Does Broadway Have a Gen Z Problem?

www.broadwayworld.com: Gen Z is an odd group of people. They dominate online spaces, getting the majority of their news and information from social media (this is now true of most people, but it has always been true of Gen Z). They are also the most anti-AI generation by most accounts, in spite of being one of the most likely generations to willingly use it. They are one of the most anti-social generations, but they also put immense value on live events and experiences. So Broadway feels like a natural outlet for them.

Audio Engineers at Three Denver Music Venues Vote to Join IATSE Local 7

IATSE: Over a dozen Audio Engineers at three of Denver’s most prominent independent music venues have voted overwhelmingly to join the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 7. Workers at The Oriental Theater, The Federal Theatre, and HQ Denver each cast their ballots separately, delivering decisive majorities across all three venues.

The Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC), formerly Loew’s State Theatre – Providence, Rhode Island

After the Final Curtain: PPAC sits on Weybosset Street in downtown Providence and first opened in 1928 as Loew’s State Theatre. Designed by Rapp & Rapp—basically the go-to architects for movie palaces in the ‘20s—it was built for the Loew’s Theatres chain at the height of the movie palace boom. It opened with Excess Baggage starring William Haines, but the real draw that night was the building itself.

Lights, Shoes and Moves: Behind-the-scenes of Civic Theatre's 'Grease'

WBOI - NPR News & Diverse Music in Northeast Indiana: The Fort Wayne Civic Theater is preparing for its opening weekend of ‘Grease’ and after weeks of preparation the stage is set and ready for the actors to do their part. But before the curtains could open on this iconic musical, months of work went into to building it from the ground up.

Ten of the most eye-catching Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows of 2026

www.whatsonstage.com: The annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe is almost upon us! With thousands of performers and audience members flocking to the Scottish capital, there are just as many shows on offer and it can be positively impossible to decide which ones to book to fill your day.

Who owns an AI generated song? What we can learn from the phonograph and the evolution of copyright laws

theconversation.com: Copyright is built on the idea that human creativity deserves protection. Legally, this is known as “originality”. The principle is simple: people create valuable cultural works and the law protects that effort. But artificial intelligence (AI) is challenging one of copyright law’s most basic assumptions. In doing so, it may force us to rethink what we mean by intellectual property.

Make it Shine! Make it Sparkle! A Step by Step Guide to Creating Your Own Textured Stained Glass

Guild of Scenic Artists: Stained glass is a significant part of architecture and design often used in churches, castles, and even homes. It’s also a very common Scenic technique, and one of my favorite elements of Scenic Art.

Suspended Rings Float in Kinetic Light Installation

mymodernmet.com: Spanish artist SpY has unveiled a mesmerizing new installation for the 2026 NUR International Media Art Festival in Kazan, Russia. Titled CYCLES N2, the large-scale work suspends 15 illuminated rings above a dramatic hall lined with glowing red ramps.

Nolan and Lucas Have VERY Different Stances About AI in Movies

Nerdist: Recently, two big-name directors have taken public stances on AI usage in the movies. Interviewers have asked both George Lucas and Christopher Nolan about AI and its place in movie-making recently, and they have very contrasting takes.

Longtime Vegas Fixture, "Marriage Can Be Murder" Closes at Rio

Vital Vegas: “Marriage Can Be Murder,” a dinner show that ran for an astonishing 27 years in Las Vegas, has closed at Rio. Taking its place is another long-in-the-tooth crowd-pleaser, “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding,” further proof original ideas have become as scarce as talent at a Gordie Brown show.

Don’t Try This at Home: How Performers Turn Stunts Into Movie Magic

The New York Times: There were stunts in films before there was talking. Long before Tom Cruise dangled from the wing of a plane, the silent film star Harold Lloyd originated an enduring Hollywood image, hanging from a clock face in “Safety Last!” (1923). Though the slapstick and sight gags of Lloyd and his peers Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin once shaped cinema, opportunities in the stunt industry, like many aspects of film production, are now changing because of technologies like CGI, A.I. and robots.

Quantum Theatre’s Karla Boos embarks on final voyage with The Tempest

Pittsburgh City Paper | News, Dining, Music, Best Of, Arts, Film: In the blazing July afternoon sun, Karla Boos perches on a set of wooden risers as a gaggle of actors assembles on the blue circular stage, the rust-covered exterior of Carrie Blast Furnaces looming behind her. It’s a fitting location for Boos’ final production as artistic director of Quantum Theatre, a stage at the end of a long, winding road, nestled against an unmistakable symbol of Pittsburgh’s industrial history.

Hatchette and Elsevier Sue Google for Using Their Work to Train AI

gizmodo.com: Major publishers Hachette Book Group, Cengage Learning, and Elsevier have filed a lawsuit against Google alleging that Google used their work to train its AI chatbot Gemini. Scott Turow, the author of crime thrillers like Presumed Innocent, has also joined the suit which is seeking class action status.

Google revamps image search for its 25th anniversary with more images and more AI

Ars Technica: Believe it or not, there was a time when searching the web for images was not possible. Twenty-five years ago, Google launched image search, and it’s celebrating by looking back at its biggest visual milestones and refreshing the experience for today’s searchers. The celebration also includes expanded AI because that’s just how Google rolls in 2026.

Don’t Repeat NY’s 3D Printing Blunder

Electronic Frontier Foundation: This year the state of New York had the dubious honor of being the first to pass a controversial provision to mandate all 3D printers come with surveillance and censorship. That means not only is there a ticking clock to protect every artist, researcher, engineer, and hobbyist in the state, but there is a real risk of other states thoughtlessly following suit—prior to the New York rules even taking effect.

If ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’ Can’t Stay Open on Broadway, What Can?

Out.com: Despite winning multiple Tony Awards and garnering a devoted following, the reimagined revival Cats: The Jellicle Ball will close its Broadway run on Saturday, August 8, per an announcement made across the show’s social media accounts on Monday evening.

Kinetic Theatre produces Pittsburgh premiere of David Mamet’s ‘Henry Johnson’

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle: Andrew Paul is getting used to producing Jewish playwright David Mamet’s plays. Paul, producing artistic director of the Kinetic Theatre Company, previously staged four of Mamet’s plays and is now preparing to open a production of “Henry Johnson.”

Frankie Grande's Onstage Concussion: ‘Serving Face’ Has Workplace Risks

www.forbes.com: Frankie Grande, brother of singer/actress Ariana Grande, recently suffered a concussion after a prop ship wheel struck him in the face during a performance of Titaníque on July 2, 2026. In the show, a Broadway parody of the 1997 box office hit film “Titanic,” Grande plays both ship captain Victor Garber and plumber Luigi.

2026 Frikkin Lasers Challenge: Laser Bandsaw

Hackaday: Can you call it a bandsaw if it has neither band nor saw? [WeldingRod1] does, with his entry in the laser contest — a manually-controlled laser cutter that he’s dubbed a Laser Bandsaw. Some might quibble that it’s not actually sawing with the beam, and others will inevitably find the safety implications rather frightening.

Writers Guild of America Sues to Block Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger

www.hollywoodreporter.com: The labor union representing film and television writers filed a suit in U.S. district court for the northern district of California on Tuesday alleging that the deal breaks antitrust law and would harm wages and working conditions for writers by creating a single mega-buyer of film and television programming with outsized power.

Back to the Future reveals first look at flying car ahead of tour

www.whatsonstage.com: Ahead of the first-ever UK tour of Back to the Future The Musical, the show has, for the first time in its history, shown photos of its flying DeLorean. The production is based on the 1985 Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment film Back to the Future, which starred Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Dr Emmett Brown.

Oregon AG Wants Pause On Paramount Merger, Hints At Federal Corruption

Techdirt: I think I’ve extensively explained at this point why the $111 billion merger between Paramount/CBS and Warner Brothers is a gargantuan pile of shit that will indisputably harm labor, consumers, markets, creatives, and potentially even national security. It doesn’t matter the company names; every single major media merger of this type ends badly for everyone but the trust fund brunchlords at the top.

Amber Davies requests audience member filming Legally Blonde be removed from auditorium

www.whatsonstage.com: Davies said: “This is your daily reminder not to film at the theatre. Unfortunately tonight at the Bord Gáis, we’ve got a beautiful audience, but there’s just one woman in the front row being filming the entirety of act one. It’s had us all distracted. It’s ruined the morale of our wonderful eighth show on a Saturday night from selfish actions.”

Ravinia makeover features bigger stage, wider chairs, better acoustics — but fewer seats

WBEZ Chicago: Audiences who visit the Ravinia Festival this weekend for an opening concert featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, pop artist Lizzo and classical pianist Yunchan Lim will likely see and hear a few improvements.

Why the End of Your Tape Measure Is Loose

Family Handyman: Whether you’re a seasoned handyman or a DIY beginner, odds are you’ve noticed the hook at the end of your tape measure isn’t firmly attached. You might assume it’s because of a factory defect or that it has been worn down over time, but there’s actually a fascinating reason why most tape measures have a loose hook at the end.

Hershey (2026) Filming Locations: Where Was It Shot?

4filming.com: The first trailer for Hershey has arrived, and the Milton Hershey biopic is heading to theaters over Thanksgiving weekend 2026. Directed by Mark Waters — the filmmaker behind Mean Girls and Freaky Friday — and released by Angel Studios, the film stars Finn Wittrock as chocolate pioneer Milton S. Hershey and Alexandra Daddario as his wife, Catherine “Kitty” Hershey.

Iron Maiden FOH Engineer Ken "Pooch" Van Druten Expands His Waves Ecosystem

ProSoundWeb: Iron Maiden front of house engineer Ken “Pooch” Van Druten has utilized Waves SuperRack SoundGrid and plugins as a foundation of his touring workflow, and he recently expanded that ecosystem by adding Waves LiveBox, giving him the ability to run third-party VST3 plugins.

19 CMU Alumni Earn 28 Primetime Emmy Nominations

CMU Drama: The Primetime Emmy nominations were announced this week and Carnegie Mellon alumni once again made an impressive showing for their work across the television industry. This year’s nominees include 19 alumni spanning 11 categories for a total of 28 nominations.

New experimental Leatherman multitool sells out instantly

Sound & Video Contractor: Leatherman has introduced a brand-new multitool under its experimental Garage line that sold out almost immediately after becoming available. The Leatherman Adapter sells for $75, and interested parties can sign up to become notified when it returns to the storefront.

The cover letter is officially dead: AI has created a new job-hunting paradox

Fast Company: Welcome to the new and tricky world of applying for a job in the AI era. Yes, applicants can use LLMs to fill out applications and cast a far wider net. But AI has also made recruiters far more anxious about the authenticity of the people they’re evaluating and, in some cases, it is clogging up candidate pools. In a stagnant job market, it feels like a tech-fueled race to the bottom; it’s not clear anyone is really winning—at least right now.

14 Things To See Inside The Smithsonian

www.theroot.com: With 21 museums, the National Zoo, and millions of objects in its collections, the Smithsonian is far more than a tourist destination in Washington, D.C. It’s a living archive of American culture, creativity, and resilience. From iconic artifacts to groundbreaking exhibitions, these are just some of the reasons the Smithsonian remains one of the country’s greatest cultural institutions–and why its work continues to matter.

Universal Celestial Goodnight Debuts at Epic Universe

Inside Universal: Universal Orlando has officially debuted Universal Celestial Goodnight, the new nighttime spectacular that caps off each evening at Epic Universe. The new show, presented nightly at park close, features nearly 600 lighting fixtures, over 350 fountains, and seven million LED lights. These elements come together to celebrate each of Epic Universe’s worlds before culminating with a fireworks finale.

AI notetakers add another layer to virtual meeting etiquette

AP News: Launching an artificial intelligence tool to take notes and summarize important information from a virtual meeting can be alluring. Seconds after one of the agents attends an hour-long video conference, it can deliver a recap of key points and outline a to-do list for all the participants.

Karla Boos on Quantum Theater, Her Career and Retirement

pittsburgh-owlscribe.blogspot.com: Karla Boos, founder and Artistic Director of Quantum Theatre, will retire in December 2026 after programming the company’s 37th season. Her departure marks the end of an extraordinary era of creative leadership and bold experimentation, not just for Quantum Theatre, but for the city of Pittsburgh and the national stage.

Lewiston native is understudy for 5 roles in Maine State Music Theatre’s ‘1776’

www.sunjournal.com: At any moment Roger Philippon could suddenly be one of five people who played a critical role in the founding of our nation. That is, if someone gets sick. Philippon, 70, of Lewiston has committed to memory five roles as an understudy in the Maine State Music Theatre’s production of the Tony Award-winning musical “1776, ” now in Brunswick through Saturday, July 11.