Disneyland contractor to open Orlando office in early 2017

Orlando Business Journal: An attractions design/build firm that helped bring the newly opened Shanghai Disneyland to life is coming to Central Florida.

Scenario Cockram US Inc., a division of Australia-based construction firm Cockram Construction, will open a new Orlando office in more than 65,000 square feet of space in the tourism corridor, executives with the company told Orlando Business Journal.

Barefoot in the Park

Pittsburgh in the Round: Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park is one of those plays that annually gets produced probably more than it should. The play was considered contemporary in 1963, when Barefoot was considered a sophisticated Broadway hit about the perils of living in New York City. In 1967, Barefoot was turned into a film. Having lived in New York City for many years, I can confidently say that if you were not alive in the 1960’s and living in New York, the play’s script is hopelessly out of date and irrelevant.

Projection Mapping in Motion Amazes

Hackaday: Projection mapping is pretty magical; done well, it’s absolutely miraculous when the facade of a building starts popping out abstract geometric objects, or crumbles in front of our very eyes. “Dynamic projection mapping onto deforming non-rigid surface” takes it to the next level.

Silent Sanctuaries

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: As they gathered over a banquet of roast chicken and rissole potatoes on May 30, 1948, members of Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church had every reason to think the future of their Larimer parish would be as golden as the 50th anniversary they were celebrating that night.

In its first half century, the parish had been a spiritual and cultural hub for the Italian immigrant community, officially witnessing some 2,918 marriages and 13,125 baptisms

And the landmark sanctuary — with its deep, round-arched windows and its trio of golden-colored domes — stood as a point of pride for the neighborhood.

Inside the Culture Wars Maelstrom of the 1990s

HowlRound: I was curator of Performing Arts at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis from 1988 through 1996. Our mission was to be “a catalyst for the creative expression of artists and the active engagement of audiences.” We presented 100 performances each season in theatres ranging from 100 to 4,800 seats. Given the mission, I at times produced identity-based performance work; some of which became entangled in the Culture Wars of the 1990s.

Misunderstood Musicals: "Carrie: The Musical"

OnStage: It was the end of my freshman year at college and, as a Stephen King fan, I was prepared for a bit of a drought in his schedule. He had just published five novels in a row over the course of just over a year (well, six or seven if you count It twice, since the book is the size of a grand piano). Luckily, I had the musical version of Carrie to look forward to upon returning home from school for the summer. The show opened on Thursday, May 12, 1988 during my last week of classes and I had tickets to see the show with some friends for Saturday, May 21. Unfortunately, the show closed on Sunday, May 15 after five performances (there were sixteen previews before that and a four week run in Stratford-upon-Avon, England before that).

Parenting and Playwriting: Killer Clowns, Donald Trump, and Other Ghouls

HowlRound: Yesterday at 2:44pm, I received an email from our school district announcing that the children’s elementary school was under lockdown. No context or further information was provided, and when I arrived to pick the girls up a little later, the school seemed pretty quiet, the lockdown over. At the pick-up line, however, the kids were more subdued than usual, and one teacher muttered, “That was intense.”

THCnk you for not smoking.

www.q3lv.com: Recently, the production manager came onto our bus before load in to tell the entire crew that smoking pot is not allowed on this tour during working hours. Yesterday, he came on to deliver some fine gifts of cheese and wine from the venue and the whole bus reeked of marijuana cigarettes..... reefers. He did not mention any names nor single any one person. He did make it very clear that pot smoking would not be tolerated while working. This is the way it is on bigger tours these days. Drugs and rock n’ roll do not hang out as often as they did in 1982. I prefer not to smoke only because I don’t function well around people when I get high. However, I really enjoy the company of people who are high, compared to drunk, when I am sober. However, I am much more tolerant to high people than some others.

November Theater Guide: From Shylock to ‘Salome,’ a Cool Month for Hot Classics

Entertainment Central Pittsburgh: It is not true, as the old joke goes, that you want to be in Pittsburgh when the world ends because everything happens here 20 years later. We are not behind the times, and don’t make me get defensive about it or I will start rattling off a list of Pittsburgh’s famous firsts. The city in which the pull-tab top for beer cans was invented is clearly a city at the cutting edge of science and culture.

Substance That Prompted Opera House Evacuation May Have Been Human Ashes: Police

NBC New York: A powdery substance a man sprinkled into the orchestra pit at New York's Metropolitan Opera may have been an opera lover's ashes, police said Saturday.

The freakish incident during an afternoon performance of Rossini's "Guillaume Tell" forced Met officials to cancel the rest of the show as well as an evening performance of a second opera.

Peace And War: Ars Nova Sues Producer Over ‘Natasha, Pierre’ Billing

Deadline: A skirmish over above-the-title billing in a new Broadway show’s Playbill erupted into all-out war this weekend, as the non-profit theater that developed one of the most acclaimed musicals of recent seasons filed two lawsuits against the commercial producer who has brought the show, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812 to, aptly, the Imperial Theatre.

Exactly How To Position Yourself As A First-Time Jobseeker

Fast Company | Business + Innovation: If you're kicking off an entry-level job search, standing out in a sea of qualified candidates can be tough. After all, your work experience is likely limited to internships, and your academic credentials may be a hit or miss as far as an employer’s needs are concerned.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

How To Successfully Respond To A Question You Really Don't Want To Answer

Fast Company | Business + Innovation: If you watched the presidential debates, you may have come to the conclusion that answering questions is optional. If you don’t want to provide an answer, simply insert your own topic and carry on.

When you’re at work and your client or boss asks a question, however, it’s not always smart to change the subject and promote your own agenda. Questions need to be addressed.

Posted by David at 10/28/2016 02:30:00 PM

Why I Left My Dream Job at Second City

Chicago magazine | Arts & Culture October 2016: Just let it go, do not engage him. He cannot hurt you.

That’s what I kept telling myself as I stumbled backstage. I had less than 3 minutes to change into my costume for the next scene. A cretin in the audience had just spewed racist rhetoric, and now I had to dress in full drag and wax poetic about gender fluidity and the dangers of privilege. Lucky me.

Posted by David at 10/28/2016 02:50:00 PM

The Cubs Stay Alive, Creating a Dilemma for Some Hamilton Fans

Chicago magazine | Politics & City Life October 2016: As the seconds counted down to 10 a.m. on June 21, Karen Woo was at her computer with multiple Web browsers open. Finally the floodgates opened, and a few minutes later she had her quarry: balcony tickets to Hamilton for a Saturday late in October.

She’d already seen the hot musical once, in New York, and ever since has had the soundtrack on steady rotation.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the PrivateBank Theatre: the Cubs made the playoffs, and they now have a chance to clinch a trip to the World Series on the same night Woo was hoping to see Hamilton.

Posted by David at 10/28/2016 02:46:00 PM

Theatre Masks: An Exploration

Breaking Character: My first experience with masks was in the summer of 1979. I was 15 and attending a summer conference on clowning at Oberlin College. On my way to my room, I walked through a lounge in which Avner Eisenberg was giving a talk on neutral mask and sat down to listen. Avner spoke of the mask having universal qualities and what it revealed to the actor. He put it on, stood for moment in a stillness that created a deafening silence and then slightly turned his head.

Posted by David at 10/27/2016 03:41:00 PM

7 Deadly Sins of Project Management You Should Never Commit

DZone Agile: Everyone makes mistakes, and Project Managers are no exceptions. With so many things to take care of, a Project Manager can sometimes get off track and this leaves a huge dent on a project’s progress. Even with a project management software at their disposal, most projects tend to exceed the allocated time and budget and are shelved or abandoned.

Posted by David at 10/27/2016 03:37:00 PM

Emma Rice's departure is not about lighting

WhatsOnStage.com: How very disheartening: Emma Rice is to leave Shakespeare's Globe in 2018, after a tenure of only two years. She's clearly been pushed, but it's the speed that's so shocking. The decision comes at the end of her very first season – a season that has shaken things up without being given the chance to shake down again. Rice has challenged a hell of a lot in a short space of time – too much, too soon it now seems. Pledging gender parity in Shakespeare (and almost achieving it straight away) is not something that can be done without radical revisions. The same goes for audiences and accessibility. For all we say that Shakespeare's for everyone, it can just as easily be exclusive and elitist. Accessibility isn't just a price issue. It's about taste.

Why I Left My Dream Job at Second City

Chicago magazine | Arts & Culture October 2016: Just let it go, do not engage him. He cannot hurt you.

That’s what I kept telling myself as I stumbled backstage. I had less than 3 minutes to change into my costume for the next scene. A cretin in the audience had just spewed racist rhetoric, and now I had to dress in full drag and wax poetic about gender fluidity and the dangers of privilege. Lucky me.

Top Ten Spooky Titles For Halloween

Breaking Character: Grab your ghouls and ghosts, and gear up for a night of horror!

The cold fall weather has us craving to curl up with a good read, whether it be a classic horror tale or a ghoulish comedy. Just make sure you leave your lights on and glance under your bed before you go to sleep. These ten goosebumps inducing shows are sure to keep you occupied in between trick-or-treaters.

The Cubs Stay Alive, Creating a Dilemma for Some Hamilton Fans

Chicago magazine | Politics & City Life October 2016: As the seconds counted down to 10 a.m. on June 21, Karen Woo was at her computer with multiple Web browsers open. Finally the floodgates opened, and a few minutes later she had her quarry: balcony tickets to Hamilton for a Saturday late in October.

She’d already seen the hot musical once, in New York, and ever since has had the soundtrack on steady rotation.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the PrivateBank Theatre: the Cubs made the playoffs, and they now have a chance to clinch a trip to the World Series on the same night Woo was hoping to see Hamilton.

“When I Looked at All the Ways You Can Fail in VR, That Was a Turn-On”: Doug Liman on His VR Sci-Fi Thriller, Invisible

Filmmaker Magazine: Released today, Invisible is director Doug Liman’s first foray into virtual reality, a five-part science-fiction thriller that places viewers in the midst of a tale involving corporate secrets, future tech and family treachery. The series takes off from the question one sometimes mulls: what superpower would I choose for myself? Says producer Julina Tatlock of the production company 30 Ninjas, “One of the top superpowers people would choose is invisibility — and we’ve all dreamed about being rich.

What's new in AutoCAD 2017: New Features Roundup

CADnotes: We covered AutoCAD 2017 features in the last two articles: what’s new in system enhancements and what’s new in drafting and annotations. In this article, we cover some more minor changes. We also round up all the new features we covered before.

If you already installed AutoCAD 2017, you may have noticed some of the new features. Let’s see what are new in AutoCAD 2017 at a glance.

In Oregon, Theatre and Bookstore Clash Over Free Speech & Racial Awareness

Arts Integrity Initiative: To be clear from the very start, two points. Judi Honoré, the owner of Shakespeare Books & Antiques in Ashland, Oregon, has every right to display anything she chooses in the window of, or for that matter anywhere in, her store. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, also located in Ashland, Oregon, has every right as an organization to express its institutional opinion about events locally or nationally as it sees fit, and to align its business practices accordingly.

Inside Pipilotti Rist's Psychedelic 'Pixel Forest' at the New Museum

The Creators Project: Kaleidoscopic patterns of light flash through leaves and trails of bubbles materialize as the video camera pans over an oceanic scene. Clusters of kidney-like cushions are interspersed on the floor, inviting the viewers to sit, lie down, and let the immersive video wash over her/him.

AFL-CIO Backs SAG-AFTRA Strike Against Video Game Companies

Variety: AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has issued a strong statement of support for the six-day-old SAG-AFTRA voice actors strike against video game companies.

“The AFL-CIO stands in solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA voice-over and motion-capture performers who are on strike after failed negotiations with eleven video game employers,” Trumka said. “Performers deserve a modern contract that offers the protections necessary to work in today’s video game industry.”

Broadway's Patrick Page steps into the role of Scrooge for Pittsburgh CLO

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Broadway star Patrick Page returns to Pittsburgh CLO to play Ebeneezer Scrooge for the 25th anniversary of the company’s “A Musical Christmas Carol,” a production that will include new set elements and special effects.

Mr. Page’s Broadway credits include the multiple roles as the adult men in “Spring Awakening,” Green Goblin in “Spider-Man,” Henry VIII in “Man for All Seasons,” The Grinch in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Scar in “The Lion King” and Lumiere in “Beauty and the Beast” and the Voice of God in “An Act of God.” He played Fagin in “Oliver!” for Pittsburgh CLO in 2010.

Tom Atkins had appeared in the role of Scrooge from 2008 through last year.

Free Tickets for Community College Students—Part 1

HowlRound: Back in October 2015, the Rockefeller Foundation and the producers of Hamilton announced they would finance a program to bring over 20,000 New York City eleventh graders from all schools with high percentages of students from low income families to see the Broadway sensation during the spring and through 2017 for $10. By June 2016, the Rockefeller Foundation made a second announcement that over 100,000 students from around the United States would also see Hamilton for $10. They pledged $6 million to expand the program, and create a national program set to take hold in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

How To Successfully Respond To A Question You Really Don't Want To Answer

Fast Company | Business + Innovation: If you watched the presidential debates, you may have come to the conclusion that answering questions is optional. If you don’t want to provide an answer, simply insert your own topic and carry on.

When you’re at work and your client or boss asks a question, however, it’s not always smart to change the subject and promote your own agenda. Questions need to be addressed.

West End Producer: 10 things they won’t teach you at drama school

www.thestage.co.uk: Drama school is an institution in which you are given a certain status by the staff and your peers. There will be favourites who get all the good parts and people who will spend three years standing at the back holding a spear. Don’t let this worry you. When you enter the professional world of theatre, none of this will matter. Your place and status in drama school is forgotten as soon as you leave. You are a new actor, with a fresh slate, a new face – and the possibility to be the next Dale Winton. Good luck, dear!

Emma Rice leaves Shakespeare's Globe after row over modern lighting

www.telegraph.co.uk: The director of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre has announced she is to leave the role after less than a year, following a row over “experimentation” in light and sound. Emma Rice has announced she is to leave the theatre after being criticised for using microphones, neon, and light rigging as part of her sets in the replica Elizabethan theatre.

Emma Rice leaving the Globe Theatre: 'How can a twenty-year-old building have become so fossilised?'

London Evening Standard: One of London’s top theatres sent a rather confusing message to the world today as it appeared to push out its incumbent artistic director for being too forward-thinking. Shakespeare’s Globe announced Emma Rice would leave them in April 2018 owning to sound rigs and lighting. Ms Rice, the first woman to hold the job, joined only in April of this year.

Project Management Solutions for the 21st-Century Student

Getting Smart: Recently, I was teaching a particularly absent-minded student how to set a reminder for himself using Google Calendar.

He kept forgetting when he had a music lesson; like many schools, my students leave their core classes on a rotational basis, so as to not miss the same class all the time. This meant that he needed his instrument on different days, which he inevitably forgot.

Three Words Lead to a Battle Over ‘Great Comet’ on Broadway

The New York Times: Five years ago, the small nonprofit theater company Ars Nova commissioned an up-and-coming composer to write his wacky dream project, a musical adaptation of one dramatic section of “War and Peace.”

On Tuesday night, that musical, “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” now a $14 million show starring the best-selling recording artist Josh Groban, had its first preview performance at the Imperial Theater — a major moment for Ars Nova, which has never before seen a project it birthed transfer to Broadway.

But the leadership of Ars Nova was not allowed to be there.

Space engineers needed: Nat Geo documents our mission to 'Mars'

www.controldesign.com: National Geographic Channel (NGC) is launching a new TV series, “Mars,” in November. The six-part miniseries brings together some of the best minds in modern science and innovation, illuminating how research and development are creating the space technology that will enable our first attempt at a mission to Mars. And it is leading the way, along with Elon Musk at SpaceX, in making engineering fun again for generations to come.

Fresh Ground Pepper Theatre Puts Sounds Designers First In Sounds Good

Live Design: Sound designers don’t always get a fair shake, but one New York City theatre put them front and center in an experiment designed to stimulate playwrights. Fresh Ground Pepper’s five founders and creative directors—three directors, a playwright, and a producer/manager—came together eight years ago after graduating from the Playwrights Horizons Theatre School at NYU. “We missed being in an educational environment and didn’t feel we had a great place to put work in development up,” says producer Karina Martins.

Themed Entertainment Association

TEA: SATE 2016 Co-Chair Michael Blau discusses "Walking the Tightrope: Taking Risks that Transform Experiences," the theme of SATE '16, the annual Experience Design conference of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), held Oct 13-14 in New York City.

Theatre Masks: An Exploration

Breaking Character: My first experience with masks was in the summer of 1979. I was 15 and attending a summer conference on clowning at Oberlin College. On my way to my room, I walked through a lounge in which Avner Eisenberg was giving a talk on neutral mask and sat down to listen. Avner spoke of the mask having universal qualities and what it revealed to the actor. He put it on, stood for moment in a stillness that created a deafening silence and then slightly turned his head.

Chicago Cabaret Professionals 2016 Gala Proves The Art Form Is Alive and Well

Showbiz Chicago: At the 18th Annual Chicago Cabaret Professionals Gala held on October 16 we once again got an opportunity to see and hear the sounds of singers who prove that cabaret music is alive and well in Chicago. At this year’s gala we have seen some familiar faces that we have enjoyed for years. The gala also Honored singer Joan Curto with the Gold Coast Award honoring her over 20 year achievement with the craft.

TMS Boldly Goes Through Intrepid's Starfleet Academy Experience

The Mary Sue: My first introduction into the Star Trek world was The Next Generation and watching Patrick Stewart command the screen like a wise uncle who really loves tea. Since then, I’ve always wondered what it was like to actually be on the bridge. Sure you can Photoshop yourself in pictures and visit the captain’s chair at a booth during a convention, but there’s nothing like being fully immersed in that world. That’s why I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space museum’s Star Trek: The Starfleet Academy Experience in New York City.

Broadway Needs Producers, Not Just Investors

AMERICAN THEATRE: Little-known fact: I was President of the League of New York Theatres in 1964.

I had been impressed into the job by Leland Heyward and Irene Selznick, two of Broadway’s most prestigious producers. I had previously shown little interest in that organization. I imagined it to be an Old Fogeys Establishment. And, to be honest with you, I imagined they considered me a lucky twerp. But Leland and Irene picked me precisely because I was an outlier.

7 Deadly Sins of Project Management You Should Never Commit

DZone Agile: Everyone makes mistakes, and Project Managers are no exceptions. With so many things to take care of, a Project Manager can sometimes get off track and this leaves a huge dent on a project’s progress. Even with a project management software at their disposal, most projects tend to exceed the allocated time and budget and are shelved or abandoned.

Carrie: The Musical

Pittsburgh in the Round: There is something inherently disconcerting about going to see a theatrical restaging of the 1976 film Carrie, and finding out the theatre it’s presented in is a rustic barn. Seemingly bucolic, the seclusion, the intimacy, and the—not to spoil the film’s explosive finale—flammability of a quiet country barn seems all too creakingly eerie to keep someone at ease. But whether intentional or not, the setting of the Split Stage Production’s Carrie: The Musical only serves to augment the deliciously unsettling air that hangs over the dramaturgy.

Bourne Identity director Doug Liman on the making of his new VR series, Invisible

The Verge: Virtual reality filmmaking is in its infancy, but for Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman, there are already too many rules. The press release for Invisible, a five-episode action series that officially premieres today, lists a whole string of guidelines it’s disregarded: don’t cut too much, don’t move the camera, place shots at a natural height for the viewer. For a VR series, Invisible is downright frenetic, complete with chase sequences, shots-within-shots, and frequent shifts in location, from a Haitian village to a Brooklyn restaurant.

The haunted hotel that breeds engineers

Technology: The Gravesend Inn: A Haunted Hotel is an attraction built every year by entertainment technology students at CUNY in Brooklyn, NY. Instead of scaring the audience, it's meant to inspire high school students to go to college and study technology.

Being digital, being human: TEA delivers successful SATE 2016 conference on Experience Design in NYC, Oct 13-14

TEA - Themed Entertainment Association: “’Best SATE ever’ is the phrase I heard again and again from delegates during and after the conference," said Birket. "The three SATE co-chairs: Traci Klainer (Luce, an illuminating subsidiary of JBA), Michael Blau (Adirondack Studios), and Chris Conte (Electrosonic), and their three SATE segment chairs - Paul Osterhout (Universal Creative), Deanna Siller (Gensler) and Chris Manson (Fox and Crow), pulled together an outstanding slate of thought-leading presenters. The TEA staff, led by COO Jennie Nevin, produced a world-class event, and presenting sponsor Brogent Technologies Inc. gave critical support.”

Lucasfilm Suing Lightsaber Academy, The New York Jedi for Star Wars Trademark Infringements

Hit & Run : Reason.com: Lucasfilm, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company and the creator and producer of the Star Wars film, has filed a federal lawsuit over intellectual property infringement against the proprietor of the Lightsaber Academy, which describes itself as "a consortium for academic, stage combat, and sport dueling lightsaber instructors" and the New York Jedi, "a community of Cosplayers, martial artists and teachers, who share practical Stage Combat techniques oriented toward Light Sabers."

As Emma Rice departs, the Globe has egg on its face – and no vision

Stage | The Guardian: The news that artistic director Emma Rice will be leaving Shakespeare’s Globe in 2018 after just two seasons – including a critically acclaimed first season that delivered exceptionally strong box-office returns – reveals an organisation that is deeply divided about its purpose, and now has egg on its face.

ZFX Names Richard Nix Director of Engineering and Standards

Stage Directions: ZFX, a leading provider of performer flying and automation systems, recently named Richard Nix director of engineering and standards. Nix will oversee engineering and standards conformance for ZFX products and further developing ZFX’s internal risk management programs, particularly within the company’s newly formed eZ-Hoist Division. He will also represent ZFX as its principle voting representative in ESTA’s Technical Standards Program.

‘Midnight Rider’ Filmmakers Fault CSX in Lawsuit with Insurer

Variety: Film Allman, the production company behind “Midnight Rider,” is faulting CSX Corp. for failing to slow a train that plowed through the set of the movie on Feb. 20, 2014, killing camera assistant Sarah Jones and injuring eight others.

The company, owned by director Randall Miller and producer Jody Savin, are making the claims as part of its lawsuit against New York Marine, the insurer which is refusing to pay for losses on the grounds that they were incurred as a result of a criminal act.

The Changing Seasons of “Divorce”

Rosco Spectrum: As they began work on the HBO production Divorce, production designer Stuart Wurtzel and art director Fredda Slavin found themselves facing a challenge. They needed to create a set of backdrops that matched the wintry look that had been established in the pilot – which was shot eight months earlier. Drawing on his long history of collaboration with Rosco, and his first-hand knowledge of the capabilities of Rosco Digital Imaging, Stuart knew where to go to get the backdrops he needed.

Dario Fo: Life Is a (Comical) Mystery

The Theatre Times: On 13th October 2016, Dario Fo died in Milan at age 90. He was one of the most influential artists in world theatre and conquered this position with courage, hard work and the constant memory of his humble origins. He was an actor, singer, playwright, director, painter, and stage and costume designer. In particular, he was a contemporary heir of the medieval jesters and a lover of commedia dell’arte: from 1969, with his masterpiece Mistero Buffo (Comical Mystery), he demonstrated the vitality of improvisation as a technique for involving the audience.

Optoma launches Projection Mapper with competition to transform any space

ETNow.com: Homeowners and businesses, DJs and party planners can transform any space with Optoma’s ingenious new app: Projection Mapper.

It will project onto any surface in the home, retail space, party venue or event to completely transform the look and feel of the space. People can achieve at home, that impressive projection mapped experience you only ever see at large events. And with Halloween and Christmas around the corner, it is a great time to give it a try.

Engineers Create Acoustic Holograms

ENGINEERING.com: Engineers have developed a simple, energy-efficient way to create three-dimensional acoustic holograms. The technique could revolutionize applications ranging from home stereo systems to medical ultrasound devices.

Most everyone is familiar with the concept of visual holograms, which manipulate light to make it appear as though a 3-D object is sitting in empty space. These optical tricks work by shaping the electromagnetic field so that it mimics light bouncing off an actual object.

The Rosco Booth At LDI 2016!

YouTube: Join Rosco's Chad Tiller, Emily Stadulis, Henry Cowen and Jack Burwick for a walk-through tour of our booth at LDI 2016. Watch the video to get an in-depth view of the products we featured at the show, including: previews of our Image Spot LED projector & the full range of Silk LED fixtures, as well as introductions to our RoscoLED Tape, the Cube Family of LED light fixtures and the innovative Cube Connect wireless control system.

Sony is developing an AI that can create new music from existing songs

Business Insider: Sony is developing an artificially intelligent system that can create music from data in existing songs, Reuters reports.

The system, which is called Flow Machines, could expedite the music creation process, and have applications in areas ranging from audio and video production to advertising.

Emma Rice to step down as artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe

Carousel, News | The Stage: Emma Rice is to step down as artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe in April 2018, after the board decided the venue should return to more traditional staging.

Rice took up the post in April this year, and will have held the position for two years when she leaves. She introduced a revamped lighting rig to the theatre, alongside a new sound system.

Porter-Cable 20V Max 18 Gauge Brad Nailer

Pro Tool Reviews: Cord cutting is all the rage lately, whether it’s from the cable company or on your power tools. Just like the liberation you feel when you cease to pay $150 a month for 15 minutes of commercials per hour, the ability to work without being tethered to a cord or hose and compressor is exhilarating. I always welcome the opportunity to test a lithium-ion powered tool that I’ve traditionally used as an electric or pneumatic one. So it is with the Porter-Cable 20V Max 18 Gauge Brad Nailer – a tool type that I use all the time for trim work, especially punch list jobs.

The Doctor Is In: Career Advice that will Get You to the Top

USITT: The Resume Doctor, a popular USITT session, is now a career advice column in College2Career.

Q: Dear Doctor, what does an interview consist of and how should I prepare?

The Election and Productivity

Whatever: I was a couple of months late in turning in The Collapsing Empire; I originally planned to have it to Tor before Worldcon this year (which was mid-August) and ended up sending it to my editor literally the day I left for New York Comic Con, which was the first week of October. Some of that had to do with fine-tuning and changing bits of the story to make them more effective, plus travel and life in general.

Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers Aims to Showcase the Golden Age of Women Directors

Filmmaker Magazine: In early 2015, Kino Lorber mounted a successful crowd-funding campaign for Pioneers of African-American Cinema. The campaign raised over $53,000, far surpassing its original $35,000 goal.

Now Kino Lorber is hoping to repeat that success with its new Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming release Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers. So far, they’ve raised more than $20,000 towards the $44,000 goal.

Eat, drink and be scary at the Mattress Factory's "Breakfast in Bed" brunch

NEXTpittsburgh: Come Sunday, don’t take off that mask just yet: head to the Mattress Factory for the perfect round two of Halloween fun.

The latest edition of the museum‘s Breakfast in Bed series—dubbed “Eat, Drink + Be Scary”—the event combines international art and local cuisine to offer a refreshing new addition to Pittsburgh’s burgeoning brunch scene. Continue your Halloween revelry while enjoying exclusive access to the Mattress Factory’s world-renowned galleries before they open to the public.

Exclusive first look: rehearsals for the National Theatre's Peter Pan

WhatsOnStage.com: Images have been released of the cast rehearsing the National Theatre's upcoming Christmas show Peter Pan.

Directed by Sally Cookson, Peter Pan originally opened at the Bristol Old Vic in 2012. The show is a devised work which features double casting - how JM Barrie originally intended several roles to be played.

Aleshea Harris Wins 2016 Relentless Award

Stage Directions: Aleshea Harris will receive $45,000—the largest cash prize in American theatre for a play—as well as multiple staged readings of her play, for her new work Is God Is. The Relentless award honors Philip Seymour Hoffman and “his pursuit of truth in theatre.”

Immersive Sweeney Todd Revival Will Star West End and Broadway Actors

Playbill: Members of the original London cast of Tooting Arts Club’s immersive production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd, which was first staged in an actual London pie shop, will reprise their performances for the New York revival that begins previews February 14, 2017, at the Barrow Street Theatre.

London stars Jeremy Secomb (as Sweeney Todd), Siobhán McCarthy (as Mrs. Lovett), Duncan Smith (as Judge Turpin), and Joseph Taylor (as Tobias) will reprise their performances alongside New York cast members Matt Doyle (as Anthony), Alex Finke (as Johanna), Betsy Morgan (as Pirelli and Beggar Woman), Brad Oscar (as The Beadle), as well as Colin Anderson, Liz Pearce, and Monet Sabel.

Democracy and theater

For The Curious: As we steel ourselves for the final weeks of this seemingly endless election, I’m reminded of the ancient Greeks. Not because Trump keeps making odd debate references to the Trojan horse, but because it’s crucial to remember that the birthplace of democracy was also the birthplace of theater.

If we trace the lineage of our western theatrical tradition to its roots, we go back 2500 years to Greece and the festivals of Dionysus. Ancient Greeks discovered the ineffable magic that happens when fictional characters tackle real problems using the words of a poet as their primary tools. At the same time, the Greeks were birthing a new form of government: democracy.

Shakespeare's 'Henry VI': Christopher Marlowe Officially Credited As Co-Author

The Two-Way : NPR: Oxford University Press has announced that its new edition of the complete works of William Shakespeare will credit Christopher Marlowe as a co-author on the three Henry VI plays.

Despite years of controversy about the authorship of some of Shakespeare's work, this is the first time a major publishing house has formally named Marlowe as a co-author.

Theatre History Podcast # 10: Sizwe Banzi Is Dead and the Legacy of Anti-Apartheid Theatre

HowlRound: Theatre was an integral part of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Performers such as John Kani and Winston Ntshona, as well as playwrights such as Athol Fugard, created some of the most vital political theatre of the twentieth century. But what are we to make of such theatre when the immediate circumstances that led to its creation have passed? What is the enduring legacy of works such as Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, the international hit that stemmed from Kani, Ntshona, and Fugard’s collaboration?

‘Jessica Jones’ Hires All Women Directors for Season 2

Variety: All 13 episodes of the second season of “Marvel’s Jessica Jones” will be directed by women, according to executive producer and showrunner Melissa Rosenberg.

Rosenberg discussed the all-female directing roster during her panel at Transforming Hollywood 7: Diversifying Entertainment, a conference held Friday at University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Introducing Brand New Immersive Technology: HavaVision3D

ZioGiorgio.com: Haverford Systems will introduce HavaVision3D, a brand new immersive 3D Technology at Live Design 2016 in booth 343. Visitors of HavaVision3D will experience 3D technology without the vertigo syndrome of 3D projectors. Discover how 3D LED can deliver content deep into large audiences. Immerse yourself in the newest in VR and AR Entertainment and event technology.

Six Hundred and Ninety-Two Million: On Art, Ethics, and Activism

HowlRound: Wake early to an alarm clock before it actually rings.
You look for your slippers. Something to warm your feet from the cold of the bare floor.
You look out the window. It’s not even dawn yet. The darkness of the morning is alive and pulsing.
You stretch your legs. You stretch your body.
You go into the kitchen and get the coffee going.
This is routine. This is a kind of safety.
But you know that the demands of the day have barely begun, least of all the ones that will test your overall sense of morality and ethics.

“An Accident” at Off the Wall Productions

The Pittsburgh Tatler: A moment of inattention – that’s all it has taken to catapult Libby (Amy Landis) and Anton (Ken Bolden) into the circumstances of Lydia Stryk’s 2010 play An Accident. Libby now lies paralyzed and comatose in a hospital bed; Anton keeps vigil, guilt-ridden and self-hating, by her side. When she finally wakes, the play traces the long, slow process of their mutual healing and reconciliation to the vagaries of existence.