Meet Eugene Lee, the Crazy Stylish 78-Year-Old Man Who Literally Built SNL

GQ: “Fancy lighting rigs for Katy Perry. This is what we do now,” Eugene Lee chuckles as we walk past the musical guest stage in Studio 8H days before the finale of Saturday Night Live’s most-watched season in over 20 years. Mr. Lee has been a pivotal force behind the success of this season of SNL—actually behind the success of every season of SNL. So while you may not recognize the name Eugene Lee, it’s a sure bet that you’ll recognize his work.

Alumnus Devon Smullen is All About That Bass

www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Devon Smullen's works of art are made to be played. His handcrafted bass guitars are strapped on by bass players worldwide, including Demonterious Lawrence, who has played bass for the Grammy-Award winner rapper Kendrick Lamar and Avery*Sunshine.

The Uncanny Sound Illusion That Creates Suspense in Christopher Nolan's Movies

sploid.gizmodo.com: Ever notice how Christopher Nolan’s movies (Interstellar, Inception, The Prestige) feel like an anxiety attack? Well, maybe that’s overstating things a bit. But the director does have a knack for creating an unnerving degree of tension. Turns out he’s using a little bit of musical magic to do it.

A timeline of women’s fashion from 1784-1970

kottke.org: Part of the appeal of watching period shows like Mad Men and Downton Abbey that happen over the course of many years is observing how fashion changes. Collected from a number of fashion plates, this image shows what a woman might have worn each year from 1784 to 1970. (I’m guessing the image only goes up through 1970 because photography made fashion plates increasingly irrelevant.)

Yamaha improves neighbourhood relations

LightSoundJournal.com: What could be better on a summer evening than dining and dancing outdoors in the beautiful countryside of central Italy? Ristorante Al Boschetto, on the fringes of the town of Fondi, understands this. However, it also has close neighbours, making environmental noise protection just as important. After many problems with other systems, Yamaha provided the answer.

Star turn in 'Aladdin' a dream come true for CMU grad Telly Leung

TribLIVE: Broadway's new “Aladdin” found a genuine genie his senior year at Carnegie Mellon University, in the form of Billy Porter (CMU class of '91), who was directing Telly Leung in a school production of “Company.”

“Actually, he was a mentor more than genie,” laughs Leung (class of 2002) of the Tony- and Grammy-winning actor/composer/director/recording artist. “He was a champion of me.”

Ionesco’s Anti-Fascist Rhinoceros Timelier Than Ever

@ This Stage: Eugène Ionesco’s 1959 parable about pachyderms belongs to the Theatre of the Absurd. Yet, the production of Rhinoceros, now at Pacific Resident Theatre through September 10th, is an example of a work that speaks to today’s zeitgeist. The Theatre of the Absurd isn’t just a genre. We wake up to it every morning.

2017-2018 Tony Awards Nominating Committee Announced

Stage Directions: The Tony Awards Administration Committee announced today the Nominating Committee for the 2017-2018 Broadway season. The Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

George Romero’s zombies will make Americans reflect on racial violence long after his death

New Pittsburgh Courier: “What’s your zombie apocalypse survival plan?”

The question invites the liveliest discussions of the semester. I teach a course on social movements in fiction and film at West Virginia University, where I also conduct research on race and gender politics in the United States.

NEXT Up: Eric Lloyd is on a mission to create awesome escape rooms

www.nextpittsburgh.com: Eric Lloyd is on a quest to create the world’s most immersive and exciting escape rooms. As owner and operator of IQ Escape, Eric is passionate about bringing second-generation games, augmented with automation and theater-quality lighting and sets, to the Pittsburgh area. The Wexford native says that after taking a “detour into accounting, he discovered his true calling as an entertainment entrepreneur,” and has since opened locations in the North Hills and State College, with one on the way in Baldwin. Eric lives in West Allegheny with his girlfriend Melissa, and their Bichon poodle mix, Marley.

Jack O’Connell on Being Nude in ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’

Variety: Jack O’Connell had never read or seen “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” before he signed on for the West End revival. He didn’t even know that the play was written by Tennessee Williams. But his bruising portrait as the alcoholic Brick is one for the ages — and not just because O’Donnell enters the stage fully nude, taking a shower.

Jessica Williams says it a ‘great time’ to be actor of color

New Pittsburgh Courier: Jessica Williams says it’s a great time to be an actress of color, and applauds Netflix for leading the way in promoting diversity.

Williams, who cut her teeth as a correspondent on “The Daily Show,” takes on her first starring role in the streaming network’s original film, “The Incredible Jessica James .”

Keen Utility Davenport Mid AL Waterproof Composite Toe Boot

PTR: Like every other tradesman on Earth, I’m on my feet all day. And it’s not as if I’m walking around on soft carpet or rubberized floors, either. No, I’m on concrete, asphalt, up and down ladder rungs, squatting, bending, and kneeling – not what anyone would consider easy on the feet or any other body part. That’s to say nothing of the hazards in the form of heavy stuff that can fall or be drop and cause painful injuries and lost time at work. You expect boots like the Keen Utility Davenport to protect your feet from those hazards.

The Experiential: Hansel And Gretel At The Park Avenue Armory

www.livedesignonline.com/installations:  It's been my premise that experiential production is happening not only in the brand sphere, but also in immersive installations in the worlds of art and architecture.
Artist Ai Wei Wei, and architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have continued a rich collaboration in creating Hansel and Gretel at the Park Avenue Armory. Herzog and de Meuron are the architects who have overseen the renovation of the Armory. The trio have combined their talents on other notable occasions, including in the design of Beijing's eponymous Birds Nest stadium, and the Serpentine Gallery in London.

Staging Experts Speak

Church Production Magazine: On the surface, there's physically not a lot of difference between many contemporary churches and a performing arts center. Sure, the purposes of the facilities are different, but the functionality is basically the same. So while there are similarities, the differences are important enough that oftentimes hiring someone with skill and experience in designing and building houses for worship can make the difference between having a facility that helps to encourage the worship experience vs. a place that is merely a performance space where people “do church.”

Understanding Relationships: Bringing Clarity To Phase, Frequency And Time

ProSoundWeb: One of the most difficult aspects to comprehend in the field of sound is the relationship of phase response, frequency response, and how each relates to time. Understanding these relationships can help a lot in making optimal choices when you’re deploying and utilizing sound systems.

Andrzej Lukowski: Michelle Terry is a great choice to navigate Shakespeare Globe minefield

www.thestage.co.uk: Let’s be totally honest, there was no perfect choice of artistic director to replace Emma Rice at Shakespeare’s Globe. There was no magic bullet. Had the theatre managed to clone William Shakespeare and persuade him to run the building, it wouldn't change the fact that its board treated Rice shoddily and her early departure feels like a stupid, senseless loss.

Phil Hippensteel on What It Takes to Connect

Sound & Video Contractor: To avoid problems when installing an AV device into an IP network, it is prudent to carefully consider the procedure the device uses when it connects to that network. Certain parameters are required to communicate with other devices. These are sometimes acquired automatically or may be configured manually.

Ticketmaster Prioritizes Paperless in New York Resale Fight

www.ticketnews.com: The long and winding road into the future of ticketing in New York got underway on Thursday in Albany, as members of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office met with representatives from the industry. According to the New York Daily News, Ticketmaster tipped its hand, passing a list of its priorities to the Gov’s office on Wednesday. In the ticketing giant’s crosshairs: Legalizing the sale of paperless tickets in New York.

This Burning Man documentary traces its history from a bohemian gathering to a global movement

Boing Boing: This 20-minute documentary is definitely worth a watch. It follows Burning Man's fascinating history from its "humble countercultural roots on San Francisco’s Baker Beach" to "the world-famous desert convergence it is today." If you've ever been to the big event in the Black Rock Desert, I guarantee it'll give you a greater appreciation and understanding of it.

More Than a Theater: IRIS Collaboration Makes Theater Accessible

Breaking Character: Maryfrances Evans, executive director of Iowa Radio Reading Information Service for the Blind and Print Handicapped (IRIS), had a wild idea. IRIS volunteers known as the Sensation Team had been providing audio descriptions for guests at Des Moines Community Playhouse shows since 2012. The wild idea? To broadcast the audio description, out loud, at one performance for the entire audience to experience. John Viars, the Playhouse’s executive director, thought it was a great idea.

6 Ways A Toxic Workplace Affects The Rest Of Your Life

www.thegrindstone.com: A toxic workplace is bad enough at work. But when your toxic work environment begins to infiltrate the rest of your life, you really need to make a change. Here are ways a toxic workplace may hurt you and even your loved ones.

What Is a 'Rape Choreographer' and Why Do Film Sets Need One?

jezebel.com: With rape scenes more prevalent in film and television than ever before, “rape choreography” has emerged as a necessary part of set life for actors and directors. Rape choreographer isn’t exactly a desirable position (it takes an emotional toll to reenact sexual assault all day), but because all the best stunt jobs typically go to men (even actresses will often have male stunt doubles), this heavy task often falls to the underserved women of the stunt industry.

Disney Is Building Facial Recognition to Figure Out When You'll Laugh During Toy Story 5

gizmodo.com: The Walt Disney Company is using AI to determine how much audiences enjoy every single moment of their films. At IEEE’s Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition last weekend, Disney Research and Caltech explained their technique for tracking the facial expressions of people watching movies.

Milwaukee 52-Inch Mobile Work Bench Review

Pro Tool Reviews: Last summer we raved about the Milwaukee 60-inch Mobile Work Station and there was more than a little discussion on who was going to get it. In the end, Clint DeBoer played the Editor-in-Chief card and claimed it. That’s not something he does often, but when he does, it’s typically for something really solid. Time heals all wounds and the release of the new Milwaukee 52-Inch Mobile Work Bench is just the medicine I need.

USITT Presents: OSHA 10 Training and Theatrical Rigging in Honolulu, Hawaii

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: USITT suggests the industry "takes a working vacation!" Train with industry leaders Joe Aldridge, coordinator for EED at UNLV, and Eddie Raymond, ETCP recognized trainer, on September 11 - 14 for OSHA 10 and Rigging Training in Honolulu, Hawaii.

How to Estimate Every Job

Pro Construction Guide: Whether you are preparing an estimate for a competitively bid project or just trying to figure out costs for the work you want to do, use the following steps to assure your estimates are organized, accurate and complete. Before you start, review any plans and specifications, and see if you’ll need suppliers or contractors to complete the work. If so, get them the information they need to price their work as soon as possible. Waiting until the last minute usually results in pricing that is inaccurate.

Lyn Gardner: Millennials refuse to let arts industry’s dinosaurs silence them

www.thestage.co.uk: There has been some furore over an advert placed – then hastily removed by Arts Council England – on its jobs website by the Tea House Theatre in London seeking an admin worker paying £15,000 to £20,000. Beginning with the chatty greeting, “Dear Millenials” [sic], it went on to decry the office skills and commitment of previous applicants, declaring that it was looking for someone who would graft and who understood “the bottom line” of running a small theatre.

Keeping Order: Tips on Tackling a Multi-Project Renovation

Remodeling | Operations: The client has assigned you a large to-do list when it comes to their renovation goals, and the projects span the property. How do you decide which project comes first to best remain within budget and please the client? Not every remodel is the same. The order of renovations requires the right balance between the division of labor and resources to maximize the benefits for the homeowner. So, what do you tackle first? Here are three examples of how to plan for multi-step projects.

5 trends shaping the future of offsite construction

Construction Dive: The construction industry has found itself at a crossroads. While the industry has been resistant to change, the built world around it has not been — and the need for additional housing, offices, schools, hospitals and more in shorter timeframes is only growing. As product manufacturers of all kinds have retooled with replicability and expediency in mind, construction companies are taking note of their success.

Florida’s Gulf Coast Cities Offer Production Incentives Such as Grants

Variety: The neighboring cities of St. Petersburg and Clearwater, part of the Tampa metro area on Florida’s Gulf Coast, offer 35 miles of white sand beaches and a variety of sun-baked locations for film and TV projects that require a tropical feel.

Pussy Riot Launching Autobiographical Theater Experience in London

BlackBook: Pussy Riot, the feminist political punk rock group from Russia, have announced the production of a two month theatrical experience – titled Inside Pussy Riot – about their history in prison and as loud political opponents in one of the world’s great tyrannical states. The “experience,” as it’s being touted, will be produced by groundbreaking London theater company Les Enfants Terribles and presented at the city’s Saatchi Gallery.

Tête à Tête, opera review: Hit-and-miss is all part of the fun of the festival

London Evening Standard: Whatever you think opera is, it’s a safe bet that Tête à Tête Opera Festival will at some point confound your expectations. Over three weeks, it offers several dozen new operas, with sundry pop-ups and even a podcast opera. If it’s a bit hit-and-miss, that’s part of the fun.

La Machine Preps Their Giant, Fantastical Creatures for Ottawa’s Birthday Celebration

makezine.com: La Machine, the world-renowned French street theater and machine art company, is in Ottawa, Canada to prepare for a weekend performance all across the streets of downtown. The spectacle is a highlight of Ottawa’s year-long celebration of 150 years of the Canadian confederation (#Ottawa150). It’s the group’s first full-scale performance in North America.

Animation Jobs on Rise as Netflix, Amazon Order Lots of Content

Variety: There’s general agreement that this is a golden age of television. But less apparent is the fact that it’s also a golden age of animation, spawned by the same subscription video-on-demand companies — such as Netflix and Amazon — that are ushering TV’s shining period.

Studios, Start-Ups Bet on Shared Location-Based VR Experiences

Variety: The spiders are everywhere. Hundreds of them are crawling all over barely lit brick walls and ceilings. Soon, you start to feel them on your neck and arms. You try to shake them off, hurry around the corners of the dark catacomb — only to find yourself eye to eye with a giant sea serpent lunging out of the water, ready to attack.

Recording Success: Taking Elemental Steps Can Make A Big Difference

ProSoundWeb: Have you ever wondered why some recording artists and producers are more successful in the studio at accomplishing their goals than other people who are equally or more musically talented?

As a recording engineer, here’s what I’ve noticed about successful people in the studio.

"Helping You Build Great Things" Is More than Just a Slogan to Prolyte

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: "Helping you build great things" means more to Prolyte Group than just mere words or a marketing slogan. When Prolyte received a request for help from a theatre in Scotland, with some doubts as to how to build their new truss structure in a safe way, the company jumped to the task. Prolyte organized a one-day on-site training to make sure the technical staff of the theatre can use its truss safely and efficiently whatever the project.

Impact Driver Head to Head

Tool Box Buzz: There’s no doubt that Impact Drivers have completely changed the construction industry and drastically improved both productivity and quality. Impact drivers allow users to more quickly install threaded fasteners while avoiding damage to the fasteners. In our latest head to head testing we’ve selected ten full size impact drivers from a wide range of manufacturers. We invited all of the major manufacturers to participate and the ones included in this test are the ones that chose to participate.

Bob Anderson’s Sinatra passion project revived in LA

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Bob Anderson has been up and down, and over and out, and he knows one thing: Whenever his Frank Sinatra tribute finds itself flat on its face, he picks himself up and gets back in the race.

That’s life, for Anderson and “Frank: The Man, The Music,” which lives on as a testament to Anderson’s singular passion and unique stage aptitude. Anderson owns a piece of Vegas history, having headlined as one of the top lounge acts on the Strip, especially as the star of late-night hangs at the Top of the Dunes in the 1970s and ’80. In a stage career dating to the early 1970s, Anderson has evoked Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole, Bobby Darin, Mel Torme and Tom Jones in his stage act.

Anastasia Broadway | Alexander Dodge Scenic Design

www.livedesignonline.com/theatre: It’s a rumor, a legend, a mystery—the biggest con in history. Written by Terrence McNally with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Anastasia explores the wishful theory that one daughter survived the mass murder of the Romanov family after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1918. Inspired by the 1956 film and 1997 animated film, the musical focuses on Anya, an amnesiac orphan, who falls in with two con men. As they train her to impersonate the youngest daughter of the deceased tsar, they begin to wonder if she may actually be the Grand Duchess Anastasia herself.

The essentials of AV-over-IP

www.hiddenwires.co.uk: The term ‘AV-over-IP,’ or AVoIP, is used to describe the distribution of audio-visual content across a private network, using IP-like switching and configuration protocols. It’s also commonly referred to as ‘HDMI-over-IP’, because HDMI is the most common input medium. Either way it’s fast becoming a preferred method for AV distribution around the home and commercial environments.

I Had a Profound Theatrical Experience at a Talkback, of All Things

Theater - The Stranger: I expected the 30-minute teaser and subsequent discussion of eSe Teatro's production of Mud to be mildly interesting, if not 100 percent boring, as is the case with most if not all extracurricular theater activities. But during the talkback portion of the event, a woman wearing a yellow dress burst into tears. Then in response, one of the actors in the show burst into tears. Then many members of the audience burst into tears. And then there was me, a confused and conspicuously white man sitting nervously in a folding chair in a roomful of Latinas.

Top 10 uses of tech at this year's Edinburgh festival

WhatsOnStage.com: The Edinburgh festivals offer the opportunity to experience cutting edge tech on stage - see what we're looking forward to the most

Accidental Zombies

Uncrate: The father of the zombie film never intended to be the father of the zombie film — it just worked out that way. When George Romero made Night of the Living Dead, it was a post-apocalyptic movie that just happened to have zombies. And the rest, as they, is history. Ryan Hollinger digs up the details on accidental history of one of films favorite monsters.

Steve Jobs Opera Scores Smash Hit For Mason Bates

Classical Voice North America: Composers who attempt to tame the artistic beast known as opera often must make several tries before coming close to their goal, if they ever do. Then there’s someone like Mason Bates, who has shot out of the starting gate and raced across the finish line with his first opera, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, which had its world premiere July 22 at the Santa Fe Opera.

Princess Grace Foundation-USA Announces 2017 Award Winners In Theater, Dance & Film

www.prnewswire.com: The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) has announced the winners of the 2017 Princess Grace Awards. The Annual Gala will continue the legacy of Princess Grace (Kelly) of Monaco, who helped emerging artists pursue their artistic goals during Her lifetime. In total, the Foundation is awarding over $1 million to artists in theater, dance, and film. In the presence of Their Serene Highnesses The Prince and The Princess of Monaco, this year's Gala will be held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills on October 25, 2017. The evening will be chaired by co-chairs Wallis Annenberg and Sidney and Katia Toledano and major Gala supporters include: Christian Dior Couture as Presenting Sponsor and the Annenberg Foundation and Karen and Rod Gancas as Crown Sponsors.

FRAY Studio creates for The Tempest

LightSoundJournal.com: Adam Young and Finn Ross, founders of Olivier Award-winning visual storytelling outfit, FRAY Studio, are the creators of the much-talked-about video environments showcasing in the current Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) production of The Tempest, now on at The Barbican in London.

FRAY worked in collaboration with Intel and in association with The Imaginarium Studios on the production’s highly-acclaimed stagecraft, described by The Financial Times as ‘State-of-the-art’, and by the Daily Telegraph as ‘true to the hype of breath-taking order’.

ASCAP and BMI Join Forces on Comprehensive Song Database

Variety: In a groundbreaking show of unity, ASCAP and BMI, the nation’s two leading performing rights organizations, announced today that they will create a single, comprehensive database of musical works from their combined repertories that will deliver an authoritative view of ownership shares in the vast majority of music licensed in the United States.

Terrence Orr renews contract with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Terrence Orr will continue as artistic director for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, the company announced Monday morning.

Mr. Orr, who joined PBT in 1997, has signed a new three-year contract with the company. During his 20-year tenure, he’s expanded PBT’s classical repertoire with story ballets such as “Le Corsaire” and “La Bayadere,” and elevated its contemporary programming with works by Jiri Kylian, Twyla Tharp and Jerome Robbins.

The Rebirth of the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre

Stage Directions: A beloved Los Angeles landmark, a treasured venue for community arts groups, and a quintessentially Californian institution, the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre will reopen this month following an extensive renovation by Theatre Projects, Levin & Associates Architects, Mia Lehrer + Associates (landscape architects), and McKay Conant Brook (acoustician). The renovation was so extensive that some are calling it not just a renovation, but a “rebirth.”

And She Would Stand Like This Review: LGBTQ House of Euripides, Snap

New York Theater: “Greek tragedy meets Harlem ball scene. Fantastic,” RuPaul Tweeted succinctly after seeing “And She Would Stand Like This.” The Harlem-based Movement theater company’s adaptation of Euripides’ “The Trojan Women,” which has opened at A.R.T./NY, is inspired by “Paris is Burning,” the 1990 film documentary by Jennie Livingston that chronicled the elaborate culture of drag balls by LGBTQ+ people of color in the 1980s.

Fox, Paramount Accused of Using Stolen Computer Graphic Technology for Hit Films

Hollywood Reporter: Rearden LLC is now in full-on attack mode against Hollywood studios.

A week after the company filed a lawsuit demanding an injunction on three Disney films, Rearden has now submitted three more lawsuits over motion capture technology that it contends was stolen. One lawsuit demands that Fox be enjoined from distributing Deadpool, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Fantastic Four. A second lawsuit aims at Paramount's Terminator: Genisys. And a third goes after Crystal Dynamics for an Xbox game called Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Listen to This: Independent Sound Mixers Talk On-Set Production Tips, Career Strategy and Work-Life Balance

Filmmaker Magazine: Modern cinema, deconstructed to its most basic elements, is the art of combining light and sound to tell stories. If you’re reading this, chances are you can name five cinematographers. But how many production sound mixers can you name? To find out what it’s like to be in this essential line of work — and to hear their hard-earned advice on getting great sound — I spoke with three sound mixers working in independent film about a job that is, by its very nature, the sort of thing audiences only tend to notice if there’s a problem.

"Beyond All Boundaries" Goes Beyond Multimedia Stage Show

Theme Park University: Founded in 2000 and made America’s Official World War II Museum in 2003, the amount of immersive interactive exhibits found here are nothing short of jaw dropping. I am a huge fan of museums and interactive exhibits and nothing prepared me for just how amazingly detailed the museum would be.

Unexpected Development In Student Debt

Butts In the Seats: There was a warning shot across the bows of university/conservatory arts training programs whose graduates have debt out of proportion with their earning potential in the Chicago Tribune last week. Harvard University is suspending graduate admissions for their theatre program for three years after receiving a failing grade from the Department of Education.

Sarah McLachlan and Others on Lilith Fair's 20th Anniversary

Rolling Stone: Twenty years ago this month, Sarah McLachlan and a rotating cast of fellow artists embarked on the women-centric traveling fest known as Lilith Fair. While the nostalgic view of the Nineties paints it as a decade where not just female-fronted, but female-populated acts surged on the pop and rock charts, Lilith's presence bucked music-industry norms that were still, quietly but firmly, directing radio playlists and tour routing. The venture was also a smashing success, becoming the top-grossing festival of 1997.

Spamalot

Pittsburgh in the Round: I love musicals for the interlude of melodrama and escape they provide from my tragically mundane life. The singing and dancing, costumes, and live orchestra swelling between me and the stage make my heart happy. Opening night of Stage 62’s production of Monty Python’s Spamalot has me beyond excited. This is my first time seeing Spamalot but I am familiar with the zany British sketch comedy of Monty Python and the absurdist humor that forces you to laugh, even if you aren’t sure what you are seeing and hearing is stupid beyond measure or ridiculously hilarious. As I wait for the curtain to rise, I can’t imagine disappointment.

WGA West Members Facing Higher Health Costs

Variety: Members of the Writers Guild of America West will face higher health costs next year, the guild’s leaders have told members.

The missive was sent Monday to the 9,000 members of the WGA by president Howard Rodman, VP David A. Goodman, secretary-treasurer Aaron Mendelsohn, and executive director David Young.

Wonder of the World

Pittsburgh in the Round: Little Lake Theatre’s production of Wonder of the World is a zany madcap comedy populated by characters who are just a bit off center. What is normal these days?

As the play opens, a young woman from Brooklyn named Cass is preparing to leave her husband Kip. She has recently discovered his collection of Barbie heads while arranging his sweater drawer and he confesses to an unusual sexual fetish,

'It's truly Pittsburgh': Incline and bridges are backdrop for The Blanket's free debut performances

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Aspiring dancers know the drill all too well: train to be a performer, then head to New York City or Los Angeles to try to make it happen.

But what if there were more opportunities to work with high-caliber choreographers elsewhere? A new arts initiative is striving to make that happen in Pittsburgh.

Grace and the Messy Tech

Church Production Magazine: Here is a reminder for you; It's all about Grace. Everything that we do in our service is about Grace. Yes, we get distracted by the excitement of working with technology to create experiences. We use technology that most people don't know anything about and we use it to learn, create, express, and serve. But at the end of the day, everything that we do is about experiencing, sharing, and introducing people to God's grace. We need it every day and everywhere because we as people are messy, and of our own accord, we are lost.

Watch War Paint From a Broadway Stage Manager’s Point of View

Playbill: War Paint, the new Broadway musical starring Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole as cosmetics giants Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden, gave Playbill rare backstage access to capture what it’s like to be a Broadway stage manager.

Playbill follows War Paint production stage manager Tripp Phillips during a bustling matinee performance, as he calls lighting and deck cues for “Behind the Red Door,” which introduces Ebersole as Arden.

What the theatregoers see from the audience is only half the show.

Overcoming Vapor Lock

Dimmer Beach: Vapor lock.

We’ve all had it at some point or another (and no, I’m not talking about with your car), where your brain seizes up and you stare off into space not able to do anything. While your crew type folks get this for moments at a time (which side gets the extra spanset wrap to level the truss?) they are usually brief and get resolved quickly. What is much worse is when a lighting designer gets locked up when they sit behind the console to program.

If You Need an Earpiece, You Don't Belong on Stage

OnStage Blog: The other day, I came across an article over at the New York Post entitled Pacino’s not alone: Willis needs an earpiece to remember his lines too. The article is quite self-explanatory. It goes into extensive detail about something that is becoming notoriously recurrent in professional theatre. A couple of years ago, in the Broadway show Misery, Bruce Willis apparently had needed an earpiece throughout the production in order to remember his lines while performing. It went on to say how he wasn’t alone among Hollywood actors who went from the screen to the stage, as Al Pacino– in a production of China Doll – also needed a similar earpiece so he would be capable of performing in the show.

Mystery of Greek Amphitheater's Amazing Sound Finally Solved

www.livescience.com: Cut the chatter! The ancient mystery surrounding the great acoustics of the theater at Epidaurus in Greece has been solved.

The theater, dating to the 4th century B.C. and arranged in 55 semi-circular rows, remains the great masterwork of Polykleitos the Younger. Audiences of up to an estimated 14,000 have long been able to hear actors and musicians--unamplified--from even the back row of the architectural masterpiece.

Tempers Flare at SAG-AFTRA Contract Meeting in New York

Deadline: As Deadline reported yesterday, tempers flared in Burbank on Sunday when presidential candidate Esai Morales tried to speak out against the contract and a security guard attempted to wrestle the microphone away from him. Video of that meeting shows Morales accusing the guild’s leaders of “electioneering” at a meeting to discuss the new contract.

The union, meanwhile, is warning talent agents, managers, casting directors and employers that they can’t contribute in any way to the campaigns of any candidate for union office.

The Cancer of Complaining

Church Production Magazine: It comes so easy to us. It just feels so good. We really can't help ourselves. I'm talking about complaining, and how for many of us it has become a way of life.

The internet has become a free-for-all for people to complain. It only takes a few moments reading reviews on Amazon, browsing videos on YouTube, or scanning political posts on Facebook. You can see it all around you. Maybe you have even contributed a few poignant complaints yourself?

A Show's Journey: Research, Research, Research

OnStage Blog: The production staff and the actors are the ones who are known to bring the show to life. They are usually involved with the show from the start. But theater is so much more than that. Theater and shows are also about the little people that you meet along the way. The ones who help out your production in small ways and have no idea that they have helped. In part 2 of the series of those who help bring a show to life, I am going to introduce you to them. They are the people who work at the thrift store, the library, or at another community theater.

Cirque du Soleil takes a sensual dive into a Mexican pool with 'Luzia'

Chicago Tribune: A quarter-century ago, a sensual Russian aerialist named Vladimir Kekhaial turned up the heat of a Chicago summer by flying around a tent, his undulating, glistening muscles hardly confined by the tiny scraps of leather that claimed to be a costume. As this Vladimir, who became famous in his day, tossed his beautiful mane of black hair toward the open-mouthed Chicagoans below, very few of whom had ever heard of this Cirque du Soleil, you could see our fine first responders readying for a heat emergency by Lake Michigan.

14 Alumni Earn 17 Emmy Nominations

www.cmu.edu/news: Fourteen Carnegie Mellon University alumni have earned 17 nominations for eight Emmy Awards. The Television Academy’s 69th Emmy Awards will air live at 8 p.m. Sept. 17 on CBS from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Stephen Colbert will serve as host.

David Mamet Doesn’t Want to Hear From You. Do Other Playwrights?

The New York Times: Got something to say about a play? Not in the theater, please.

At least that’s what David Mamet insists. The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright stipulated recently that no talkbacks could be held within two hours of a performance of any of his plays, specifying a box office-rattling $25,000 fine for each offense.

The Year of Indefatigable Women by Glenda Frank

WIT journal: Television has been anticipating a woman president for years. In “Madam Secretary” Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni) rose to a vice-presidential candidate; in “The Veep,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s character succeeded to the presidency; on “Scandal,” a powerful Washington crisis-manager (Kerry Washington) is also the president’s confidante. The skits on the satirical “Saturday Night Live” played Hillary Clinton as a sure thing.

In New York theatre there is an impetus to promote visibility for women. More new playwrights and directors are appearing off and off off-Broadway. Although the best feminist or woman-centered productions this season have familiar names, the message is empowerment (or its lack).

Jurassic World Comes to Life at Chicago’s Field Museum

InPark Magazine: Following record breaking attendance in Melbourne, Australia and Philadelphia, Jurassic World: The Exhibition is now open at Chicago’s Field Museum. Based on one of the biggest blockbusters in cinema history, Jurassic World: The Exhibition immerses audiences of all ages in scenes inspired by the hit film.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Regina King Seek SAG-AFTRA Board Seats

Variety: SAG-AFTRA’s upcoming national board election has drawn a quartet of new high-profile candidates — Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Modine, Abigail Spencer and Regina King.

With ballots going out July 25, the names were revealed as the self-styled progressives of Membership First and the ruling Unite For Strength Factions have unveiled their candidate slates representing the Los Angeles branch, which has the largest representation and the most competitive races. The winners will be announced on Aug. 24.

Doing This One Thing Can Hurt Your Job Interview Chances

www.fastcompany.com: Of course there are lots of ways you can sabotage an interview. But we’re going to assume you know better than to lie on your resume, bash your previous employer, or perhaps worst of all, show up totally unprepared. So let’s talk about one thing you might not realize is hurting your chances of landing a new job: being inconsistent.

Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Extend Copyright to Pre-1972 Recordings

Variety: Legislation was introduced this week to close a long-standing quirk in copyright law: Sound-recordings made before 1972 do not get federal protection.

It’s long been a source of complaint among artists, musicians, and record labels, among others, particularly with the dramatic changes in revenue streams in the digital age. It has created confusion in the marketplace for oldies radio, as streaming services depend on the classic recordings popular with their subscribers.

Matthew D. Loeb Re-Elected International President at IATSE Convention

Stage Directions: IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb was re-elected by acclamation during the IATSE 68th Quadrennial Convention. Running unopposed, Loeb’s slate of candidates was also re-elected, including General Secretary-Treasurer James Wood, 13 International Vice Presidents, three International Trustees, and one delegate to the Canadian Labour Congress.

Theaters Need to Stop Racially Segregating Their Season

OnStage Blog: I love it when a local theater company wants to encourage diversity and inclusion with their season. The desire to tell different stories with an array of different types of people is something that should be applauded always. If your theater is doing this with their current or next season, congrats.

However, I also feel that the commitment to diversity should be extended to every show in your season and not stop with the one that would require roles of color.

August Wilson Center Names New Head

Blogh: The August Wilson Center, which in 2014 came close to a permanent shut-down, seems to be recovering nicely. And it has taken the next step by selecting an experienced new leader, respected local arts programmer and administrator Janis Burley Wilson.

In Tina Howe Premiere, Theatre 167 Confronts Climate Change

Clyde Fitch Report: Theatre 167 is currently presenting the world premiere production of Tina Howe‘s play Singing Beach at HERE Arts Center in Lower Manhattan, Running through Aug. 12, the play follows a family on the North Shore of Massachusetts as they deal with, among other things, an aging parent and climate change.

A new play by Howe, of course, is an event. During the last five decades, the Tony-nominated Howe has written outstanding plays that have been produced worldwide, including Painting Churches, Museum, Coastal Disturbances and Pride’s Crossing.

Dressing a Tale as Old as Time: An Exclusive Interview with the Costume Designer of Disney Cruise Line’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’

Disney Parks Blog: Our all-star creative team is hard at work to bring the beloved story of “Beauty and the Beast” to life in a whole new way on stage aboard the Disney Dream this November. I had the honor of meeting up with Broadway costume designer Sarah Cubbage recently to get the inside scoop on what it takes to design the elaborate costumes for a brand-new stage production of this classic tale.

The Originalist returns to Arena Stage

DC Theatre Scene: All rise!

Not so much for an associate Supreme Court Justice, but for Edward Gero, the man currently embodying the late Antonin Scalia in the remounted and revised production of The Originalist at Arena Stage.

Newsies

Pittsburgh in the Round: Believe it or not, times used to be harder for those with a career in the journalism industry.

No clear victor has emerged in this war between modern journalists and their cantankerous subjects who cry “Fake news!” in the face of all negative press. Unless you consider late night TV talk shows who need look no further than current headlines to find material for a week’s worth of broadcasts.

The Art of Bringing Paper to Life

Projection Mapping Central: If you are the kind of person who loves making things – and I’m guessing you are, I mean you are reading this blog! – then Papercraft is for you!

What? Origami? Well, kind of…more like complex paper crafted models, built with your own hands, brought to life by projection mapping. Sounds good? Ok, stay with me.

Under the Big Top: Creating Multi-Sensory Work for Children with Autism

HowlRound: It is about two-thirds of the way through the show. Actor Noah LaPook looks to me, the stage manager, with a look of panic in his eyes. The inherent question passing from actor to stage manager is “what do we do?” Not a single child in the audience is paying attention to the story being told. Some of them are even running around the space. Some of them are drawing on the set with chalk. I sit back and send a silent answer back to the questioning actor: “have fun!”

TEDxBroadway 2017: Caroline Bragdon Shares How Community Activism Is Pest Control

Selling Out: Did you miss this year’s TEDxBroadway? Or do you want to relive the magic? We’ll be sharing videos of all the talks from this year’s conference over the next few weeks here on Selling Out. Or if you’re in a binge-watching mood, you can catch them all now at TEDxBroadway.com.

Today, we’re watching Caroline Bragdon, MPH, who is Director of Neighborhood Interventions for the Pest Control Services Program at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Her work focuses on improving neighborhood level responses to rat infestations.

Hot Metal Musicals 2017

Pittsburgh in the Round: The development of a new musical is a complex art. From the development of the original idea, into a workable script (book), music and lyrics, it is a consuming labor of passion, creativity, and love.

Those who attended Musical Theatre Artists of Pittsburgh’s 2017 Hot Metal Musicals had the opportunity to preview songs from over a dozen works in development as well as four songs yet to find a book.

Stage review: Pittsburgh CLO delivers a new 'Newsies' that pulses with energy

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: It was a David-and-Goliath story a newsman should have loved: A gutty army of street urchins brings New York to a standstill and a tyrant to his knees.

Publisher Joseph Pulitzer would have loved it. Except those urchins were the kids who delivered his newspapers. They were on strike, and he was the tyrant who tried demanding a few precious cents from their pockets.

Keep Your Project Secure with These CNC Workholding Techniques

makezine.com: Once upon a time, the movements of master machinists were measured, recorded, and stored on cards and paper tape. The stored numbers were used to control motors that moved mills, lathes, and other machines exactly the way the machinists had. This was referred to as numeric control (NC). After World War II, computers found their way into manufacturing and were used to control the machines, which is called computer numeric control (CNC). Broadly, computers controlling motors that move tools includes modern 3D printers, laser engravers, stencil cutters, and the target of this skill builder: CNC devices using routers (Figure A) or motor spindles.

The Rise of the Prop Designer

Prop Agenda: The title of “prop designer” seems to appear more now than in the past. More experienced prop masters have made note that younger props people are being credited as prop designer on their shows, or self-identifying as one on their resumes. Is this just a trick of perception, or are prop designers actually growing in number?

Google Glass resurrected as a tool for hands-on workers

www.dezeen.com: Following a two-year hiatus, the Google Glass augmented-reality headset has made a comeback, and is being targeted exclusively at businesses.

Google suspended sales of Glass at the start of 2015 in order to rethink its development.

But yesterday, the team behind the wearable made an announcement on Medium that after a two-year testing period, the headset – now named Glass Enterprise Edition – is being made available to all businesses.

Good Basic Advice At Any Career Stage

Butts In the Seats: Juilliard Professor Benjamin Sosland shared some advice he gives his students as they think about developing their careers. Some of the advice is pretty common across most career advice articles, but there were a number of suggestions I hadn’t seen very often and wanted to share.

Why This Dolly Will Never Go Away For Me

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: On a recent Sunday afternoon, I settled in to my seat in the upper balcony of the Shubert Theatre to watch Bette Midler in Hello, Dolly!. Over half a century earlier at age 10, I had attended my first Broadway show, Oliver!, in the same theatre, sitting in the same section. I have seen many a musical in the intervening years. Nowadays, I rarely attend revivals -- I'm old enough that they tend to be of shows I saw in their original productions, and I don't feel the new incarnations have much to offer me. But Hello, Dolly! is different.

The Theatre Industry Needs to Start Awarding Free Theatre Licensing to Low Income Schools

OnStage Blog: What has become a disturbing trend among high schools, is finding ways to take the cost of theatre productions out of school budgets and pass them on to students and their families.

Whether it's "pay-to-play" policies or just eliminating it from the budget altogether, schools are constantly looking to make theatre productions cheaper or not do them at all.

“’Claws’ is the reverse ‘Sopranos’”: Jason Antoon is redefining diversity on TNT’s “Claws”

Salon.com: The casting director, showrunner and head writer for TNT’s “Claws” — an hour-long dramedy about a gal-gang of quirky, money-laundering manicurists in Central Florida — are sitting behind the table, chuckling. For actor Jason Antoon, this reaction is par for the course. He’s an easy-going, funny guy, but this time there’s an extra ease to what can be a stressful audition experience. He feels unexpectedly calm. He finishes his audition lines in one take, thanks everyone, jokes around for a few with the assistant and goes out to his car. Drives home. Eats a salad. Later, his agent calls him to say he got the part of Dr. Ken Brickman, a series regular on all 10 episodes.

Mural pays tribute to August Wilson as the center that bears his name readies for 'next phase'

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Until Saturday, August Wilson was attached in name only to the Downtown building that dominates Liberty Avenue between Smithfield Street and William Penn Place.

Today when you walk into the August Wilson Center for African American Culture you come face to face with a larger-than-life image of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, the centerpiece of a new mural that celebrates the Wilson legacy.

Some of Your Millennial Employees Could Make Great Leaders. Here Are 3 Ways to Identify Them

Inc.com: There's no denying that Millennials are the future of the workforce.

But managing each new generation brings its own challenges, none more so than the current crop, who feel unfairly stereotyped by the negative traits often associated with them: that they're entitled, lazy and self-absorbed, to name just a few.

So how do you spot the next leader among this rising group who, to older managers, seem to spend their lives bent over their phones, may never have hand-written a letter, let alone a thank-you note, and like to photograph their food before eating it?

The Marvel Universe Live Show Is a Goofy, Kid-Friendly Preview of Infinity War

io9.gizmodo.com: Over a dozen Marvel heroes are teaming up to battle the forces of evil. There’s Thor, Iron Man, Black Panther, as well as Iron Fist, Wasp, Hulk, the Guardians of the Galaxy and many others. However, this isn’t unfolding on a movie screen, it’s happening for real in a massive arena. This is Marvel Universe Live: Age of Heroes and it’s oddly familiar.

With Oscar Isaac, a ‘Hamlet’ Where Everyone’s Onstage

www.vulture.com: A little over a third of the way into the modestly dressed, disarmingly brilliant production of Hamlet now playing at the Public, Oscar Isaac as the iconic prince turns to us before one of his famous soliloquies and calmly tells us, “Now I am alone.”

I caught my breath at these four words. They were not a statement of fact — they were an invitation to the audience to imagine.

10 of the most ground-breaking uses of plywood in architecture and design

www.dezeen.com: To coincide with the opening of an exhibition dedicated to plywood at London's V&A museum, we've rounded up 10 projects from the Dezeen archives that push the material to its limits.

Plywood: Material of the Modern World charts the history of plywood from the 1850s to present day, showcasing examples of how the material has contributed to significant developments in the design industry, from transport to housing and furniture.

Design as a Third Area of General Education

Design Observer: Graphic designers are insecure. This is understandable; design lacks defensible boundaries. It is ubiquitous and absorbent, everywhere and everything. It is never itself, always its subject. It is diffused evenly across our lives to such a low concentration that we often doubt its worth.

Hiring a Fight Director

HowlRound: Your theatre company is doing Romeo and Juliet for the next show in your season. Shakespeare wrote multiple fights in the play, so you’ve wisely hired a fight director to choreograph them. The following show has only a couple of slaps, a push, and a fall. One of the actors cast in Romeo and Juliet is also cast in that show. He’s had a little stage combat training over the years, so you wonder if you really need to hire a fight director since he can probably choreograph those minor incidents, and will do it for much less?

Wirque du Soleil

PLSN: I lived in Las Vegas for seven years before I felt the need to get off the traveling circuit. I had met my soon-to-be wife, and spending six to seven months away was going to make it tough for us to progress our relationship. In my head, the only way to settle down and continue to work in entertainment was to work for the largest entertainment conglomerate in Vegas. I would be able to work five to six days a week and have a scheduled day off every week. I would still be a part of show business and maintain my home life. I would be able to have benefits and a free meal. I was happy to put on the golden handcuffs and serve my term. I lasted three years in the system, and when I got let out, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Key to this production is F-U-N: Geyer Performing Arts Center staging 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'

TribLIVE: Quirky characters, touching moments and relatable memories are all part of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” according to Latrobe native Katti Grosso, who spells out what audiences will find in Actors and Artists of Fayette County's stage production July 20 to 23 at Geyer Performing Arts Center in Scottdale.

TAIT Builds Elaborate Stage Set for Queen and Adam Lambert's Tour

www.taittowers.com/portfolio: Back by popular demand, American Idol alum Adam Lambert joins Queen for another high-energy, theatrical tour showcasing the bands’ classic hits and flamboyant performances. The tour kicks off in North America, extends to Europe and the U.K. this fall and concludes early 2018 in Australia.

Coinciding with the bands 40th anniversary of their sixth record, News of the World, the set, built by TAIT, is an elaborate production designed to highlight Queen’s set list and its unique yet comparable take on the Queen of past.

The Tear Won…

filmmakersinfo: I started in this industry in 1986 on non-union productions working very hard and enjoying it. I was a non-union set dresser/driver. The theory was the swing gang (set dressers) teams of two would trade off driving the 5ton set dressing truck to give each other a break. In reality what would usually happen was quite different. The decorators would hire the two most dependable guys they knew.

Oh, the dreaded intermission: Long plays at a time when shorter is sweeter

LA Times: Recently while scrolling through Facebook, I came across the lament of a playwright who was distressed that the new play he was writing seemed to require an intermission. I had no personal knowledge of the author, but I instantly recognized the sentiment.

The vogue for shorter plays is undeniable. Ask me while stuck in traffic on my way to the Mark Taper Forum or the Geffen Playhouse what my favorite dramatic genre is and I’ll likely say, “90 minutes, no intermission.”

Jury awards $11.2 million following Georgia movie-set fatality

www.ajc.com/news: A Chatham County jury on Monday awarded more than $11.2 million in a civil suit stemming from a deadly accident on a Georgia film set.

“Midnight Rider” crew member Sarah Jones, 27, died in February 2014 when a train came hurtling down the track where the film crew was setting up for a scene. The production did not have permission to film on the train trestle, outside Jesup.

The Twilight Zone is being adapted into a stage play

The Verge: The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling’s landmark sci-fi anthology series about technological paranoia, creeping dread in 1960s America, and monsters and weirdos of all sorts, will be adapted as a stage play, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed this morning.

Preview: Things get personal in 'Intermezzo,' a Pennsylvania premiere

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Benedick’s immortal line from Shakepeare’s “Much Ado about Nothing” does not appear in Richard Strauss’s opera “Intermezzo.” It aptly describes, however, the protagonists of the opera in which the German composer immortalized his family and the stormy relationship that existed between the peripatetic, self-absorbed musician and his imperious, shrewish wife, soprano Pauline de Ahna. Their marriage was loving but turbulent, and when Strauss wanted to compose a domestic comedy, he turned inward.

SAG-AFTRA Board Approves New Studio Contract

Backstage: The SAG-AFTRA national board of directors has approved a new film and television contract that is estimated to generate an additional $256 million for performers over a three-year period if ratified by the guild’s members.

A big win out of the negotiations is the tripling of residuals from shows that air on streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon. The contract also allows actors in these type of series to receive the residuals significantly earlier than before; it’ll be only 90 days instead of a year. The new formula delivers a 300 percent increase in residuals to performers within their first two years when their work is exhibited worldwide on Netflix, according to the union website.

The horror: Remembering George Romero's genre-defining career

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: George Romero may no longer be with us, but his influence in the horror genre will be felt for as long as Hollywood continues to churn out zombie-related content with biting social allegories.

The Pittsburgh icon died Sunday after a battle with lung cancer, and popular filmmakers who revered his work rushed to social media to eulogize the man who had a profound impact on their careers.

Lift Turn Move are lifting Ed Sheeran

www.lsionline.com: One of the most eagerly anticipated and high profile tours to embark on a worldwide journey in 2017 must be Ed Sheeran. The show’s production company, Major Tom Limited has purchased LoadGuard hoists from LTM- Lift Turn Move to fly the entire lighting, sound and AV system. In total, LTM have supplied 68 1t and 36 2t LoadGuard motors all running at four metres/per min. The motor control system is Kinesys throughout and operated by Steve Bliss from LCR.

The Politics in Plays: August Wilson

Breaking Character: What does it mean for art to be political? It could mean the art presents direct and indirect perspectives on society. It could also mean the art refers to a specific political figure or subject that “expresses critique” of the status quo. One man whose art, in the form of theater, can be interpreted as political is that of August Wilson.

In Conversation With Rithisal Kang About Amrita Performing Arts In Cambodia

thetheatretimes.com: ASEF culture360 contributor David Fernández talks with Executive Director Rithisal Kang about the origins of Amrita Performing Arts as well as the developments of performing arts in Cambodia.

Breaking Down Personal Fences

Breaking Character: Fences by August Wilson is a play surrounding the lives of an African American family in the 1950s. Fences demonstrates the struggles of power, love, trust and acceptance that are magnified by the characters’ similarity to true life situations and problems. August Wilson creates a family that is unbelievable yet relatable in both the 1950s and in modern time.

The Ups and Downs of Stage Rigging

theatreconsultants.org: Innovation in the theatre world is essential to support ever evolving audience expectations and the creative process. In the past, innovation has been an essential part of theatre systems design except for the traditional manually operated, counterweighted stage rigging system. For decades, this system has changed little and has become the true workhorse of the theatre. However, in recent years, innovations in motorized computer controlled stage rigging systems have made motorized rigging more prevalent and a viable option in performance venues of every scale.

From the Past to Now: August Wilson Politics

Breaking Character: August Wilson has accomplished many things, including winning two Pulitzer Prizes, six New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, a Rockefeller Fellowship, a Whiting Writers Award, a Heinz Award and more. Most of these awards are for his extraordinary plays and wonderful shows. Mr. Wilson was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the setting of nine of his ten “Century Cycle” plays. The Century Cycle is a series of plays that were based off the many hardships in the city where he grew up. He often focused on topics like sexism and racism.

Projecting Room Numbers At The Ritz

Rosco Spectrum: Gobos are often used in architecture to project logos or enhance environments with patterned light. This blog post will help you think beyond the logo and imagine how gobos could be used in much broader, functional applications, such as projecting graphic elements or replacing printed signage with projected imagery. A perfect example of this can be seen at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Doha, who used hundreds of Rosco Custom Gobos to project the room numbers inside the hotel.

Russia's Canceled Ballet Is a Sign of the Times

Creators: The Bolshoi Ballet, Russia's premier ballet company, hit the ballet world with another scandal recently by canceling its much-anticipated premiere of biopic performance, Nureev, three days before curtain. Created by director Kirill Serebrennikov, choreographer Yuri Possokhov, and composer Ilya Demutsky, it was a performance that combined ballet and theater to tell the story of Rudolf Nureyev, one of the greatest dancers of the 20th century. The performance was expected to be the cultural event of the year, potentially revolutionizing the repertoire of the classically-minded Bolshoi, as well as a new opportunity for touring and income from the international stage.

Surround Sound? You Ain’t Heard Nothing Yet

The New York Times: If you’ve spent any time at children’s birthday parties, you probably know what an inflated balloon sounds like when rubbed: harsh, squeaky, not particularly resonant.

“Rubbed-balloon sound” might not seem like a sonic texture you’d place much stock in if you were creating a musical work. But how would that change if you were listening from inside the balloon? The composer Natasha Barrett decided to answer the question. She put a 3-D microphone in a balloon, pressed the record button and got down to some serious rubbing.

Up Close With the Gorgeous Costumes of Black Panther

io9.gizmodo.com: Ever since that first trailer, we’ve known that Ruth E. Carter’s sublime work on the costumes for Black Panther would make it one hell of a gorgeous movie. But on the floor at Disney’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, we’ve been able to get a great look at some of the outfits from the film—including T’Challa’s new look.

Behind the Scenes at a Professional Fireworks Show

Hackaday: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a big fireworks show? Last year [Kenneth] was asked to help manually ignite a fireworks show, and this consisted of him running down a row of shells with a road flare, lighting each one in turn. He apparently did so well that this year worked another show, this one with a more complicated setup.

Planet of the Apes movement coach Terry Notary on the secret to the films' stunning performances

The Verge: Planet of the Apes movement choreographer and actor Terry Notary says playing an ape takes strong legs and an ability to reach a kind of effortless, meditative state. If performers consciously try too hard to take on ape-like qualities, Notary says, it “makes the performance look crappy.”

Crappy ape performances would have killed War for the Planet of the Apes, the latest installment in the Apes franchise. Human characters spend much less time on-screen than hyper-intelligent chimp Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his band of smart apes. By this point in the film series, most of humankind has succumbed to the simian flu, a virus that all but eradicated human populations while boosting the brainpower of non-human primates. The last surviving people are hell-bent on destroying the remaining apes, who just want to find a peaceful home in a post-apocalyptic world.

Xerxes

Pittsburgh in the Round: Pittsburgh Festival Opera gave the first of three performances of Händel’s Xerxes last night, and it was a delightfully rare opportunity to hear this seldom performed “Baroque” music. The work premiered in London in 1738, and flopped after a handful of performances. The famous “Ombra mai fu” opening aria survived to become a standard with concert singers many decades later; is in the repertories of most organists, and has been recorded by tenors, contraltos and counter-tenors from the earliest days of “phonographic” history until the present. But the opera itself virtually disappeared until the 1920’s.

Review: Cross-dressing and miscommunications abound in Pittsburgh Festival Opera's "Xerxes"

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Opera companies in Pittsburgh don’t generally build their productions around an individual singer.

Then again, Andrey Nemzer, the poster child for Pittsburgh Festival Opera, is not your typical performer. The Russian-born countertenor won the company’s first Mildred Miller International Voice Competition in 2011. Then, he took his talents to a national stage, with a victory at the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions and performances on the Met’s stage.

Authenticity in casting: From 'colorblind' to 'color conscious,' new rules are anything but black and white

LA Times: When Edward Albee’s estate denied permission for a production of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” because the director had cast a black actor to play a character Albee had specified as white, social media boiled over. How can the theatrical canon remain relevant if creative casting isn’t allowed? Why shouldn’t a black man play a white character? Actors are actors, storytelling in the search for universal truths.

What It's Like To Do Theatre In A Rural Community

Theatre Nerds: I would hope this is not a story that has been particularly overdone, but in case it is, I apologize.

My name is Reagan Drury, and I have spent the last 5 years of my life living in a town of about 900 people in rural Missouri. I know, I know, that sounds like a hick town, and all ingenues come from somewhere like Ohio or Iowa, right?

You will be right about that if I make it in the theatre world. Time will tell on that aspect. I have been doing theatre since I was in 4th grade, and I immediately fell in love with it. I have now graduated high school and am attending a private college in Minneapolis in the fall to study theatre.

Harvard theater school to go on ‘three-year hiatus’

The Boston Globe: Harvard University’s struggling ART Institute, a graduate-level theater training program housed within the American Repertory Theater, has announced that it is suspending admissions for the next three years “to work on a strategic plan” for the Institute.

The move is the latest setback for the troubled school, which in January suspended admissions for the coming academic year after receiving a “failing” grade from the US Department of Education for saddling students with onerous levels of debt. In May, the Institute dropped off The Hollywood Reporter’s annual list of the 25 best drama schools for an acting degree. And in June, Scott Zigler, the Institute’s longtime director, announced he was leaving after more than 20 years to become dean of the School of Drama at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

14 Alumni Nominated for Emmy Awards

Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama: The nominations for the 2017 Emmy Awards were announced last week and the School of Drama has 14 alumni nominated for eight of the awards; there are 17 nominations total.

Noah Mitz (A 2005) garnered three nominations this year for “Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Series” for his work on America’s Got Talent and two nominations for “Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Special” for his work on the Grammy Awards and the Tony Awards broadcasts.

Of the alumni nominated, 13 hail from the design and production area of the School of Drama, including scenic, costume and lighting designers.

When Women Won’t Accept Theatrical Manspreading

The New York Times: There is an animated ad playing in the subway that drives me a little up the wall. It’s an anti-manspreading spot, in which a seated man with his legs wide open closes them, mostly, allowing a woman to sit beside him. So far, so good — until she daintily crosses her ankles to make herself as small as possible. Then she thanks the nice man for, as far as I can tell, no longer taking up way more than his fair share of room.

In theater as in life, there is a lot of manspreading: Men get more jobs, more money, more prizes, more stories told about them onstage than women do. The numbers are grim nearly everywhere, but especially on Broadway, where an Actors’ Equity study released last month showed female and minority actors and stage managers at a gross disadvantage to white men.

“The Liar” at Kinetic Theatre Company

The Pittsburgh Tatler: In an age when our leaders play loose with the facts
What a lark to return to a play from the past
That takes joy in exposing the fibs of a liar
And does so while setting our laughter a-fire.

Once-abused toy poodle now star in Seattle play

The Seattle Times: The story of little Blanca’s life did not begin happily.

The tiny poodle was rescued, along with scores of other dogs, from a King County home about two years ago where the animals were kept in cages, denied food and water and abused, according to animal foster parent and play producer Catherine Weatbrook.

Taken in by the Seattle Animal Shelter and sent to recuperate at a foster home, the then 3-pound dog began her recovery.

The Cast of 'Bastard Jones' & the Importance of Inclusiveness

OnStage Blog: Often diversity onstage doesn't mean Inclusion. Diversity usually entails having more than one "token" person of color in the ensemble. That is usually good enough for producers. This is hardly "good enough" and clearly doesn't represent what the world looks like. Where's the inclusion? I'm talking about people with disabilities. Why the hell aren't they represented in shows? Oh and here's the ridiculous part, if there is a "disabled" character, that role usually goes to an "able-bodied" actor. Seriously stupidest thing ever.

V&A exhibition charts the rise and fall of humble plywood

www.dezeen.com: The social history of plywood – as an innovator in the furniture and transport industries, and a maligned everyday material – is explored in a new exhibition at London's V&A museum, which opens this weekend.

‘Walking Dead’ Stuntman Died After Missing Safety Cushion by Inches

Variety: “Walking Dead” stuntman John Bernecker reportedly died after missing a safety cushion while filming a stunt for the AMC series.

Bernecker was shooting a stunt for the show’s eighth season in which he was to fall off a balcony onto the cushion some 20 feet below, but missed and instead landed on the concrete, according to TMZ. Assistant director Matthew Goodwin told police that Bernecker missed “just by inches.”

AMC has not yet commented on Bernecker’s death.

Pittsburgh Festival Opera opens Handel’s Comic Opera XERXES

'Burgh Vivant: George Frideric Handel’s opera “Xerxes” defies some of the preconceived notions audiences might have about the great Persian ruler, often billed as the “king of kings.” For one, who would have thought to create a comic opera about so august a historical figure?

Most times, persons of Xerxes rank are given the demigod treatment. Who would dare to tarnish the heroic image of one so high in the Pantheon of human history with such banal and cavalier treatment?

Pittsburgh Symphony musicians donate $10,000 for PBT orchestra

TribLIVE: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra musicians have contributed $10,000 to the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's endowment fund for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Orchestra.

The fund aims to protect the company's current level of orchestra accompaniment and build on its goal of sustainable, long-term funding for annual performances with live music.

10 Unique Multi-tool Designs That Break the Mold

Everyday Carry: When you picture a multitool in your mind, what does it look like? Chances are it's something along the lines of the traditional “butterfly” or Swiss knife design. Since multi-tools in general are usually designed to pack in as many functions as possible, they tend to get too bulky, heavy, and complex for a lot of EDCs. Luckily, there's been plenty of innovation in multi-tool designs recently. More and more modern tools break tradition and put their unique spin on specialized functionality, changing the way you can use or carry a multi-tool. In this guide, we're highlighting our favorite multi-tools with unique designs.

Participation Fees vs. Mandatory Selling- Which is the Lesser of Two Evils?

OnStage Blog: I get it. Theaters need to make money. And ticket sales don’t always cover the bills. So what else do you do, what else can you do, except ask your actors to pay. Some theaters charge a participation fee, others ask their actors to sell a minimum number of tickets, sell ads or collect items to be raffled off to raise money. Each way has pluses and minuses. Let’s discuss.

The Corporate Side ROCKS!!

Guild of Scenic Artists: The basic concept of what we call Scenic Art will always be the same. As Scenic Artists we provide a solution to the needs of a client be that a set designer, or a company, and we as the artists have the responsibility to figure it out.

First, let’s take a moment to talk about my trajectory, and how I came to this place in my life. After getting a BFA, I worked with small theatres and set building companies, and trained some more at Cobalt Studios, before making my jump to ATOMIC. Now it’s all about the big companies, big bands, and BIG SCENERY!

How Burning Man Helped the Arts Community Collaborate and Evolve

makezine.com: I first attended Burning Man in the late ‘90s. In the early years of the festival, most projects were still being built during the event, so I was able to participate with a group of people building and burning art. Collaborative art was something I explored before, but discovering a whole culture and festival focused on it changed my art practice entirely. The process of making artwork together was beyond something I alone could envision. It took the group to complete the process. I was hooked.

19 Phrases You Need to Cut From Your Resume Right Now

business.tutsplus.com: Before you cross the two page benchmark on your resume with another bullet point, consider deleting cliché and useless information first.

It might take more time to determine what’s okay to remove, but it’s a better strategy than reducing font size or trimming the margins of your resume, which can make your resume look off.

In this article, we take a quick look at what phrases you should remove from your resume. With just a bit of editing, your resume will read with more professionalism and keep within its concise, to the point format.

'Bandstand' and the Issues with Wartime Musicals

OnStage Blog: Bandstand, a new musical directed and choreographed by Andy Blankenbeuhler (of Hamilton fame) plays at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre. It holds the distinction of winning this year’s Tony for “Best Choreography” despite a curious inability to receive Tony nods in any other categories, including Best Actor/Actress for its talented leading duo of Corey Cott and Laura Osnes.

DeWalt FlexVolt 60V Max Circular Saw Review

Pro Tool Reviews: One of the products we saw at the DeWalt Experience made us wonder at first if it was really necessary – the new DeWalt FlexVolt 60V Max Circular Saw. After all, full-size cordless circular saws have been around for a while and they cut quite well, to be honest. With DeWalt’s recent success in the 20V Max/18V sector, they were due for a 7-1/4 inch model and likely could compete near the top. So why jump up to the 60V class with the rest of the FlexVolt line if you don’t need to?

Opening statements begin in 'Midnight Rider' civil trial against CSX Transportation

WTOC-TV: Savannah, Beaufort, SC, News, Weather & Sports: Opening statements were given Tuesday in the civil suit filed by the parents of Sarah Jones against CSX Transportation and a local film production company.

Child actors at risk 'due to lax chaperone rules'

Carousel, News | The Stage: Child performer safety is being put at “needless” risk due to inconsistent regulation of chaperones working in the entertainment industry, experts have warned.

Demands have been made for new, more rigorous regulations around those who supervise and look after child performers at work, amid warnings that the current situation is failing.

It follows a new campaign by union BECTU requesting an "urgent dialogue" with the theatre, film and television industries to make the approach around employment of chaperones more consistent.

British TV and film industry 'pulls plug' on black actors, says Cush Jumbo

Stage | The Guardian: Actor Cush Jumbo has accused the British television and film industry of “pulling the plug” on actors of colour, and said she repeatedly came up against “the exotic best friend ceiling” when auditioning for roles in the UK.

Jumbo, known best for her roles in hit American TV series The Good Wife, and its spin-off The Good Fight, spoke at an evidence session for the Labour party’s inquiry into diversity in the arts about the failures of broadcasters to recognise the value of black and working class actors.

All Women, All the Time

WSJ: Do female playwrights get a fair shake? Not according to the numbers. The best available statistics indicate that somewhere between one-fifth and one-quarter of the plays professionally produced in the U.S. are by women. And who’s to blame for this gender gap? Paula Vogel, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998 but only just made it to Broadway this past April with “Indecent,” claimed in a recent tweet that white male critics “help close us down.” To which Lynn Nottage, another Pulitzer laureate who had an equally belated Broadway premiere in March with “Sweat,” replied, “The patriarchy flexing their muscles to prove their power.” I very much doubt it’s that simple, but whatever the reasons, there’s surely something amiss.

Students are Better Off without a Laptop in the Classroom

Scientific American: As recent high school graduates prepare for their migration to college in the fall, one item is sure to top most students’ shopping wish lists: a laptop computer. Laptops are ubiquitous on university campuses, and are viewed by most students as absolute must-have items, right alongside laundry detergent, towels, and coffee pots.

Weta Raises Performance-Capture Bar on ‘War for Planet of the Apes’

Variety: Ever since the debut of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” in 2011, Hollywood’s visual effects community and mainstream moviegoers alike have been enthralled by the breakthrough digital motion-capture work that endowed the movie’s simians with uncanny human movements and facial expressions.

Chodos Named Director of Carnegie Mellon's Miller Gallery

www.cmu.edu/news: Elizabeth Chodos has been named the director of Carnegie Mellon University's Regina Gouger Miller Gallery. Chodos joins CMU from Ox-Bow, school of art and artists' residency in Saugatuck, Michigan, where she has worked since 2010, most recently as executive and creative director.

5 Tony Award Categories That NEED To Be Added!

Theatre Nerds: The Tony’s are one of the — no, the BIGGEST — night for Broadway and theatre nerds all over the world. Every theatre nerd get pumped up for the awards season on Broadway, and screams when the opening number comes on! But, we all know… When they special presenters start to announce the awards, we watch intently, but in the back of our brain, we are thinking about what other categories could be added.

In 'Hir' and 'Rock Critic,' there's a dramatic push-pull at Steppenwolf

Chicago Tribune: At the end of the Saturday night performance of his solo show "How to Be a Rock Critic," a work based on the writings of the great Lester Bangs, the actor Erik Jensen, sweaty from his exploits in Steppenwolf's 1700 space, gave an emotional little curtain speech.

Best Theatre Cities in the U.S.

Theatre :: Lists :: Paste: Listen, New York is pretty great. The Empire State Building: very tall. Times Square: so many screens. The Holland Tunnel: a great tunnel. But, at least when it comes to theatre, it sometimes feels that because the highest profile theatre is usually on Broadway, actors, directors, playwrights, and designers feel like New York is the only city where you can make a living as a theatre artist. That’s a bummer for the rest of the country, where great theatre also exists but often goes overlooked. So here at Paste we wanted to give some love to nine great theatre cities (that aren’t New York), and the amazing performances they have to offer.

Melbourne's La Mama Demonstrates The Value of Independent Theatre

The Theatre Times: La Mama is a unique institution. But the working conditions Burstall described are not. Once called “little theatres,” now called “independent,” these companies are the ones largely responsible for the development of Australian drama. Sometimes they go by the bland appellation “pro-am,” a mixture of high standards and basic budgets that have characterized Australian theatre from Federation onwards.

How Phantom of the Opera Finds The Man Behind the Mask

Playbill: When Eric Woodall was a college student, training to be an actor at Carnegie Mellon University, he hung ceramic half-masks in his dorm room: an homage to The Phantom of the Opera. “I was in awe of its spectacle and its beauty,” he recalls, after seeing the show in New York in the early ’90s. These days, Woodall doesn’t act much, but the mask still looms large in his life: He is now in charge of casting the Broadway production. “It is a joy to be able to work on such a loved piece, and a timeless piece as Phantom of the Opera,” he says. “I follow a great line of folks here in Tara Rubin Casting, in our office, of working on the show.”

From ‘This is Us’ to ‘The Cake,’ Bekah Brunstetter Has a Full Plate

The New York Times: In “The Cake,” a baker, congenial and accommodating in just about every other respect, refuses to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Sound familiar? The play was inspired in part by a run of similar rebuffs across the country, by vendors who felt that it would compromise their religious beliefs to help commemorate such a union. In most cases, the bakers and spouses-to-be are strangers. But what if they weren’t? What if the baker were the best friend of the bride’s mom, a lifelong friend, practically kin?

BCMA Thinks: When Light Becomes Sound…

Branded Content Marketing Association: It’s a coincidence that I am writing about the idea of light becoming sound, while traveling in Northern Italy. Here, the natural light of the sky was the stepping-stone of many classical painters, particularly Caravaggio, known as the Godfather of Cinematography. But, I am not here to talk to you about that. This is about the light of sound…Let me explain.

I have been studying sound – soundscapes, opera, music, particularly soul, funk and rock – intensively. By studying sound, I want to be able to marry music with filming. What I strive for, as an artist, is to create something visually that you can watch over and over, like music.

Evolution of Modern Lighting Control Consoles

Control Geek: This summer I'm working on a ".1" update to my book Show Networks and Control Systems, which was released five years ago. I'm not adding new chapters or anything, but instead updating various technology versions and parameters (adding USB 3 to the USB section, etc), photos, and so on. I'm also reviewing all the text (actually I used text to speech from my phone to read me my book while storm chasing earlier this year) to put things into an updated context, and in the process stumbled across this sentence:

"Lighting control consoles fall into four basic categories (of course, like anything else, the lines between the categories are often blurry): multi-scene preset, sub-master-based rock-and-roll/club consoles, fully computerized systems, and moving-light controllers."

Becoming a White Man in the Theatre

HowlRound: We published an article recently by a group of distinguished women—theatre practitioners and scholars—about the inherent bias in criticism in the American Theatre that is primarily written by white men. The article was not a personal attack on any single individual, despite being accused as such. It states quite clearly, in quoting Paula Vogel, one of the playwrights referenced in the piece: “The complaint is not personal, in other words: it is structural. Individual critics are ‘not the enemy.’” The article then implores, “We need a more expansive and informed notion of how critics come to decide what is ‘good,’ and a more honest conversation about why ‘good’ is often associated with plays by and about white men.”

David Mamet’s $25,000 threat to theatres over post-show talks

Stage | The Guardian: Post-show panel discussions, often including directors and actors, have become increasingly commonplace in British theatres and cinemas, and are usually enjoyed by artists and audiences alike. But count David Mamet out. The American playwright, author of hits such as House of Games and Glengarry Glen Ross, has imposed an extraordinary ban on any formal post-show talks about his work.

The licence to stage a Mamet play now includes a clause that prevents producers from staging official debates within two hours of a performance. Any violation risks the loss of the licence and a fine of $25,000 for every post-show talk.

Did you hear the one about a monkey suing a photographer for infringement?

Ars Technica: On Wednesday, a federal appeals court will embark on a legal safari of sorts: animal rights activists, representing an Indonesian monkey named Naruto, are set to argue to the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that their monkey client should be recognized as the lawful owner of property.

Four Haze Techniques To Enhance Your Filmmaking

Rosco Spectrum: Award-winning Director and Cinematographer Matt Bendo was recently hired to shoot a branded content short film for Kombat Arts Training Academy – a Mixed Martial Arts training facility near Toronto, Canada. For this short/ad entitled “Legacy,” Matt told us that he hoped to “create a character and story that encompassed all of the philosophies and work ethics that Kombat Arts tries to instill in their students.”

Red-state twists on Shakespeare standards at Outdoor Theater Festival

The Seattle Times: For actors, outdoor theater is a chance to work on a production from the ground up — not only performing, but setting and striking the set, and moving from park to park like acting troupes of yore.

For audiences, it’s a different experience, too: more casual, more accessible and often more up-close and personal.

“You’re not allowed to be separated from the audience,” said Annie Lareau, a longtime director and performer of outdoor theater. “You’re right in it with them. That is a really fun and different and powerful experience.”

For Disabled Actors, Memorizing the Part Is Only the Beginning

The New York Times: It’s not as rare as it used to be for disabled actors to play disabled characters, but they rarely are at center stage as much as in “Cost of Living,” Martyna Majok’s play at Manhattan Theater Club. Katy Sullivan, a bilateral above-the-knee amputee since birth, portrays the loudmouthed Ani, who loses her legs in a car accident. Gregg Mozgala has cerebral palsy, a condition he shares with his character, John, a testy Princeton graduate student.

6 Theatre Workers You Should Know

AMERICAN THEATRE: A freelance scenic designer in Pittsburgh and beyond, Mauk’s recent designs include Wig Out!, Heads, and Of Mice and Men for Pittsburgh Playhouse, and The River for Quantum Theatre—a site-specific work on an old dry boat dock garage with a river running through it. “If I don’t challenge myself intellectually and emotionally for a design, it is an opportunity lost,” says Mauk. He’s also involved in the Gateway Mentor Program at the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, because he’s passionate about diversity and inclusion. “I want to be able to look across the room and see stories similar to mine,” says Mauk. “As a trans man, I feel it is important that I remain visible for folks starting out.”

The Long Reach Long Riders Complete 14th Annual Charity Ride

Stage Directions: The Long Reach Long Riders are happy to announce the success of their 14th annual charity motorcycle ride. The ride, which was dubbed The Avocado Adventure, by ride marshal Drew Wending, raised over $57,000. for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Behind the Scenes Charity, bringing the total raised since the rides began in 2004 to over $600,000.

Romola Garai: ‘Theatres should not be asking parents to work six-day weeks’

The Stage: There’s a well-known industry tale about a leading director giving a note to an actress, describing her character as feisty, at which point she walked out of the show and the production. It was not Romola Garai, though it would certainly be true to describe her as opinionated, determined and combative. But she’s also warm and bracingly intelligent company, not afraid to speak up for things she cares about. She challenges herself constantly – not just in her own work choices but also the responsibilities that come with them.