AES67, AVB and Audinate's Dante: An Audio Networking Update After Infocomm 2017

Control Geek: It's become an annual tradition-since 2009 I've been writing about audio networking from a live sound perspective after recovering from Infocomm. You can see last year's entry here.

This year, it seems, there's not a whole lot to write, since there was more of the same, with some exciting directions for the future which I'll get to in a bit. It was interesting that the AVNU Alliance didn't have a booth as they did in previous years. From what I can see, as I've been detailing here over the years, AVB/TSN has been accepted by some manufacturers in the live sound industry (Meyer, Avid, etc), and it's holding strong there. But the number of Dante products seems to keep expanding, both in the live sound and install markets. Here's the Audinate display on the Infocomm floor:

Inside LA Stage History: The 99-seat/AEA Wars, Part One

@ This Stage: One evening in February 1981, I ventured to the Solari Theatre at 205 N. Canon Drive in Beverly Hills to see Arthur Miller’s The Price. The classic four-hander, directed by Guy Stockwell, featured one of my favorite actresses, Carrie Snodgrass, with John Saxon, Harold Gary, and the Theatre’s founder, Rudy Solari. When I arrived, I learned the performance was canceled. Solari was standing near the box office, so I asked him why there was no show that night. “Bullshit,” he mumbled, “a whole lot of Actors Equity bullshit.” That was my first and last conversation with a man who worked very hard to establish a live theater venue in LA.

The Twin Dilemma

Make-Up Artist Magazine: As we roll into the 2017 Emmy Awards season—with the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy nominations coming out July 13—we decided to take a look at one popular show that may hit the ballots, especially for its specific make-up challenges.

Fargo has always been a complicated series to work on, as the show’s make-up department head/special make-up effects designer Gail Kennedy will attest, but turning actor Ewan McGregor into two different characters—often seen in the same shot—was a unique challenge.

'Vanity Fair': Fyre Festival fiasco due to combo of fraud, incompetence

www.usatoday.com: Possibly, if you're not rich, young and enamored of music festivals, you missed news of the Fyre Festival fiasco when it collapsed in a sea of mud in the Bahamas in April. Now Vanity Fair is landing with a juicy story laying out how it happened, who was responsible and what Kendall Jenner had to do with it.

Actors’ Equity Releases First-Ever Diversity Study Showing Disparities in Theater Hiring

Stage Directions: Actors' Equity, the national labor union representing professional actors and stage managers, released a groundbreaking new diversity study of employment on two of its major contracts. The study of anonymous member data, which examined the casts of new productions that opened between 2013 to 2015, shows that women and members of color have fewer work opportunities and often draw lower salaries when they do find work.

Still Smarting: Women, Shakespeare, and Processing Emotion

HowlRound: A Tuesday night in New York City. An open workshop in a bright white room. A woman finishes her soliloquy and turns to face her audience, expectant for their feedback. One man leans forward, smiling kindly, and begins: “Laura, you’re so smart…” Her heart sinks to her toes. She tries to modulate the look of irritation that sweeps across her face. Because, as she has heard a thousand times, what follows after is that dreadful word: “But.”

Change Over at the National Theatre for Angels In America - Two Plays in One Day

Stage Directions: The National Theatre's production teams take us behind the scenes on a two-play day of Tony Kushner's Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches and Part Two: Perestroika. It requires an extensive changeover of lighting; scenic; every production discipline to present over seven hours of theater in a single day.

The History of Cis Actors Playing Trans Roles Isn't Pretty.

The Mary Sue: Last week, we shared a video from Screen Crush’s #ProudtoBe series, in which trans actors (led by writer/actress Jen Richards) made the case for why casting trans actors is not only the “right” thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do. This week, they’ve released another video in that series. This one is written and by Screen Crush’s Erin Oliver Whitney, who relates the history of cis actors playing trans roles.

Can TechShop Pittsburgh be saved?

theincline.com: A corporate-set Friday deadline to save TechShop’s Pittsburgh location is no more.

At a members’ meeting Tuesday night, Gadsden Merrill, TechShop Pittsburgh general manager, told the group of about 30 that conversations would continue past the deadline previously set to find a nonprofit or other entity willing to fund operations.

How Lil Buck and Jon Boogz Use Performance to Advocate for Art - The Atlantic

The Atlantic: When art and activism come together, they usually do so in a way that moves in one direction: Artists use their work to highlight, interrogate, and illuminate issues in the world. But what if it were the other way around? What if artists can also use their activism to engage people in and educate them about art?

Revising and Feminizing the Fairy Tale in Anastasia

HowlRound: Anastasia, the new musical based on the beloved 1997 animated film, is both decidedly old-fashioned and perfectly suited to the world today.

Many people have developed a constant watchfulness born from distrust and worry. We check social media constantly for news and commentary; we watch the news (and participate in our own fact-checking). But it’s hard to consume that much information and misinformation without developing a nasty side effect: unadulterated cynicism.

Smooth as Ice: New Scoreboard & Hoist for Arena

Wenger | J.R. Clancy: “J.R. Clancy had provided our previous scoreboard hoist back in 2003 and they were recommended by our new scoreboard’s manufacturer,” says Jeff Mead, General Manager at the Glens Falls Civic Center (GFCC) in Glens Falls, New York. “It was an easy decision to work with them again.”

Dance Review: ‘Air(realist)’ by Air Dance Bernasconi with Kirsty Little at Theatre Project

Maryland Theatre Guide: Laughter. Lamenting. Affectionate professions of love and honest confessions of struggle. Against this audio backdrop, you take in a living, breathing sculpture, shaping, shifting in real time before your eyes. Just what is this peculiar, yet profound experience of art you’ve become a part of?

Copyright Office Admits That DMCA Is More About Giving Hollywood 'Control' Than Stopping Infringement

Techdirt: We already wrote about the new Copyright Office report on DMCA 1201 -- the section of the law that deals with the "anti-circumvention" provisions of the DMCA. That post focused on the realization by the Copyright Office that the current setup of 1201 does significant harm to security research, as researchers are often frightened to actually investigate certain technologies out of a fear that they may accidentally violate copyright law in getting around some sort of "technological protection measure."

Broadway's 1984 Causing Audience To Faint, Vomit

www.esquire.com: Broadway's 1984 is not for the faint hearted or the weak of stomach—audience members have reportedly been fainting, vomiting and even arrested during the production's previews.

The play—starring Olivia Wide and Tom Sturridge—is adapted from George Orwell's novel set in a dystopian future where critical thought is suppressed by a totalitarian leader known as Big Brother.

Theater Jobs Skew White and Male, Study Finds

The New York Times: Women and minority actors and stage managers are getting fewer jobs and often wind up in lower-paying shows than white male theater artists, according to a new study by Actors’ Equity.

The study, released as the union is increasing its focus on diversity issues, is based on an examination of employment data for shows that opened between 2013 and 2015.

SAG-AFTRA Moves Toward Strike as Negotiations With Studios Fail

Backstage: Leaders of SAG-AFTRA, the union representing onscreen performers, unanimously voted on June 25 to send strike authorization ballots to its members unless a new deal is reached by Friday, June 30, when the current contract expires.

The decision follows a month of unsuccessful negotiations with studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, in response to what the union’s national board has called “outrageous rollbacks that cut to the core of our basic terms and conditions.”

The Kilroys Launch 4th Annual THE LIST Featuring Female and Trans Writers of Color

Breaking Character: Continuing the fight to achieve gender parity in the American Theater, LA-based playwright/producer collective The Kilroys has facilitated its fourth annual List of industry-recommended new plays.

The List 2017 features the most recommended un- and under-produced plays written by female and trans writers of color, following a survey of hundreds of professional artistic directors, literary managers, professors, producers, directors, and dramaturgs.

The Creator of Westworld Explained Why She's Proud to Have Been a Diversity Hire

jezebel.com: Lisa Joy created the HBO hit Westworld, an entrancing series that has inspired a thousand Jezebel inquiries into how close we are to real-life robot sex. In a recent roundtable interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Joy expounded on the importance of creating opportunities for people with out a safety net.

Broadway Production Of 1984 Is Causing Audience Members to Faint, Vomit And Get in Fights

jezebel.com: Well-heeled audiences are really having a hard time stomaching the new Broadway adaptation of 1984, with reports that viewers are fainting, vomiting and...getting in fights with each other as a result of its more alarming scenes. Finally, a theatrical production befitting of the times!

Fail of the Week: Museum Buttons

Hackaday: Museum exhibits are difficult to make, and they’re always breaking down; especially the interactive ones. This is a combination of budget, building a one-off, and the incredibly harsh abuse they take from children. My first exhibit is an interactive laser show that turns waveforms from music into laser patterns, and different types of music have very different patterns. I knew from talking to the museum staff that industrial buttons were a necessity, but it turns out that industrial buttons are made under the assumption that tiny creatures won’t be constantly mashing, twisting, and (ew ew ew) licking the buttons. After a while, the buttons (and poor knob) were trashed.

A Collective Call Against Critical Bias

HowlRound: Much ado has been made of the fact that Paula Vogel and Lynn Nottage, two Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatists, finally cracked the glass ceiling this season. These theatre veterans made their long awaited Broadway debuts, with Indecent and Sweat, which both garnered Tony Award nominations for Best Play. Surprisingly little attention was paid, however, to the announcement that these productions—the only new works by women on the Great White Way this year—would close early, in large part because they were doomed by the male critical establishment.

Actor Mark Rylance celebrates the Battle of Homestead

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Mark Rylance is coming back to pursue a passion. The award-winning actor, director and activist will help celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Battle of Homestead here with a performance — “Mark Rylance & Friends: Shakespeare & the Battle of Homestead” — on July 6, after an advance party for patrons on Friday.

A Comic Book Color Artist Explains the Psychology of Pigments

Creators: When readers think of the people behind the scenes of a comic book, they often think of the writer and the artist. But there's a whole world of people in different positions working to make a comic look great, feel right, and tell the perfect story—from inkers who define the depth of the comic, to editors who manage an entire comic slate, to the color artist who brings the world into bright, saturated life.

Sir Mark Rylance: From London to Broadway and Hollywood to Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Mark Rylance was born in England in 1960 and brought up in the U.S. (primarily Wisconsin), 1962-78. He returned to England to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

His early work was with the Royal Shakespeare Company, with success as Hamlet, a role he reprised in the U.S. in a 1991 production by the Pittsburgh Public Theater and American Repertory Theater. He played Peer Gynt in Minneapolis and scored in London in modern plays by Sam Shepard and Yasmina Reza.

Nominal Lumber Sizes Land Home Depot And Menards In Hot Water

Hackaday: Hard times indeed must have fallen upon the lawyers of the American mid-west, for news reaches us of a possible class-action lawsuit filed in Chicago that stretches the bounds of what people in more gainful employment might consider actionable. It seems our legal eagles have a concern over the insufficient dimensions of their wood, and this in turn has caused them to apply for a class action against Home Depot and Menards with respect to their use of so-called nominal sizing in the sale of lumber.

A Teacher's Dedication: Creating A Thespian Troupe, Making Theatre Happen & More

Breaking Character: Jasmine Ammons Bucher educates dozens of young artists a year as the director of Palmyra Area High School’s annual musical. This year, she started a new Thespian troupe (through the Educational Theatre Association) to honor the students and their work in the theatre. She holds a BA in English, an MBA from Lebanon Valley College, and an MA in humanities from The Pennsylvania State University, and specializes in publicity, theatre board governance, and educational programming. She also happens to be my mother! We talked about her journey to theatre education, finding new ways to recognize her students through the International Thespian Society, and how her students inspire her to develop their curriculum.

A Decade Later, Judge Says 'Jersey Boys' Use Of Unpublished Autobiography Is Fair Use

Techdirt: We've seen some nice fair use wins lately, and here's another good one (though, I'd still argue it shouldn't have even needed fair use... but we'll get there), first written up by Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter. This is actually a lawsuit that's gone on for nearly a decade (and a dispute that's gone on for longer than that), and we first wrote about this case asking the simple question can you copyright the story of a band?

'How my work as a death row investigator was turned into a play'

WhatsOnStage.com: Most authors have day jobs, but mine is quite unusual: I work with men and women facing execution as a death penalty investigator. Sometimes my job is to see if they are innocent - we've now exonerated over 250 innocent people off death rows in the United States, so this is not a light question. When they are guilty my job turns to finding out why they did it. It's a fascinating job, one where I get to learn the answers to what creates violence and how we can prevent it. Being able to help others has been a form of redemption for me too.

'Wilderness,' then farewell: The Goodman's Steve Scott is retiring

Chicago Tribune: In Chicago theater circles, the joke about Steve Scott, producer at the Goodman Theatre, is that he does whatever his boss, artistic director Robert Falls, does not want to do.

Robot Draws Using Robust CNC

Hackaday: While initially developed for use in large factory processes, computer numeric control (CNC) machines have slowly made their way out of the factory and into the hands of virtually anyone who wants one. The versatility that these machines have in automating and manipulating a wide range of tools while at the same time maintaining a high degree of accuracy and repeatability is invaluable in any setting. As an illustration of how accessible CNC has become, [Arnab]’s drawing robot uses widely available tools and a CNC implementation virtually anyone could build on their own.

New CAA study says diverse casting increases box office potential across all budgets

LA Times: There’s been little debate over the moral arguments behind increasing diversity on- and off-screen in Hollywood, but the economic arguments haven’t always been so clear.

While women, people of color, LGBTQ folk and other historically marginalized communities in Hollywood continue to insist “diversity pays,” the box office success of films with diverse casts such as “Hidden Figures” ($230.1 million worldwide) and “Get Out” ($251.2 million worldwide) is inevitably deemed a “surprise.”

Home Depot, Menards Customers Cry False Advertising When They Learn “4x4s” Aren’t Actually 4×4

Consumerist: Talk to any contractor or carpenter — or most people who are reasonably familiar with home construction and repair — and they’ll tell you that a “4×4” piece of lumber is not actually four inches by four inches, and that it hasn’t been that way in any of our lifetimes. Yet some Home Depot and Menards customers are — literally — making a federal case out of this discrepancy, accusing the retailers of false advertising.

the de-butching of alison bechdel

sinister woman: something odd is going on with the fun home national tour. at first i thought only i had picked up on it, and that maybe i was being too critical out of love for the show, until i made a post about it on tumblr and received hundreds of responses agreeing with my concern. a lot of us are wondering, fun home, why isn’t alison bechdel being portrayed as butch anymore?

10 Top Rated Multi Tools Review & Guide

www.gearhungry.com: In the days of yore there was basically one multi tool and everyone knew exactly what it was: the Swiss Army Knife. Renowned for having more attachments than Henry VIII, the venerable Swiss Army Knife ruled the multi tool universe for decades until some enterprising companies and individuals decided it was time for some competition. As a result variations on the single tool capable of multiple functions began to flood the market and today, multi tools are more exciting and more versatile than ever before.

Why Going To Live Shows Is An Act of Resistance

NYLON: Our safe spaces are under attack. The places we turn to for escape and entertainment have become targets for violence, intimidation, and terror. The bombing outside Ariana Grande’s Manchester concert that killed 22 people and injured 119 is the latest in a steady stream of terror attacks. Last year, Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, became the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in American history with 49 mostly LGBTQIA-identified people’s lives taken. In November 2015, a terror attack in Paris killed 139 people, 89 of whom were inside the Bataclan, a concert venue in the city’s 11th arrondissement. The spaces we’ve come to believe are safe, are not so—no matter how beefed-up security may be. But in spite of all that, there is safety to be found in the crowds of revelers, concert-goers, and clubbers. There is resilience to be found in the resistance of fear.

An Open Letter To LA Theatre Community

Footlights: Last week New Musicals Inc. filed a charge against Actors Equity Association through the National Labor Relations Board. The charge centers upon unfair business practices, accusing AEA of placing New Musicals Inc. on a “Do Not Work” list without cause.

Actors Equity Association is demanding that its members do not engage with NMI, threatening union members with penalties, sanctions and possible expulsion from the union. By including NMI on a ‘Do Not Work’ list, we feel that AEA is attempting to cause NMI to discriminate against union members, encouraging them to refuse to perform any services for NMI, and requiring its members to cease doing business with NMI.

From the Ground Up: Jeff Jones of Wenger

Wenger | J.R. Clancy: To launch its Performing Arts Specialist Group earlier this year, Wenger selected industry veterans with diverse backgrounds, complementary skills and technical expertise. This week we’ll meet Jeff Jones, whose career path started after high school when he began working part-time for SECOA, a manufacturer of rigging equipment, acoustical shells, orchestra pit fillers and stage lifts. His family was neighbors with Jim Kunz, who owned SECOA. After several years, Jones became a full-time SECOA employee.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Pittsburgh in the Round: Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center’s production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a darker version than the Disney classic that will send you on a rollercoaster of emotions. The musical featured an outstanding addition of a thirty-person choir above the stage, and seventeen-piece orchestra in the pit.

Stacey Battat on the Antique Look of 'The Beguiled'

The Mary Sue: Stacey Battat has worked with Sofia Coppola on The Bling Ring and Somewhere, and her outfits in collaboration with the work of production designer Anne Ross and cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd create an atmosphere that feels distinctly Coppola-n in The Beguiled.

Casting Director and Broadway League Rift Deepens Over Unionizing Efforts

Backstage: The dispute between the Broadway League and Broadway casting directors appears to be escalating.

Amidst casting directors’ efforts to unionize in order to receive benefits including health care plans and pensions, the Broadway League has made clear its willingness take legal action, not just against casting directors, but against unions supporting them, as well.

Should Critics Be Restricted Due to Non-PC Reviews? Some Say Yes

OnStage Blog: There's the old saying, "No one likes a critic". But some Chicago theatres are looking to deny a particular critic access to their productions over her provocative reviews. The other day when I received an email with "Chicago critic issue", in the subject line, I immediately had a guess of who the email was about. As predicted, it was about Hedy Weiss.

Projecting A City’s History With Rosco Image Spot

Rosco Spectrum: Bet She’an, located in the Northern District of Israel, is one of the country’s oldest cities. First settled in the Chalcolithic era, circa 4500 BCE, the city has been almost continuously inhabited since then. Thanks to its strategic location at the junction of the Jordan and Jezreel valleys, the city came to be ruled by countless different rulers including the Egyptians, Greeks and the Romans. The ancient ruins of the city’s past are now contained inside the vast Bet She’an National Park, which not only sheds light on its fascinating history with traditional displays of archaeological artifacts, but it also literally lights up the ruins each night

Free Theaters Threatened In Fallout From ‘Julius Caesar’; Rally Plans

Deadline: Raphael Parry, the executive & artistic of Shakespeare Dallas told me that in the wake of Julius Caesar coverage on Fox News and National Public Radio, the company began receiving threatening telephone calls and emails. “It began about two days ago,” Parry said. “Some were just telling us ‘I will write to your sponsors to pull your funding,’ or to go to hell. But others said they hoped we’d all be sent to ISIS and killed with real knives.” Parry confirmed the rape threat and said that a board member of the veteran company has been sending the most explicit and threatening emails to the FBI.

Julius Caesar Director Responds to Criticism

The Mary Sue: Earlier this week, the Public Theater’s production of Julius Caesar came under fire for depicting the eventually-assassinated Caesar as a Trump-like figure. People not familiar with the play, who didn’t see this production, and who thought Shakespeare (and therefore also the Public) was in any way promoting the idea of murdering political figures, were really upset. Some went so far as to say the production played some role in yesterday’s horrific shooting of a GOP congressional baseball practice.

Success of ‘Wonder Woman’ May Pave Way for More Female Directors

Variety: The critical and commercial success of “Wonder Woman,” the first female superhero movie directed by a woman, Patty Jenkins, could be the catalyst that turns the tide for female directors angling to helm major studio films. Keeping the momentum going, however, will be a big challenge.

Forming New Adaptations

Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama: From April 13-29, The Three Musketeers adapted by Megan Monaghan Rivas and directed by Andrew William Smith, exhilarated audiences in the Philip Chosky Theater and inspired the Carnegie Mellon community with its bold storytelling.

Megan Monaghan Rivas, a Dramaturg and associate professor of Dramaturgy in the School of Drama, spoke about writing her adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ epic novel, a process that took the story into a new territory.

Fine Art with Basic School Supplies

Uncrate: Art supplies are expensive. But do you really need a $400 pencil to draw an awesome picture? Of course not. Peter Draws got a composition book, some No. 2 pencils, a sharpener and erasers from a fan — and set about proving you don't have go broke to be an artist.

In its defense of a theater critic, the Tribune sidesteps the real issues

Chicago Tribune: I am disappointed by your misleading, glib editorial on the Chicago theater community's response to Hedy Weiss' pattern of, at best, racially tone-deaf criticism.

You cite the length of Weiss' tenure at the Sun-Times and describe the critic-artist relationship in lieu of offering a substantive defense of the specific critique of racial animus that the community has raised.

InfoComm 2017 Summary and Findings

Projection Mapping Central: Probably one of the coolest things at InfoComm this year was found at the Panasonic’s booth. They showcased interesting innovations and “next-generation tech”, amongst them their high speed real-time tracking and projection mapping system caught our eye. In their own words “it will enable high resolution (1920 x 1080) images at 10,000 lumens ANSI brightness to be mapped onto fast-moving objects, such as performers on stage, with masking and trimming applied over video and fed to the projector in real time.”

Should There Be All-White Productions of "Hairspray"?

OnStage Blog: Imagine that Hairspray is being produced in a local theatre near you. And after the auditions were completed, you notice that the show has an all-white cast. How would you react? Would you be angered? Insulted? Confused?

While it might be questionable that Hairspray would be cast this way, it's something that happens fairly regularly and the reason is that in large part, it's actually endorsed by the creators of the show.

15 movies filmed in Pittsburgh since 2000

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh is always ready for its close-up.

The Steel City has become prime real estate for major Hollywood productions over the last two decades. Exhibit A: Pittsburgh will soon host the production of “Where’d You Go, Bernadette,” starring Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig and Judy Greer.

Production Notes: Jibs

Nevada Film Office: Sometimes referred to as cranes or jib cranes, camera jibs are devices that are used to create dramatic and smooth sweeping shots through vertical and horizontal movements over a large distance. Camera jibs operate similar to a see-saw with a camera on one end and a counterweight on the other end. The balance point is located closer to the counterweight so that the camera has a bigger range of motion.

Trial Over Radiohead Stage Collapse Resets

Pollstar: The long-running case over a June 2012 stage collapse that killed a drum tech and injured three other workers has been declared a mistrial and will either be re-tried or be dropped for taking too long.

“The Christians” at Kinetic Theatre Company

The Pittsburgh Tatler: Your Tatler encountered a lot of religion this past weekend – indeed, far more than she, as a secular humanist, is wont to do. And all of it was on our local stages: there was the irreverent and impious An Act of God at the Public on Thursday, the reverent and affirmative A Gathering of Sons at Pittsburgh Festival Opera on Friday, and finally, on Saturday, Lucas Hnath’s intelligent and deeply captivating play The Christians.

‘Julius Caesar’ interrupted again by pro-Trump protesters

New York Post: Once more unto the breach!

The Public Theater’s anti-Trump rendition of “Julius Caesar” was interrupted yet again on Sunday — with two protesters storming the stage this time, including one who shouted: “Liberal hate kills!”

Javanni Valle, 26, of Brooklyn, and Salvatore Cipolla, 28, of Oceanside, LI, were arrested and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct following their Sunday evening stunt at Shakespeare in the Park.

ETC continues to grow

LightSoundJournal.com: ETC recently broke ground on the latest expansion to their headquarters building in southern Wisconsin. In 2004 ETC moved into their current headquarters building which, at the time, was nearly 250,000sq.ft In 2007 the company ran out of room and added an additional 78,000sq.ft of manufacturing space. By 2013 ETC had once again outgrown their building. They purchased a 355,000sq.ft building 16 miles west of the headquarters building in southern Wisconsin to provide additional manufacturing capacity.

What are the top 10 attraction queues at American theme parks?

www.themeparkinsider.com: Waiting is a necessary annoyance at theme parks. If you don't have people waiting at a ride's load platform, the operators either have to send vehicles empty or at less than full capacity... or hold the circuit to wait for a car's worth of people to show up to ride. Either way, you're running the attraction at less than full capacity, which means the park wasted money building more capacity than it needed.

Berekeley Rep’s AD Tony Taccone Responds to Julius Caesar Controversy at the Public Theater

Stage Directions: Over the past week, a controversy has emerged surrounding The Public Theater’s production of Julius Caesar now playing in New York’s Central Park. As staged by director Oskar Eustis, the actor portraying Caesar is dressed to appear like Donald Trump. The famous assassination that occurs in the middle of the play has incensed political pundits from Breitbart and Fox News, provoking them to express their scorn and moral outrage and claiming that the artists involved are endorsing the murder of our president. Their reaction, in turn, spurred other citizens (the vast majority of whom had not seen the production first-hand) to pressure corporate sponsors Delta Airlines and Bank of America to withdraw their support of the production – which they did with breathtaking speed. Mr. Trump’s own son added his fury to the fray by questioning the role of any corporation providing philanthropic support for the show, which he mockingly referred to as “art.” These reactions are deeply troubling for two reasons.

Evelyn Glennie (a Musician Who Happens to Be Deaf) Shows How We Can Listen to Music with Our Entire Bodies

Open Culture: Hearing is basically a specialized form of touch. Sound is simply vibrating air which the ear picks up and converts to electrical signals, which are then interpreted by the brain. The sense of hearing is not the only sense that can do this, touch can do this too.

Theme park fans find magic in the illusion of flight

www.themeparkinsider.com: At their most compelling, theme parks grant us the power to do the incredible. They allow us to travel through time — from the moment of extinction for the dinosaurs to a future when space is a tourist destination. They move us through enchanted portals into a wizard's universe or a cartoon playground. Theme parks allow us to defeat robot armies, survive attacks by mythical beasts, and to escape the bounds of gravity to fly.

How Is Broadway Doing On the Road?

Playbill: Considering the records it’s been breaking from coast to coast, “Broadway” might just need an extra nickname. Along with the Rialto and the Great White Way, we should officially start calling it “the Longest Street in America.”

Legend has it that Paul Libin, the iconic theatre manager and recipient of a 2013 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement, was the first to use that phrase, and even a glance at the current season proves he was on to something. More than ever, Broadway tours are taking the experience of Broadway across the country, giving millions of people a chance to experience New York City theatre.

Theaters that perform Shakespeare are getting death threats

The Boston Globe: The messages started pouring in earlier this week.

“Your play depicting the murder of our President is nothing but pure hatred,” read one of the tamer ones.

“[H]ope you all who did this play about Trump are the first do [sic] die when ISIS COMES TO YOU [expletive] sumbags [sic],” read another.

The senders were outraged over the Public Theater’s controversial staging of “Julius Caesar,” a production in New York’s Central Park that has become a national flashpoint for its depiction of the stabbing assassination of its Trump-like title character.

“A Gathering of Sons” at Pittsburgh Festival Opera

The Pittsburgh Tatler: The new opera A Gathering of Sons, which is having its world premiere at Pittsburgh Festival Opera under the direction of Mark Clayton-Southers, addresses one of the most pressing issues of our current moment: the tragedy of police violence against African-American men.

Juliet Stevenson: 'Women in theatre are not allowed to fail'

WhatsOnStage.com: After starring alongside Lia Williams in Robert Icke's acclaimed coin-flipping production of Mary Stuart, Juliet Stevenson went straight back to the Almeida to play Gertrude in Icke's Hamlet - a role she swore she'd never play. As the production transfers to London's West End, we speak to Stevenson about how she ended up playing the role, why Shakespeare is so bad at writing women, and her thoughts on Emma Rice and Shakespeare's Globe.

Sony Backs Down on 'Clean Version' Movies, Will Let Directors Opt Out

io9.gizmodo.com: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment caused a bit of a scene when it announced it was releasing “clean versions” of some of their most popular films, including all five of their Spider-Man already having kiddie versions. Now, after many directors have complained about their films being changed without their approval or control, the studio is stepping back. But one Spider-Man director is letting his films stay.

Broadway’s Casting Directors Rally in NYC to Demand Health Care, Pensions

Backstage: Just three days before the 2017 Tony Awards, Broadway’s casting directors rallied in the streets of New York City to galvanize efforts to unionize and negotiate a contract with the Broadway League, which would provide this facet of the industry—one of the only without a union—with health insurance and pension plans.

‘Bachelor In Paradise’: Lisa Bloom On Sexual Consent, Lawsuits

Variety: Prominent attorney Lisa Bloom is calling on TV-dating shows to change the rules of consent for casts engaging in sexual behavior on camera in the wake of the “Bachelor in Paradise” controversy. “I think it would be very helpful on these shows to have a course of conduct like a lot of these colleges have, which is there has to be an explicit verbal ‘yes’ to each sexual act,” said Bloom, who is currently working with other stars in the midst of high-profile cases, including Kathy Griffin.

5 Modern Day Shakespeares

www.vulture.com: TNT’s new series, Will, shares the untold story of young William Shakespeare with a modern, fictional twist. The show transposes the literary titan onto a backdrop of contemporary music, gripping plot twists, and intriguing character dynamics. With the Bard’s influence as relevant as ever, we considered which of today’s most prominent storytellers are on track to leave their own lasting legacy. Below, we predict a few influential voices who, beyond having risen to feverish popularity in the present, will be remembered as culture-defining figures.

Site-Specific Theatre: Does the Best Work Happen in Traditional Theatres?

OnStage Blog: If I ask you to describe a typical theatre trip is like, you’d probably imagine a stage and traditional seating. With audience members sipping beverages and marveling at an elaborate set. 3 years ago, I would have given the same answer. However, after studying site-specific work during my degree, I know that good theatre can be so much more.

Just like anything, site-specific theatre has its pros and cons.

Time Warner CEO Defends Public Theater’s ‘Julius Caesar’

Variety: “We’re certainly not going to drop our support for an institution like the Public Theater,” Bewkes said. The CEO was responding to the first shareholder question at the meeting, which targeted the company’s continued sponsorship of the Public — the New York arts organization that has come under fire for its current production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” which portrays Caesar as a Donald Trump-like character.

What Happens When There's Class Conflict in the Workplace?

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: At Abe Koogler's new play Fulfillment Center, a wooden runway cuts MTC's Center/Stage II in half so that the audience sits on both sides. A few folding chairs provide the only additional scenery. It's a bit reminiscent of MTC's Heisenberg, at which some viewers grumbled about the seemingly absent design. If they do that at Fulfillment Center, too, Koogler is totally okay with it.

It’s a big deal the raunchy comedy 'Rough Night' was made by a woman

Business Insider: Though in the last decade, women have found more work as directors and showrunners on TV, movies are still in the Stone Age when it comes to gender equality. In fact, a recent study showed that in 2016, only 7% of the 250 highest-grossing movies were directed by women, a 2% drop from the year before.

10 major milestones for women directors in Hollywood

www.usatoday.com: For all the progress Hollywood depicts in its films, behind the scenes, gender and racial equality has barely inched forward in the last several decades. In fact, just 7% of 2016's top-grossing films were directed by women, a two percentage point drop from 2015, according to research by the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film at San Diego State University.

Obama / Trump / Caesar

The Peacock and the Platypus: This week, Delta Airlines announced they are pulling funding from The Public Theater in reaction to its production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, in which a Trump-like emperor is assassinated by left wing radicals. Contrast that with the production of Julius Caesar I directed in 2012 in which an Obama-like Caesar was stabbed by right-wing conservative conspirators. Starting in Minneapolis, the show -- co-produced by the Guthrie Theater and the Acting Company -- toured the country before a month-long run in New York. There was no public outrage, and Delta, which happened to be funding the Guthrie that season, did not pull their funding.

Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones Responds to Online Petition Against Critic Hedy Weiss

www.broadwayworld.com: The reviews are in and some in the theater community are non-too-pleased with Chicago Sun-Times theater and dance critic Hedy Weiss.

A petition urging Chicago theater companies to stop inviting Weiss to productions was posted on Change.org on June 13th by the Chicago Theater Accountability Coalition. As of this writing, the petition has received more than 2,000 signatures.

In the petition, the group specifically charges Weiss with having consistently made inflammatory remarks in her reviews.

"[She] has proven that she is not willing to work with us to create a positive environment," the petition states. "She has proven this repeatedly

Chicago Tribune critic Chris Jones responded to BroadwayWorld's request for comment on the story.

Nina Barbado, Director of Assemble, on Makerspaces — AMT Lab @ CMU

AMT Lab @ CMU: Makerspaces are changing the way communities engage with the arts. A makerspace provides a community with a space to create, using shared tools and technologies. As of late, makerspaces have become increasingly popular, as demonstrated by more of them popping up around the country each year.

How Far Should We Go When Depicting Violence on Stage?

The Theatre Times: Last year, London audiences have been horrified by the violence shown on stage in the National Theatre’s production of Sarah Kane’s play Cleansed. The National’s own website rather euphemistically describes the production as “unflinching,” but media reports have dwelt on the gory action in more detail.

The Collaborator Party Celebrates for a Third Sold-Out Year

Stage Directions: The Collaborator Party, headed by theatrical sound designers Lindsay Jones and John Gromada, announced that their event was a complete sell-out for the third year in a row. The Collaborator Party is the official Tony night party for the theatre sound community and all of their collaborators. The main party was held June 11 at Houston Hall in NYC from 7pm-11pm, with an additional party held simultaneously in Los Angeles.

Equity & LORT Reach a New Five-Year Agreement

Stage Directions: Actors’ Equity Association announced that it has reached a tentative agreement for a historic new five-year contract with the League of Resident Theaters (LORT) for actors and stage managers. Key provisions of the agreement include substantial salary increases ranging from 16 percent to 81.7 percent over the life of the contract. Upon ratification, members will also receive raises retroactive to Feb. 13, 2017, when the original LORT agreement expired.

Dress is a Work From the Heart

www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University added some high-tech light to the bright lights of Broadway during the 71st Annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11. The university, known as one of the top theater arts conservatories in the world, showed an additional dimension when a "wearable tech" dress made its debut on the red carpet at Radio City Music Hall.

The top and skirt ensemble, designed and created by CMU alumna Sophie Hood, includes strategically placed LED lights and laser-cut graphics to represent the number of students at CMU and the way students blend various fields in different colleges and schools in their educational experience. The lights respond to the wearer's heartbeat and are controlled by a thistle-shaped broach that represents CMU's Scottish heritage.

Scholars See Bad Omens in Pulled Sponsorship of ‘Julius Caesar’

The Chronicle of Higher Education: This year’s free Public Theater performance sets Shakespeare’s drama in modern dress, and presents Julius Caesar as a figure resembling President Trump ­— complete with blond hair, blue suit, and gold bathtub, according to a review in The New York Times.

While the production faces conservative and corporate backlash for depicting the assassination of a Trumplike title character, scholars critical of the backlash said it represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the play. But more important they said, it portends ill for public faith in the arts during the Trump era.

11 Asian-American Playwrights Recommend 11 Asian-American Plays

BAMBOO NATION: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month has come to a close—but for me, every month is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! And in order to help you, my dear friends, continue celebrating, I've compiled a list of classic (know your history!) and contemporary (know your peers!) stage plays to stimulate your intellect and satisfy your innate need for drama.

Oskar Eustis on Trump, ‘Julius Caesar’ and the Politics of Theater

The New York Times: The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park production of “Julius Caesar” opened on Monday night under unusual circumstances: A firestorm of criticism from the right over the use of an actor styled as President Trump to portray Caesar, and then knifed to death as part of the story, led three major corporate donors to distance themselves from the show.

The Rigging for 'WrestleMania 33:' A Closer Look

PLSN: The word, “amazing,” is often overused when describing an accomplishment or event. It also has different connotations, in that in can be complimentary in one sense, or derogatory in another. Consider; “That was amazing!” Or, “I’m amazed that guy can find his own….[insert word].”

For the purposes of this article, all references are to the former statement. Atlanta Rigging Systems, founded in 1992, has become one of the leading rigging, automation, installation and sales companies in the world. Numerous awards and recognition from peers in the industry attest to the fact.

Delta & BOA Pull Funding Over ‘Julius Caesar’ – Shame on Them

Variety: It is a distinctly American thing, to rely on corporate funding for the arts. On one hand, it is a sign of how wary our domestic establishment still is about taxpayer money funding the arts. On the other, it is a signifier of our social compact with our corporations: We rely on them to fund the arts because we, and they, believe that the arts contribute something important and lasting to the public firmament. One of the reasons that art needs to be funded is because it should exist at least partially outside the world of endlessly pursuing profit; art reminds us that there is more to life than punching a time card, and nourishes us outside of the daily grind. This should go without saying, but it is not “offensive” to criticize the most powerful man in the world, especially when done so without even naming him. The power dynamic at play there operates against the theater, not against the president.

Et Tu, Delta? Shakespeare in the Park Sponsors Withdraw From Trump-Like ‘Julius Caesar’

The New York Times: New York’s Public Theater lost financial support from two high-profile corporate donors, Delta Air Lines and Bank of America, on Sunday amid intense criticism of its production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” which depicts the assassination of a Trump-like Roman ruler.

The companies’ decisions came after days of criticism online and in right-leaning media outlets that was amplified by Donald Trump Jr., a son of the president, who appeared to call into question the theater’s funding sources on Twitter on Sunday morning.

How Outrage Built Over a Shakespearean Depiction of Trump

The New York Times: Shortly after the presidential election, Oskar Eustis, one of New York’s most successful theater executives, knew what he wanted to do. He would direct a production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” with the title character a provocative but inexact stand-in for President Trump.

Mr. Eustis was not alone. All over the country, from Oklahoma to Oregon, theaters have been staging “Julius Caesar” this year as a way to chew over politics, power, democracy and authoritarianism at a moment when a populist leader with a fondness for executive power has moved into the White House.

Trump-Like ‘Julius Caesar’ Play: Public Theater Defends Show

Variety: The Public Theater, the longtime New York nonprofit currently taking fire for its Free Shakespeare in the Park production of “Julius Caesar,” has responded to the outcry by refusing to back down.

“We stand completely behind our production of ‘Julius Caesar,'” the theater said of the show, which makes overt references to the Trump administration in its modern-day depiction of Shakespeare’s story.

Delta & BofA Pull Out of Trump-Invoking Julius Caesar

The Mary Sue: Over the last few years, it feels like the number of terrible people on the internet and TV who don’t understand what the First Amendment actually means has skyrocketed. You know the pattern: Awful person says awful thing–usually racist/sexist/what have you–then there’s a backlash and they lose their sponsorship/employment/speaking engagement. They and their supporters then inevitably cry “censorship!” and “freedom of speech!” because they don’t understand that the first amendment protects us from government retribution. It does not mean you can be an asshole with no consequences, and private businesses are free to dissociate from anyone they please.

Community theater heads to main street in Braddock and the West End

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh Musical Theater and barebones productions are bringing community theater to main street in Braddock and the West End.

Before a theater can put down roots in your community, there are days and nights of drama that you won’t see on any program.

There’s sweat and dust, stress and jackhammers. There’s also the language of contractors and building inspectors and, of course, raising the money to make the magic happen.

For Flint, an 1882 Play About Bad Water Is ‘Exactly What We’re Living’

The New York Times: The play was written in 1882, originally set in a small town in Norway — about as removed as imaginable from the daily struggles of this Michigan city. But as an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” played out over the weekend on a basketball court in a building that was once a Flint elementary school, the echoes were uncanny.

A doctor discovers a tainted water supply and speaks up about it.

More students are dropping out of university because of mental health problems

theconversation.com: The UK student population has doubled in the last twenty years to almost two million. During this time, higher tuition fees have placed increased pressure on students – with a recent survey finding that 75% of students who receive a maintenance loan feel stressed about their debt.

It may not be a total surprise then that a 2015 NUS survey revealed that 78% of students experienced mental health issues during the previous year. And for 33% of those questioned this included suicidal thoughts.

The Tonys Beg the Question: What's Next for American Theater?

themuse.jezebel.com: A conversation I find myself having over and over: What is the future of the Broadway musical? As each theater season, plays and musicals included, becomes more and more varied, I wonder if what drew me to Broadway is the same thing that will keep me there.

Delta and Bank of America take brave stand against free Shakespeare

Salon.com: It’s been nearly four weeks since the Public Theater’s production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” began performances in Central Park. Its debut was scheduled — and announced — back in the fall.

Yet it was only this weekend, most notably after Fox News reported, “A New York City play appears to depict President Trump being brutally stabbed to death by women and minorities” that some corporate sponsors decided their “values” had been offended and withdrew their support for Shakespeare in the Park. Because when you think of integrity, the first words that leap to mind are Delta and Bank of America, right?

Member Spotlight: Josafath Reynoso, Gateway Mentor

sightlines.usitt.org: I hadn’t planned to be a theatre person. I was in high school studying music and I had a wake up call in my junior year…I realized that I was a horrible musician. I’d always been involved in some kind of theatre whether it was making puppets or creating theatre in the backyard. I grew up doing creative and inventive things. My mom’s father and her brother were handy people. I grew up with all of that. Life conspires in certain interesting ways and offers you opportunities and the real challenge in life is whether you recognize an opportunity or not and whether you’re willing to take that opportunity.

Another Perspective On Lousy Audio & Related Issues In Church

ProSoundWeb: One statement he makes that I’m in general agreement with is this: “They [churches] haven’t yet realized they can’t invest in pro equipment without hiring a pro to run it.”

I’ve been saying this for quite a while now, and I’ve seen it happen at quite a few churches. They start off as a small church in a small room with simple, analog equipment that the volunteers figure out fairly well. As they grow, they build a new building and install a fancy new digital console and no one knows how to use it.

What the church needs is a technical director who can train the volunteers on the new gear and keep it running smoothly. Sadly, most churches discover this too late.

Carnegie Mellon University Congratulates Our Tony Nominees

www.prnewswire.com: Four Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama alumni garnered Tony Award nominations this year. Denée Benton, Christian Borle, and Josh Groban were nominated for their leading roles in Broadway musicals, and Kevin Emrick was nominated as a producer of a best play.

OnStage: Lessons in love from 'Miss Abigail' at CLO Cabaret; 'Jitney' wins at Drama Desk

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: If you sign up for “Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage,” be prepared to hear the words “wienie roast” every so often.

The frothy seminar as a play piles on double entendres and is tailor-made for folks who are tickled by randy talk about relationships and audience participation — from writing questions about the title topics, to heading onstage for the game “Love, Lust or Stalking.”

How To Be More Productive by Working Less

markmanson.net: It took me 18 months to write The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck. Over that time period, I wrote somewhere in the vicinity of 150,000 words for the book (about 600 pages). Most of that came in the final three months. In fact, I can confidently say I got far more done in the final three months than I did in the first 12 combined.

Women in Animation Announces Academic Partnership

Variety: Woman in Animation announced the first round of academic partnerships Wednesday to encourage student participation and give students access to early support.

The School of Visual Arts and California Institute of the Arts both aligned as sponsors so more students can become involved in the WIA organization.

Swing Fever: Fabrice Lemire Talks Quartz/Crystal

www.cirquefascination.com: Cirque du Soleil is “dancing in new territory,” according to its artistic director and full-time Palm Springs resident Fabrice Lemire. “Quartz,” the upcoming show that Lemire is about to launch, will be performed entirely on ice.

As (touring) artistic director, Lemire has overseen the development of Cirque’s last three shows, “Quidam,” “Varekai” and “Toruk,” based on James Cameron’s blockbuster “Avatar.” He recently began the three- to four-month development process of “Quartz.”

Why is the Seat Moving?: Seeing “Wonder Woman” in 4DX

Balder and Dash | Roger Ebert: On a Tuesday night in June, I drove an hour north of my home in the Chicago suburbs to the only 4DX theater in the Midwest, and one of only nine in the entire country, to experience the latest adventure in heightening the moviegoing experience. My son came with me to see his first superhero movie in the theater, Patty Jenkins’ already-beloved “Wonder Woman.” Posters outside the theater advertise the 4DX experience not unlike the nearby Six Flags Great America advertises a new roller coaster with an excited patron holding on to his armrests for dear life as he doesn’t just watch the movie, he becomes an active participant in the experience.

Lynn Nottage Is 50 Percent of All the Female Playwrights on Broadway Right Now, "And In 2017, That's an Abomination"

www.elle.com: The New Yorker deemed it "the first theatrical landmark of the Trump era," but Lynn Nottage takes care to explain that she wrote (and set) Sweat, the show that is now on Broadway and won her a second Pulitzer Prize several months ago, before Donald Trump was elected.

Obama consults Cirque du Soleil to design presidential library: report

Montreal Gazette: The morning after Obama’s speech in Montreal Tuesday, he met with Cirque du Soleil CEO Daniel Lamarre to discuss plans for the Obama Presidential Centre. The 44th president of the United States told Lamarre he was a “big fan” of the cirque and wanted its input on designing the library.

The two met over coffee at Obama’s hotel.

“I expected to spend five minutes with him but we spoke for 30 minutes,” Lamarre told La Presse. “He knows our shows and was sincerely interested in what we do. He had plenty of questions about our creations, our projects, our foundation.

Charges Finally Brought in Oakland Ghost Ship Fire Investigation: Two Men Face 39 Years in Jail

Flavorwire: Six months after the ghastly fire at Oakland DIY venue/living space Ghost Ship, charges have been brought against those in charge of the building. As per a report in the New York Times, both the building’s “master tenant,” David Almena, and Max Harris, who “assisted [Almena] in a supervisory role in the building,” have been charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Pushing Limits – Grid Limits: Tuesday Tips With Dieter

AutoCAD Blog | Autodesk: When the Limits feature was first introduced, its primary purpose was to enforce a boundary for the drawing area and to define a plotting area. With the advent of paper space layouts, that role was diminished for many users. But there’s still an incredibly useful interaction between the Limits feature and the grid display in the drawing area.

Currently, turning on the grid for the entire drawing area is a little overwhelming

Getting Things Done, Ten Years In

lifehacker.com: You don’t hear a lot of people talk about the Getting Things Done productivity system anymore. It’s not as colorful or Insta-friendly as the Bullet Journal, and although various apps have claimed to “work with GTD,” they’ve all fallen slightly short—because, at its core, GTD is analog.It’s a system that works less well if you let Gmail automatically sort your email into categories, or if you let an app scan your docs to pull out to-dos or calendar items, since the whole point of GTD is that you are actively tracking and collecting every task, responsibility, or concern (aka “Open Loop”) that comes your way.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins: "No one is really challenged to think bigger"

Exeunt Magazine: “None of us started out thinking that Broadway was in any way a thing that we should care about. We accepted as a given that commercial theatre is not a space we would have, so we’re committed to experimentation in part because that’s what was happening Off-Broadway at the time.”

I’m interviewing Branden Jacobs-Jenkins in the bowels of the Orange Tree Theatre (which I can now attest is at least 50% staircases), and am not quite resisting the temptation to nerd out over both his work, and the avowedly experimental New York playwriting scene he’s a part of.

Tracy Brigden exits City Theatre after 16 years as artistic director

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Tracy Brigden has resigned as City Theatre's artistic director after 16 seasons and 25 world premieres at Pittsburgh’s new-play theater.

Ms. Brigden's exit is effective immediately and comes just as the South Side company completed its 42nd season on Sunday, after the finales of Momentum ’17 and the play “Ironbound,” starring Rebecca Harris. She also turned 53 on Saturday. One of the plays developed at City and Hartford Stages, Sharon Washington’s “Feeding the Dragon,” is headed off-Broadway for Primary Stages.

NYC's 'Freelance Isn't Free' Act Goes Into Effect Today

Gothamist: The country's first freelancer protections against nonpayment go into effect in New York City today, so now's a good time to brush up on a law intended to help a full third of the city's workforce get paid on time.

To recap, the law mandates that freelancers be paid in full for work worth $800 or more, either by a date set forward in writing or within 30 days of completing an assigned task. The Freelance Isn't Free Act also aims to protect freelancers from employer retaliation, and can increase monetary consequences for employers who refuse to pay.

Video gaming’s voice actor strike is ending in slow, small drips

Ars Technica: The video game voice actors in the SAG-AFTRA union have been holding a solid line since they started striking last October, demanding limitations to vocally stressful work sessions and bonus payments for work on top-selling games. But as the strike extends into its eighth month, plenty of games are still getting made with unionized vocal talent. That's because even as the strike as a whole continues, the union has been able to peel off a growing number of developers and publishers willing to agree to new contracts that meet their demands.

Scientists Have Discovered The Oldest Art Store in History

Creators: A group of European Paleoscientists just published a report suggesting that the low-ceilinged Porc-Epic cave, a site in in eastern Ethiopia, operated as a production site for powdered ochre pigment for at least 4,500 years, making it the earliest and longest-running art supply store in recorded history. Think of it like Blick for the Middle Stone Age

Why Costume Designers Are The Coolest Storytellers In Hollywood

NYLON: Storytelling is a team sport. This holds especially in the worlds of television and film, where everyone from the lead actor to the music editor has a role in constructing different pieces of the narrative that work together to form one fully realized story. Costume designers are a large part of that puzzle.

How a ‘Climate Change Musical’ Became a Right-Wing Punching Bag

AMERICAN THEATRE: They say all press is good press. But for Steven Cosson, artistic director of documentary theatre troupe the Civilians, the reality is a bit more complicated. On May 23, The Washington Post ran a piece with the headline: “In Trump budget briefing, ‘climate change musical’ is cited as tax waste. Wait, what?”

2017 Excellence in Theatre Education Award Winner Inspires Students in Oregon

www.cmu.edu/news: The Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University have announced that Rachel Harry of Hood River, Oregon, has been named the third recipient of the Excellence in Theatre Education Award. Carnegie Mellon, the exclusive higher education partner of the Tony Awards, will present the award to Harry, a drama teacher at Hood River Valley High School, at the 71st Annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

How Projection Design Is Changing the Landscape of Theatre

Playbill: Ten years ago, projections on Broadway were viewed with trepidation. What role does such a cinematic device have in the theatre? This has been a watershed season for projections, which have been drawn on to achieve a variety of effects in productions as diverse as Dear Evan Hansen, Anastasia, Oslo, Indecent, Amélie, and Sunday in the Park with George.

Discount Tickets for Broadway, Off-Broadway and off-Off Broadway Shows

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: In high school I played an Angel in Anything Goes. I vividly recall wearing my mother's retro, form-fitting, olive green, sleeveless gown with baby-pink detailing. I felt like a showgirl prancing about, strutting my stuff. Although singing was not my strength, I adored the glitz and the glam of the whole experience. And the applause! What an absolute high.

Why Cirque Du Soleil Has Stopped Employee Reviews (and You Should Too)

Inc.com: As a company that was built on trailblazing new experiences and challenging the status quo, it's no wonder that Cirque Du Soleil has taken a radical approach to the way they manage people. Harnessing the power of energy and engagement, they've steered away from traditional and archaic methods that are built on utilitarian principles, and shifted towards starting open and honest conversations, asking for constant feedback, and promoting shared responsibilities amongst all members of the company.

The Play 'Objects In The Mirror' Was Inspired By A Real Refugee's Shakespearean Dilemma

NPR: Objects in the Mirror, a new play from American playwright Charles Smith, seems ripped from the headlines. It's about a young man who escapes war-torn Liberia only to confront new dangers and an identity crisis in Australia, the country where he found shelter.

The play is based on the true story of a young actor named Shedrick Yarkpai. Smith met Yarkpai when a theater company in Adelaide, Australia, produced two of Smith's plays with Yarkpai in the lead. The playwright traveled to see the productions, and afterwards went to lunch with Yarkpai and the theater's artistic director.

Pittsburgh Public Theater satire 'An Act of God' attracts protesters

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A peaceful prayer will be offered outside of Pittsburgh Public Theater’s O’Reilly Theater Thursday evening to protest the play “An Act of God.”

The satire that on Broadway debuted with Jim Parsons of “The Big Bang Theory” as God opens in previews Thursday. It was written by 13-time Emmy Award-winner David Javerbaum (“The Daily Show”) and depicts God delivering new commandments and commenting on the world’s current state.

Re-Orienting How American Theatre Covers Islam

HowlRound: Edward Said begins his masterpiece Orientalism (1978) with a quote from Marx’s 18th Brumaire that is fundamentally about power and knowledge: “They cannot represent themselves; they must be represented.” In this vein, Said dissects orientalism as an entrenched set of beliefs that rendered objectivity impossible since knowledge produced about the Orient has always been predicated on power, privilege, and the Western gaze. The phenomenon of orientalism thus reiterates recognizable stereotypes—often by well-intentioned outsiders and native informants with “insider knowledge”—such that the West could represent monolithic concepts like “Muslims” with certainty. Said emphasizes that this lopsided rationale is systemic and so entrenched in our beliefs that inequity (literal or figurative) would feel mollifying rather than malicious.

This Is Spinal Tap’s $400 Million Lawsuit

Bloomberg: In comedy, as in rock ’n’ roll, nothing is quite as easy as it looks. And so it makes sense that several years before the 1984 release of the legendary rock ’n’ roll mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, director Rob Reiner and stars and co-writers Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer first had to make a shorter version of the same movie: a sort of sample-size Spinal Tap, meant to whet the appetite of studios that might bankroll the real thing. Titled The Final Tour, this 20-minute demo reel about a past-its-prime, unselfconsciously ridiculous band makes for an uncanny viewing experience today, if for no other reason than how fully conceived the idea already was. It’s on YouTube if you’re curious.

What You Need to Know About the 3 Guilds That Rule Hollywood

Backstage: As an actor, no matter where you’re located, an awareness of the unions associated with the business will be to your benefit. As an actor in Los Angeles, however, not knowing DGA from WGA could easily cost you a job, as well as demonstrate a highly unprofessional lack of awareness about your industry.

So you can have all the information you need in one handy place, we’ve created this breakdown of the three unions that dominate Hollywood—SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America, and the Directors Guild of America—and how they relate to you as the actor.

Three Signs Impostor Syndrome Might Be Silently Hurting Your Career

www.fastcompany.com: When it comes to confidence, I am the quintessential example of someone who feels wholly unqualified to do his job. Some people close to me have said that it’s a good way to keep myself humble. But trust me, there are times when the feeling of being an impostor has completely derailed me at work.

Based on my very real experience, here are a few signs that your impostor syndrome has crossed the line from being something you should be aware of–and something that’s keeping you from being a functioning member of society.

TechShop Announces New Partner Licensing Model, Closes Pittsburgh Location

makezine.com: Today TechShop is making a fundamental change in how we do business by announcing our new partner licensing model. We are seeing a constant and increasing interest and demand from new markets eager to invest in makerspaces to transform their communities and to generate the kind of economic and social impact that TechShop has had in its existing markets.

AI Raising Concerns With Production Workers

Variety: Will artificial intelligence take over my job? These days, that question looms large in media and entertainment, where talk of a “robotic revolution” in which easily taught tasks can be automated strikes fear into the hearts of even skilled professionals such as cinematographers and editors.

Why the Rise of Workout Classes in Museums Should Worry Art Lovers

www.artsy.net: A calisthenics circuit around the Metropolitan Museum, interval training at the Berlin Biennale, yoga among the statues in the Beaux-Art Court of the Brooklyn Museum or in the halls of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum: Fitness has, over the past year, crept ever more directly into museums, spaces which for centuries have been temples to stillness. No longer content merely to gaze upon paintings and sculptures of perfected bodies, viewers seem increasingly interested in going to art institutions to imitate them.

Gore and terror: How we created horror movie effects for the stage

WhatsOnStage.com: With Horror, director Jakop Ahlbom creates a magical world live on stage. It is rare to see these kind of effects - usually associated with cinema - onstage and has been a challenge for us to translate the horror movie visuals for the theatre. And to do it in such a way that the effects can be performed on stage day in, day out.

Just like former plays by Jakop, Horror is very visual and without spoken words. But it isn't just a special effects show. We use them a lot, but they are woven into the storyline and choreography.

Actors’ Equity Announces First-Ever Director of Diversity

Backstage: Nicole S. Smart has been named the first-ever Director of Diversity for the Actors’ Equity Association according to a press release issued today.

As the holder of the inaugural position, Smart will be responsible for overseeing Equity’s inclusion goals by furthering diversity within both the organization and the larger theater community.