Recording: In the Studio: Explaining The Mystery Of Compression

Pro Sound Web: The compressor is a wonderful tool when used properly, however, often the basics of compression are misunderstood, leaving audio that would have been better left untouched.

A compressor is a threshold effect that will squeeze dynamic range. If a sound has dynamics (increases and decreases in volume), a compressor will push them together.

The Art of the Job Search

Come Recommended: In today’s competitive environment, searching for a new job can be one of the most time consuming and daunting tasks we face as job seekers. But at the same time, employers of all shapes and sizes still list “attracting top talent” as one of their top ten most difficult challenges. So they want you and you want them…but without a strategic approach to the job search process, your chances of finding one another are that much more slim.

#NFTRW

This week's topics:


Theater: Creating a kid-friendly version of ‘The Tempest’
25 College Diplomas With the Highest Pay
Why British critics don't get The Book of Mormon
Filling the Empty Seats First
The Power List: Why Women Aren’t Equals In New Music Leadership and Innovation
The Empirical Kids
F.C.C. Has Yen for Broadway’s Wireless Spectrum
Shakespeare scholars unite to see off claims of the 'Bard deniers'

Featuring Adam, Andrew, Margo, & Lauren

NFTRW Weekly Top 5

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

Are Blank-Firing Guns Dangerous?

Prop Agenda: Are blank-firing guns dangerous? YES. Anyone who provides blank-firing weapons for stage and screen should know where their dangers lie, and make sure they are never used in a hazardous manner. But as a demonstration of what they can actually do, the video below should make it clear. Keep it in mind when it comes time to use your weapons, or show it to a director who tries to convince you that you are being overly cautious.

Posted by David at 4/26/2013 12:46:00 PM -- 13 Comments Here

Smartphones Acting In Concert, At A Concert

IdeaFeed | Big Think: MIT engineer Eyal Toledano has built a software system, CoSync, that links smartphones together via Bluetooth or wi-fi, allowing their users to share cameras, microphones, and other phone features. In a demonstration, six phones were connected to a master phone, which instructed each phone's camera when to take a picture. The resulting photos created by this network of cameras "evenly [lit] subjects and [avoided] washed out, overexposed images." Toledano says that camera flashes controlled in this way could also provide unique lighting, among other photo effects.

Posted by David at 4/28/2013 12:55:00 PM -- 12 Comments Here

The $300 Million Science Museum Of The Future

Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation: Visit San Francisco’s Pier 15 anytime on or after April 17 and you’ll get to take in a bridge enveloped in manmade fog, a 3-D topographic map of the Bay Area with data sets projected onto its surface, mouse stem cell research, and items from patients who lived at a now-shuttered mental institution. It’s all part of the new Exploratorium, a $300 million upgrade to the mother of all experiential learning science museums.

Posted by David at 4/27/2013 12:47:00 PM -- 12 Comments Here

Magic Sculpt

Cool Tools: I have used Magic Sculpt to put a zombie face onto a mannequin, to make a model of Dracula’s castle for the movie Van Helsing, and to make small sculptures and other props for Star Wars. Magic Sculpt is a two-part epoxy putty with the consistency of clay.

Posted by David at 4/27/2013 12:42:00 PM -- 10 Comments Here

4 Career Lessons From A Former Design Intern

Co.Design: business + innovation + design: The U.S. armed forces have a practice of formally recording the stuff they’ve learned in the course of any conflict. In military parlance, it’s called making an “after-actions” or “lessons learned” report. When you consider that much of the armed forces’ time is spent dealing with people who want to kill them, passing experience on to the next group of men and women coming in seems like a pretty good idea. In September 2012, I began a deployment of sorts. But instead of going to Iraq or Afghanistan, I headed for an internship at Soulcake Creative, a boutique design consultancy in San Clemente, California, to test my hard-earned Art Center College of Design stripes. What follows is my own “lessons learned report” from the experience. Hopefully, my takeaways can help other young designers minimize bloodshed as they transition into new posts.

Posted by David at 4/28/2013 12:48:00 PM -- 9 Comments Here

Nicholas Hytner: With Shakespeare, the play is just a starting point

Culture | The Guardian: A novel can tell you everything you want to know about what it's trying to say, but plays are by definition incomplete. They are instructions for performance, like musical scores, and they need players to become music.

Is this the final act for Nigeria's rich theatrical tradition?

BBC News: Theatre attendance in Nigeria's economic capital, Lagos, is dwindling as "Nollywood" - the country's prolific film industry - surges in popularity. This - along with the high cost of renting traditional venues - means that theatre producers may have to find cheaper, alternative venues for their plays.

Chicago’s Storefront Theaters Are a Hotbed of Talent

www.backstage.com: What is a storefront theater? Ask three artistic directors this question, and you’ll get three different answers. “Small, non-Equity house.” “Itinerant company.” “A theater in a storefront.” The only aspect that everyone can agree on? It’s a place where adventurous and often—though not necessarily—young talent take impressive risks. “Storefronts are a place where artists can experiment with the full range of their potential,” says Deb Clapp, executive director of the League of Chicago Theatres. “It’s almost like it’s easier to fail here so it’s easier to take a risk. I don’t think artistic talent gets developed without risk taking.” According to an undated study, the city boasts 250 professional theaters, but Clapp says there are probably closer to 300. Many renowned companies in Chicago, such as Steppenwolf (started by Gary Sinise, Jeff Perry, and Terry Kinney) and Lookingglass (co-founded by David Schwimmer), began as basement projects and have emerged as world-class, Tony-winning houses.

Jury Decides Against Actor in IMDb Suit

www.backstage.com: A jury has decided against actor Huong Hoang in her suit against IMDb. Since 2011, Hoang, whose stage name is Junie Hoang, has been suing IMDb and its parent company Amazon in federal court for what she says was improperly revealing her age in her online profile. The civil trial started in federal court in Seattle April 8. On Wednesday, the jury heard closing arguments and received their final instructions from judge Marsha Pechman. They rendered a verdict in favor of IMDb on Thursday, deciding that the website didn't violate its legal obligations to the 41-year-old actor.

Commercial Theater Institute's 32nd Annual Weekend Intensive Held April 19-21 in NYC; Four New Musicals Presented

Playbill.com: The Commercial Theater Institute, the New York City-based program committed to the development and training of emerging producers, offers its 32nd annual "3-Day Weekend Producing Intensive" April 19-21 at the Snapple Theater Center in Manhattan. For the first time, the three-day course features a concentration on the creative development process and includes the presentation of four new musicals.

Legal Settlement Frees Up ‘Spider-Man’ to Spread Web

Variety: “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” — coming soon to an arena near you? The legal settlement reached April 10 between Julie Taymor and producers of Broadway tuner “Spider-Man” not only ends months of drawn-out legal wrangling it also clears the way for the show to make a real stab at profitability, by freeing the producers to expand the title to cities in the U.S. (including Vegas), Europe or Asia. Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed, although it’s said helmer-designer Taymor came out just fine in the deal, and could make plenty of money should the show start ringing in coin from a web of satellite productions.

J-O-B A/V

HB Communications is looking for people with a background in audio, video, and/or control system technology to join our team.  HB has over 65 years’ experience providing progressive communication solutions to the Northeast.  With offices located in CT, MA, and NJ the experienced staff at HB focuses on audio visual system integration, videoconferencing, distance learning, broadcast video, IP visual communications, digital signage and more.   If you are interested in working in any of these areas we would like to meet and discuss a possible match.
Please forward your resume to resumes@hbcommunications.com.  HB Communications, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

'Clybourne Park' was inspired by 'A Raisin in the Sun'

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: One of the central American plays of the 20th century takes its title from a poem by Langston Hughes: What happens to a dream deferred Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? When Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun" came to Broadway in 1959, it suggested a better possibility. It was a portent of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, especially in its story, where the Younger family plans a move from Chicago's black south side to a white suburb, but also in its barrier-breaking creative team and cast.

Review: Audience must conceive its own reality for 'Dream of Autumn'

TribLIVE: The spirit and enigmas of Samuel Beckett live on in Jon Fosse's “Dream of Autumn.” Past, present and possibly the future intersect, interact and present themselves for contemplation in a vast, barren and deserted landscape in Quantum Theatre's production of this contemporary drama by a Norwegian playwright. While little known in the United States, Fosse is revered in much of the rest of the world, where his plays have been translated into more than 40 languages.

Pitt Rep's City of Asylum

Theater Reviews + Features | Pittsburgh City Paper: Alas, nothing is so taxingly certain as man's inhumanity to man, and it's difficult to get such tales to grab and hold the public's attention. The University of Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre's ambitious City of Asylum aims at hearts, minds and all the senses with a multimedia "stage performance," so labeled by Cynthia Croot, theater-faculty member. She conceived and directed the chapters of this one-act, which shares snapshots of the lives and works of four writers who defied death and dictators in their home countries before finding shelter with the titular Pittsburgh nonprofit.

Smartphones Acting In Concert, At A Concert

IdeaFeed | Big Think: MIT engineer Eyal Toledano has built a software system, CoSync, that links smartphones together via Bluetooth or wi-fi, allowing their users to share cameras, microphones, and other phone features. In a demonstration, six phones were connected to a master phone, which instructed each phone's camera when to take a picture. The resulting photos created by this network of cameras "evenly [lit] subjects and [avoided] washed out, overexposed images." Toledano says that camera flashes controlled in this way could also provide unique lighting, among other photo effects.

4 Career Lessons From A Former Design Intern

Co.Design: business + innovation + design: The U.S. armed forces have a practice of formally recording the stuff they’ve learned in the course of any conflict. In military parlance, it’s called making an “after-actions” or “lessons learned” report. When you consider that much of the armed forces’ time is spent dealing with people who want to kill them, passing experience on to the next group of men and women coming in seems like a pretty good idea. In September 2012, I began a deployment of sorts. But instead of going to Iraq or Afghanistan, I headed for an internship at Soulcake Creative, a boutique design consultancy in San Clemente, California, to test my hard-earned Art Center College of Design stripes. What follows is my own “lessons learned report” from the experience. Hopefully, my takeaways can help other young designers minimize bloodshed as they transition into new posts.

Jamie Hyneman's Thoughts on Designing and Making with CAD

Tested: In this new semi-regular series, Jamie tackles questions from Tested readers and viewers about various topics of interest. And to kick things off, Jamie stops by the Tested office to have a chat about a technology he's been using a lot lately: computer-aided design.

LA Stage Alliance Readies a Community Center

www.backstage.com: Forget paying for lattes—Los Angeles actors will soon have their own “theater community Starbucks.” The LA Stage Alliance, a non-profit arts group, is readying a new community center that includes storage space for members’ props, costumes, and set dressings. The Atwater Village-based facility will also have a lounge with free coffee and Wi-Fi.

Supersizing a 'Sunday in the Park'

NYTimes.com: What happens when you take a Stephen Sondheim chamber piece — “Sunday in the Park With George” — and produce it operatically, quadrupling the size of the orchestra?

Steppenwolf Artistic Director Martha Lavey Puts Actors First

www.backstage.com: The first time Martha Lavey performed with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, she was naked in body paint playing a South American Indian. Her then acting teacher John Malkovich cast her in what she calls a “notorious” production of Christopher Hampton’s “Savages,” alongside Laurie Metcalf, Glenne Headly, and Terry Kinney. She was living her dream. Famously started in a school basement in 1974 by Gary Sinise, Jeff Perry, and Terry Kinney, Steppenwolf is one of the leading ensemble theaters in the country. So what’s the secret? Give the actors a voice.

SAG-AFTRA Leader: Staff-Cut Talk 'Premature'

www.backstage.com: Union leaders are pushing back against reports of additional layoffs as SAG-AFTRA heads into a national board meeting this weekend. On Tuesday David White, the union's executive director, sent a memo to board members and alternates calling the reports of staff cuts "premature and not official." "We expect to have a full discussion about this matter in connection with the National Board meeting this weekend," he wrote in the memo obtained by Backstage.

Broadway-Bound Big Fish Makes a Splash in Chicago, Opening April 19; Norbert Leo Butz and Kate Baldwin Star

Playbill.com: The world premiere of the new musical Big Fish, based on the 1998 novel by Daniel Wallace and the 2003 Columbia Pictures film written by John August, officially opens in a pre-Broadway engagement April 19, following previews that began April 2, in Chicago. Directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Producers, Contact, Show Boat, Crazy for You), the work features music and lyrics by Grammy and Tony nominee Andrew Lippa (The Addams Family) with a book by Grammy and BAFTA Award nominee August.

Jeff Buckley Musical Tunes Up at San Diego’s Old Globe

Variety: “The Last Goodbye,” the tuner mash-up of “Romeo and Juliet” and the songs of Jeff Buckley, will open the 2013-14 season at San Diego’s Old Globe Theater. Production, to be directed by Alex Timbers, isn’t billed as a pre-Broadway tryout, but its Rialto ambitions are no secret. The Old Globe partners with commercial producers Hal Luftig (“Kinky Boots”), Ruth and Stephen Hendel (“Fela!”), the Marks-Moore-Turnbull Group and exec producer Lauren Fitzgerald on the title.

Director of Production

The Denver Center Theater Company (LORT B), a division of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, is accepting applicants for the position of Director of Production.  Responsible for the leadership, management and oversight of all Production areas including the Lighting, Sound, Costume, Props, Scenery, Multimedia, and Stage Management departments.  Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Kent Thompson, DCTC produces 10-12 productions,  5-6 readings/workshops, and a series of limited run programming in its experimental space annually on four stages.  Primary skills include:

·         Support of Artistic Vision and Goals: work with the Producing Artistic Director, Managing Director, Production Departments Heads, directors and designers to ensure that each production achieves its goals in production values.  

Preview: Dublin-based director answers 11th-hour call to direct 'Our Class'

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Many curious eyes will be on the first production of Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre's season, and not just because "Our Class" is inspired by a fact-based piece of Holocaust-era horror. The play was chosen and cast by company co-founder Andrew Paul, who was to direct before he was fired last month as producing artistic director of the company.

Review: Three generations explore angst in City Theatre's 'Little Gem'

TribLIVE: The title of Elaine Murphy's play — “Little Gem” — says it all. Even if you spent an hour or two thumbing through Roget's Thesaurus, you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a more suitable title for this warmly entertaining drama about three stressed-out Irish women. It's a carefully polished jewel that sparkles with well-drawn characters, each of whom speaks in a distinctive voice as they explore different facets of family relationships and communication.

City Theatre's Little Gem

Theater Reviews + Features | Pittsburgh City Paper: Somewhere in the middle of Elaine Murphy's Little Gem — now at City Theatre — I was startled to realize that, in a lifetime as a professional audience member, this was the first play I'd ever seen by an Irish woman. I'm not sure what, if anything, that means. But after several thousand evenings lost in innumerable theaters, it's a remarkable factoid.

Interview with Carey Perloff

HowlRound: Brad: Gender parity and other kinds of diversity issues seem to be so front-burner right now, but it’s not like people haven’t been thinking and talking and writing about this for a long while. What is it about this moment, do you think? Carey: Earlier this year, Ellen [Richard] and I wrote a letter to the whole board at TCG asking them to consider gender in the TCG Strategic Plan commitment to diversity and inclusion. The response from TCG basically said that they only wanted to address issues of racial diversity now and gender was not the priority. End of discussion. From there, we saw your Executive Director’s Note in the Theater Bay Area talking about this issue and here we are. I thought, “You know what, maybe it does happen on the local level, maybe this is where change happens.” And boy, if it could happen anywhere, it’s the Bay Area, because at least we care about it, and we’re a crucible of social change.

The $300 Million Science Museum Of The Future

Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation: Visit San Francisco’s Pier 15 anytime on or after April 17 and you’ll get to take in a bridge enveloped in manmade fog, a 3-D topographic map of the Bay Area with data sets projected onto its surface, mouse stem cell research, and items from patients who lived at a now-shuttered mental institution. It’s all part of the new Exploratorium, a $300 million upgrade to the mother of all experiential learning science museums.

Magic Sculpt

Cool Tools: I have used Magic Sculpt to put a zombie face onto a mannequin, to make a model of Dracula’s castle for the movie Van Helsing, and to make small sculptures and other props for Star Wars. Magic Sculpt is a two-part epoxy putty with the consistency of clay.

The play's the thing for villages in India tackling real-life dramas

Kevin EG Perry | Global development | guardian.co.uk: Sibaguda is a remote tribal village in southern Odisha state, in the east of India. There are just 49 households, and cows are frequently herded through the main square. The electricity supply has been disrupted by a broken transformer and the only road has fallen into disrepair. What Sibaguda does have, in common with many tribal villages, is a central meeting place where theatre is performed. Now, thanks to one particular performance, a school is being built here for the first time.

The Right Chair

HowlRound: I’m going to take the precarious position that, as designers, what we put on stage in front of an audience should never be an apology. Why should lack of resources become an excuse for shoddy craftsmanship, or for compromising the quality of what we are capable as artists?

Why Chicago's Comedy Tradition Is Unlike Any Other

www.backstage.com: Reduce Chicago to its deep-dish core, and you will see it is at once synonymous with blustery winds, baseball futility, and side-splitting comedy of the highest degree. It is not only the birthplace of ensemble comedy but also the breeding ground for generations of comedians since the 1950s. Chicago comedy began at the turn of the 20th century, when the city was a major hub for vaudeville. According to Douglas Gomery, professor emeritus at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland in College Park, “Chicago always trailed only New York in vaudeville stops,” with dozens of theaters, some—like the Academy of Music and the McVickers—with capacities of up to 2,000 seats. But vaudeville didn’t stand a chance against the emergence of the talkies. “By 1930 pure vaudeville had died,” writes Gomery, “crushed by Hollywood.”

Will 'Spider-Man' Injure More Actors?

www.backstage.com: Broadway’s “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” has finally disentangled itself from the 17-month legal dispute between former director Julie Taymor and the show’s current producers. With the settlement, 8 Legged Productions—the entity behind the Broadway tuner—can now focus on boosting profitability, potentially through additional productions of the show outside New York. But can a show that gained early notoriety for injuries dealt to its actors in the Foxwoods Theatre’s made-to-order space safely launch in a touring version, or will traveling turn out to be Spider-Man’s kryptonite? (Sorry, wrong superhero.)

Could Rocky the Musical Box Its Way to Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre?

Playbill.com: Rocky the Musical, the new stage production based on the Academy Award-winning film, and featuring a score by Ragtime Tony Award winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, may arrive on Broadway next season at the Winter Garden Theatre, according to the New York Times. The musical, which has a book by Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan (Annie, Hairspray), premiered in Hamburg, Germany, last fall. "Rocky" creator/star Sylvester Stallone produces the German stage production along with Stage Entertainment, Vitali & Wladimir Klitschko.

Counterprogramming Lures Summer Sales Off Broadway

Variety: With tourists pouring into Gotham, summer can be a great time to be on Broadway. Off Broadway? The jury’s still out. It’s the big, splashy musicals that pull in the majority of warm-weather tourist biz — but producers of a couple of upcoming Off Broadway shows are betting summertime is the right time for a little smaller-scale counterprograming.

UT Austin Job Posting - Events Manager

The University of Texas at Austin: Provides coordination and planning of all elements of Texas Performing Arts season and booked events, College of Fine Arts and University events in Texas Performing Arts venues. Acts as a liaison between users of the venues and Texas Performing Arts staff and vendors. Educates clients about production processes and functions as events advisor or production manager. Produces events as assigned. Acquires and distributes technical riders and other relevant information; ensures that electronic database and other information is current and available to colleagues; serves as main events information resource for clients, staff and vendors. Develops and maintains positive, productive relationships with vendors. Supervises load-ins, set-ups, performances, strikes and load-outs when needed or assigned, and provides guidance regarding policies or contract requirements; attends events, performances and rehearsals as Texas Performing Arts representative when assigned or as needed. Prepares, assists with or oversees estimates, budgets, bills, building use agreements and offers throughout the booking and production process in conjunction with Technical Director, Programming and area supervisors. Prepares documentation for settlements; reviews vendor invoices for accuracy and ensures they are processed for payment in a timely manner. Supervises stage managers, hospitality assistants and student workers. Serves as a backup stage manager, runner, hospitality attendant or other logistics role as required. Coordinates artist hospitality and ground transportation. Utilizes UT Austin vehicles to transport artists, employees, equipment and supplies to venues, hotels, airports, and other destinations. In conjunction with other Events Manager and Administrative Associate, creates all necessary schedules and work requests for services from vendors and for University services, creates weekly meeting agenda, and coordinates building operations with event needs. Participates in the Event Query process and serves as a backup for Performance Logistics Technical Director and Scheduling office.

Dance preview: August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble to honor 2 cultures

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: It's been said that it's not where people start that matters as much as where they finish. In just a few years, the August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble, under the leadership of founding artistic director Greer Reed, has sprouted from a little-known dance troupe in Western Pennsylvania into a home for up-and-coming dancers starting to make a splash on the national arts scene.

Pittsburgh's Billy Porter shines in 'Kinky Boots' New York premiere

TribLIVE: Actor Billy Porter makes a point of not reading reviews about his work. But they are difficult to ignore when they're emblazoned on the front of the Al Hirschfield Theatre where he's performing in “Kinky Boots.” At the moment, “Kinky Boots” is the hottest ticket on Broadway.

Quantum Theatre's Dream of Autumn

Theater Reviews + Features | Pittsburgh City Paper: There's a cliché that one's life passes before one's eyes before death. That's only the slimmest description of Quantum Theatre's Dream of Autumn. The production is the world premiere of Sarah Cameron Sunde's translation of a 1999 play by Norway's Jon Fosse — a play that looks at love and death in a landscape (dreamscape?) floating freely in time and space.

Reader reactions: Excel in the limelight

Ars Technica: This week, instead of doing a strict list for our Week in Review, we've decided to highlight some of the reactions to the best and most important stories of the week. If this isn't for you, fear not! Since Ars' redesign last year, we've kept a "Top Stories" box on the front page (center column, scroll about halfway down), from which you can catch up on the most viewed stories of the week.

Are Blank-Firing Guns Dangerous?

Prop Agenda: Are blank-firing guns dangerous? YES. Anyone who provides blank-firing weapons for stage and screen should know where their dangers lie, and make sure they are never used in a hazardous manner. But as a demonstration of what they can actually do, the video below should make it clear. Keep it in mind when it comes time to use your weapons, or show it to a director who tries to convince you that you are being overly cautious.

Cicely Tyson on Her Career, New Broadway Role and Making a Difference

Women and Hollywood: The great Cicely Tyson was recently profiled on CBS News for her new role on Broadway. Tyson, an award-winning actress, hasn't been on the Broadway stage in 30 years. She's starring in a revival of the 1953 drama The Trip to Bountiful, staged for the first time with a black cast. Tyson plays Mother Watts, an aging woman who wants to leave Houston to return back to her childhood home, Bountiful.

Peter Brook on A Midsummer Night's Dream: a cook and a concept

Stage | guardian.co.uk: His 1970 RSC production of Shakespeare's play featured circus trapezes, stilts and plate-spinning – and changed theatre history for good. In an extract from his new book, Peter Brook explains how this most seductive of Dreams came alive

Marcel Vercoutere, special effects man on 'The Exorcist,' dies

latimes.com: Long before the age of computer-generated special effects, Marcel Vercoutere helped create a scene widely considered among the most terrifying in movie-going history. In "The Exorcist," the 1973 horror film that became a pop-culture phenomenon, the head of a helpless young girl twists completely around as a young priest battles the demon that inhabits her body. With its wild, animated eyes, the life-size robot used as a stand-in for actress Linda Blair was built by Vercoutere, the film's special effects director, with help from its chief makeup artist, Dick Smith.

Film and Television Production Heats Up in Chicago

www.backstage.com: It’s a little-known fact that Chicago was once America’s film-production capital, until the better weather and more tolerant attitudes toward screaming at one’s subordinates caused film execs to migrate en masse to Hollywood in the early 20th century.

Which Regional Musicals Might Be Coming To Broadway?

www.backstage.com: Many a Broadway musical spent time at a regional theater to iron out the wrinkles; current Broadway smash “Kinky Boots” had a well-received run in Chicago last year. Not every out-of-town production finds its way to a New York City premiere, but here is a roundup of regional shows to keep an eye on.

Stonewall Drama Hit the Wall Closes Off-Broadway April 21 at Barrow Street Theatre

Playbill.com: The Off-Broadway production of Ike Holter's Hit the Wall shutters April 21 at the Barrow Street Theatre. The kaleidoscopic piece, which imagines the events of the 1969 Stonewall Riots and the dawn of the modern gay rights movement, began previews Feb. 19 in the West Village. The play premiered in Chicago last season to acclaim; however, New York critics offered a cool response to Holter's piece, which presents a series of archetypal characters living in and around the West Village who claim, "I was there" as the events of June 28, 1969, unfold.

‘Kinky Boots’ Tops $1 Million, But ‘Breakfast’ Goes Cold

Variety: It was good news and bad news on Broadway last week, with the upbeat headline centered on “Kinky Boots,” which for the first time joined fellow spring openers “Lucky Guy” and “Cinderella” in the millionaires’ club. On the bad news front, spring break was clearly over, with drops of varying sizes at the majority of titles on the boards including “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” which posted a closing notice for April 21 after pulling in just $300,346 for the seven days.

Posted Position: Assistant Production Manager

Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC), a Tony Award-winning nonprofit theatre dedicated to the production of contemporary plays and musicals, seeks a full time Assistant Production Manager.  For over forty years, MTC has been the creative and artistic home for America’s most gifted theatrical artists, producing works of the highest quality by contemporary American and international playwrights.  MTC produces eight plays annually in Broadway's restored Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on West 47th Street and off Broadway at the historic NY City Center complex on West 55th Street.

               

Responsibilities include but are not limited to: collaborating with the Production Manager and Associate Production Manager to manage all production elements and logistics including: maintaining calendars, payroll and bookkeeping, facilitating communication and providing administrative support to all productions on MTC’s stages and across three facilities.  In addition, the assistant will support all activities of the production department such as: estimating and managing show budgets, materials sourcing and purchasing, supervising theater staff, as well as assisting with facility management. 

       

The ideal candidate will have excellent written and verbal communication skills, a sharp eye for detail, exceptional organizational skills and the ability to coordinate and prioritize multiple projects at once.  A strong working knowledge of theatrical production procedures and practices and strong computer skills especially proficiency with MS Office is required.  Proficiency in AutoCAD and Vectorworks is a plus.  Experience working in a union employment environment and familiarity with IATSE, USA and AEA agreements is preferred.  A Bachelor’s degree in Theatre or equivalent theatrical production experience is also required. Evening, weekend and early morning hours will be required. Occasional physically demanding work, such as lifting and moving equipment will be required.   

This is a full time, salaried position with excellent benefits. Benefits package including: group health insurance with options for spousal, family, and/or domestic partner coverage, basic life and long term disability insurance, paid time off, optional 401(k), voluntary dental and vision coverage, and  flex savings plans for healthcare, dependent care, and commuting expenses. 

To Apply

Submit cover letter and resume (in MS Word, PDF or plain text format) with “Production” as the subject line to: Stephanie Dolce, Director of Human Resources, at jobs@mtc-nyc.org.

Manhattan Theatre Club is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

For more about MTC, please visit www.manhattantheatreclub.com

Stage review: 'Dream of Autumn' a surreal journey

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The first hint that reality has taken a time out is the word "dream" in the title. Then you find the distinctive "Q" on the door along Dithridge Street and walk through to Quantum Theatre's version of an adventure in wonderland -- the former Park Schenley Restaurant in Oakland, transformed into a strange graveyard of lost furniture and exposed pipes. The once elegant expanse from Pittsburgh's recent past has been stripped to metal and concrete. The panoramic views of Oakland are left to be seen by actors and audience, but the space is now airy, eerie and whitewashed, from the corrugated ceiling and thick columns to the half-buried furniture and sandy floor.