Stage Preview: Director pursues full life with Quantum, Point Park

Post Gazette: "Based in San Francisco but retired from his West Coast teaching jobs, stage director and choreographer Rodger Henderson could choose to be anywhere."

Lyric fires soprano days before 'La Boheme' opening

chicagotribune.com: "'It is with tremendous regret and sadness that we are compelled to take this action, but Miss Gheorghiu's actions have shown total disregard for Lyric Opera's dedicated personnel and for her fellow artists,' said Lyric general director William Mason in a statement."

Angelenos' New Refrain: 'I Love (Downtown) L.A.'

washingtonpost.com: "It's nighttime in downtown Los Angeles and the sidewalks are packed with pretty people out for the monthly Art Walk. Dressed in their skinny jeans, they're trolling the edgy little galleries, clutching their plastic cups of wine, sidestepping the panhandler wearing a garbage bag. Suddenly, a stylish young couple appears -- pushing a stroller. Bert Green, a gallery owner, points at the nuclear unit. 'That's what I'm talking about,' Green says. ' It's happening.'"

Why Reading Is More Efficient Than Watching Video

The Guardian: "I was a religious affairs writer for many years, so I obviously don't mind people lying to me. But I do appreciate it when they do so efficiently, without using pictures; and, in particular, without using moving pictures. The important fact about words is that they are almost the most efficient use of communication ever devised; and reading plain text is the fastest way to absorb them. I can read faster than I can write; more to the point, I can read much faster than I can listen, and so can any normally literate person."

Blair Brown- A Feminine Ending

New York Times: "SHE’S been a Shakespeare queen, a clean-freak doctor, a best-selling landscape historian, a first lady and Molly Dodd on the proto-“Sex and the City” TV show. But only recently has the actress Blair Brown, 60, begun directing for the theater. Her first try was last year with the Off Broadway play “Lovely Day.” Now, four decades after this Washington-born Tony winner made her stage debut just out of the National Theater School of Canada, soon followed by starring roles for Joseph Papp, Michael Blakemore, Trevor Nunn and Emily Mann, she is directing the New York premiere of Sarah Treem’s “Feminine Ending,” which begins previews at Playwrights Horizons on Thursday."

The Beebo Brinker Chronicles

New York Times: "That’s the umbrella title for six novels that are a touchstone of lesbian culture. Written by Ann Bannon from 1957 to 1962, the books were distributed as pulp — meaning they were printed on cheap paper, were peddled at drugstores and bus stations, and received no mainstream press — but sold hundreds of thousands of copies."

NYMF Run of 'Last Starfighter' Musical Blasts Off

Yahoo! News: "The 'romantic musical sci-fi fantasy' is based on the screenplay of the same name and has a book by Fred Landau and music and lyrics by Skip Kennon. The new staging, directed by Elizabeth Lucas and choreographed by David Eggers (dance captain of Broadway's Curtains), runs to Oct. 7 (and includes a recently added performance at 4:30 PM Oct. 5) at The Theater at St. Clements in Manhattan."

Stage Review: New Works Festival closes with mixed bag of new plays

Post Gazette: "The Pittsburgh New Works Festival winds to its close with its fourth week of main stage productions. As with every set of New Works plays, this week brings an eclectic mix, and not just in terms of writing and acting ability. The festival finishes with a ghost story, a comic fantasy and a crime drama."

Trial and Error: The Hunt for Usable Musicals

New York Times: "Around the turn of this century, there was much talk of the new face of American musical theater: serious, boundary-defying works by the likes of Adam Guettel, Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael John LaChiusa. But it remains hard to get a musical developed and put on."

Turning All of Manhattan Into a Broadway Stage

New York Times: "“Musical” is put together by the Miami artist Dara Friedman, who works primarily with film. (She has a work currently at the Museum of Modern Art and recently had a show at the Kitchen in Chelsea.) Last year Rochelle Steiner, the director of the Public Art Fund, which commissions and presents exhibitions in public spaces in New York, encouraged Ms. Friedman to do something for the fund."

League Requests Talks with Stagehands Union

Playbill News: "According to a statement released by Local One, the League has requested meetings for Tuesday, Oct. 2 and Thursday, Oct. 4. There will be 'no lockout Monday [Oct. 1],' according to the announcement."

Lyric union member vote for strike

Variety.com: "The contract negotiations between Lyric Opera of Chicago and the American Guild of Musical Artists reached a crescendo on Tuesday, when the Lyric's union members voted 88-5 to authorize a strike if an agreement can't be reached by the opening of 'La Traviata' on Saturday night."

Big Easy does it Broadway-style

Variety.com: "There's Boston and San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles, San Diego and Seattle and Denver. Now New Orleans is aiming to make the list of potential tryout towns for Broadway shows."

Potential Broadway strike postponed

Variety.com: "Looks like Broadway can breathe easy - at least for now. Rialto producers and the legit stagehands' union agreed Friday to continue contract talks in meetings Oct. 2 and Oct. 4, thereby avoiding a potential work stoppage that looked possible Oct. 1."

Texas Hold-Em Tournament At LDI to Benefit Behind the Scenes

Live Design: "Ante up and try your luck at Texas Hold-Em at LDI2007. It’s easy, it’s fun, and all proceeds go to Behind The Scenes."

Broadway Producer-Stagehand Union Talks May Result in Lockout

Playbill News: "Local One, the Broadway stagehands union, and the League of American Theatres and Producers have been trying to hammer out a new working contract since last summer; their most recent pact expired at the end of July. But no agreement has been forthcoming and tensions are rising, according to reports in Variety and Crain's."

EXTRA SPECIAL

NY Post: "AN orchestra seat for the Metropolitan Opera's 'Lucia di Lammermoor' to night: $350 and up. Seeing it on the giant screen in Times Square: free. Watching it from the stage as it's being sung? Priceless."

Hudson Theatrical Associates Launched

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: "Hudson Scenic Studio/Sound&Light announces the newest member of its family: Hudson Theatrical Associates (HTA). Based in Times Square, HTA is led by Neil A. Mazzella and Sam Ellis."

Sketching out a better gaming future

BBC NEWS: "'This is a technology that is useful for companies that are exploring new intellectual properties and new games,' John Buchanan, Director of Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center, told BBC World Service's Digital Planet programme."

YD&T Registration to Open

Sightlines: "Those wishing to be considered for USITT's Awards for Young Designers & Technicians in the Performing Arts may apply beginning in early October."

New York Innovative Theatre Awards Announces 2007 Recipients

Stage-directions: "The 2007 New York Innovative Theatre Awards were held Sept. 24, 2007, at the Fashion Institute of Technology Morris-Haft Auditorium to recognize Off-Off-Broadway talent in the New York community. The IT Awards is a nonprofit organization created to recognize Off-Off-Broadway artists and promote awareness of the entire New York theatre experience."

Projection is one word that sums up the future of theatrical design

Live Design: "Projection — if there is one word that sums up the future of theatrical design, it has to be “projection.” It's a brave new world where projections are moving off the screen to add a new layer of interest on the entire stage, and images of actors are being projected from remote locations, mixing live performers with their digital counterparts or replacing live actors altogether. What does this mean for all the designers of today not just in projection, but also set, lighting, and sound, and those of tomorrow? Will we exist in an entirely digital world?"

Corporate events compete with bar mitzvahs in and out of the ballroom

Live Design: "Ten or 15 years ago, if you had some moving lights and some fog at a corporate event, that was awesome. “Nowadays clients are looking for something more,” says Brendan Gray, cofounder of New York-based Number Nine lighting and design consulting firm. “Lighting rigs and scenery have trickled down to weddings and bar mitzvahs, so you have to come to the table with a high-end environment. It has to be better than the last wedding you went to.”"

Consultants map the shape of things to come in venue design

Live Design: "When Theatre Crafts was launched in 1967, the word “venue” had one meaning: theatre. Forty years later, “venue” encompasses retail centers, themed entertainment projects, houses of worship — pretty much anything with a touch of the theatrical. The consultants engaged in the field have found their places under the expanding umbrella concept of venue design. Ted Ohl, partner in Bronx, NY-based design/build company Pook Diemont & Ohl (PDO), laughingly recalls a moment of crisis when the firm, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next month, was just starting up. “I hung up the phone and realized that I'd called the last person I knew who ran a theatre, the last person we could do some work for.”"

The Future of Concert Design

Live Design: "When it comes to lighting, set, and projection design for concerts, there are a lot of technological firsts that happen on the road in our industry. While using hundreds of PARs for concerts used to be the latest and greatest in concert design, we've come a long way, from the introduction of moving-mirrors, to moving yoke lights, to the integration of video via media servers and LEDs."

Broadway shows may be brought to a halt by union lockout

The Stage: "As New York’s 2007/8 theatre season gets ready to begin in earnest, with 12 shows due to open on Broadway by the end of November, the Great White Way is facing the possibility of an almost complete shutdown."

Randy Pausch And "The Last Lecture"

Couric & Co.: "The story is about a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. His name is Randy Pausch and he's one of the foremost authorities on virtual reality. Not long ago he was asked to give a 'last lecture.' 'Last lectures' have become popular on college campuses. It's where the professor speaks as if he's dying and has one last chance to convey all his most important wisdom to his students. It was a painfully simple assignment for Randy."

Robyn Archer

Australian Artist Robyn Archer To Lecture, Conduct Workshops at Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama

PITTSBURGH Noted Australian Festival artistic director Robyn Archer will lecture on "Setting Context for the Contemporary Arts in Australia" on Monday, Oct. 1 at 5 p.m. in the Philip Chosky Theatre on Carnegie Mellon's campus. The talk will provide valuable background to the wonderful array of Australian performing arts companies who will visit Pittsburgh this fall as part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's Australia Festival. The lecture is free and open to the public.

In addition, Archer will offer master classes and conduct workshops with music theatre students at Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama during the first week in October.

Archers classes and workshops coincide with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trusts Australia Festival, which will include six weeks of performances throughout the city in October and November.

She is an artist who has moved beyond her discipline to become a remarkable intellectual and creative force. Any time I've seen Robyn's work either in concert in her life as a performer of political cabaret, or giving a keynote speech at an international conference I have never been less than thoroughly engaged and stimulated, said Elizabeth Bradley, head of the School of Drama.

Archer has a varied background as a performer and author. She is a singer and composer of many songs and works that have been staged around the world. Many of her original pieces are in the spirit of German Cabaret, a form that flourished in pre-World War II Germany. Her play, Architektin, will be staged in 2008.

For me, the definition of art is almost that it doesn't have any audience, because its highly original and creative. You don't know what it is, and so, in a way, for real art, the measure of your audience is impossible. Lets just look at the clichéd example of Van Gogh. There was no audience, no buyer, and yet he is now recognized as one of the great artists, so the same applies today, Archer said in a 2002 interview on the Austrian television program INSIGHT.

Archer is in demand as artistic director for festivals in Europe, Australia and North America. She served as director of both the Adelaide and Melbourne festivals in Australia and is the international artistic advisor to Toronto's Luminato Festival. She has also given many keynote speeches, including the 2006 Menzies Lecture in London. The University of Western Australia Press will publish her keynote speeches in 2008. Archers biography is online at http://www.robynarcher.com.au/100_home.php.

Not to be Missed Event

Next Monday, during the Conservatory Hour we have a special guest lecture entitled "Setting

Context for the Contemporary Arts in Australia" from Robyn Archer, who will be in Pittsburgh as part of the Cultural Trusts, Australia Festival. Ms. Archer is a singer, composer, author and performer; much of her work is political. She is a very strong advocate for the arts.

In the Chosky 5:00-6:00pm Monday, Oct. 1

I have attached a press release for more information on Ms. Archer. She will be spending some time with some of the classes in the School of Drama over the course of next week as well but this lecture is open to all. You are strongly encouraged to attend as this promises to be a unique event.

I've had enough of theatre's body politics

Guardian Unlimited: "The cynical deployment of 'beautiful' actors is just as rife in theatre as in the most mainstream Hollywood films."

How I learned to stop worrying and love Broadway

Guardian Unlimited: "After years of fringe productions, one of my plays is finally being staged on the Great White Way. It's like moving from a studio to a penthouse ..."

Equity Honors Rick Starr

Backstage: "Actors' Equity Association has awarded the Lucy Jordan Humanitarian Award to Rick Starr of Hollywood Sheet Music for supporting musical theatre and musical theatre artists. Starr will receive the honor at Equity's General Membership meeting Oct. 7 at the union's Hollywood location."

Unions Resist 'Temptation'

Backstage: "About 100 members of the WGA West, AFTRA, SAG and Teamsters picketed FremantleMedia outside Tribune Studios in Hollywood on Thursday over the company's alleged refusal to negotiate with the guild for writers working on the game show 'Temptation.'"

Opera Theater lovingly stages charming 'Figaro'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Opera Theater began its new residency in the Cultural District on Tuesday evening with a smartly conceived and energetically performed account of Mozart's comedy 'The Marriage of Figaro.' Performances at the Byham Theater continue through Sunday."

Nightmare: Ghost Stories - Haunted House

New York Times: "As Timothy Haskell strolled through the labyrinthine byways of a partly constructed haunted house on the Lower East Side, explaining in graphic detail how each room will be designed, a devilish grin kept popping up on his face. He loves to scare people."

Drama Raises the Curtain with Anton Chekhov's "Three Sisters"

8 1/2 x 11 Newsletter: "The School of Drama opens its 2007-08 season with Anton Chekhov's 'Three Sisters,' a moving and subtle drama that closely examines the lives of the Prozorov family and their aspirations to live in Moscow."

Carnegie Mellon Establishes Randy Pausch Honorary Fund

8 1/2 x 11 Newsletter: "Because of the overwhelming response to Professor Randy Pausch's last lecture here on Sept. 18, the university has established the Randy Pausch Honorary Fund to help enable the university to continue and complete Pausch's work, including his most important academic project, the Alice 3D authoring system."

'West Side Story', Around the World

NPR: "Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of the first staging of the Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents musical West Side Story. It's been performed globally and translated into languages as diverse as Czech and Korean."

Theatre Rhinoceros celebrates 30 years of gay and lesbian plays

San Francisco Chronicle: "Given another decade, it may have to start lying about its age. Theatre Rhinoceros, San Francisco and the nation's 'longest-running professional queer theater company,' turns 30 this season. Founded in 1977 by Allan Estes, its first artistic director, and managing director Lanny Baugniet, the Rhino has long enjoyed a higher national than local profile as an incubator of new gay and lesbian plays, becoming the first gay theater to receive National Endowment for the Arts funding."

Could Broadway Go Dark?, Negotiations Between Broadway Producers And Stagehands Face Deadline

The ShowBuzz: "Talks between the League of American Theatres and Producers and the Broadway stagehands union, Local One, have been inching along this month but are approaching a League-imposed deadline."

Downtown New York Stages Cultural Festival Born After 9/11

VOA News: "Summer in New York is a season of outdoor festivals, and although summer is mostly over, one arts festival continues to the end of September. The River to River Festival was founded in 2001 to lift the downtown economy following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The name refers to the Hudson and East Rivers that meet at the lower tip of Manhattan, an area that encompasses Wall Street, Battery Park, City Hall, the former site of the World Trade Center, and the South Street Seaport."

Did Critics Join or Rain on Parade in its British Premiere at the Donmar?

london.broadway.com: "ason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry’s 1998 musical Parade received its British premiere at the Donmar Warehouse on 24 September. Choreographer Rob Ashford (the Donmar’s Guys and Dolls, Evita) made his directing debut with the production, which features Bertie Carvel as Leo Frank, a Jewish man from Brooklyn who is accused of the murder of a young factory worker in 1913 Atlanta, and Lara Pulver as the wife, Lucille Frank, who stands by him. Did critics join a parade of praise for Parade?"

Did Critics Have a Bloody Good Time Seeing Patrick Stewart in Macbeth?

london.broadway.com: "Following his recent RSC performances as Prospero in The Tempest and Antony in Antony and Cleopatra, Patrick Stewart is now playing the title role in Macbeth. The production was first seen at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre in the summer, and it is now newly transferred o the West End’s Gielgud Theatre. Were the London critics impressed?"

PG West preview: Bobcat Players turn to serious drama

Post Gazette: "Mr. Myers and a group of Beaver Area teachers and employees started the dramatic company in 2001, planning to offer three plays a year with talent from the area. Through agreement with the school district, they perform at Beaver Area High School's Ed Schaughency Theater."

PG East review: Fun quotient of 'History ... Abridged' is spotty

Post Gazette: "More a series of comedic skits than a play, 'The Complete History of America (Abridged)' is fast-moving, absurd and interactive, and its style of humor is 'throw everything against the wall and see what sticks' -- sort of the cooked spaghetti school of comedy. (And yes, cooked spaghetti does make an appearance on the stage, and I do mean 'on' the stage.)"

Stage Review: 'Key to the Field' is a rush through the looking glass

Post Gazette: "David Turkel's new play comes after the audience with a glint in its eye, not to mention a fistful of imaginative weapons that it doesn't bother to conceal and just might use."

Monks go musical in latest Flatwoods production

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The monks of St. Bernard's monastery are having one devil of a time dealing with a major dilemma. A real-estate developer is about to turn their monastery into a gambling hall, and it's going to take a miracle to save it."

Going deep

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "For its next production, Quantum Theatre is going off the deep end. The cast of 'Therese Raquin' will descend into the depths of a long-empty swimming pool in the Braddock Carnegie Library to perform Emile Zola's tale of obsession and desire on the rust-stained white ceramic tile floor of this once-vibrant public amenity."

Special Effects and Prop Design

Craigslist: "We are seeking individuals who have skills in special effects and/or prop design and construction. We are a national company based in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. We are testing a new product, which may be launched nationally in 2008. We will be developing a haunt based production, which is unique in that it is an interactive media driven production. We have rented and secured a venue and have initiated script and production development."

'Cirque Dreams' brings jungle to life

Tennessean.com: "Neil Goldberg has seen a lot of astounding feats in his time as artistic director of Cirque Productions. But none quite took him the way an elderly woman did approaching him after a show. She held, in her hand, the arm of the chair in which she had been sitting. 'She said, 'I am so exhausted,' ' he recalls. ' 'I was so excited through the whole show that I just broke the chair.' So I went to the manager and said, 'Here's a first. What do I do with this?' '"

2007 B. Iden Payne Awards: Take a bow, nominees

The Austin Chronicle: "What do a gay New York baseball star, a vain British matinee idol, and a hillbilly Hamlet have in common? Beyond being interesting role models for the 21st century, they're also leading characters in the shows receiving the most B. Iden Payne Award nominations this year."

A Look Around

washingtonpost.com: "PANORAMA: Arena Stage's fabled Fichandler space offers 360 degrees of theatrics."

Getting Things Done: David Allen and His "Cult" of GTD

Lifehacker: "Wired magazine profiles productivity guru David Allen and offers a good summary of his Getting Things Done system, its history, and some great quotes from The David."

Production assistant who is fluent in american sign language

The Marin Theatre Company is looking for a production assistant who is fluent in American Sign Language or at least proficient.

We are a BAT theatre and we offer EMC credit. Rehearsals start on March 25th and the show will run through May 18th.

Production assistant will assist the Stage Manager in the rehearsal process and be run crew back stage during performances, which will include wardrobe duties. Pay is hourly.

Please respond, via: e-mail, fax or snail, with resume and references to:

Jedd de Lucia
Production Manager
Marin Theater Company
397 miller Avenue
Mill valley, CA 94941
production@marintheatre.org
fax: (415) 388-5200 x3307

Junior Performance Projects

This week ONLY, and starting TONIGHT

In the RAUH Studio Theater - Junior Performance Projects!

There are always two projects played per night -

Wednesday September 26th and Thursday September 27th :
IN THEIR OWN WORDS & 110 IN THE SHADE play together


Friday September 28th and Saturday September 29th :
THE MOLIERE PROJECT & THE WHITE DEVIL play together

Showtime is 7pm. There will be one intermission between the two projects that evening.

So please come along and support the Junior MT/Acting year in four unique and challenging pieces.

PICT thinks big for 2008 season

Post Gazette: "For Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre, festivals have become the thing, along with importing key directors and lead actors to strengthen the Pittsburgh professional pool."

Waiting in the wings of L.A.'s black theaters

Los Angeles Times: "A lack of funds prevents the Vision Theater in Leimert Park and the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center from living up to their potential while civic groups and city officials fail to see eye to eye."

The play's the thing, not its location

TheStar.com: "Over the last decade, we've seen theatre on the beach, dance in parks, Shakespeare under the Gardiner Expressway, drama in a leaky warehouse, staged history in a hot storefront and choreography over an abandoned railway track."

Finding audience where it lives

Star Tribune: "The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is one of several Twin Cities arts groups that are performing or offering classes in the suburbs."

Beijing Theater to Hold Trial Performance

Backstage: "Critics have argued that the $360 million monument lacks Chinese characteristics and is too expensive and ostentatious to fit into the central Beijing neighborhood, which also houses China's former imperial palace and the 1950s-era Great Hall of the People, the seat of the nation's legislature."

Sept. 25: Scenes from the Arts-burgh

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Turkel's play won a fully staged production by Bricolage Theater Company after audiences chose it from among six plays that the company had given seated readings over the past year."

PICT proclaims new season as family affair

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Family affairs are the focus of artistic director Andrew S. Paul's attention at the moment. Maybe it's because he and his wife, Vornicu, are expecting their first child within the next few weeks."

League of American Theaters and Producers and Local One negotiations

New York Times: "As representatives from the League of American Theaters and Producers and Local One, the stagehands’ union, continue their contract negotiations, it remains unclear what Broadway will look like this time next week."

MTV Premiere of Legally Blonde — The Musical Moved to October

Playbill News: "The program will feature the broadcast of the entire musical as well as a behind-the scenes look at the musical, which currently plays the Palace Theatre. The musical will subsequently air several times on the cable network."

Goodbye Gray Skies: Happy Days Musical Begins Paper Mill Run

Playbill News: "After a sold-out developmental run by Goodspeed Musicals in Connecticut, Happy Days: A New Musical arrives at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, Sept. 26. The limited engagement, which runs through Oct. 28, will officially open Sept. 30."

Burlesque revival: more nerdy than sexy?

Reuters: "Burlesque is back. Fans of the fancy form of striptease that first flourished in Depression-era downtowns can find swiveling hips and spangled lingerie weekly in at least 12 U.S. cities."

Two Irish wolfhounds land roles at the Met

NY Daily NEws: "A pair of the world's tallest breed of dogs, a not-yet-fully-grown, brother-and-sister Irish wolfhound duo named Gracie and Murphy, has been sniffing around the fountain at Lincoln Center lately."

Playwright David Turkel confronts the fear of the future in the surreal Key to the Field

Pittsburgh City Paper: "Maybe you'll understand how David Turkel felt, and why he struggled with his latest play, Key to the Field. It was two summers ago, and what Turkel was hearing was news of melting ice caps and terrorist bombings; what he was trying to do was not lose hope in the future. Specifically, and although he's nobody's father, he was desperate to avoid feeling 'that there wasn't going to be a future to enjoy for any child that I might have.'"

Zombies From Beyond - Just about every sci-fi B-movie from the '50s and '60s is mashed together in this loving spoof.

Pittsburgh City Paper: "Plan 9 From Outer Space, Mars Needs Women, Invaders From Mars and just about every other sci-fi B-movie from the '50s and '60s is mashed together in this loving spoof of both the rotten cinema and innocent culture of the Eisenhower era."

The Melville Boys

Pittsburgh City Paper: "South Park Theatre offers what may seem an obscure play by an unknown author. But actually The Melville Boys, by Canada's Norm Foster, is said to be his best-known play up North, and has enough fame to have run off-Broadway in 1992."

A Window to Home - New Horizon production develops slowly.

Pittsburgh City Paper: "What exactly is 'character development'? Is it just a string of facts about protagonists, peppered throughout a play? Does it amount to subtle gestures and dropped hints, odd habits and overt passions? Cute phrases? Creepy desires? What kind of fine line do playwrights walk, between too little information and too much?"

After 60 plays, Horton Foote still striving

csmonitor.com: "Foreclosures, mortgages gone bad, cratering house prices, relatives squabbling over a rich dowager's will – it sounds as 'now' as the nightly news. But in 'Dividing the Estate,' Horton Foote's play on these topics, the action takes place in 1987. Currently in previews in New York at Primary Stages' 59E59 Theaters, the play's première is Sept. 27. A period piece in some ways, it reveals how relevant the work of this 91-year-old playwright remains."

Marin Alsop breaks the glass baton

csmonitor.com: "Tomorrow Marin Alsop will shatter the glass baton. As she steps onto the podium for her inaugural concert as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), Ms. Alsop becomes the first woman to assume the leadership of a major American symphony. The baton she will grasp will be a simple wooden one, worn and slightly crooked, handcrafted by her father."

Ready or not, Ariel's going to Broadway

OrlandoSentinel.com: "It's the day before the Denver premiere of The Little Mermaid, and Thomas Schumacher, president of Disney Theatrical Productions, is candid: The show needs work."

Tri-Union Ivy Bethune Diversity Awards

actorsequity.org | News #038; Media: "A beautiful, balmy Los Angeles summer evening welcomed members of AEA, AFTRA and SAG's EEO committees as we celebrated the 5th annual Tri-Union Ivy Bethune Diversity Awards. Once again enjoying the hospitality at East West Players, the nation's preeminent Asian American theater organization, as the three unions joined to present this annual award to recognize and show appreciation for those who helped build a foundation for diversity in our industry."

2007 Joseph Jefferson Awards Nominations Announced

actorsequity.org | News #038; Media: "The Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee has announced 119 nominations in 30 categories for Chicago Equity theatrical productions which opened between August 1, 2006 and July 31, 2007. The Jeff Awards Committee sent judges to the opening nights of 123 Equity productions offered by 49 producing organizations. From these openings, 93 were “Jeff recommended,” which made them eligible for Jeff Award nominations."

LEGALLY BLONDE To Receive Equity's ACCA Award For Outstanding Broadway Chorus

actorsequity.org | News #038; Media: "This is the first industry award of its type to honor the distinctive talents and contributions made by the chorus. The award ceremony will be held at the October 23rd ACCA meeting at Equity's headquarters in New York City."

Stage Preview: 'Off Record VII' logs in with a computer-age spoof

Post Gazette: "Now in its seventh year, 'Off the Record VII' still spoofs the city of Pittsburgh and all that makes us unique. As always, this one-night-only musical extravaganza pokes fun at local politics, politicians and other newsmakers, but this year, it turns its guns on itself. Welcome to 'Off the Record VII: Blogged to Death!' a satirical look at local media's attempt to stay afloat on the wave of technology."

Center Theatre Group heads Ovation Award nominations

Los Angeles Times: "The nominations were divided among productions at CTG's Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and the Kirk Douglas Theatre, which took 10 nominations for 'Sleeping Beauty Wakes,' Deaf West Theatre's first original musical."

Batman Crew Member Dies in Film Shoot

Backstage: "A crew member involved in the filming of the new Batman movie has died in a car accident on the set, police said on Tuesday. The special effects technician was killed when his 4x4 vehicle crashed into a tree during a dummy film run involving the 'Batmobile.'"

No Broadway Outing for ‘Lone Star Love’

New York Times: "The roster of Broadway musicals opening this fall is down to two. “Lone Star Love,” the bluegrass/folk/Dixieland/gospel adaptation of “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” which was to star Randy Quaid and open at the Belasco on Dec. 3, has canceled its Broadway engagement."

IT Award Winners Announced

Playbill News: "The annual event not only awards innovative works from Off-Off-Broadway, but seeks to raise awareness of the Off-Off Broadway scene and its cultural contributions."

Korean Martial Arts Sensation Jump Begins Off-Broadway Run Sept. 25

Playbill News: "The 90-minute import promises audiences 'the kind of action you'd see in Jackie Chan and Matrix movies,' only live on stage, without the use of wires and special effects."

China ex-leader is first to grace new theater stage

Reuters: "The first soloist to take to the stage of China's futuristic new National Grand Theater was not an opera star but former leader and opera enthusiast Jiang Zemin."

Stage Crew

Craigslist: "Looking for stage crew for Ray Cooney's Out of Order, a fast paced British farce at Veronica Veil Players running Nov 1,2,3,4 and 9, 10."

A fond farewell to Stratford

TheStar.com: "Richard Monette, who is saying goodbye to the Stratford Festival, has left it $50 million richer. A gala tribute to Monette, the festival’s artistic director since 1994, was held in the Festival Theatre last night."

Three Sisters, lost in time

TorontoSun.com: "Few great plays have a best-before date, but most of them do have a best-during date. Case in point: Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters. It's a work so firmly anchored in the backwater of Czarist Russia that to set it in any other time and place makes no sense whatsoever, rendering as it does the ennui that grips the characters and squeezes the life from them almost laughable."

Metropolitan Opera back on big screen

TorontoSun.com: "After a hugely successful launch last year, Cineplex Entertainment has once again teamed up with New York's Metropolitan Opera for season two of Metropolitan Opera: Live in High Definition, a simulcast season that features not only a few more operas but a lot more theatres as well."

L.A. Ovation Award Nominations Are Announced

TheaterMania.com: "Nominations for the L.A. Stage Alliance's 2007 Ovation Awards, honoring the best in Los Angeles theater, were announced today. The awards, to be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will be held at 7:30pm on November 12 at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles."

Church Lighting Design Team Joins Wybron to Support House of Worship Marketspace

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: "Wybron, Inc. announces that Terry Taylor and John Tabor have joined the company to serve the house of worship market's lighting needs. Taylor, former head of lighting designs at New Life Church and Tabor, assistant lighting designer at New Life, are two of the country's foremost experts on lighting the worship space, the company says."

Thinkwell Named to Inc. Magazine's List of Top 5,000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the U.S.

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: "The founders of Thinkwell Design & Production knew their company was growing -- they were flying from Las Vegas to Coney Island to Spain to the United Arab Emirates to Atlantic City and back again supervising their expanding list of client projects."

LDI 2007 Courses Offered by ETCP Recognized Trainers

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: "The LDInstitute, November 12-16 in Orlando, presents a great opportunity for ETCP certificants to take courses taught by ETCP-recognized trainers. These courses offer certificants twice as many renewal credits towards recertification."

Theatre Rhinoceros celebrates 30 years of gay and lesbian plays

San Francisco Chronicle: "Given another decade, it may have to start lying about its age. Theatre Rhinoceros, San Francisco and the nation's 'longest-running professional queer theater company,' turns 30 this season. Founded in 1977 by Allan Estes, its first artistic director, and managing director Lanny Baugniet, the Rhino has long enjoyed a higher national than local profile as an incubator of new gay and lesbian plays, becoming the first gay theater to receive National Endowment for the Arts funding."

Dooner to Head IATSE Local 871

Backstage: "Local 871, whose members include script supervisors, had its previous round of balloting for top officers voided by the Labor Department following procedural challenges. In results announced Sunday by the union without vote tallies, dooner defeated challenger Michele Tedlis, who had topped voting in the previous round of balloting."

Royal Shakespeare Company

New York Times: "A $5 million donation to the Royal Shakespeare Company for its planned new theater in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, is the largest gift from an American in the company’s history. The contribution, scheduled to be announced today, comes from Chris Abele, a 40-year-old philanthropist who lives in Milwaukee."

‘Window’ offers cloudy but interesting view

Pittsburgh Courier: "The challenge of writing a script is in conveying the complexity of human behavior in a form that is accessible without being condescending and keeping the interest of the audience while entertaining. Sometimes the complexity can overburden the script and the result may be a lingering unanswered question."

More than a ‘ghetto superstar’

Pittsburgh Courier: "To describe Billy Porter as a triple talent performer would be somewhat of an understatement; multi-talented would be appropriate. In addition to being a critically acclaimed singer, dancer and actor, Porter is a recording artist, songwriter, director, playwright and a walking definition of a renaissance man."

Leviton Mourns Passing Of CEO And Chairman Harold Leviton

Live Design: "It is with great sadness that Leviton Manufacturing Company announces the passing of its chairman and chief executive officer, Harold Leviton, age 90."

Draft DMX512 Cabling Standard Available For Review

Live Design: "BSR E1.27-2, Entertainment Technology - Standard for Permanently Installed Control Cables for Use with ANSI E1.11 (DMX512-A) and USITT DMX512/1990 Products, is available for public review through November 19, 2007."

August Wilson's favorite theater company at risk

chicagotribune.com: "Without the late, great playwright's influence, the British writer, actor and all-around media personality Kwame Kwei-Armah would not have been sharing a Chicago stage last weekend with Derrick Sanders, the immensely capable artistic director of the Congo Square Theatre Company."

Joining the Ivey league

Star Tribune: "Again, if you're keeping score at home, there are no winners, only recognitions -- whatever bubbles up from nearly 4,000 reviews during the year."

A Conversation with Belgian Avant-Garde Director Ivo van Hove

village voice: "Anyone who thinks Ivo van Hove is a formalist or 'auteur' director can find plenty of incriminating evidence in his rehearsal room."

Nelson Rodrigues's Stories Get Adapted For the Stage

village voice: "Nelson Rodrigues's characters do not end well—strangled, shot, burned to death. Hanging is the most common denouement. Even when a man does die of more-or-less natural causes (let's say he collapses after reading an unflattering tabloid article), he's quickly revealed as a pedophile and an abortionist."

Ian McKellen Plays Shakespeare and Chekhov, But Nobody Wins

village voice: "King Lear and The Seagull are both plays about meaninglessness, but that doesn't mean they don't mean anything."

Word of Mouth Review: Grease

Broadway.com: "Sandy and Danny are back on the Great White Way in a new production of Grease featuring newly-crowned Broadway stars Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, who won their roles on TV's 'You're the One That I Want.' Since regular folks chose Max and Laura, who better to check in on this new production than our Word of Mouth panelists? Find out if they think the new Grease goes together with Broadway like ram-a-lama...well, you know the rest."

Atlanta Opera's move closely watched from near and far

AccessAtlanta: "By now, even Atlantans with only a vague acquaintance with classical music probably know that the Atlanta Opera opens its 2007-08 season Sept. 29 at the new Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre — a move that has drawn much attention since first announced last year."

Conservatory Hour

Monday, Sept. 24

Conservatory Hour: Equitable Workplace Discussion

This session is REQUIRED for all students new to the School of Drama this year, including graduate students.

We will be meeting in the Chosky from 5:00 to 6:00

There's No Cutting Corners In the Fichandler

washingtonpost.com: "As the recent boom in new stage complexes here and around the country proves, they don't build 'em like this anymore; the model seems too intimidating. Artistic Director Molly Smith says: 'It's thought of as a place that eats up directors and actors. They have to exert more energy to make it work.'"

Dramatist Donald Margulies sees the stage in a fresh light

Los Angeles Times: "More than a quarter century ago, the critic Robert Hughes called the public's response to Modern art 'the shock of the new.' The role of art was to stimulate ideas, provoke thought, challenge ways of seeing. Today, we are experiencing a different, troubling phenomenon: a popular culture that embraces the comfort of the familiar."

Boaz calls for separation of art and state

Yale Daily News: "He contended that, like religion, individuality is essential to the interpretation of art. Therefore, Boaz said, art deserves to be given the same respect as religion and kept entirely separate from government."

Michael Kahn - Shakespeare Theater Company

New York Times: "MICHAEL KAHN is positively breathless about the number of Ophelias he can bury under his new stage. “We never had enough room to bury Ophelia” in the old theater, said Mr. Kahn, the artistic director of the Shakespeare Theater Company. He gestured toward the new space: Now “we could bury 200 Ophelias.”"

Ivo van Hove - Molière - The Misanthrope

New York Times: "In advance of Monday’s opening Mr. van Hove spoke with Erik Piepenburg about Molière’s funny side, what defines a “liquid society” and how he beat the boarding school blues. An extended audio slide show narrated by Mr. van Hove is at nytimes.com/theater."

Theresa Rebeck

New York Times: "The playwright Theresa Rebeck is ticking off the common themes that unite her plays, which on the surface can seem quite unlike one another. Whatever the script — be it a comic solo show about one woman’s romantic tribulations (“Bad Dates”), an expressionistic dinner party held at the edge of Hades (“Omnium Gatherum,” which she wrote with Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros) or a cutting satire about status in the empty world of show business society (“The Scene”) — a lot of bad manners are on display in Ms. Rebeck’s dramatic universe."

21st Annual Broadway Flea Market Presented in Shubert Alley Sept. 23

Playbill News: "The day-long fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS runs to 7 PM and will feature appearances by some of Broadway's most acclaimed performers."

Broadway strike a possibility

Variety.com: "Hollywood isn't the only town facing a potential work stoppage. Broadway also might come to a halt this fall, once talks between the Broadway stagehands' union, Local One, and the producers' union, the League of American Theaters and Producers, hit a producers-appointed deadline at the end of the month."

Opera Theater begins new season, new venue

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "After presenting operas around town at sites as diverse as The Andy Warhol Museum, an armory in Shadyside and a North Side mansion, Opera Theater's leaders see the move to the Cultural District as being complementary rather than competitive with the much bigger and more prestigious Pittsburgh Opera, which presents its major productions at the Benedum Center."

Fine Foundation gives $5M to Carnegie Museums

Pittsburgh Business Times:: "It is the largest gift ever to support the event, one of the art world's longest established international exhibitions of contemporary work, and will provide for the creation of The Fine Prize, which will be awarded to an emerging artist from each Carnegie International, starting in May."

Five Essential Add-Ins for MS Word

Web Worker Daily: "Do you spend a lot of time in Microsoft Word? I’m in it all day, and I’ve found several very useful add-in programs that can enhance every Word user’s experience. In this post, I’ll round up five of them that can start making you more efficient in Word today."

Launch: Google Docs Adds Presentations

Lifehacker: "Google finally rounds out their web-based office suite with the addition of Presentations to Google Docs."

Reps. Arcuri and Richardson on the College Cost Reduction Act

The Gavel: "Rep. Laura Richardson (CA-37), sworn in just two weeks ago, joined Rep. Michael Arcuri (NY-24) to applaud the College Cost Reduction Act, which will be sent to the President today and which he has agreed to sign into law. The Act will make the largest single investment in college financial aid since the GI Bill of 1944, boosting college aid by roughly $20 billion over the next five years."

Bandages Made From Real Duct Tape

Toolmonger: "Remember how Sean described his superglue weakness? Mine’s duct tape. I’ve even used it as a bandage in a pinch, but here’s a product that makes my temp solution legit: Nexcare Duct Tape Bandages. Now you can cover up that boo-boo while still looking like the the tough guy (or righteous babe) you are."

Stress: Improve Your Life by Becoming an Imperfectionist

Lifehacker: "A lot of pressure if self-imposed - This was a great point made by Leslie Bennetts and illustrated poignantly with an anecdote about her friend, a successful lawyer, who broke down and decided to quit her job after she was informed that it was her turn to bake cupcakes for her child's class."

Math: Compute Without a Calculator

Lifehacker: "Learn to calculate numbers quickly without a calculator with The List Universe's 10 arithmetic tricks."

Tips for Posting Online

randomthoughts: "I have been writing a paper about how posting things on Facebook or other social-networking sites has caused administrators of colleges to review their policies and created an interesting ethical and legal debate. I won't go into to many details (unless you ask) but I will say that I think it's critical that universities own up to the responsibility to teach students how posting to these sites can negatively affect their lives."

iRobot Poster-making-Bot makes up for shaky hands

Engadget: "Making a good poster is hard, but most people wouldn't considering it harder than creating a robot to make the poster for you. Not so for Wyatt Felt, a member of instructables, who created a robot out of not much more than an iRobot Create, an old inkjet, and a sharpie which, put together, can draw perfectly spaced large lettering."

the growth of dubai

deputydog: "‘monster x’ (thanks - unlucky with the name) sent me these brilliant aerial shots illustrating the rapid growth of dubai over the last few decades. it’s not surprising at all but pretty cool nonetheless."

To Do Managers: Manage Group Projects with TaskBin

Lifehacker: "Collaboration webapp Taskbin shares and manages to-do lists among groups. Flag tasks in order of urgency to prioritize, and write notes for yourself or share them with group members."

Hussein Chalayan's Amazing Transforming Dresses

Boing Boing Gadgets: "Hussein Chalayan's latest collection of dresses incorporate servos and pulleys to transform the shape of the clothing in subtle, ethereal ways. There's no real practicality to these bits, just able showmanship and technical chops."

ed note - RATED R - NSFW! - db

Meetings Should End With Next Actions

lifehack.org: "Meetings that end without action steps are a waste of our time. When our Action Pads contain no action steps after a meeting, we realize that the meeting should have been a voice-mail or email. The lesson: Only call a meeting when you suspect that actions will come out of it."

How to cut a tree into a table

The Hardware Aisle: "And there's something just plain wonderful about the phrase Slabs for Sale. It appears on the website of Urban Hardwoods, a Seattle company with over 18 pages of ash, walnut, redwood, and maple that have been reclaimed from urban trees that would otherwise be burned, chipped, or headed to the landfill."

Revived: 1967 Czech communist-era "interactive cinema"

Boing Boing: "A system launched by the Czechs at the Montreal Expo 1967, touted as the world's first attempt at 'interactive cinema', was recently revived in the Prague theatre where it was first tested. Intriguingly, the Hollywood studios came close to licensing the 'Kinoautomat' technology."

Surefire Ways to Pump Up Your IM Power

Web Worker Daily: "Instant Messaging (IM) is a key part of every workday for many web workers, but I’ve noticed that many people don’t take advantage of new features and offerings in the IM space that have arisen as the technology has evolved. From ways to secure IM sessions, to extensive added features in the newer universal IM clients, you can probably be doing much more with your instant messaging sessions."

Excel Tip: Slice and Dice Your Data with AutoFilter

Lifehacker: "Your spreadsheet contains a huge table of data you want to slice and dice on the fly? You need the AutoFilter feature, which works like a database query builder—or for the non-bitheads, iTunes Smart Playlists. Select the criteria of the data you want to see, and AutoFilter will show you only the rows that match without actually changing any of the data (like sorting it would). The Productivity Portfolio weblog explains in detail, with helpful screenshots."

Advice for Students: How to Read Like a Scholar

lifehack.org: "Gideon at Scholastici.us had some advice for students recently, saying that when it comes to scholarly reading, there really is no substitute for hard work, for actually sitting down and reading."

How To: Beat the Procrastination Habit

Lifehacker: "Part of the reason I procrastinate is that I have a rich mental life. This is just a flowery way of saying that I'm a daydreamer. I'm always lost in thought. One way to keep on track is to use a timer. I use the Ultrak Jumbo Countdown Timer, but not as often as I should. I set it for 48 minutes. When it goes off, it serves as an instant reality check: Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing?"

Vox Pop: What default settings would you change?

43 Folders: "What default settings would you love to change in popular applications? Taken a step further, what excellent habits could be taught to users by looking at defaults as something beyond familiarity and day one ease-of-use? Could the aggressive use of smart or personalized defaults create a generation of short-meeting-makers and intersperse-responders?"

Web Worker 101: Staying Motivated

Web Worker Daily: "For many people, web work can be a very isolating experience. Without the presence of coworkers on all sides, it can be easy to lose your focus on work. While some people find this sort of freedom exhilarating (and others find the potential presence of the wolf at the door more than enough reason to work every waking hour no matter what their environment), it can be tough for the new web worker to actually get their work done. With no peer pressure, no boss, and no structure, how do you stay on task?"

To Do Managers: Organize Your To-dos, Bookmarks, and RSS Feeds with Treedolist

Lifehacker: "Web site Treedolist hierarchically organizes your to-do list, notes, bookmarks, RSS feeds, and pretty much anything else you can think to drop into it. At its most basic, you can think of it as a simple to-do list with the ability to add structured and nested lists and then filter your lists by due dates, labels, and a number of other useful methods."

Toolmonger’s Top 5: The Week In Tools

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

CMU's solar house a glimpse of the future

Post Gazette: "About 110 students, with a core group of 24 Carnegie Mellon students, participated in the two-year project. Ben Saks, a fifth-year Carnegie Mellon architectural student from Shaker Heights, Ohio, is project manager, with various committees specializing in engineering, design, art, communications and fund raising."

Pitt, CMU to pay more for transit rides for faculty, students

Post Gazette: "Staff at the Port Authority of Allegheny County yesterday recommended to the agency's board a five-year deal with both schools that would hike discounted ridership rates by 15 percent each year."

In tune and revoiced

Post Gazette: "After an extended trip to the organ version of the dentist, the area's largest working pipe organ is now shiny and in a week will debut a clean sound that harks back to its origins."

Why knockoffs are good for fashion

Boing Boing: "James Surowiecki (author of the great book The Wisdom of Crowds) has a fantastic, tight little article about copyright and fashion in this week's New Yorker. Fashion designs aren't covered by copyright, and this means that couture designs are knocked off and sold at huge discounts in department stores and shops like H&M within seconds of appearing on the runway. This upsets many designers, but there's plenty of evidence that it's good for the industry as a whole"

Task Management: Do the Most Important Task First

Lifehacker: "If you've got a task list as long as your arm, it can be overwhelming. Self-improvement site Better Life Forum suggests that you do the absolutely most important task first and then tackle the rest"

Stage Review: New Works performances, plays sometimes at odds

Post Gazette: "Part of the appeal but also frustration of the New Works Festival is its variability, with small theater companies and performers of differing skills tackling scripts of even more varied achievement. So pity the critic, who tries to make snap sense out of what, notwithstanding creative energy and care expended, can seem random."

Xanadu Injuries

New York Times: "People have blamed a million things for the supposed decline of American theater: the movies, the lack of government support, the coarsening of the culture, etc., etc. But here is another theory: that the currently running Broadway musical “Xanadu,” based on the famously atrocious 1980 movie, is simply disabling everybody one by one."

Stage Crew

Craigslist: "Looking for stage crew for Ray Cooney's Out of Order, a fast paced British farce at Veronica Veil Players running Nov 1,2,3,4 and 9, 10. Tech week will run from Oct 27-31. No Fri and Sat evening rehearsals."

CMU solar housing a contender

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Carnegie Mellon University is banking on plug-and-play housing to bring home the gold in the U.S. Department of Energy's third Solar Decathlon competition next month."

More bells of doom are clanging for BC's film industry as loonie grows

CKNW News Talk 980: "'We’re no different than the guys that make pick-up trucks in Oakville, Ontario. If the product we manufacture is too expensive for our customers, our customers aren't going to buy.'"

Car sharing gains steam on campuses

USATODAY.com: "Carnegie Mellon University has more than 7,000 students, but the downtown Pittsburgh campus offers only 2,700 parking spaces for students, faculty and staff."

CMU students not alarmed by terror threat

Pittsburgh City Paper - Pittsburgh: "Three times in the past three weeks, Carnegie Mellon University has received bomb threats in anonymous e-mails. Like a dozen other universities across the country receiving similar threats, CMU evacuated buildings and swept them for bombs. But nothing has been found -- and if the e-mailer is hoping to terrorize students, it isn't working."

Zoo granted coveted AZA accreditation

Post Gazette: "'Only the very best zoos and aquariums can meet tough AZA accreditation standards,' said Jim Maddy, the association's president and chief executive officer. The Pittsburgh Zoo 'meets or exceeds AZA's high standards' and 'provides every visitor with a chance to connect to global wildlife conservation.'"

Video: Dr. Pausch's farewell lecture at CMU

Post Gazette: "It is probably the last public speech Dr. Pausch will give anywhere. The 46-year-old computer science professor and father of three preschoolers has incurable pancreatic cancer. Doctors have given him months to live."

ETC wins education award

ETC: "This summer, the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), a national academic organization, bestowed a Standing Ovation Award on ETC for the lighting company’s years of dedication to education."

Want a Career in Culture? Pay Can Rival Wall Street

The New York Sun: "Perhaps the most remarkable compensation at a cultural organization listed in the survey is that of Dennis O'Connell, a stagehand at Carnegie Hall who last year earned"

ETC explores media projects in educational partnership

The Tartan Online: "Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) will be partnering with Harrisburg University of Science and Technology and the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania (TCCP) this semester to form a new center aimed at training people for technology-based jobs."

CMU grads go back to school

The Tartan Online: "The number of Carnegie Mellon graduates who apply to Teach for America is on the rise. This year, 36 members of the class of 2007 applied, a 57 percent increase in applications since 2006, according to a report issued by Teach For America."

GEMINI THE MUSICAL opens at NYMF!

Carnegie Mellon New York Drama Alumni Clan: "Charlie Gilbert (MFA '77) has created music and lyrics for a new musical, in a production that features Kirsten Bracken (BFA '07) - two generations of CMU team up!"

Harrasment Video- showing me interesting ways to get fired from work...

randomthoughts: "At my place of employment I had to undergo an online harassment training course. As many people have said to me 'know I know how to harass people.' My take on it is 'Now I know some interesting ways to get fired.'"

25 Terrific Phrases to Ues In Your Resume

Interview411: "It can be tough to think of creative ways to express your accomplishments on your resume - it's easy to get stuck using the same phrases over and over again. Use this list of phrases to come up with new and better ways to communicate your responsibilities and achievements to prospective employers."

Stage Preview: Bricolage premiere brings Harris' return

Stage Preview: Bricolage premiere brings Harris' return:



"Call him the gray beard of the avant garde, the veteran, the gray hair. That might seem a contradiction in terms, but not for Jed Allen Harris, who embodies other apparent contradictions as well."

Documentary to 'Expose' High School Musicals

Backstage: "Written and directed by Barry Blaustein, the film follows three Southern Indiana high schools that spend tens of thousands of dollars on their musical productions in order to compete for admission to the International Thespian Festival. Blaustein and Spitfire's Nigel Sinclair are producing. Guy East and Tobin Armbrust of Spitfire are executive producers."

Rosenberg Narrowly Re-Elected SAG President

Backstage: "Alan Rosenberg, the national president of the Screen Actors Guild whose term has been defined by varying amounts of combativeness and conciliation, survived an insurgent challenge from his own party and was narrowly reelected to a second two-year term Thursday night."

Crew Call: All grip positions

Craigslist: "Oct 15 through Thanksgiving"

IATSE Supports "Forget Me Not" Foundation - Wounded Marines Inaugurate Media Training Center

-||- IATSE National -||: "The IA has agreed to accept into the Union and offer full accreditation to combatwounded Center graduates, giving graduating Marines the ability to work as professional crew within the entertainment industry."

Fire Threatens 70-Year-Old Theatre Tradition

NPR: "North Carolina's summertime drama, The Lost Colony, is this country's longest running outdoor production. The play has been a community mainstay for 70 years, but now its 2008 season is in jeopardy."

BRAVO, IT'S FREE

New York Post: "THEY came, they clapped, they had lunch . . . then clapped and cried and clapped some more. The Metropolitan Opera yesterday opened its doors for a free dress rehearsal, and 3,000 people were only too happy to take a seat. Or stand."

'West Side Story' Celebrates 50th Anniversary

VOA News: "American musical theater celebrates a major anniversary in 2007. Fifty years ago this month - on September 26, 1957 - 'West Side Story' opened on Broadway. Based on William Shakespeare's famous tragedy 'Romeo and Juliet,' 'West Side Story' introduced a dramatically new approach to the music, dance motifs, and storytelling of a stage musical. For producer George Dwyer, VOA's Jim Bertel reports on the golden anniversary reprise of an authentic American classic."

Hollywood Comes to Russia

TIME: "Despite the movie business's reputation for waste and excess, there are few places more ruthlessly scheduled, more efficiently choreographed than a film set."

PG South preview: 'Art,' 'Almost, Maine' open at theaters

Post Gazette: "Two plays opening in the South Hills next Thursday demonstrate how dedicated actors can be, especially when they feel their material is worth sacrificing for."

PG East review: Youth serves up energy in 'Grease'

Post Gazette: "'Grease,' which opened at McKeesport Little Theatre Friday, is a musical all about the anxiety, awkwardness and energy of being a teenager. On stage and film, though, the students of 1959 Rydell High have usually been portrayed by polished older professionals. Both Olivia Newton-John and Stockard Channing were in their 30s when they played Sandy and Rizzo in the 1978 film."

Stage Review: Touring 'My Fair Lady' is a literate and joyous romp

Post Gazette: "This lavishly literate pleasure arrived at the Benedum Tuesday in a national tour based on a hit English production. Pittsburgh is its first stop, and though there were a few opening night glitches -- an occasional imbalance between singers and orchestra is the only one that bothered me -- it does the show proud."

PG East preview: 'Complete History ... (Abridged)' is not for the serious historian

Post Gazette: "Are you completely serious about the history of our nation? Then director Nate Newell advises that you do not attend the comedy 'The Complete History of America (Abridged),' which opens at Apple Hill Playhouse tonight."

PG North preview: First drama at Kean Theatre is 'Proof'

Post Gazette: "Director Tom Madden said that while comedies are sure audience pleasers, drama is more risky. 'But we've cultivated a very sophisticated audience here,' he said, 'and this is the next step.'"

Video: AutoCAD Utility Provides One-Click Real-time Design Review without installing a Viewer

Daily Autocad: "Project Freewheel, available from Autodesk Labs, allows anyone to view and markup your AutoCAD designs using just their browser. You can conduct a design review in real-time where everyone in a sharing session sees the same view of your AutoCAD design along with the markups made by the participants."

SAG Divided Over Canada Approach

Backstage: "Nine years of hard work and careful politicking came to fruition for the Film and Television Action Committee on Sept. 4, when the grass-roots nonprofit organization filed its 301(a) petition with the Office of the United States Trade Representative. In a 114-page petition, accompanied by 3,447 pages of supporting documents, FTAC made its case that Canada's tax breaks and other subsidies unfairly lure American film and TV productions north, costing U.S. workers thousands of jobs annually."

H'wood Writers Resume Talks Amid Strike Fears

Backstage: "With strike jitters running high in Hollywood, screenwriters and studio executives resumed contract talks on Wednesday, nine weeks after the two sides exchanged proposals and retreated to neutral corners."

Sky's the limit for opera companies

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Opera expands this season as Opera Theater joins Pittsburgh Opera with performances scheduled in the Cultural District, Downtown."

'Complete History' flies through America's past

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Instead, 'The Complete History of America (Abridged)' is a fast-paced series of vaudeville sketches, word-association games, puns and parodies that, according to its originators, covers '600 years of history in 6,000 seconds.' The play originally was produced and performed by The Reduced Shakespeare Company, a three-man comedy troupe internationally known for its slapstick interpretations of serious subjects."

New 'Fair Lady' opens Broadway series in style

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The 2007-08 PNC Broadway Across America -- Pittsburgh got off to a promising start Tuesday evening with a production of 'My Fair Lady' that pleases both the eye and ear."

Theater offerings from Shakespeare to Steelers

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "From Austen to Zola, the fall theater season offers a rich mix of plays aimed at everyone from the youngest audience members to veteran theater fanatics."

Costumes that distract from the drama

Guardian Unlimited: "In Big White Fog you could practically feel the life going on outside the Chicago family's front door, so authentically had Attenborough and designer Jonathan Fensom fashioned the domestic interior. But with Awake and Sing!, Attenborough seems to have fallen into the trap of so many productions these days: glamming up where scruffy should be the order of the day."

A Bold New Stage For D.C.

washingtonpost.com: "Like many a discerning house-hunter, Michael Kahn had a detailed wish list for the real estate he desired as the next downtown showplace for the Shakespeare Theatre Company."

Look inside the puppet's head

The Japan Times Online: "'One aspiring to become a puppet operator would have to spend 10 years to master the handling of the puppet's feet and another 10 years to be able to operate its left hand,' says Yoshida Bunjaku, 79, one of two omozukai (principal puppeteers) awarded the title of Living National Treasure. 'While he is learning . . . he is supposed to watch what the omozukai, who is constantly giving him signs, does on stage.'"

Blood brutality: the underbelly exposed - Arts - Entertainment - smh.com.au

Sydney Morning Hearald: "IT OCCURRED to Philip Ridley well into the writing of his provocative play Mercury Fur that it might offend some of the audience, even prompt walkouts."

With war live from Iraq still raging, the Army brings its live stage show Spirit of America to town.

Pittsburgh City Paper: "'War is hell.' A sentiment voiced in the distant past resonates into the immediate present, and most likely will echo until the human race is extinguished. It's declared by foot soldiers and armchair generals, expounded upon by poets and philosophers, communicated by artists, and lamented by childless parents and orphaned children. It doesn't surprise."

Dracula: Dragon Prince

Pittsburgh City Paper: "You just can't keep a good dead man down. The hematophagic aristocrat has figured in literally hundreds of plays and movies since Bram Stoker brought him to life in 1897. We've had scary Draculas, sexy Draculas and, especially of late, camp Draculas. As reincarnated by Rage of the Stage Players, Drac is all of the above, but most of all a victim of history and his heritage."

Ancestral Voices

Pittsburgh City Paper: "Playwright A.R. Gurney himself owns up to the problem with his Ancestral Voices in its opening monologue. He (the narrator) says that the work began as a play but laments that it covered too much geography, and time, to fit on a stage. He tried to write it as a novel but, he says, there was too much dialogue to work as prose. So he made it what it is: a seated reading/spoken oratorio for five actors. Sad to say, this third form is probably the least successful of all."

Ah, Wilderness!

Pittsburgh City Paper: "Some people dismiss Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! as simple-minded and inconsistent with the greatness of his other work. Maybe, having witnessed productions which fail to do it justice, they haven't been able to see and hear how well he wrote the play. Playhouse Rep director Robert Miller and an excellent cast, however, make this charmer sparkle with understanding and truth."

echo::system -- The Desert

Pittsburgh City Paper: "Echo::system -- The Desert is a, uh ... science fiction? About migratory humanoids? On Mars? Who wander a long, long ways? And break off into sub-species? Called the Suits? And there are skateboarders? And everybody sings, maybe in English? And, uh ..."

Being known for two roles is just loverly for 'Fair Lady' Howes

PostGazette: "Some performers go through their whole careers identified mainly with one role, some with many, but for Sally Ann Howes, there are two. In theater, she's famed for being the first to follow Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle in 'My Fair Lady' on Broadway, back in 1958. And she's known to a larger audience as Truly Scrumptious, the English beauty who galvanizes the heart of Dick Van Dyke in the 1968 movie 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.'"

Historic status recommended for former Wilson home

PostGazette: "The city planning commission has recommended that August Wilson's boyhood home be designated a city historic structure."

Stage Review: Irish culture clash with a comic wallop

Post Gazette: "Don't let the grim sound of 'culture clash' put you off: In 'James McBride,' the second play in a thematic series of that name by Mark Clayton Southers, the clash has explosive potential, but the result is less bombshells than pinwheels and sparklers of comic sentiment."

Las Vegas theater back after bust

Variety.com: "The right kind of legit is still thriving in Sin City after some very lean seasons. But with high-end, uber-theatrical ultra-lounges now spreading like kudzu in the desert, the lure of sex, bottle service and starlets behaving badly has pretty much killed off those once-ubiquitous latenight curtains."

How to Enjoy What You Are Doing No Matter What

lifehack.org: "Ideally, we can choose to always do what we love without ever needing to think about the things we don’t like. That, unfortunately, is not the case in real world. There are times when we need to do something we don’t like."

Office Hours: Coming to a Computer Near You

Inside Higher Ed: "As reported in The Harvard Crimson on Monday, teaching fellows (Harvard parlance for TAs) for the course this semester will begin holding real-time, online help sessions for students this week. Using free, Java-based software, students can log on, chat with each other (via text or microphone) and even “raise their hands” with the click of a button, which adds them to a queue on the teaching fellow’s computer."

Actors Fund prepared for crises

Variety.com: "When 'actors,' as all show folk were called in the 1880s, were so disrespectable that churches wouldn't bury them, the Fund (then known as The Actors' Fund of America) offered a cemetery. When AIDS decimated the business 100 years later, the Fund helped when many orgs were barely aware of the new disease."

Leaders and legacies serve needs

Variety.com: "With 125 years of service under its belt, the Actors Fund has built up enormous good will among industry pros. In 2006, the Fund's help extended to 8,000 people in 46 states, but those who have been helped by the Fund talk most about the staff's warmth and positive attitude."

Young mingles with old at Home

Variety.com: "When one 'Jersey Boy' visited the Actors Fund Home last year he discovered not just a nursing home but a repository of showbiz lore, a place where old can mingle with young."

T Fellowship, Program for Emerging Producers, Announces 2007 Recipients

Playbill News: "Committee members Harold Prince, Ed Wilson, Margo Lion, Jack O'Brien, Victoria Bailey, Gregory Mosher and Steven Chaikelson awarded Orin Wolf and John Pinckard admittance into the one-year fellowship program."

Carnegie Mellon ETC Partners with Smaller Colleges

Stage-directions: "Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) has announced a partnership with the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology and the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania to create the Center for Advanced Entertainment & Learning Technologies. Based at Harrisburg University's Strawberry Square campus, the center aims to benefit education and the region's economy."

Exclusive interview: Stephen Sondheim

The Denver Post: "Stroll by the Broadway marquees near Times Square, and you'll see the titles of dozens of shows, ranging from Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running 'The Phantom of the Opera' to Mel Brooks' soon-to-open stage version of 'Young Frankenstein.' You won't encounter Stephen Sondheim's name anywhere, but don't be misled. No one has had more of an impact on the Great White Way during the past five decades than the celebrated 77-year-old composer and lyricist."

Broadway’s Gal Pals

Show Business Weekly: "The Great White Way is going where many New York bars and clubs have gone before: ladies’ night."

State-of-the-art theater complex on the skids

Show Business Weekly: "The much-hyped theater complex 37 Arts may have to close its doors a mere two years after it opened. Despite an array of experienced owners — including Kevin McCollum and Jeffrey Seller, producers of the very successful Rent and Avenue Q; Dan Markley, who produced The Vagina Monologues and STOMP; and seasoned off-Broadway manager Alan Schuster — the complex is currently facing up to $20 million in liens. According to the New York Post, the possibility of foreclosure and bankruptcy is looming ominously over the venue’s future."

NSCA Rolls Out New Job Board to Help Match Employees and Employers

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: "NSCA's new job board is designed to make it easier to connect to the right people. The job board allows users to set their own search criteria for locating jobs."

PLAYBILL.COM'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW: Bigger Is Better

Yahoo! News: "Apparently, Sorkin, busy with his well-populated television series out in Hollywood, has not noticed how, over the past 20 years, the cast-list for the average Broadway play (or average Off-Broadway play for that matter) has shrunk and shrunk until a so-called 'big-cast play' features only eight characters. More common is five - like Theresa Rebeck's Mauritius, which began previews at the Biltmore Theatre this week, or three or - the best financial scenario - one!"

Students' 'Evolving' Use of Technology

Inside Higher Ed: "In at least one central respect, proponents of technology in the classroom are on to something: Most students (60.9 percent) believe it improves their learning."

Rewards Don’t Motivate

lifehack.org: "Author of “Motivation from the Inside Out: Rethinking Rewards, Assessment, and Learning” and “Beyond Bribes and Threats: Realistic Alternatives to Controlling Students’ Behavior”, Alfie Kohn wrote this piece for the New York Times in 1993 about rewards in the workplace not motivating employees the right way."

Mamma Mia! British musical revolution comes to China

Reuters: "The British producer behind the West End and Broadway hits 'Cats,' 'Les Miserables' and 'Mary Poppins,' among others, said he is bringing a revolution to China by introducing the Chinese versions."

Playwright’s season opener adds to ‘Culture Clash’

Pittsburgh Courier: "The Pittsburgh Playwright’s Theatre Co. is starting the next season with a play penned by its artistic director, Mark Clayton Southers."

Nemetschek North America Launches VectorWorks Spotlight 2008

Live Design: "Nemetschek North America has announced the release of the latest upgrade of VectorWorks Spotlight, its comprehensive, cross-platform CAD program for designing lighting, scenery, sets, live concerts, corporate events, theatrical productions, and exhibit designs."

How 'Family Guy' goes from screen to stage

chicagotribune.com: "Lately his reach has expanded into the realm of theater. MacFarlane -- who voices many of the characters on the show, including the Family Guy himself, Peter Griffin -- joins the rest of the cast for two performances at the Chicago Theatre on Saturday"

From an Epic Gatsby to Naked Shakespeare at Philly's Live Arts Festival

village voice: "In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia's favorite son, lists the 13 virtues that will lead to 'moral perfection'—moderation, temperance, and cleanliness among them. Immoderate, intemperate, and frequently dirty, the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival wouldn't fare well in Franklin's estimation. Now in its 11th year, this celebration of innovative arts might occasion moral turpitude. But a sampling of its theater offerings suggests it might also occasion a very pleasant weekend."

Being known for two roles is just loverly for 'Fair Lady' Howes

Post Gazette: "Some performers go through their whole careers identified mainly with one role, some with many, but for Sally Ann Howes, there are two. In theater, she's famed for being the first to follow Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle in 'My Fair Lady' on Broadway, back in 1958. And she's known to a larger audience as Truly Scrumptious, the English beauty who galvanizes the heart of Dick Van Dyke in the 1968 movie 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.'"

The 'Sundance' of musical theatre

Los Angeles Times: "Starting a musical theater festival from scratch with 31 shows was a 'maverick act, a leap of faith,' says Kris Stewart, co-founder and executive director of the New York Musical Theatre Festival. 'There seemed to be so many writers and directors who were crying out for this opportunity, and such a gap we were stepping into.'"

SAG Snares Web's 'Quarterlife'

Backstage: "The Screen Actors Guild will officially cover Quarterlife, an upcoming web-only series from Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick (Thirtysomething, My So-Called Life), the Guild announced today. The series, set to debut Nov. 11 on MySpaceTV.com, will be produced under SAG's Internet Online Agreement."

Sifting the Dustbin of Literary History

New York Times: "JONATHAN BANK, the artistic director of the Mint Theater Company, swings his arm over the clutter of his desk and plucks out a small piece of ruled white paper. On it are written, in cursive hand, the titles of eight obscure plays, their authors penned in next to them."

The Aging of Aquarius

New York Times: "IF it were a man and not a musical, “Hair” would now be facing the indignities of middle age. As he turns 40, a man must reckon with harbingers of decay like reading glasses and a recalcitrant belly roll. If it were a man and not a musical, “Hair” might by now have a bald spot it was sheepishly trying to hide. Why “Hair” might even be wearing a hairpiece."

Accents, dialects play big role in 'My Fair Lady'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "'Any skill you have and can put at the bottom of a resume, anything you can do to set yourself apart to get your foot in the door is valuable,' he says."

Tax Tip: IRS Reminds You To Keep Your Education Related Receipts

Consumerist: "When you're cleaning out your purse or wallet this week, make sure to save your education related receipts because, depending on your situation, you may be eligible for some spiffy tax breaks in April."

Photoshop Secret Shortcuts

The Best Article Every day: "It is proven that by using software shortcuts can boost up productivity. Here are 30 secret Photoshop shortcuts that I’ve learned from years of experience. Well, what I mean by “secret” is that these shortcuts are not documented in the menus. Keep reading and you will find how these shortcuts can speed up your productivity. I bet you don’t know all of them."

Artist will send 300 meter banana 50km above the earth

Boing Boing: "Montreal artist Cesar Saez is making a giant, helium filled banana that he intends to launch in Texas, sending it 20-30 miles up. The title of the project is 'Geostationary Banana Over Texas.'"

Preview: Leatherman’s Skeletool

Toolmonger: "Leatherman’s new Skeletool is a stripped down, lightweight (five ounces!) multi-tool with all the tools you expect from a Leatherman: a screwdriver, a knife, and pliers. And unlike with previous Leathermans, the knife and the bottle opener (the hook at the back) are accessible without opening the tool."

Tough Love for Email

Web Worker Daily: "Newsvine CEO Mike Davidson suggests another approach to taming the email monster: ruthless brevity. In common with our own Anne Zelenka, he’s come to the conclusion that emails should be short instead of nice, but Mike has taken this a step further by instituting a formal policy for his own outgoing messages: they’re all five sentences or less."

The Conference Call Is Dead. Here's a Better Way

The Raw Feed: "Conference calls haven't changed much in the past couple of decades. They're still an unproductive and annoying waste of time."

Goals: Follow Seinfeld's Advice at Don't Break the Chain

Lifehacker: "Webapp Don't Break the Chain, inspired by Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secret, tracks how many consecutive days you've achieved a specific goal."

Getting the Most out of MS Excel

Web Worker Daily: "Throughout the years I’ve covered software, I’ve noticed a quirk that has to do with Microsoft Excel. Specifically, many people use Excel for tasks that don’t fall into classic spreadsheet usage patterns."

Adobe vs Adobe – A Review of CS3

Freelance Switch: "If you are confused about Adobe’s new offerings, you aren’t alone. Currently, one can not only purchase Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web and Design Premium, but also both variants in a Standard edition, plus Production Premium and the all-inclusive Master Collection."

Back To School

Lifehacker: "Microsoft's offering Office 2007 to students for $60 starting next Wednesday."

Does copyright create $2.2 trillion in value? No, but fair use does

CNET News.com: "The Computer and Communications Industry Association--a Washington D.C.-based think tank and lobbying group--has issued a report [PDF] that dispels some common mythology around the value of intellectual property to the U.S. economy. CCIA found that 'fair use' exceptions to copyright created $4.5 trillion in annual revenue for the U.S. economy."

How to Avoid Getting Fired by Facebook

lifehack.org: "Everything is public. Act as though it is going to be on the front page of the New York Times tomorrow. Facebook just announced that in a matter of a few days or weeks, it will become indexed by the colossal Google search engine. People are now also able to search for listings from the welcome page without first signing up as a member. Welcome to the front page! Beware of what you air in places like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter that have become easily searchable, fairly permanent and highly public."

You’re Never Too Close For Safety Glasses

Toolmonger: "I can’t think of any job in the workshop where safety glasses aren’t warranted — even just sweeping the floor or using a Dremel tool. You’ve only have two eyes, and you’ve got to protect them."

Desktop Factory's cheapo 3D printer is coming

Engadget: "Tinkerers, schemers, makers and DIY-buffs: grab your ball-peen hammer and heaviest piggy bank, because you're about to need a loan. A company called Desktop Factory is going to make your 3D-printing dreams a serious reality with the introduction of its 125ci 3D printer, a $4,995 hunk of concept-plastic magic which could possibly represent a paradigmatic shift for the state of three-dimensional printing for the masses."

New Haunted Mansion in Disney World - Video with binaural sound!

Boing Boing: "The Haunted Mansion ride at Walt Disney World has just undergone a major rehab that builds on the superb work done on Disneyland's Mansion last year."

Toolmonger’s Top 5: The Week In Tools

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

Aunty Entity: Indispensable Project Managers

Frelance Switch: "Let’s get one thing clear. No-one but no-one is indispensable in a workplace unless you own the company and even then you can be taken over, edged out or just plain fired if it’s big enough…."

Millions up for grabs in Scaife divorce fight

Post Gazette: "The divorce case titled Scaife v. Scaife has wound its way through the courts under a blanket of secrecy as both sides struggle over a storied Pittsburgh fortune surpassing $1.4 billion and a temporary monthly alimony payment bigger than the life savings of most people."

Coyote Rep Presents 3 New Sound Plays, Available on iTunes

BroadwayWorld.com: "Coyote REP, an innovative new theater company, is proud to announce the World Premiere of three recorded sound plays from their 2007 Sound Play Series; Coyote Rising written by Tira Palmquist and directed by Jeanne LaSala; The Boy at the Window written by Douglas Braverman and co-directed by Olivia Mora/Teresa K. Pond; and Patriot Act (An Occurrence at Yankee Stadium), written by Robert Emmet Lunney and directed by Richard Romagnoli."

'Frankenstein' creeps out Broadway

Variety.com: "Sillerman, the former head of SFX Entertainment who helped change the concert ticketing industry with tiered pricing, has never been afraid of rethinking legit biz practices. He was a co-producer of 'Producers,' which, when it first implemented premium-priced tickets, caused an outcry but ended up creating a new model for ticket pricing that is followed by the majority of Broadway today."

A Town’s Darkest Day Is Playing Out on Stage

New York Times: "“Some of my regulars won’t see it,” said Karl Buckman, the owner of Obee’s sub shop opposite the theater. “They say, ‘How can you make a musical out of the flood?’ ” That Mr. Buckman is a cast member has not swayed them."

One Million Forgotten Moments

New York Times: "Among the clichés of New York life is that the city’s streets are their own kind of theater, that there is a certain visual poetry in the millions of iPod wearers, cellphone talkers, street hawkers, office workers, tourist gawkers and other pedestrians making their way somewhere each and every minute of every day."

City's film industry aim to be eco-friendly

TheStar.com: "Ken Ferguson, president of the Toronto Film Studios, said the industry will not only share resources and ideas about how to reduce its carbon footprint, it will implement a certification process to recognize projects that are more environmentally conscious."

Aldermen back firings at GPAC

Commercial Appeal: "The Germantown administration on Wednesday defended its firing of three theater workers who tied stage-rigging ropes into hangman's nooses."

League of American Theatres and Producers Names Grant Recipients

Stage-directions: "The League of American Theatres and Producers Inc. has announced the recipients of its twelfth annual National Education Grants. These grants support innovative programs that enable students from coast to coast to experience touring Broadway as a form of artistic expression and as an educational tool."

Carnegie Mellon entering newest space race

Post Gazette: "Google and the X Prize Foundation are offering the prize to any company that can land a rocket on the moon and release a robotic rover onto the lunar surface to trek at least 1,312 feet and beam back to Earth self-portraits, panoramic views and real-time videos."

Film Union membership up in Mass.

BostonHerald.com: "Local 481 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts has seen a 37 percent surge in members since Massachusetts’ new film tax incentives took effect last year. More than 140 new enrollees have signed on, bringing its membership to a record 537."

Wanted: Skilled trades people to work in film

New Mexico Business Weekly:: "'New Mexico is experiencing the highest volume of film production in its history and we encourage New Mexicans with the appropriate skills to take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity,' said Lisa Strout, director of the film office."