Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Dating back to the 18th century, the term “diablerie” refers to sorcery supposedly assisted by the Devil. It also means being reckless or wild in a charismatic way, a definition that better suits the new show from self-described “spectacle-maker” Murphi Cook.
Of her latest work. Diablerie, or the Last Puppet Show , at the Glitter Box Theater on April 26 and 27, Cook says, “The whole thing is sort of designed to be organized chaos.”
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
LED FAQs (Part 3): Chromaticity Diagrams
et cetera...: In this series, we discuss some of the most frequently asked questions we receive about LEDs. Today, Color Technology Specialist Wendy Luedtke runs through chromaticity diagrams and what they mean in the world of LED fixtures.
Chromaticity diagrams are helpful tools to objectively specify the colors coming from a light source.
Chromaticity diagrams are helpful tools to objectively specify the colors coming from a light source.
Op-Ed: What AGMA Got Wrong in Advocating for the NYCB Principals Trading Nude Photos of Ballerinas
Dance Magazine: Last Friday, through an appeal to an independent arbitrator, the American Guild of Musical Artists successfully reinstated NYCB principals Amar Ramasar and Zachary Catazaro, previously fired for allegedly circulating sexually explicit texts containing nude photos.
Broadway By Design: Beowulf Boritt, Tyler Micoleau, Alex Basco Koch & Ryan Rumery Bring BE MORE CHILL from Page to Stage
www.broadwayworld.com: Who is Annie without her red dress? Or Eva with out her balcony? It is the charge of the Broadway designer to transport the audience into the world of a show, whether it be Great Depression-era New York City or outside of the Casa Rosada.
In Broadway by Design, BroadwayWorld is shining a spotlight on the stellar designs of this Broadway season, show by show. Today, we continue the series with Beowulf Boritt, Tyler Micoleau, Alex Basco Koch, and Ryan Rumery, who acted as scenic, lighting, projection and sound designers for Broadway's big upgrade, Be More Chill.
In Broadway by Design, BroadwayWorld is shining a spotlight on the stellar designs of this Broadway season, show by show. Today, we continue the series with Beowulf Boritt, Tyler Micoleau, Alex Basco Koch, and Ryan Rumery, who acted as scenic, lighting, projection and sound designers for Broadway's big upgrade, Be More Chill.
“Art Tells Truth That Truth Itself Can’t”: A Glimpse Into The Multimedia Mind Of Andrew Schneider
The Theatre Times: Andrew Schneider, a Milwaukee native, is an OBIE Award-winning, Drama Desk-nominated performer, writer, and interactive-electronics artist. His interactive work has been featured in such publications as Art Forum and Wired, among others, and at the Center Pompidou in Paris. He started creating multimedia art as a high school and college photography and musical theatre student.
Review Roundup: INK Opens On Broadway- See What The Critics Are Saying!
www.broadwayworld.com: It's 1969 London. The brash young Rupert Murdoch purchases a struggling paper, The Sun, and sets out to make it a must-read smash which will destroy - and ultimately horrify - the competition. He brings on rogue editor Larry Lamb who in turn recruits an unlikely team of underdog reporters. Together, they will go to any lengths for success and the race for the most Ink is on! Inspired by real events and a recent hit in London's West End, James Graham's electrifying new play comes to Broadway in the exhilarating Almeida Theatre production, directed by Rupert Goold.
Why I Got Up On Stage At The Edinburgh Fringe To Explain My Research In Cabaret
The Theatre Times: Never had I felt such a terror. Not on the day of my wedding, nor the day of my most important job interview. So what was I doing? This was the fear that gripped me last August before I stepped on stage at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe to perform my show for the Cabaret Of Dangerous Ideas.
Basically, it’s an academic’s nightmare: you are alone on stage, like a comedian, and for a full hour you explain a “dangerous” idea that you explore in your research to a lay audience.
Basically, it’s an academic’s nightmare: you are alone on stage, like a comedian, and for a full hour you explain a “dangerous” idea that you explore in your research to a lay audience.
Review Roundup: BEETLEJUICE Begins Its Broadway Haunt- See What The Critics Had To Say!
www.broadwayworld.com: BEETLEJUICE tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager whose life changes when she meets a recently deceased couple and Beetlejuice, a demon with a thing for stripes. When Lydia calls on Beetlejuiceto scare away anyone with a pulse, this double-crossing specter unleashes a (Nether)world of pandemonium, and the biggest sandworm Broadway has ever seen.
New Play Examines Shakespeare's Gender Politics: Sarah Delahunty's "This Long Winter"
The Theatre Times: Despite being dead for 400 years and having lived and worked on the far side of Planet Earth, William Shakespeare continues to be one of the most prominent figures in New Zealand theatre. One of the most high-profile international showcasing of New Zealand theatre was Ngākau Toa’s electrifying production of Troilus and Cressida translated into Te Reo Māori (Māori language) by Te Haumihiata Mason at London’s Globe to Globe Festival (2012).
Laurie Woolery on The Tempest and More
The Interval: For the past five years, Laurie Woolery has led or helped lead The Public Theater’s Public Works program, first as Associate Director (2014-2017), and now as Director. During that time, she has directed several pieces for the program, most notably As You Like It at the Delacorte Theater, created with Shaina Taub. This spring, Laurie is directing The Tempest through a different Public Theater initiative, the Mobile Unit.
The Case Against Sharing Everything on Social Media
Dance Magazine: When Joffrey Ballet dancer Rory Hohenstein first created an Instagram account, the choice to make it private was merely incidental. This was before the platform became such a powerful tool for self-promotion in the dance world, and he was concerned about strangers having an inside look at his life and younger dancers seeing him use the occasional curse word.
Slow cinema: what it is and why it's on a fast track to the mainstream in a frenetic world
theconversation.com: It feels apt that Claire Denis’s new film, High Life is reportedly an idea she’d been toying with for 15 years. The movie is already drawing comparison to Solaris, a science fiction film by the seminal slow cinema director Andrei Tarkovsky.
Denis has dabbled with slow cinema aesthetics before. Her 2009 film White Material portrays a struggling female coffee producer who elects not to flee an impending civil war.
Denis has dabbled with slow cinema aesthetics before. Her 2009 film White Material portrays a struggling female coffee producer who elects not to flee an impending civil war.
Monday, April 29, 2019
The Costume Designer Who Made The Women Of Amazon's 'Hanna' Ready For Anything
www.forbes.com: In Amazon Prime's Hanna, which dropped on March 29, the characters travel across Europe, adapting to new cities and situations. Costume designer Emily Batson had to consider all of these different factors, as she created looks that reflect each character's personality, and where they are at each moment of their arc. The women who lead this series face particular trials, as they kick a**, form bonds, and ultimately just try to survive. I spoke to Batson about how she created these nuanced looks.
TheatreWorks wins Regional Theatre Tony Award
Datebook: TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, the region’s third-largest nonprofit theater, has won the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award, the highest honor that an American theater company not on Broadway can achieve.
The award recognizes the influence TheatreWorks has had on the art form locally and nationwide, as an incubator for scores of artists, developing and premiering countless new works, many of which have gone on to long life elsewhere.
The award recognizes the influence TheatreWorks has had on the art form locally and nationwide, as an incubator for scores of artists, developing and premiering countless new works, many of which have gone on to long life elsewhere.
May Theater Guide: Adventure Time
Entertainment Central Pittsburgh: If you are new to live theater in Pittsburgh—or to live theater, period—here is a tip for maximizing enjoyment: Look beyond the obvious. Don’t limit yourself to the latest hot shows and longtime audience favorites.
The world of theater is vast. Beyond the best-seller list there are many, many plays and musicals you might like even better, from recent ones to oldies in revival. The month of May offers a nice selection of both—and by all means, visit the smaller companies.
The world of theater is vast. Beyond the best-seller list there are many, many plays and musicals you might like even better, from recent ones to oldies in revival. The month of May offers a nice selection of both—and by all means, visit the smaller companies.
Review Roundup: THE WHO'S TOMMY at Kennedy Center - What Did the Critics Think?
www.broadwayworld.com: Based on the 1969 album, The Who's Tommy is an exhilarating story of hope, healing, and the human spirit. With music and lyrics by Pete Townshend, book by Des McAnuff and Pete Townshend, and additional music and lyrics by John Entwistle and Keith Moon, this five-time Tony Award-winning, one-of-a-kind musical tells the story of the pinball-playing, "deaf, dumb, and blind" boy who triumphs over adversities.
Designing from the Inside Out: A Conversation with David Korins
Stage Directions: Tim Burton, who wrote and directed the film Beetlejuice, has such a distinctive vision. What has been the process of translating his work to the stage, because presumably it’s not just about copying what he did.
It’s funny because, with Alex Timbers, I have had an opportunity to translate Tim Burton before. We did Pee-Wee Herman on Broadway, and Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure was his first movie. I think part of the challenge with Tim Burton is we forget how early on Beetlejuice was in his trajectory, and how much his iconography and his oeuvre have become an imprint on what his films look like.
It’s funny because, with Alex Timbers, I have had an opportunity to translate Tim Burton before. We did Pee-Wee Herman on Broadway, and Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure was his first movie. I think part of the challenge with Tim Burton is we forget how early on Beetlejuice was in his trajectory, and how much his iconography and his oeuvre have become an imprint on what his films look like.
Selfridges music stage shows the power of Notch effects
www.avinteractive.com: Selfridges, one of the UK’s most iconic department stores, is famous for fresh thinking, unexpected displays and unique customer experiences. Although retail remains at the heart of the store, Selfridges decided to take a stand against the increasing number of music venue closures across the UK and launched the Music Matters campaign.
Olivia Wilde on Making Casts More Diverse
Variety: “It turns out when you see all actors and you just hire the best people, you actually end up with a really representative set. The problem is most people don’t look at everyone. If we keep drawing from the same pool, it becomes this recycled pot of inspiration. There’s nothing new if you don’t take a step further,” she said at a screening of her film at the Film Independent Forum on Friday.
Cameron Crowe calls Old Globe's world-premiere stage adaptation of 'Almost Famous' an ode to music — and San Diego
The San Diego Union-Tribune: Bring it on home, as Led Zeppelin sang in the band’s 1970s heyday — and now that’s just what Cameron Crowe is about to do with “Almost Famous.”
Crowe actually got to know Zeppelin in those times of yore, back when the San Diego-bred writer-director was a startlingly precocious rock journalist; there’s a great photo of a teen-age Crowe having a laugh with guitarist Jimmy Page out on tour somewhere.
That momentous chapter in Crowe’s young life eventually helped inspire “Almost Famous,” the 2000 movie for which he won a screenwriting Oscar.
Crowe actually got to know Zeppelin in those times of yore, back when the San Diego-bred writer-director was a startlingly precocious rock journalist; there’s a great photo of a teen-age Crowe having a laugh with guitarist Jimmy Page out on tour somewhere.
That momentous chapter in Crowe’s young life eventually helped inspire “Almost Famous,” the 2000 movie for which he won a screenwriting Oscar.
SKALAR: Light Art and Sound Combine to Form an Immersive Concert Experience
Colossal: Made in collaboration between light artist Christopher Bauder and musician Kangding Ray, SKALAR is an audio/visual art installation that uses a large built structure and beats to create an immersive live concert. First presented in 2014 inside of the Kraftwerk Berlin industrial venue, the performance enthralls audiences with its pulsing, rhythmic soundtrack and entrancing light show.
Judith Light Named Recipient of the 2019 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award
www.broadwayworld.com: The Tony Awards Administration Committee has announced today that two time Tony Award (Other Desert Cities and The Assembled Parties) and two time Emmy Award-winning actress Judith Light will receive this year's Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award.
A Simple Guide to Data Analytics for Nonprofits
AMT Lab @ CMU: In an effort to improve mission-based programmatic success and retain a loyal audience base, arts organizations are utilizing tools that have become available as a result of the 21st century technology boom. In particular, many organization leaders have made the switch from verbal communications with patrons and donors to technological software that efficiently pulls information from the aforementioned groups. The practice of data analytics has been a widely recognized tool for understanding organizational efficacy and sustainability over the last ten years.
Attack Theatre Presents "The Rube Goldberg Variations"
Pittsburgh in the Round: Attack Theatre has once again pushed the limits of movement, objects, and space in their latest performance, The Rube Goldberg Variations at the New Hazlett. Combining inspiration from famous 20th century cartoonist and inventor, Rube Goldberg, and the music of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Attack Theatre has created a lively, and deeply thoughtful, performance.
Sunday, April 28, 2019
NFTRW Weekly Top Five
Here are the top five comment generating posts from the past week:
New type of plastic is a recycling dream
Ars Technica: Recycling sounds great in principle (because it is), but a frustrating number of devils lurk in the details. For example, while some materials like aluminum can readily be melted down and turned right back into new aluminum cans, recovered plastics tend to be lower quality than “virgin” material. That’s because recycled plastic retains some of its previous properties—like Lego bricks that can’t be separated. The next plastic you make won’t be exactly the same type, and the recycled material won’t fit perfectly into its new spot.C-a-n-c-e-l-i-n-g ‘Spelling Bee’ at a Maryland Middle School
Arts Integrity Initiative in partnership with the New School: The communication announcing the cancelation of a production of the musical The 25thAnnual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Hyattsville Middle School in Maryland could not have been more terse.
Unfortunately we have decided to cancel the Spring Musical dates of May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
Additionally, we will hold a parent meeting after spring break, Tuesday April 23rdat 4:30pm in Mrs. Gee’s Room to address next steps and to answer any of your questions, comments, or concerns.How Gesaffelstein’s Coachella set tricked minds with the world’s blackest black
The Verge: One of the most visually impressive performances at this year’s Coachella was special, not just because of what the audience could see, but because of what they couldn’t see. Behind Gesaffelstein, the French record producer and DJ, was a monolith covered entirely in Vantablack, a very scarce, very expensive, and quite fragile material made by Surrey NanoSystems in the UK. It’s the world’s blackest black, erasing any visible features on a 3D surface and making objects very disorienting for the brain.This immersive theatre project is so psychedelic it's now become a science experiment
WIRED UK: “The show ended, the lights came on, and the guests are lying on their backs, holding hands, shaking, sweating – tears, snot, drool – vibrating, unable to move for about 45 minutes,” says Sean Rogg. Surprisingly, Rogg isn’t describing the scenes of an internment camp or some other unspeakable horror. He’s talking about his latest art piece, Barzakh, an immersive experience like no other.Woman Suffers Near Fatal Injuries From Falling Prop at Coachella
www.edmtunes.com: Coachella has come to a close, leaving most with lifelong memories and excitement for next year. Unfortunately for one attendee, her night at Coachella went terribly wrong after a freak accident. During the Gucci Gang performance held at the Sahara Tent, one of the hanging set decorations fell into the crowd. The globe decoration itself was made of thin plastic but the metal bracket attaching it to the ceiling caused harm.
Friday, April 26, 2019
Set Designer John Lee Beatty | TDF Sharaff Award for Theatrical Design
www.livedesignonline.com: Anyone who has seen a lot of theatre in New York City has most likely seen sets designed by Tony Award-winner John Lee Beatty, who has designed over 100 productions on Broadway. He is the winner of the 2019 Robert L. B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design, as presented at the TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards on April 26.
Rick Edinger, Professor of Musical Theatre at Carnegie Mellon University School Of Drama, Launches BROADWAY ARTIST LAB
www.broadwayworld.com: Next month, Broadway is coming to Los Angeles with the new "Broadway Artist Lab" created by Rick Edinger, Andrew Burrill, and Kate Rancka. The groundbreaking educational experience will feature Broadway creators and educators in a series of curated musical theatre workshops, coachings, and live events.
C-a-n-c-e-l-i-n-g ‘Spelling Bee’ at a Maryland Middle School
Arts Integrity Initiative in partnership with the New School: The communication announcing the cancelation of a production of the musical The 25thAnnual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Hyattsville Middle School in Maryland could not have been more terse.
Unfortunately we have decided to cancel the Spring Musical dates of May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
Additionally, we will hold a parent meeting after spring break, Tuesday April 23rdat 4:30pm in Mrs. Gee’s Room to address next steps and to answer any of your questions, comments, or concerns.
Unfortunately we have decided to cancel the Spring Musical dates of May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
Additionally, we will hold a parent meeting after spring break, Tuesday April 23rdat 4:30pm in Mrs. Gee’s Room to address next steps and to answer any of your questions, comments, or concerns.
Canadian Public Arts Funding and a New National Narrative
HowlRound Theatre Commons: The immigration of actors between Canada and the United States generally goes one direction: south. I, however, went the other way. I was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and, by way of Montreal and Vancouver, I now live in Toronto. (Basically I’ve lived in every Canadian city an American can name.)
Robe Supporting the Blackout Project
TPi: Robe is very proud to be the main sponsor of “Blackout” – a direct, uncompromising and fully visceral immersive visual and sonic installation created by Guildford School of Acting (GSA) lighting tutor Mig Burgess … to raise awareness of mental illness.
Blackout will be staged in the Bellairs Theatre at the University of Surrey, UK, and refers specifically to bipolar II disorder. The work is designed to offer a snapshot of what it’s like to experience the highs and crushing lows of bipolar II, what Mig describes as being “like the lights going out in your head”.
Blackout will be staged in the Bellairs Theatre at the University of Surrey, UK, and refers specifically to bipolar II disorder. The work is designed to offer a snapshot of what it’s like to experience the highs and crushing lows of bipolar II, what Mig describes as being “like the lights going out in your head”.
New type of plastic is a recycling dream
Ars Technica: Recycling sounds great in principle (because it is), but a frustrating number of devils lurk in the details. For example, while some materials like aluminum can readily be melted down and turned right back into new aluminum cans, recovered plastics tend to be lower quality than “virgin” material. That’s because recycled plastic retains some of its previous properties—like Lego bricks that can’t be separated. The next plastic you make won’t be exactly the same type, and the recycled material won’t fit perfectly into its new spot.
So I Got a Grant! (Or Three.) Here's How, and Why It Means Everything and Nothing
Dance Magazine: A little over a year ago, I wrote an op-ed for Dance Magazine about the grueling, oppressive grant cycle. It was crying into my pillow, really. I was complaining and desperate to share my story. I was fed up with 10 years of applying for grants and having never received one for the research or development of my work. I was tired of the copy-and-paste rejection letters, the lack of feedback, and what seems to be a biased, inconsistent system.
Anthem: Homunculus review: John Cameron Mitchell’s podcast musical is a game-changing spiritual sequel to Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
slate.com: John Cameron Mitchell’s new podcast has been positioned by its producers and publicists as a game changer, the leveling up of an entire medium. Michael Bloom, the CEO of First Look Media, told the New York Times that his company signed on to finance the new star-studded rock musical Anthem: Homunculus because “the concept would be a magnet for the kind of talent that transcends what’s been done in podcasts to date.”
'I Am...Fest' celebrates the power, artistry of black women in theater
chicago.suntimes.com: Head for the Goodman Theatre for the April 29 finale of the “I AM…Fest” and you’ll encounter something never before seen in Chicago theater: A of cast 100 women of color, all on stage simultaneously.
The massive ensemble will perform a reading of “The Interrogation of Sandra Bland,” Mojisola Adebayo’s adaptation of the police transcript of Bland’s arrest. Bland, a former Naperville resident, was pulled over July 10, 2015, on a traffic violation; July 13, the 28-year-old was found hanged in her jail cell in Waller County, Texas.
The massive ensemble will perform a reading of “The Interrogation of Sandra Bland,” Mojisola Adebayo’s adaptation of the police transcript of Bland’s arrest. Bland, a former Naperville resident, was pulled over July 10, 2015, on a traffic violation; July 13, the 28-year-old was found hanged in her jail cell in Waller County, Texas.
Costume Design x3: Catherine Zuber, Emily Rebholz, and Kaye Voyce
The Interval: Costumes are important. Costumes help tell a story, locate the play for an audience, and help the actors to develop characters. The costume design field can vary widely in process from designing costumes that will be built from scratch to scavenging through vintage stores to find the perfect item, all while having to adapt to projects of varying budgets and scopes.
Diner Stools
Prop Agenda: Earlier this year, I was the props master on August Wilson’s Two Trains Running at Triad Stage. The set, designed by Moriah and Isabel Curley-Clay, was a Pittsburgh diner in 1969. Among the various components were thirteen matching diner stools, the kind that spin and are bolted to the floor. It proved impossible to source that many stools within our budget, so I decided to build them.
Woman Suffers Near Fatal Injuries From Falling Prop at Coachella
www.edmtunes.com: Coachella has come to a close, leaving most with lifelong memories and excitement for next year. Unfortunately for one attendee, her night at Coachella went terribly wrong after a freak accident. During the Gucci Gang performance held at the Sahara Tent, one of the hanging set decorations fell into the crowd. The globe decoration itself was made of thin plastic but the metal bracket attaching it to the ceiling caused harm.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
James Pearse Connelly Set Design For The Masked Singer
www.livedesignonline.com: With a BFA in theatre design from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts, James Pearse Connelly developed a taste for design from his art teacher mother and architect father. “I was always around spaces and crafts and crayons,” he says. “Then, in high school, my crowd was the backstage nerd kids, and I did a lot of lighting. I went to drama school to avoid foreign languages or physics, and I was also hoping there were some more gay folks there. I didn’t know what set design was but I got really interested in it.” Today, Connelly heads JP Connelly Production Design, an Emmy Award-winning creative design firm in Los Angeles with TV shows such as The Voice to its credit.
Sound Effects: A Crash Course in Foley
TheatreArtLife: In my journey to learn more about different jobs in audio, I have decided to share what I learn within these article posts. My first topic is one that I am most familiar with: Foley. As a Foley mixer and editor, I am often asked: what exactly is Foley?
If you’ve watched a film lately, you’ve heard Foley. Foley is the reproduction of sound for any visual medium. Foley is in film, television, video games, VR and digital media.
If you’ve watched a film lately, you’ve heard Foley. Foley is the reproduction of sound for any visual medium. Foley is in film, television, video games, VR and digital media.
Costume Designer Susan Hilferty Wins TDF/Sharaff Award
www.livedesignonline.com: Award-winning costume designer Susan Hilferty will receive the 2019 TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award on Friday, April 26 at the Edison Ballroom in New York City. Hilferty has designed over 300 productions across the globe including the United States, the UK, Canada, Japan, Australia, Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, Malaysia, Spain, Brazil, Germany, and South Africa. Her many Broadway designs include Wicked (Tony, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama Desk awards and Olivier nomination), Present Laughter (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations), Hands on a Hardbody, Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), Lestat (Tony nomination), the 2013 revival of Annie, Into the Woods (Tony and Drama Desk nominations; Hewes Award) and Frank Wildhorn’s Wonderland.
Earth Day | Environmental Impact of Music Festivals
www.livedesignonline.com: It’s no secret that the live industry has room for improvement when it comes to environmental impact—from the carbon footprint created by fleets of trucks zig-zagging around the country (not to mention the thousands of fans traveling to each event) to the mountains of discarded plastic and paper goods at events.
Kennywood Works To Become More Welcoming To Guests On The Autism Spectrum
90.5 WESA: Three years ago, Aasta Deth of Natrona Heights took her family to Kennywood Park. Her son Sam was 3 years old, and had recently been diagnosed with autism. Sam is particularly sensitive to noise stimulation, which sometimes leads to meltdowns.
The trip to Kennywood wasn't very positive, Deth said. The family was still learning how to adjust their social outings to accomodate Sam's recent diagnosis. Deth said Sam was very overwhelmed by the noise, lights and crowds at the amusement park. Standing in line was also a challenge because Sam has trouble staying still.
The trip to Kennywood wasn't very positive, Deth said. The family was still learning how to adjust their social outings to accomodate Sam's recent diagnosis. Deth said Sam was very overwhelmed by the noise, lights and crowds at the amusement park. Standing in line was also a challenge because Sam has trouble staying still.
PLSN’s Prolight+Sound 2019 Show Report
PLSN: The Prolight and Sound show returned to Frankfurt, Germany this year in grand style with a new exhibition hall for the lighting world. Held from April 2-5 this year, the event drew over 85,000 attendees checking out the latest gear. Half of the patrons were from outside of Germany, representing 130 different nations.
Staging a Scene with AutoCAD
autocadresources.autodesk.com: Consider the art of stage choreography. No, not the kind where energetic singers in brightly colored leotards earnestly hoof their way through a showstopper, but how they interact with the set around them; how buildings appear and disappear in the time it takes to play a few bars; and how someone with a balcony ticket has a completely different (though no less intriguing) visual experience than someone sitting front row, center.
Job Cost Estimating, Construction Labor Burden, and Cost of Goods Sold
www.markupandprofit.com: The "burden" is the additional hourly cost of an employee. You might pay an employee $20 an hour, but they cost more than that. You'll also pay federal payroll taxes, unemployment and workers compensation insurance, and maybe more depending on your locale and the benefits you offer. The actual hourly cost of an employee is called the burdened labor rate, or labor burden.
How Gesaffelstein’s Coachella set tricked minds with the world’s blackest black
The Verge: One of the most visually impressive performances at this year’s Coachella was special, not just because of what the audience could see, but because of what they couldn’t see. Behind Gesaffelstein, the French record producer and DJ, was a monolith covered entirely in Vantablack, a very scarce, very expensive, and quite fragile material made by Surrey NanoSystems in the UK. It’s the world’s blackest black, erasing any visible features on a 3D surface and making objects very disorienting for the brain.
Attack Theatre brings together Goldberg cartoons, music in a search for understanding
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: What do you get when you mix the zany world of cartoonist Rube Goldberg, the complexity of Bach’s famed “Goldberg Variations” and the everyday challenges of human communication?
Attack Theatre hopes it all adds up to an intriguing new dance show, “The Rube Goldberg Variations.” The two-act piece premieres Thursday at the New Hazlett Theater on the North Side and runs through Sunday.
Attack Theatre hopes it all adds up to an intriguing new dance show, “The Rube Goldberg Variations.” The two-act piece premieres Thursday at the New Hazlett Theater on the North Side and runs through Sunday.
Lighting Designer Xavier Pierce Lights White Noise
www.livedesignonline.com: Lighting designer Xavier Pierce relates strongly to Suzan-Lori Parks’ new play, White Noise, which is wowing audiences in The Anspacher at The Public Theatre, where it runs through May 5. A look at racism though the lens of friendship, media, and privilege, the play’s creative team also includes set designer Clint Ramos, costume designer Toni-Leslie James, projection designer Lucy Mackinnon, and sound designer Dan Moses Schreier. Read about the sets, costumes, projections, and sound design.
‘Tootsie’ on Broadway Is a Tasteless and Cartoonish Satire of Itself
Observer: If you’re a fan of the 1982 movie with Dustin Hoffman (and who isn’t?) then don’t bother to check out the new Broadway musical Tootsie. Numbingly directed by the usually astute Scott Ellis—with appallingly ugly sets and costumes, atrocious jokes masquerading as a “book,” and a trunk full of dopey, derivative songs that all sound alike but pass for a “score”—it does nothing to remind you that it was once an original film that revitalized movie comedy except resuscitate the premise.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Student-led Course Prepares Beginners for Marvel's Endgame
www.cmu.edu/news: Clad in Marvel swag, like her Dr. Strange sling ring and Eye of Agamotto necklace, Carnegie Mellon University junior Izzy Sio leads a discussion about the psychedelic horror film genre inside of Doherty Hall.
Costume Designer Mio Guberinic | Young Master Sharaff Award
www.livedesignonline.com: Masterful indeed, Mio Guberinic zoomed from school to designing costumes for Katy Perry in record time. He is the recipient of the 2019 TDF/Kitty Leech Young Master Award, presented to an early-career designer whose work has gone beyond mere beginner's promise and has entered a period of fruition. The award is given in recognition of Irene Sharaff’s wish to see young designers encouraged on their way to fully acknowledged success and excellence in the field. The 2019 Sharaff Awards are presented by TDF on April 26 at The Edison Ballroom in NYC.
What Las Vegas Can Teach Your Church About Staging and Rigging
Church Production Magazine: One of the true joys of working in the theatrical design business is meeting good people along your career path. I met Eric Rouse several years ago when he served as technical director for the Central City Opera. I soon learned of his amazing background and specialization in rigging and scenic technology. One of Eric's most impressive accomplishments was his rigging work on Cirque du Soleil's production of “O.”
Attack Theatre closes season with ambitious amalgam of Rube Goldberg machines and Bach
Dance | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Attack Theatre closes out its 24th season with one of its most ambitious programs to date, The Rube Goldberg Variations.
The 90-minute dance-theater performance combines Rube Goldberg machines, which achieve simple tasks through unnecessarily elaborate means, with J.S. Bach’s equally detailed composition The Goldberg Variations. In it, two neighbors (here portrayed by Mark Thompson and Carolina Loyola-Garcia) face off over their differences to create humorous situations that culminate in the building of their own Rube Goldberg machine of understanding.
The 90-minute dance-theater performance combines Rube Goldberg machines, which achieve simple tasks through unnecessarily elaborate means, with J.S. Bach’s equally detailed composition The Goldberg Variations. In it, two neighbors (here portrayed by Mark Thompson and Carolina Loyola-Garcia) face off over their differences to create humorous situations that culminate in the building of their own Rube Goldberg machine of understanding.
Lynn Nottage Speaks Up About Michael Jackson Musical- 'I'm Very Committed to This Collaboration'
www.broadwayworld.com: Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage is currently at work developing the book of a stage musical based on the life and career of music legend Michael Jackson.
Following the premiere of the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland earlier this year, in which two men allege sexual abuse at the hands of Jackson, some questions arose as to how the musical would approach the history of pedophilia and sexual abuse allegations brought against the singer.
Following the premiere of the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland earlier this year, in which two men allege sexual abuse at the hands of Jackson, some questions arose as to how the musical would approach the history of pedophilia and sexual abuse allegations brought against the singer.
West Side Story in Sydney Battles the Elements
Stage Directions: After eight years of Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour (HOSH), Opera Australia presented West Side Story, the first musical to be performed on the iconic harbour-side stage. Boasting a stage that is almost two and a half times larger than any indoor stage in Australia, the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour series is one of the biggest outdoor theatrical events in the country, and a highlight of the Australian cultural calendar.
Women in Theatre Festival Presents Megan Monaghan Rivas' Three Musketeers: 1941
www.broadwayworld.com: Project Y Theatre Company will present the World Premiere of Megan Monaghan Rivas' Three Musketeers: 1941, co-directed by Michole Biancosino and Andrew W. Smith, as part of the fourth annual Women in Theatre Festival, June 5-29 at the Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre at the A.R.T./New York Theatres (502 West 53rd Street New York, NY 10019).
Queer Theatre is Visionary Theatre
HowlRound Theatre Commons: “We are in an imagination battle.” I wrote these words down last week while I was reading Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown. brown states that, as a queer Black woman, she often feels as if she is “trapped inside someone else’s imagination” and that she “must engage [her] own imagination to break free.”
Bangalore Has Easily Become India’s No. 2 Theatre Hub
The Theatre Times: My first tryst with theatre from Bangalore was when a young man called Pawan Kumar performed a solo piece called The Final Rehearsal at Thespo and won a bunch of awards. This was in 2002. Today, over 16 years later, Pawan Kumar is a celebrated Kannada film-maker and has just directed some episodes for a Netflix show. He did revive the play a couple of years ago; I believe it had a good run at Ranga Shankara in Bangalore.
As Notre Dame Looks to Rebuild Digital Data May Guide Restoration Efforts
AMT Lab @ CMU: Last week the world watched in shock as Notre Dame, a building that has stood as a sentinel over hundreds of years of French history, burned. Images of the roof in flames scorched across news stations and social media around the world. When the smoke cleared and the ashes cooled, details on the extent of the damage began to emerge from the haze. As the footage of the fire suggested, the wooden roof and spire are destroyed. Additionally, roughly 5%-10% of the artwork in the building will be considered a loss.
Review Roundup: Annette Bening And Tracy Letts Star In ALL MY SONS - What Did The Critics Think?
www.broadwayworld.com: Award-winning actors Annette Bening and Tracy Letts return to Broadway in the play that launched Arthur Miller as the moral voice of the American Theater. In the aftermath of WWII, the Keller family struggles to stay intact and to fight for their future when a long-hidden secret threatens to emerge-forcing them to reckon with greed, denial, repentance and post-war disenchantment across generations.
What 'Ain’t No Mo' Taught Me About 400 Years of Inequality
www.clydefitchreport.com: 2019 marks a solemn observance that all Americans, and really the world, should reflect on: the 400th anniversary of enslaved Africans first arriving in Jamestown, VA. Recently, I had a transformative experience that motivated me to reflect deeply on this anniversary. This experience also led me to consider how the Black body articulates its complex relationship with America, how the Black body is portrayed in theater and entertainment, and how the dehumanization and commodification of Black bodies inform the foundation of our nation and our society.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Kelly Critic Review: ‘Shrek,’ Riverview High School
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: I have been a “Shrek” enthusiast ever since my parents allowed me to watch cartoon television. The fact that I was going to see one of my all-time favorite childhood films recreate itself in the form of a cheesy Broadway musical made me content with spending my Friday night at a high school musical with my mom.
Earth Day: ETC Style
et cetera...: In 1969 a massive oil spill destroyed the coastline of Santa Barbara, California. In response, Gaylord Nelson, a US Senator from Wisconsin, was inspired to harness and redirect the energy of the young adults who, at the time, were protesting the Vietnam War. He knew that if he could get that same passion funneled into educating the nation on the failing state of the planet, real change could be made.
Can a Theatre Company Lead Change?
HowlRound Theatre Commons: For as long as I can remember, I have had a compulsive habit of counting the number of not-white and not-old people in the audience every time I go to the theatre. Over the years, the trend I’ve observed is pretty consistent: the larger and more prestigious the stage, the more likely the casts are to be white, the director to be male, and the audiences to be older and wealthier. This staggering lack of diversity, both on stage and in house, has struck me as a stark contrast to the rest of Toronto, often called the most multicultural city in the world. I realize that for most people reading this, that won’t be a particularly shocking observation; this seems to be a common trend across North America. But for me, a Pakistani-born immigrant middle-class millennial, I still find it shocking on a daily basis.
Shakespeare: research blows away stereotypes and reveals teenagers actually love the Bard
theconversation.com: When you think of inner-city teenagers, what springs to mind? For many, it’s hoodies, video games – and probably hating Shakespeare. But my research proves that this stereotype is far from the truth.
Life@CMU Measures Student Stress, Depression
www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University is turning to its strength in research to help enhance the student experience.
Commissioned by the Office of the Provost and the Task Force on the CMU Experience, the Life@CMU Project examined student behavior over the course of a semester, and looked at how factors such as stress and sleep affected, and in some cases predicted, students’ well-being. Results of the study, which were presented during a recent campus forum, will be used to guide future student experience initiatives.
Commissioned by the Office of the Provost and the Task Force on the CMU Experience, the Life@CMU Project examined student behavior over the course of a semester, and looked at how factors such as stress and sleep affected, and in some cases predicted, students’ well-being. Results of the study, which were presented during a recent campus forum, will be used to guide future student experience initiatives.
Review Roundup: GARY: A SEQUEL TO TITUS ANDRONICUS - What Do The Critics Think?
www.broadwayworld.com: Starring three-time Tony Award winner Nathan Lane, Tony Award nominee Nielsen, and Tony Award winner White, Gary is directed by five-time Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe. Featuring original music by Danny Elfman, and movement by Bill Irwin, Gary is set just after the blood-soaked conclusion of William Shakespeare's first tragedy, Titus Andronicus.
Companies want to plaster the night sky with ads on satellites.
slate.com: Imagine you’ve stepped outside on a crisp, clear autumn evening. Ah, the beautiful night sky! The awe of the cosmos! How very small we are in this vast universe, tiny specks on this pale blue dot, lucky to exist in this geological instant that Earth is hospitable to life. Truly, the sky gives us the gift of perspective—wait, is that the Pepsi logo?
Jimmy Awards Announce Recipients of 2019 Inspiring Teacher Award
www.broadwayworld.com: THE JIMMY AWARDS announces the 2019 INSPIRING TEACHER AWARD will be given to Matthew Hinson, Northwest School of the Arts, Charlotte, North Carolina and Tasha Partee, Lawrence Woodmere Academy, Woodmere, New York for the encouragement and inspiration that led their students to win the coveted Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress and Best Performance by an Actor.
CMU's 'Comedy of Errors' is perfectly timed
Pittsburgh Current: There is a question as to when William Shakespeare (or as his wife used to call him “The Immortal Bard”) actually wrote The Comedy of Errors. According to my crackerjack research efforts (which consist mainly of me gossiping on the phone and looking at Wikipedia) general consensus seems to suggest that Billy put quill to parchment to create this master work in 1594.
And you know what? The jokes are just as fresh!
And you know what? The jokes are just as fresh!
Children left ‘frightened’ after Matilda cast suddenly dash off stage
Edinburgh Evening News: “No one had a clue what was going on. It was scary and we felt uncomfortable. When the cast runs off stage and you’re told to stay in your seats you can’t help but fear something is wrong. We were sitting there for 20 minutes until the performance continued again.”
Bodiography Collaboration a Windfall for Dance Fans
Pittsburgh Current: In the city dance icon Martha Graham hailed from, working out of the studio dance legend Gene Kelly began in, Maria Caruso’s Bodiography has a lot of history on its side. So it should come as no surprise the contemporary ballet company would make a little history of its own.
Why content creators are switching from Macs to PCs
www.fastcompany.com: In the late 1990s, Colie Wertz landed a dream job working as a digital-effects artist at Industrial Light & Magic, the whiz-bang effects house founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas. He was helping to push the creative envelope for visual effects on big-budget blockbusters like Men in Black and the Star Wars prequels. And he did it as part of an off-the-grid team known as the Rebel Mac Unit.
Monday, April 22, 2019
Five things every cover letter needs and one thing to delete
www.fastcompany.com: Online job applications have taken the focus off of the cover letter, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important. Your cover letter is the opportunity to bring your resume to life with additional information. Overlook it and you’re missing a chance to stand out among the other candidates.
12 Peers' "Mythburgh Vol. 3: Episode 2"
Pittsburgh in the Round: Now in its third season, Mythburgh has institutionalized itself as part of the 12 Peers Theater line-up. Each Mythburgh show has only one performance, and to date, all of them have been at the brillobox. Mythburgh features local playwrights adapting area legend and lore.
This immersive theatre project is so psychedelic it's now become a science experiment
WIRED UK: “The show ended, the lights came on, and the guests are lying on their backs, holding hands, shaking, sweating – tears, snot, drool – vibrating, unable to move for about 45 minutes,” says Sean Rogg. Surprisingly, Rogg isn’t describing the scenes of an internment camp or some other unspeakable horror. He’s talking about his latest art piece, Barzakh, an immersive experience like no other.
A Look into Theatre’s FutVRe
HowlRound Theatre Commons: VR and AR are two different monsters. VR hardware is bulky—think HTC Vive or Oculus Rift. The headgear is attached to wires, and the system requires a complex camera setup to track the user moving through the room. VR also utilizes controllers to help the user interact with their environment. AR hardware is physically much smaller—think Google Glass. While the ultimate goal of AR is everyday use to augment our reality, the goal of a VR experience is to create an entirely new one.
Radiohead inquest recommends licensing companies that build temporary stages
CBC News: A coroner's inquest into the death of a drum technician who was crushed when a stage collapsed before a Radiohead concert in Toronto is recommending that companies that build temporary stages for events undergo licensing.
Jurors examining the circumstances surrounding the death of Scott Johnson also suggest that riggers who work on performance venues in Ontario go through a certification process similar to what's in place for electricians.
Jurors examining the circumstances surrounding the death of Scott Johnson also suggest that riggers who work on performance venues in Ontario go through a certification process similar to what's in place for electricians.
Theatre of the Torontonians
HowlRound Theatre Commons: If you had asked me four years ago what the Toronto theatre community was like, I’d probably have looked at you blankly. Maybe I would have offered up something about Mirvish, the big commercial theatre company that brings Torontonians the Dear Evan Hansens and the Wickeds of the world, or mentioned the Stratford Festival and the Shaw Festival, even though you have to drive a couple hours outside of the city to get those major institutions.
Two Cities Getting Arts and Culture Right: Kansas City
www.clydefitchreport.com: Last month, the third season of Queer Eye premiered on Netflix. I confess I binged all eight episodes, mostly because the season was shot for five months in and around Kansas City, a city bridging two red states that I visited recently for the first time. As a 2012 Fulbright Scholar, I was honored to be invited to the US State Department’s Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminars in Kansas City on the theme of entrepreneurship in conjunction with the Road to GES Heartland event, attended by Secretary of State Pompeo; GES is the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, being held at The Hague this June.
4 Ways to Use Silence to Enhance Your Productions
Pro Audio Files: When we think about creating music we tend to think about the sounds we want to add. Silence is not something that usually comes to mind. Silence, of course, is what’s left where we don’t add any sounds, but thinking about silence as its own entity gives you the power to use it creatively in your work.
The Story Behind Hollywood Writers vs. Their Agents
The Atlantic: In the summer of 1962, MCA Inc.—the giant Hollywood talent agency so dominant in its field that industry insiders called it The Octopus—acquired a majority stake in Decca Records and Universal Pictures, giving it control of a full-fledged movie studio and a major recording company. For the better part of a decade, MCA had already been the country’s largest creator of television programming. The agency was known for controversially “packaging” its star actors with writing and directing clients into ready-made shows for one-stop, near-monopoly sale to the networks.
To Be Public or Private That’s the Question: A Short Note
The Theatre Times: Around fifteen years ago performing arts in Tehran were bound to perform in six major venues including Vahdat hall, Niāvarān complex, City Theatre Complex, Sangelaj theatre, Iranshahr theatre, and Khāvarān Culture House which were mostly built before the Islamic Revolution (1979), with basic standards of a theatre in terms of structure and facility, such as ventilation, auditorium, dressing room, light designing equipment, control room, light/sound mixing desk, and amplifiers.
27 incredibly useful Google Sheets tips
www.fastcompany.com: I’ll admit it: For the majority of my adult life, spreadsheets have remained shrouded in mystery. I’ve used them plenty, of course–to track income, compare statistics, even maintain databases for various types of work-related info–but I’ve always felt like I’ve barely been scratching the surface of what they’re able to do.
Carnegie Mellon Drama Presents “The Comedy of Errors”
Pittsburgh in the Round: This early (circa 1594) Shakespeare play is often presented as a broad farce with lots of slapstick, mugging, leering and physical hijinks. The Carnegie Mellon School of Drama show directed by the well-traveled Don Wadsworth lives up to that convention, if not more so.
It’s 90 minutes of uninterrupted comedy that the young and fit CMU students perform without letup, jousting with long metal whisks, brooms, umbrellas, a round squash painted with an angry face and even a baguette that functions as a club and part of the male anatomy. Parisian bakers would not be happy.
It’s 90 minutes of uninterrupted comedy that the young and fit CMU students perform without letup, jousting with long metal whisks, brooms, umbrellas, a round squash painted with an angry face and even a baguette that functions as a club and part of the male anatomy. Parisian bakers would not be happy.
Sunday, April 21, 2019
NFTRW Weekly Top Five
Here are the top five comment generating posts of the past week:
Fuck You, Pepsi, and Your Sky-Advertising Satellite Plans
jalopnik.com: If you’re like most people, at some point in your life you’ve lain on your back on the grass at night, and gazed up into the inky, never-ending blackness of the night sky, and marveled at all the stars. While you were losing yourself in vertiginous gazing, I’m sure you were probably thinking “Damn! I sure wish someone was trying to get me to buy something right now!”The Pros and Cons of Project Management Software
www.entrepreneur.com: For people who are addicted to project management software and tools, there has never been a better time to be alive.
Task management apps, bullet journals, simple lists, Getting Things Done—busy entrepreneurs have a wealth of options from which to choose.
However, one of the foundational questions you’ll need to answer for yourself first is this: “Analog or digital?”How emotional fears are ruining your career.
www.fastcompany.com: Fear is a powerful tool. It sends a signal to your body when danger is present and tells you when it’s time to run a way. But it can also cripple you from taking positive actions. Your mind sees the possibility of failure as a threat, and you immediately want to protect yourself by staying put and doing nothing.Interactive dark rides or story-driven ones?
blooloop: To clarify the difference between them, typically the average “interactive” dark ride prominently features some kind of a “gun” device to allow the riders to shoot at targets and obtain a video-game style score at the end. However, not every ride uses a “weapon” theme. Some even go to great lengths to disguise the interactive device to have a non-weapon theme. Yet in the end, guests are still pointing and clicking at targets, usually to get a score.How Tiffany & Co. Trademarked “Tiffany Blue”
Artsy: In the early 1990s, color went to court. The Chicago-based company Qualitex, which produces green-gold press pads for dry-cleaning plants, sued St. Louis’s Jacobson Products for making the same items in the same hue. The case made it to the Supreme Court, and in his opinion that favored Qualitex, who ultimately won the case, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote: “Color alone, at least sometimes, can meet the basic legal requirements for use as a trademark. It can act as a symbol that distinguishes a firm’s goods and identifies their source, without serving any other significant function.”
Friday, April 19, 2019
What’s Your Vision for a Post-Carbon Arts Sector?
HowlRound Theatre Commons: Sounding an alarm in October 2018, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a special report to warn the world about the impact of the smallest decimal point changes in global warming temperatures above pre-industrial levels. The report also stated that, in order to prevent even larger scale human suffering than we are currently on course to collide with, the world has to commit to drastically reducing global emissions starting now until 2030, or face a point of no return for humanity. This hard deadline implies not just a profound shift in our current lifestyles, but also the creation of entirely new systems and cultural values for how our civilization operates.
The Life Expectancy of a Chain Hoist
What BLUMANO Thinks About: We once had a chat with a rental company – who owned several hundred electric chain hoists about an accident that happened to them. The owner of the company told us that during an installation, part of the chain hoist’s lifting mechanism, which was part of its upper suspension, broke down and the entire machine (with the load lifted) shattered to the ground.
Fortunately, no one was injured or killed, and the matter was settled civilly between lawyers and insurance companies.
Fortunately, no one was injured or killed, and the matter was settled civilly between lawyers and insurance companies.
Milwaukee 2733 Compact Dual Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw Review – Lighten Up Already!
Home Fixated: Ten years ago, when I had to schlep my big blue miter saw to a job site, I’d sigh, grab it, grunt and go. Now I sigh, pop two precautionary Aleve (three if stairs are involved), mutter some appropriate expletives, and stagger out to the truck with it. That big blue saw does an excellent job of slicing and dicing, but I’ve long thought that about 90% of the cutting I do could be taken care of with a less-monolithic saw.
The Painted Pianos Of Glasgow Piano City
Rosco Spectrum: I was invited to do a workshop at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCoS) by Gary Fry, Lecturer – Scenic Art. Tom Binns, the Project Coordinator for Glasgow Piano City (GPC), was one of the workshop attendees. GPC is a non-profit organization that takes donated pianos and, after decorating them, places those pianos in public spaces around the city for people to play and enjoy.
The Book of Mormon at Heinz Hall through April 21
Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: The line for The Book of Mormon at Heinz Hall stretched two or three blocks around the building. Though the show premiered in 2011, people are obviously still clamoring to see it. I went in knowing nothing about the musical or the plot, other than it’s about Mormons and is written by the South Park guys (which I also haven’t seen). It's well-acted, well-sung, and very much from 2011.
WGA: 92 Percent of Writers Have Fired Agents
Variety: The Writers Guild of America estimated that over 92% of their members who support a new code of conduct for talent agencies have fired those representatives.
Letters announcing formal termination will be delivered on Monday, the guild said in a late-hitting memo on Thursday, as most agencies will be closed tomorrow in observance of Good Friday.
Letters announcing formal termination will be delivered on Monday, the guild said in a late-hitting memo on Thursday, as most agencies will be closed tomorrow in observance of Good Friday.
How 'Assassin's Creed Unity' could help rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral
Business Insider: As images of flames engulfing the roof of Notre-Dame Cathedral began spreading on Monday, Maxime Durand initially thought it was a hoax.
"It really took me a full day to put words to the feelings that I had regarding this," Durand told Business Insider in a phone interview on Wednesday.
"It really took me a full day to put words to the feelings that I had regarding this," Durand told Business Insider in a phone interview on Wednesday.
‘Book of Mormon’ is fun, filthy, albeit standard theater
Pittsburgh Current: This 2011 show is, on one level, about the inexorable – not to say relentless – optimism and good cheer so admired by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Driving that point home book, music and lyrics writers Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone place two numbers back to back at the beginning “Hello” and “Two by Two” that are so high energy you’re exhausted before they’re over.
Hillary and Clinton Broadway Reviews - Critics Ratings
www.broadwayworld.com: Behind closed doors in the state of New Hampshire during the early days of 2008, a former First Lady named Hillary (Metcalf) is in a desperate bid to save her troubled campaign for President of the United States. Her husband, Bill (Lithgow), sees things one way; her campaign manager, Mark, sees things another. If any of this sounds familiar, don't be fooled; in a universe of infinite possibilities, anything that can happen, will.
Gaming out Game of Thrones
fxguide: With a team of 30 over 6 months, RealTime UK have produced some breathtaking digital versions of Cersei, Daenerys, Tyrion and more. The work shows both the hardcore artistry from the modellers and artists at the hip indie company, and the depth of technical advance in key technology, especially V-Ray. Work such as this did not seem even possible a year or so ago.
Abalos Researches Music Through Storytelling
www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University student Theresa Abalos wants to help people feel the world through sound.
"Sometimes, you can't articulate why the world is so complex, but you can engage with it by creating something that's breathtaking and moving, often in healing ways," said Abalos, a junior Bachelor of Humanities and Arts (BHA) student in global studies and music performance. She's combining her two disciplines through researching musical practices of indigenous musicians of Argentina.
"Sometimes, you can't articulate why the world is so complex, but you can engage with it by creating something that's breathtaking and moving, often in healing ways," said Abalos, a junior Bachelor of Humanities and Arts (BHA) student in global studies and music performance. She's combining her two disciplines through researching musical practices of indigenous musicians of Argentina.
Netflix to Open Production Hub in New York City
Variety: Netflix plans to move into a bigger new office in Manhattan and open a Brooklyn production hub — all told, bringing up to $100 million in investments to New York City and resulting in hundreds of new jobs, according to New York State Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
Thursday, April 18, 2019
LDI Announces Pat MacKay Scholarships For Diversity In Design
www.livedesignonline.com: To encourage diversity in the live event design community, LDI, in partnership with TSDCA and USITT, announces three $5,000 Pat MacKay Scholarships for undergraduate students. This scholarship is to support the underrepresented and unique voices in the field of entertainment. These scholarships are funded by LDI/Live Design International.
Donald Duck steals the show in ‘Mickey’s Philharmagic’ 4D concert film coming to Disney California Adventure
Orange County Register: The story told in the new “Mickey’s Philharmagic” 4D concert film coming to Disney California Adventure really belongs to irascible stagehand Donald Duck who steals the show and conducts a symphony orchestra on a journey through classic Disney animated musical sequences.
The 12-minute “Mickey’s Philharmagic” film debuts later this month in the Hollywood Land section of the Anaheim theme park.
The 12-minute “Mickey’s Philharmagic” film debuts later this month in the Hollywood Land section of the Anaheim theme park.
Toni-Leslie James Costume Design for White Noise
www.livedesignonline.com: : Award-winning costume designer Toni-Leslie James turned her talents to the world premiere of White Noise, Suzan-Lori Parks’ (SLP) visceral new play about contemporary racism at The Public Theater. Directed by Oskar Eustis in the intimate Anspacher, the play runs through May 5, with sets by Clint Ramos, lighting by Xavier Pierce, sound by Dan Moses Schreier, and projections by Lucy Mackinnon. James talks about her designs for this play fraught with issues that come up in the interracial friendships of Dawn, Ralph, Leo, and Misha.
The Pros and Cons of Project Management Software
www.entrepreneur.com: For people who are addicted to project management software and tools, there has never been a better time to be alive.
Task management apps, bullet journals, simple lists, Getting Things Done—busy entrepreneurs have a wealth of options from which to choose.
However, one of the foundational questions you’ll need to answer for yourself first is this: “Analog or digital?”
Task management apps, bullet journals, simple lists, Getting Things Done—busy entrepreneurs have a wealth of options from which to choose.
However, one of the foundational questions you’ll need to answer for yourself first is this: “Analog or digital?”
Mike808 Creative Director Of Production Club For Experiential Events
www.livedesignonline.com: Live Design's Marian Sandberg chats with Miguel Risueno, aka Mike808, creative director for Production Club, who oversees design and direction for large experiential events and live productions. His credits include the Amazon Web Services re:Play party; private events and installations for Intel, Riot Games, Notch, Game Awards, and Factory93, and tours for Skrillex, Dog Blood, The Chainsmokers, and Zhu, among others.
From Here To There: The Logistics Of Professional Audio
ProSoundWeb: I started out in “show business” as a musician playing in a local band with my high school buddies. Before our first gig we held a band meeting to decide how to get all the stuff to the gig.
Between us there were three cars and a lot of gear. Luckily, back in the 1970s cars were humongous gas guzzlers that could carry an impressive payload. When it came time to pack up the gear from the basement rehearsal “studio” to load into the cars, we thought nothing of carrying everything up the steps from the basement without cases or wheels and lugging the stuff to the cars. After all, we were young lads who didn’t have bad backs (yet).
Between us there were three cars and a lot of gear. Luckily, back in the 1970s cars were humongous gas guzzlers that could carry an impressive payload. When it came time to pack up the gear from the basement rehearsal “studio” to load into the cars, we thought nothing of carrying everything up the steps from the basement without cases or wheels and lugging the stuff to the cars. After all, we were young lads who didn’t have bad backs (yet).
USA 829 Diversity Committee Adopts Mission and Values Statement
Stage Directions: This Spring, the USA 829 Diversity Committee adopted a Mission and Values Statement. This Statement is the culmination of over two years of work by this committee, and was influenced by committee training, membership surveys, and conversations.
Victoria Alonso, Louis D’Esposito Help Kevin Feige Make Marvel Magic
Variety: The Avengers have taught us anything in their 11 years of cultural and box office dominance, it’s the importance of a superstar team. For Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, the success of his crew rises and falls on the contributions of top lieutenants Victoria Alonso and Louis D’Esposito.
As the respective heads of production and co-president of the juggernaut content engine, Alonso and D’Esposito complete a leadership triumvirate that has helped redefine the superhero genre and transform the movie business. But first, the chocolate.
As the respective heads of production and co-president of the juggernaut content engine, Alonso and D’Esposito complete a leadership triumvirate that has helped redefine the superhero genre and transform the movie business. But first, the chocolate.
Los Angeles Filming Decreased Between Q1 2018 and 2019
Variety: On-location filming in the Greater Los Angeles area declined 9.1% between the first quarters of 2018 and 2019, according to data from FilmLA.
A slowdown in the production of feature films, television and commercials contributed to the decrease seen in the first few months of this year. Filmmakers logged 8,843 shoot days from January through March, down from the 9,724 days in the first quarter of 2018.
A slowdown in the production of feature films, television and commercials contributed to the decrease seen in the first few months of this year. Filmmakers logged 8,843 shoot days from January through March, down from the 9,724 days in the first quarter of 2018.
Merce Cunningham ‘Night of 100 Solos’: How L.A. organizers pulled off a dance coup
Los Angeles Times: “Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event” was a celebration of Merce Cunningham on what would have been the 100th birthday of one the most pioneering and influential choreographers in contemporary dance.
Billed as the largest Cunningham event ever, “Night of 100 Solos” took the form of three performances Tuesday, one at the Barbican in London, another at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and the last hosted by the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA.
Billed as the largest Cunningham event ever, “Night of 100 Solos” took the form of three performances Tuesday, one at the Barbican in London, another at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and the last hosted by the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA.
Join Project Engineer, Aaron Benson, as he shares a day in his life at TAIT HQ which includes his design + engineering responsibilities
TAIT: This is Aaron Benson. He’s a Project Engineer for Touring at TAIT. In this episode of #TAITTakeOver, Aaron shares a day in his life at TAIT HQ which includes his design and engineering responsibilities. Join him as he attends meetings, design follow ups, destructive testing and PING PONG! Stick around until the end of the episode to meet Albus, Aaron’s pup.
School District Bans 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' After Protests at High School Performance
OnStage Blog: Last weekend, over 40 Chinese-American protesters gathered in front of Huntington High School opposing the school’s performance of the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. The group stated that the musical is racist against Chinese people. In response, the Long Island school’s Superintendent has announced that the show will never be performed in the district again.
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
What Is a Grip? The Few Women Doing the Job in Hollywood Explain
The New York Times: A recent report hardly painted a rosy picture of the gender balance in Hollywood: Just 4 percent of the top 1,200 movies from the last 12 years had been directed by women. Deep in the report, another jarring figure leapt out at me. Looking at the most lucrative films from 2016 to 2018, researchers found that just four of the 276 key grips working on those films were women.
ETC and Ukrainian Theatre: A Dialogue of Art, Change, and Support
The Theatre Times: As a mid-December snow fell over the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, the European Theatre Convention (ETC) held a series of events related to its four-year-old “Theatre is Dialogue — Dialogue of Cultures” program. Anchored at the historic Kyiv Academic Molodyy Theatre, a few blocks from Independence Square, or Maidan, the presentations by and in support of Ukrainian theatre artists took place weeks after the Kerch Strait incident last year. While the ETC, a network and platform for European theatres, is based in Berlin, the program and its perspective only confirmed all that Ukrainian theatre has to offer Europe and the world.
And The Winner ISN'T: The Biggest Tony Awards Upsets In History (PART ONE)
Theatre Nerds: You’re all dressed up for your big night. For months now you’ve been the talk of the town. The critics love you; the audiences love you, the nominators love you. You already won the Drama Desk a few weeks back, and tonight your show is nominated for more Tony Awards than anything else in the season. Everyone your parents have ever talked to are watching. You deserve this. Truly, you do.
"Crippled," The USCIS, And The Importance Of Disability As Culture
The Theatre Times: Christina was so taken by the piece that she decided to produce the play through her San Francisco based theater company EXIT Theatre. But in order to get Paul (who is Canadian) in the states to perform, the company would have to get him a “P-3 Visa.” A visa made specifically for foreign artists looking to perform in the US.
How Tiffany & Co. Trademarked “Tiffany Blue”
Artsy: In the early 1990s, color went to court. The Chicago-based company Qualitex, which produces green-gold press pads for dry-cleaning plants, sued St. Louis’s Jacobson Products for making the same items in the same hue. The case made it to the Supreme Court, and in his opinion that favored Qualitex, who ultimately won the case, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote: “Color alone, at least sometimes, can meet the basic legal requirements for use as a trademark. It can act as a symbol that distinguishes a firm’s goods and identifies their source, without serving any other significant function.”
Fuck You, Pepsi, and Your Sky-Advertising Satellite Plans
jalopnik.com: If you’re like most people, at some point in your life you’ve lain on your back on the grass at night, and gazed up into the inky, never-ending blackness of the night sky, and marveled at all the stars. While you were losing yourself in vertiginous gazing, I’m sure you were probably thinking “Damn! I sure wish someone was trying to get me to buy something right now!”
Pollstar | Live Sustainability: Things Ain’t What They Used To Be
www.pollstar.com: As we approach the 49th celebration of Earth Day, the issue of sustainability/climate change/environmentalism is in the public consciousness in a way that it’s never before been.
Individuals and organizations around the world engage in activism and advocacy from the international to local levels; various forms of “green” technology and business are being pioneered and expanded to varying degrees of success; and discussions about the impact of humanity’s actions on the environment are taking place with unflagging vigor.
Individuals and organizations around the world engage in activism and advocacy from the international to local levels; various forms of “green” technology and business are being pioneered and expanded to varying degrees of success; and discussions about the impact of humanity’s actions on the environment are taking place with unflagging vigor.
Someone Has To Clean Up After Broadway's Creative Destruction
theconcourse.deadspin.com: If you are familiar with the still boyishly handsome but extremely serious actor Ethan Hawke, you know that when stage directions state that a character he’s portraying onstage wields a golf club and then is “seen smashing typewriter methodically,” Hawke will absolutely be smashing the shit out of a typewriter, on stage. And so it was that, in the Broadway production of True West, Sam Shepard’s 1980 seething, sweaty Pulitzer Prize-winning paean to brotherly enmity, Hawke pounds an old manual typewriter to Hades. The shrill, clanging sound of the carnage ricochets off the highest reaches of the balcony, eight times per week.
WGA-ATA feud: Why the Writers Guild wants screenwriters to fire their agents.
slate.com/culture: What’s with all the fussin’ and a-feudin’ between writers and their agents?
Well, it comes down to a dispute between the Writers Guild of America and the Association of Talent Agents over packaging fees. What’s with phrasing a question about Hollywood business practices like you’re auditioning for Li’l Abner?
Well, it comes down to a dispute between the Writers Guild of America and the Association of Talent Agents over packaging fees. What’s with phrasing a question about Hollywood business practices like you’re auditioning for Li’l Abner?
Thomas Kail & Everett Bradly to Be Honored by SAY
www.broadwayworld.com: The Stuttering Association for the Young (SAY.org) will host its 17th Annual Benefit Gala, honoring long-time SAY supporter and Tony Award-winning director Thomas Kail with the Budd Mayer Advocacy Award, and inducting SAY's Musical Director Everett Bradly into the SAY Hall of Fame. Hosted by Broadway's Tony-Award-winning, past SAY Honoree Kelli O'Hara, the benefit gala will take place on Monday, May 13th, 2019 at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place), followed by a Chef's Tasting Event at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers.
Tradeshow Talk - Prolight + Sound 2019
et cetera...: We packed our bags once again and flew to Frankfurt for Prolight + Sound 2019! Together with High End Systems, we set ourselves up in the new Hall 12.1, across four stands. With tens of thousands of visitors passing through the exhibition, we were in for a busy week… here are some of our highlights
Interactive dark rides or story-driven ones?
blooloop: To clarify the difference between them, typically the average “interactive” dark ride prominently features some kind of a “gun” device to allow the riders to shoot at targets and obtain a video-game style score at the end. However, not every ride uses a “weapon” theme. Some even go to great lengths to disguise the interactive device to have a non-weapon theme. Yet in the end, guests are still pointing and clicking at targets, usually to get a score.
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Designer David Zinn Talks SpongeBob SquarePants
Dramatics Magazine: BROADWAY SCENIC and costume designer David Zinn is a multifaceted wizard. With his burly beard and bushy handlebar moustache, he even resembles a crafty oracle who might hold the key to life’s biggest mysteries. What he holds in reality are two Tony Awards for his scenic designs — one in 2016 for The Humans and another for his majestic underwater world of Bikini Bottom in last year’s SpongeBob SquarePants.
the most impressive outdoor installations we saw during milan design week 2019
www.designboom.com: milan design week, that time of the year were all the international design community comes to italy to celebrate design, has come to an end with incredible results in both project quality and record assistance. throughout the week we saw a series of impressive, experimental and aesthetically pleasing installations that filled the city and its alluring outdoor spaces with structures that allowed visitors to reflect — sometimes even literally — on today’s most crucial themes.
Autodesk Gallery at Autodesk University in Las Vegas: Making Mass Customization Easier Customer: Project Frog
It is Alive in the Lab: Autodesk makes software for people who make things. If you've ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film, chances are you've experienced what millions of Autodesk customers are doing with our software. Autodesk gives you the power to make anything, but some segments of the general public are not yet aware of that.
I Dream of Movement
Disability Arts Online: Rashmi Becker, Founder of UK-based Step Change Studios has been spending time in New York looking at international approaches to integrated and community dance. She was recently welcomed to the National Dance Institute to learn about its free dance programme DREAM, which serves dancers ages 8 to 14 with disabilities. Here she was introduced to Jocelene Ramnanan (Josie), a talented dancer and aspiring writer.
Bioplastics bad for environment says recycling expert Arthur Huang
www.dezeen.com: Bioplastics could potentially be worse for the environment than conventional plastics, according to recycling expert Arthur Huang.
Switching to plastic made from plants instead of fossil fuels would require vast amounts of farmland, Huang said. This could could cause environmental problems and deprive humans of food.
Switching to plastic made from plants instead of fossil fuels would require vast amounts of farmland, Huang said. This could could cause environmental problems and deprive humans of food.
How emotional fears are ruining your career.
www.fastcompany.com: Fear is a powerful tool. It sends a signal to your body when danger is present and tells you when it’s time to run a way. But it can also cripple you from taking positive actions. Your mind sees the possibility of failure as a threat, and you immediately want to protect yourself by staying put and doing nothing.
Dialogue: The things that make you fall back in love with theatre
Exeunt Magazine: It’s April, and it’s surprisingly cold, and Fun Home STILL hasn’t got the West End transfer it so richly deserves. So what happens when everything feels a bit grey, and you stop feeling passionate about an artform you’ve spent large portions of your adult life waxing lyrical about? And what makes that feeling come back? In this group piece, Exeunt writers talk about the shifting emotional landscape of their relationship with theatre, and explore what it’s like to fall in, and out, of love.
How artists co-opted surveillance technology
www.creativereview.co.uk: In the late 18th century, the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham designed a type of institutional building and a system of control. He called it The Panopticon.
The design was supposed to be for a prison. It would allow all inmates of an institution to be observed by a single watchman without the inmates being able to tell whether or not they are being watched. The word reflected the design – Pan – meaning ‘all-inclusive’ and ‘opticon’ meaning observation.
The design was supposed to be for a prison. It would allow all inmates of an institution to be observed by a single watchman without the inmates being able to tell whether or not they are being watched. The word reflected the design – Pan – meaning ‘all-inclusive’ and ‘opticon’ meaning observation.
10 Quick Tips: How to Design Good Business Cards (With Guidelines for 2019)
business.tutsplus.com: Small businesses are often discouraged from designing their own business cards, but when you’re just starting out and have limited cash that needs to be allocated strategically, you may have no other choice than to design your own business card.
Pepsi Mercifully Spares Humanity From Its Space Billboards—for Now
gizmodo.com: If there is one thing no one needs, it’s additional spaces for brands to overwhelm humanity with even more advertising. But thanks to capitalism, the sky is evidently the limit.
One startup claims it will offer brands the chance to pollute our night skies with a system of teeny, reflective satellites used to replicate the logos and messages of paying clients.
One startup claims it will offer brands the chance to pollute our night skies with a system of teeny, reflective satellites used to replicate the logos and messages of paying clients.
TV writers help each other find work after firing agents
www.fastcompany.com: Saturday was TV writer Ben Blacker‘s birthday. To celebrate, he spent it reading scripts from other writers who, like him, had just fired their agents.
“It didn’t feel like a chore; it felt really exciting,” says Blacker, the host of the Writers Panel podcast, whose credits include Supernatural and The Thrilling Adventure Hour. “I only wish I had a show to staff.”
“It didn’t feel like a chore; it felt really exciting,” says Blacker, the host of the Writers Panel podcast, whose credits include Supernatural and The Thrilling Adventure Hour. “I only wish I had a show to staff.”
“The Burdens” at City Theatre
The Pittsburgh Tatler: Words, such tricky things! So vital to our survival as social creatures, yet so easily mis-fired or mis-taken, particularly when they are zinging back and forth between two phones, subjected to the evils of autocorrect and deprived of the saving grace of vocal inflection.
Hollywood Writers Have Fired Their Agents; Here's Why
www.forbes.com: Fans of various television series and films who follow writers of said projects on Twitter were met with something very different this past Friday afternoon - a deluge of tweets featuring a form letter displaying those writers announcing a cutting of ties with their agencies. But, while Friday’s action may have been introductory for some, it’s actually the end of the beginning of a war that’s been brewing between writers and their representation for the past twelve months.
Monday, April 15, 2019
Radiohead stage death inquest brings 'some closure'
BBC News: A Canadian coroner's inquest has brought "some closure" to the family of a Radiohead drum technician killed in a stage collapse.
UK native Scott Johnson died in 2012 at Toronto's Downsview Park when the stage roofing buckled and fell.
Seven years later, an Ontario inquest has wrapped up hearings into Johnson's death and the causes of the tragedy.
The inquest has now released series of recommendations aimed at preventing similar such incidents.
UK native Scott Johnson died in 2012 at Toronto's Downsview Park when the stage roofing buckled and fell.
Seven years later, an Ontario inquest has wrapped up hearings into Johnson's death and the causes of the tragedy.
The inquest has now released series of recommendations aimed at preventing similar such incidents.
Writers Rally Behind WGA as Agents Warn of ‘Chaos’
Variety: As the industry awaits the fallout from the split between writers and Hollywood’s established talent agents, many WGA members spent the weekend rallying support for the guild’s position and working to establish online networks to connect writers with prospective employers.
Meanwhile, the Association of Talent Agents vowed to dig in on its opposition to the WGA’s reform of the rules that govern talent agents who represent WGA members.
Meanwhile, the Association of Talent Agents vowed to dig in on its opposition to the WGA’s reform of the rules that govern talent agents who represent WGA members.
Predicting the Next Big Names in Costume Design for 25 Years
Theatre Development Fund – TDF: Where do you look to find the next big name in theatrical costume design? For the past quarter century, the winners of the Young Master Award at the annual TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards have been a great predictor. Named for legendary costume designer Irene Sharaff, the event celebrates its 25th edition on Friday, April 26 at the Edison Ballroom. While the two big honorees are industry veterans -- Tony-winning costume designer Susan Hilferty and two-time Tony-winning scenic designer John Lee Beatty -- Young Master recipient Mio Guberinic is still an up-and-comer. Judging from his predecessors, he won't have to wait too long for his time to arrive.
Trip into another dimension on Meow Wolf's first dark ride
www.themeparkinsider.com: The popular arts entertainment group Meow Wolf just debuted its first-ever ride experience in Denver. The city’s Elitch Gardens is now home to “Kaleidoscape,” an immersive shooter ride that takes theme park visitors on a dazzling, neon-tinted journey “through the multiverse.”
A Thoughtful Appreciation of 'Star Wars'
Theatre Development Fund – TDF: Anyone who buys a ticket for A Musical About Star Wars is presumably familiar with George Lucas' space opera franchise. But with its Ewok and Wookiee growls, Wilhelm scream cues and other trivia and minutiae, this show isn't so much about Star Wars as it is about its fans.
In a snug Theatre Row house Off-Broadway, two real-life fanboys, Taylor Crousore and Scott Foster, are trying out a stage celebration of Star Wars they hope to perform at Comic Con.
In a snug Theatre Row house Off-Broadway, two real-life fanboys, Taylor Crousore and Scott Foster, are trying out a stage celebration of Star Wars they hope to perform at Comic Con.
Boston Theater Critics Association Announces The 37th Annual Elliot Norton Awards Nominations; Broadway-Bound JAGGED LITTLE PILL Leads With Six Noms
www.broadwayworld.com: Two dozen nominations of outstanding actors, directors, designers and ensembles were announced today by The Boston Theater Critics Association (BTCA), with winners to be revealed at the 37th Annual Elliot Norton Awards on Monday, May 20, 2019 at 7 PM, at the Huntington Avenue Theatre.
The TEA Summit shows how artists make the impossible happen
www.themeparkinsider.com: Amanda Beach, Bruce Zimmerman, and Michael Patterson (above) actually asked themselves that same question as they took the stage Friday to talk about their upcoming Thea Award for the Evel Knievel Museum during the TEA Summit's Case Studies day. How a team of people who restored and sold Harley-Davidson motorcycles for a living ended up building an award-winning themed attraction far off the tourist path provided what might have been the day's best illustration of the creative process that drives this industry.
WGA Members Post Termination Letters
Variety: High-profile members of the Writers Guild of America, including Patton Oswalt, David Simon, Shawn Ryan, Michael Schur, John August, Amy Berg, Danny Zuker and many more have gone public with letters formally firing their agents in compliance with the WGA’s order to do so.
Why Film Budgets Are Important, Beyond The Cost Of Production
www.forbes.com: A film’s budget plays a dominant role throughout the film’s life cycle—with implications going far beyond the mere cost of the film. Perhaps the most tangible aspect of a film’s budget is that the amount that distributors will pay for a film is almost always calculated as a percentage of the budget (the “budget/sales corollary”), regardless of the script, the cast or anything else.
Missing Link Director Chris Butler on Crafting A Stop Motion Action Film
Collider: Imagine all the intricacies that go into staging an action sequence: the stunts, choreography, rehearsing, and timing. Now imagine that same process – but in stop-motion animation. A simple ten second shot of, say, Tom Cruise running down a freeway takes hours to set up and shoot traditionally, but in stop-motion: that same shot takes days, if not weeks, to film. This brings us to Missing Link, the latest stop-motion feature from Laika Studios, a globe-trotting action adventure in the vein of Indiana Jones.
How the Bill Gates-Steve Jobs Musical 'Nerds' Became a Debacle
Hollywood Reporter: On March 8, 2016, the cast of Nerds, a musical based on the lives of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, was working up a sweat inside an Eighth Avenue rehearsal studio. Previews at Broadway's Longacre Theatre were just two weeks away, and the ensemble was running through a big gospel number called "Think Different," a nod to the iconic Apple advertising slogan. They made it all the way to the song's rousing final lyric — "Liiiiiiive yoooour dream!" — when they noticed the creative team had left the room.
How Australian theatre rebalanced its gender disparity
ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): In 2009, director Neil Armfield stood on the stage at Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre and announced, for his swansong season as artistic director of the company he co-founded, a season of shows almost exclusively written and directed by men.
It was a moment that prompted considerable scrutiny of industry-wide gender disparity.
In that year, at the eight best-funded Australian theatre companies — members of the Major Performing Arts Group (MPAG) — just 24 per cent of plays were written by women, and 24 per cent were directed by women. A staggering 86 per cent of productions had at least one man as writer or director.
It was a moment that prompted considerable scrutiny of industry-wide gender disparity.
In that year, at the eight best-funded Australian theatre companies — members of the Major Performing Arts Group (MPAG) — just 24 per cent of plays were written by women, and 24 per cent were directed by women. A staggering 86 per cent of productions had at least one man as writer or director.
Sunday, April 14, 2019
NFTRW Weekly Top Five
Here are the top five comment generating posts of the past week:
Performing Arts and Overworked Staff: Let's Not Pretend We’re Okay
www.theatreartlife.com: There seems to be a weirdly macho attitude towards exhaustion in the performing arts, we wear it as an odd badge of pride. “I just pulled three 10 out of 12s!” “Oh yeah, well I just got off 40 hours straight with no sleep!” “It’s been three months since I’ve had a day off!” Bragging about how overworked we are is a one-ups game—I can endure more, so I must be more hardcore than you.SNL Sets are Built at Frenzied Pace in Brooklyn
www.ny1.com: Michael Stiegelbauer has been building sets for "Saturday Night Live" since the show's debut in 1975. First with his father, who was head of scenic design at NBC. Then 15 years later, with his own design company, Stiegelbauer Associates, when NBC contracted out the work.
Stiegelbauer outbid his competitors.Take a Ride on The Old Mill at CMU
www.cmu.edu/news: When visitors to Spring Carnival step into Skibo Gym this year, sights, sounds and even smells of an old steel mill will greet them.
“We have a couple of formulated scents just for this. It’s going to smell just like an old steel mill would. There’s a blast furnace on the ride, and it’s going to smell exactly like burning coals,” said Roly Garcia.How to move a masterpiece: the secret business of shipping priceless artworks
Art and design | The Guardian: Early one morning last summer, I stood inside a museum in Antwerp and watched as a painting was hung on the wall. When I walked in, the gallery was empty. To one side, there was a crate about a metre square. Royal blue, it was unmarked apart from a code number and a yellow stencilled sign reading “Lato da Aprire / Open this Side”.White Porgy and Bess cast ‘asked to say they identify as African-American’
Stage | The Guardian: The Hungarian State Opera has come up with a dubious way around a stipulation that George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess be performed by an all-black cast: it is allegedly asking its white, Hungarian singers to sign a paper saying they identify as African-American.
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