Blog Main Page - : I've been following this show's progress for a couple years, and I'm still hoping to get out to California to see it this summer, but in the meantime, Disney has posted this interesting video, featuring Senior Technical Director Chuck Davis

Vectorworks & Lightwright 5 Webinar Video Now Available

iSquint.net: Back on May 18th, I wrote about a Vectorworks Spotlight and Lightwright webinar about how to exchange data between the two applications. The webinar happened back on May 25, yes, over a month away! Since I was at the Broadway Lighting Master Classes in New York, I was not able to get online to watch the webinar so I missed out just like you if you missed it.

SDCF Masters of the Stage - Susan Stroman - January, 1994

American Theatre Wing: In January of 1994, Susan Stroman sat down for an hour-long discussion of her career as a choreographer. She talks about working on Crazy For You, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Show Boat, noting how bad experiences are necessary to make the good ones what they are. Other topics include working with a cast of 73 actors, working with director Hal Prince, movie musicals and the lack of copyright protection for choreography. For wonderful advice and great stories from a five-time Tony-winning director and choreographer, listen now!

Peter Pan, at San Francisco's Threesixty Theater

WSJ.com: As the opening of what the producers hope will be a 20-month-long U.S. run—beginning with a stay of several months here—a visually dazzling, London-born production of J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" opened in May in a round white tent, erected in the big public plaza across The Embarcadero from San Francisco's welcoming Ferry Building of 1898.
The production requires its own custom-built tent (shipped from London and requiring two weeks to set up) because its great novelty is a circular, convex video screen. Thirty-three feet high and 460 feet around, it covers the inside of the tent between 12 rows of in-the-round seating (capacity 1,350) and a peaked cupola that houses five tons of lighting and other technical equipment—including the people and gear manipulating the wires that enable Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Wendy and her two brothers to fly through the air over our heads.

Trevor Nunn: I feel betrayed by the new Les Mis

Telegraph: The tirelessness of Trevor Nunn is a matter of fact. At 70, he is directing as much as ever. Productions of his, both large and small, have in recent years sprouted on Broadway and at the Marlowe Society in Cambridge, at the Old Vic and the Belgrade in Coventry, where he had his first ever professional job, on Chichester’s vast stage and now once more at the tiny Menier Chocolate Factory.

Capital Fringe Festival Returns to DC

Backstage: So what does it take to run a fringe festival in Washington, DC? How about 40 staff members, over 150 volunteers, almost 2,000 performers and 134 quirky shows.

Shakespeare's Globe Survives Second 'Henry VIII' Play

Backstage: William Shakespeare's Globe theater has finally put a 400-year-old taboo to rest by staging the play which burned the original house down during the Bard's lifetime.

Stratford in the spotlight

Variety In his third season as artistic director of Canada's Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Des McAnuff seems to have hit his stride.
The seven shows that have opened to date represent most of the season's major work. On the whole, they have been positively received, with no flops and several clear winners. And the recent announcement of next season's lineup, including a new musical from the creators of Tony winner "The Drowsy Chaperone," has boosted anticipation for what's next.