QUEEN ETTA: Legendary jazz singer plays one in 'King Hedley II'

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Etta Cox knows her way around a song. So does Ruby, a character in “King Hedley II,” the next-to-last play in August Wilson’s Pittsburgh cycle.

Ms. Cox plays Ruby in the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company production of the play, which opens Friday at Mr. Wilson’s birthplace in the Hill District. But she feels no kinship with a former big band singer in her 60s who has quit singing.

30 Under 30: Rachel Rozzi, Audio Technician

Live Design: Rachel Rozzi isn’t one to shy away from a challenge. After teaching herself everything she could learn about live sound, from scouring manuals to reading each interview she could get her hands on, she enrolled at the Blackbird Academy, and graduated at the top of her class. Just days after her graduation, she joined The Rolling Stones tour and worked on production for their 2016 historic show for an audience of 1.5 million in Havana, Cuba. Last year, she won a Pensado Award, one of the audio industry’s highest honors, for her work with Florida Georgia Line. She’s currently on staff at Clair Global as an audio tech, and is out on Justin Timberlake’s Man Of The Woods Tour.

TEDxBroadway 2018: The Reviews Are In …

Selling Out: We’ve been taking stock of all of the emails, phone calls and feedback we’ve received from TEDxBroadway 2018. And, we thank you for that!

Turns out — to paraphrase Sally Field — you liked it, you really, really, liked it. The one word we heard over and over again that summed it up: “inspirational!”

Heartache and a thousand natural shocks – a review of “Hamlet”

'Burgh Vivant: A sullen, young man, still grieving from his father’s death, learns that there’s something rotten in the state of Denmark in William Shakespeare’s iconic “Hamlet.”

Puerto Rican Comedy Troupe Aims To Lift Up Spirits Of Those Living On, Off The Island

NPR: Popular Puerto Rican sketch comedy group Teatro Breve has been touring the U.S. mainland with a hilarious take on how Puerto Ricans living off the island dealt with Hurricane Maria.

WriteGirlTaps Actors, Screenwriters to Support Young, Female Writers

Variety: Actors and screenwriters came together Saturday night to support the young women involved in WriteGirl at the organization’s annual Lights, Camera, WriteGirl! event.

How I Found a Flicker of Art in the Artless Soul of Trump

www.clydefitchreport.com: Trump wasn’t supposed to win; mercifully, I was never going to think about him ever again once the elections were over. But the cosmos had its own agenda — and once this putative president assumed his throne, I knew I had to put aside my other, more elegiac work (a play on English photographer Eadweard Muybridge) and focus on the chaos (euphemistic for disaster) unfolding all around me.

'Snoozefest': CMU concert explores music to sleep by

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Can music affect our sleep?

The short answer is yes, though the mechanics of “how” remain a mystery.

From 11:59 p.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday, Carnegie Mellon University’s Studio for Creative Inquiry presented a concert of experimental electronic music intended to create a collective audience dreamscape, or, more plainly, to toy with the subliminal effects of music.

With 'Judas,' Phoenix Rep Revisits the Mark of Robert Patrick

www.clydefitchreport.com: When a theater-maker of a certain age who identifies as LGBTQ asks a younger theater-maker who identifies as LGBTQ, “Who was Robert Patrick?,” it seems to me that a younger theater-maker either ought to know the answer or to prep for a glorious education. For to know Patrick’s work is to acknowledge and revel in a truly indelible historical point — the one at which the American theater intersected with, and was immeasurably enriched by, America’s LGBTQ movement. There are only so many artists of whose work this truly can be said, and Patrick’s will always be one of them.

Forbidden Broadway

Pittsburgh in the Round: Forbidden Broadway is a charming musical revue that unmasks some of the magic of musical theatre by spoofing the shows, songs, and performers from the great white way. It does so out of love for the genre which, brings smiles to the audience as they are permitted to share the inside joke.

A Work of the Body: Deconstructing Preconceived Notions of Disability and Dance in Piece by Piece

HowlRound Theatre Commons: These are the opening lines of Piece by Piece, a multimedia dance theatre piece based on the memories of ballerina Rebeccah Simone Bogue, before and after her brain hemorrhage, which left her with memory and mobility difficulties. (Since the incident, Bogue has lost balance, speech, vision, and motor skills.) The show, though, is about so much more than this: individual resilience, disability visibility, creating successful dialogue between three different types of media, and, most importantly, challenging the assumptions and perceptions of each artist and audience member about what it means to be a dancer. And despite its somber subject matter, it’s full of humor and levity.

How To Calculate Your Freelance Hourly Rate

Daily Infographic: So you’ve decided to take the leap and become a full-time freelancer. Here’s how to figure out how to charge what you’re actually worth and earn the money you deserve.

Autodesk is in trouble

CADnotes: Autodesk has an issue on their licensing server several times already. Many people already disappointed with the subscription, and now this issue can get Autodesk in a big trouble.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

Coachella Concertgoers Encounter Sexual Harassment

www.ticketnews.com: Coachella is the biggest music festival during the summer in North America, but something that a lot of people don’t talk about between the magical performances is the sexual harassment that goes on behind the scenes.
According to an article in Teen Vogue, the sexual harassment at the festival is frequent, and has even become a “norm” for women. Vera Papisova, the writer of the article and Features Editor for the magazine, said that she was groped 22 times throughout her 10-hour Coachella experience.

Posted by David at Comments Here

Disney made a jacket to simulate physical experiences, like a snake slithering across your body

The Verge: Disney Research, MIT Media Lab, and Carnegie Mellon University have unveiled a new conceptual haptic “force jacket” that simulates physical experiences to people wearing the device. The force jacket is lined with airbags controlled by a computer that inflates and deflates the bags. Disney envisions the jacket will be used with VR headsets for more immersive experiences, given its ability to simulate hugs, being hit or punched, and peculiarly, the sensation of a snake slithering across your body.

Posted by David at Comments Here

Ideal Tool Backpack Review: HUGE Storage Capacity

Pro Tool Reviews: Tool storage and transportation can sometimes be a bit of a bear. Selecting the right tool to carry your tools can be challenging; with so many tool bags, tool chests, tool boxes, and backpacks on the market, we’ve got a lot of options to consider. Different trades will have different demands, and a “one-size-fits-all” approach might not work the best for your needs. That’s why Ideal Industries, known for their electrician’s tools, has put together a solution with HVAC technicians and electricians in mind. The Ideal Tool Backpack offers a durable and organized storage solution for a wide variety of electrician’s tools and equipment.

Posted by David at Comments Here

Making 3D Objects The Scroll Saw Way

Hackaday: These days most have come to think that if you want to make a complex 3D object with all curved surfaces then a 3D printer is the only way to go. Many have even forgotten that once such things could be hand carved. [JEPLANS], on the other hand, is a master at making these objects using only a scroll saw as he’s done with his latest, a miniature camel cut from a single block of maple.

Posted by David at Comments Here

Conductive Paint Transforms Walls Into Sensors, Interactive Surfaces

www.cmu.edu/news: Walls are what they are — big, dull dividers. With a few applications of conductive paint and some electronics, however, walls can become smart infrastructure that can sense human touch, detect gestures and detect when appliances are used.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research found they could transform dull walls into smart walls at relatively low cost — about $20 per square meter — using simple tools and techniques, such as a paint roller.

Posted by David at Comments Here

Prepare to Be Provoked. Caryl Churchill Is Back.

The New York Times: On a recent trip to London, I attempted to arrange an interview with Caryl Churchill, who alongside Tom Stoppard is considered the greatest living English playwright. I didn’t expect to get an answer (Ms. Churchill hasn’t granted a real interview since the 1990s) and indeed, I did not get one. Trying to obtain an audience with her is like trying to obtain one with Thomas Pynchon or Cormac McCarthy. She maintains a Sphinx-like silence.

Parkland Survivors Get a Broadway Master Class in Healing

The New York Times: On a Tuesday evening in a small theater in the back of a shopping center here, the teenage cast of the rock musical “Spring Awakening” pogoed around the stage, shouting the unprintable lyrics from one of its most ferocious songs.

Leslie Odom, Jr. Helps To Spread Good News to 2018 Tony Nominees

www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Leslie Odom, Jr. can check off another box on his accomplishments list. Odom Jr., who took home a 2016 Tony Award for best performance by an actor in a leading role for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in "Hamilton," will join CBS star Katharine McPhee to announce the 2018 Tony Award nominees. The Tony Awards announced his role today; the nominations will take place at Lincoln Center Tuesday, May 1, and will, in part, be broadcast on "CBS This Morning."

Jodie Foster ’85 on ‘impostor syndrome,’ dumb luck and making meaning

YaleNews: Citing writer Malcolm Gladwell’s assertion that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become world-class in any field, Foster acknowledged that her success was due in part to “what I put into it, but a lot of it is just the dumb luck of being there at the right time. My work as an actor was at the right time because I was a 3-year-old, 4-year-old, 5-year-old who wore my brother’s sneakers and had a husky voice and wasn’t going to act like a girly girl, and that was very unusual in 1966-67.”

NewTek Introduces LiveGraphics Workflow for Live Production

Church Production Magazine: NewTek announces LiveGraphics, an entirely new approach to the creation of real-time motion graphics that does not require a proprietary hardware graphics engine. With NewTek LiveGraphics, content authored in Adobe Photoshop CC and Adobe After Effects CC is available for live output from TriCaster TC1 and NewTek IP Series with fully replaceable text and images that can be driven by live data and web content.

Disney made a jacket to simulate physical experiences, like a snake slithering across your body

The Verge: Disney Research, MIT Media Lab, and Carnegie Mellon University have unveiled a new conceptual haptic “force jacket” that simulates physical experiences to people wearing the device. The force jacket is lined with airbags controlled by a computer that inflates and deflates the bags. Disney envisions the jacket will be used with VR headsets for more immersive experiences, given its ability to simulate hugs, being hit or punched, and peculiarly, the sensation of a snake slithering across your body.

Music + Lyrics: Kooman and Dimond

Breaking Character: Welcome to our Music + Lyrics interview series, where we sit down with composers and lyricists of notable contemporary musicals. Read on as we dive into the careers of these artists, get rare insights into their work, and perhaps, even help you discover a new favorite musical.

Vocabularies for Empathy: Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble Prompts Audiences to Take Action for Social Change

Newcity Stage: For nearly two decades, long before mission-driven performance companies were a common feature in the local theater landscape, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble has quietly and steadily made performances and running youth arts programs with the express goal of creating positive social change. Co-directors Ellyzabeth Adler and Sara Maslanka are preparing for their “Art in Response” program May 4-19 at the company’s home base, Ebenezer Lutheran Church. We spoke with Adler and Maslanka about the history and upcoming plans of CDE.

Coloring Music City's Theatrical Landscape

HowlRound Theatre Commons: I sat in my seat, overflowing with excitement and anticipating the greatness I was sure to behold. The theatre was smaller than I’d expected. A sold out venue of hundreds of theatregoers is definitely nothing to scoff at, but I expected thousands. I expected bigger, I mean, this was Broadway—the pinnacle of professional theatre. But what did I really know about Broadway? Nothing!

Video of the Month: Learn About AutoCAD 2019 in Less Than Five Minutes

AutoCAD Blog | Autodesk: Did you hear the news? AutoCAD 2019 made its splashy debut last month with the inclusion of specialized toolsets—from mechanical, to architecture, to electrical design, and more—along with a slew of new features and enhancements. Now, you can access the Architecture, Plant 3D, Mechanical, MEP toolsets, and many more all under one AutoCAD 2019 roof. It’s AutoCAD for everyone!

Priyanka Chopra: ‘Quanitico’ Represents Women of Color, Immigrants on TV

Variety: “Quantico” returns with its third season on Thursday night, taking over the time slot previously held by ABC’s “Scandal,” which officially signed off last week after seven seasons on air.

Stepping into Kerry Washington’s void on network television does not go unnoticed by Priyanka Chopra, who became the first-ever South Asian actor to lead a broadcast show in television history with “Quantico,” which debuted in 2015.

When 'Black Panther's' Chadwick Boseman came to Pittsburgh to direct a play

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: In the fall of 2002, a young director with big, deep brown eyes came to Pittsburgh. He was here for four weeks to work with Kuntu Repertory, the venerable community theater group that produced dramas highlighting African-American life and culture.

The “Necessary Evil” Of Paperwork: Rider & Stage Plot Clarity Can Really Pay Off

ProSoundWeb: Before handling tour and production management for bands, I worked in various venues as a sound tech. I got really sick of crews coming in, looking at the stage plot and input list we had for them, and saying, “Oh, the agent sent you the wrong one!”

So, in other words, they didn’t have five minutes in the last month to call up and make sure that we had the right one.

Las Vegas ‘Star Wars’ attraction hopes to attract locals

Las Vegas Review-Journal: The force was strong with Nichole Madden.

The Australian tourist had withstood hordes of stormtroopers, fire-shooting monsters and sarcastic robots.

“That was so good,” Madden said outside the Grand Canal Shoppes’ newest attraction. “I’ve done VR before, but nothing to that extent.”

Madden and other select shoppers in the Strip shopping center have gotten an early look at virtual reality attraction “Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire.”

Former union leader denies allegations

Albuquerque Journal: A former New Mexico labor and film union leader has denied allegations brought against him in a lawsuit.
Jon Hendry is the former president of the New Mexico Federation of Labor and the former business agent for the local chapter of the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Kelly Critic Review: ‘Honeymoon in Vegas,’ Baldwin High School

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Honeymoon in Vegas” director Jason Coll isn’t a gambling man. But he is, as it says in his Director’s Note, “one for weighing the odds and taking calculated risks.” That’s exactly what Coll did by bringing Las Vegas to Baldwin. With this production, where reality and absurdity blended into one joyous ride of a show, both he and the audience hit the jackpot.

3M DI-NOC architectural finishes wonder imagination at milan design week 2018

www.designboom.com: welcoming the thousands of designers, architects and creative professionals in the city during milan design week 2018, 3M aims to inspire through an interactive, multi-sensory installation called ‘wonder beyond imagination’. visitors, who wonder through the space, witness highly advanced moments of digitalization and physical materiality – a true reflection of the brand’s focus on the union of science and design. at the heart of the interior, spanning from the walls to the furnishings, their new ‘3M™ DI-NOC™’ architectural finishes showcase the sustainable and flexible options available for creatives to transform and re-imagine design possibilities.

Ideal Tool Backpack Review: HUGE Storage Capacity

Pro Tool Reviews: Tool storage and transportation can sometimes be a bit of a bear. Selecting the right tool to carry your tools can be challenging; with so many tool bags, tool chests, tool boxes, and backpacks on the market, we’ve got a lot of options to consider. Different trades will have different demands, and a “one-size-fits-all” approach might not work the best for your needs. That’s why Ideal Industries, known for their electrician’s tools, has put together a solution with HVAC technicians and electricians in mind. The Ideal Tool Backpack offers a durable and organized storage solution for a wide variety of electrician’s tools and equipment.

Makita 7.2V Impact Driver Review: Model TD022DSE

Pro Tool Reviews: My love affair with Makita low-voltage tools continues with a new stick impact driver. You’ll find this Makita 7.2V impact driver with the model number TD022DSE. Now before we dig into the features and specs, allow me to make the case for having a low-power drill or impact driver in your toolkit.

Lightfair 2018 Keynotes and Impact Speakers Feature Thought Leaders of Design

Architect Magazine: Lightfair 2018 is just around the corner and will take place this May 6 – 10 at McCormick Place in Chicago. As part of the overall conference program, Lightfair has announced a comprehensive lineup of keynote speakers, seminars, workshops, and two, one-day forums dedicated to the topics of smart cities and light and health.

Music Modernization Act Unanimously Passes House of Representatives

Variety: In what is being hailed as a historic day for music creators, theMusic Modernization Act passed the House Wednesday, paving the way for improved royalty payments to songwriters, artists and creatives in the digital era. The bill, HR 5477, passed unanimously with 415 votes. The bill is overwhelmingly supported by the music industry, and has bipartisan support in the house, where it was introduced by co-sponsors Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

Why I Am Boycotting Writers Theatre in Chicago

www.clydefitchreport.com: The controversy at Writers, a widely respected company located near Chicago, is a few months old, so I’ll quickly recap. Last fall, CFR broke a story that former Writers intern Tom Robson accused longtime Artistic Director Michael Halberstam of sexually harassing him both verbally and physically in 2003. The story spread to other outlets; soon, the trade publication PerformInk released a more detailed account of how widespread Halberstam’s harassment had been, reporting that “what happened to Robson has happened to others,” and that schools were even warning students about auditioning for the company.

Thea Case Studies Day 2018

InPark Magazine: Each session of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) 2018 Thea Case Studies Day on April 6, showcased a project honored the following evening at the annual TEA Thea Awards Gala (April 7), and paid respect to an existing culture – be it a real community or a fictional place.

ETC celebrates successful Prolight+Sound

LightSoundJournal.com: Visitors flocked to ETC’s stands in Hall 3.0 at the recent Prolight+Sound tradeshow in Frankfurt to get a glimpse of the company’s latest innovations. Among the main attractions were several new products – the Element 2 lighting control console from the award-winning Eos family, ColorSource Pearl variable white-light LED fixtures, and the Irideon WLZ architectural wash light – all making their European debut.

High school thespians come together for 'Night of the Stars'

TribLIVE: Veteran actor, performing arts enthusiast and Greensburg attorney John Noble always has a new idea for taking his beloved showcase of musical theater, “John Noble's Westmoreland Night of the Stars,” to the next level.

Last year he expanded the show to two nights to accommodate the growing number of participating schools and capacity crowds at The Palace Theatre.

FRAY Studio Crafts Multiple Worlds for Mean Girls

Stage Directions: The new Broadway musical Mean Girls, based on the film, premiered at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway this month. Responsible for the production's video sets is British video design team FRAY Studio, who worked closely with director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw and set designer Scott Pask to create the sophisticated, fast-paced, and at times, surreal worlds of North Shore High's famous students.

Kaleidoscope XX Showcase Celebrates 20 Years of Creative Student Work

www.cmu.edu/news: Students from Carnegie Mellon University's BXA Intercollege Degree Programs will showcase a variety of creative work and performances at their annual Kaleidoscope exhibition from 4-7 p.m., April 27 in room 214 of the College of Fine Arts.

The work featured in the show, titled "Kaleidoscope XX," represents BXA's three integrated degrees — Bachelor of Computer Science and Arts (BCSA), Bachelor of Humanities and Arts (BHA) and Bachelor of Science and Arts (BSA) — and celebrates 20 years of displaying interdisciplinary projects to the public.

Coachella Concertgoers Encounter Sexual Harassment

www.ticketnews.com: Coachella is the biggest music festival during the summer in North America, but something that a lot of people don’t talk about between the magical performances is the sexual harassment that goes on behind the scenes.

According to an article in Teen Vogue, the sexual harassment at the festival is frequent, and has even become a “norm” for women. Vera Papisova, the writer of the article and Features Editor for the magazine, said that she was groped 22 times throughout her 10-hour Coachella experience.

Conductive Paint Transforms Walls Into Sensors, Interactive Surfaces

www.cmu.edu/news: Walls are what they are — big, dull dividers. With a few applications of conductive paint and some electronics, however, walls can become smart infrastructure that can sense human touch, detect gestures and detect when appliances are used.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research found they could transform dull walls into smart walls at relatively low cost — about $20 per square meter — using simple tools and techniques, such as a paint roller.

What Recruiters Are Really Thinking In These 8 Scenarios

www.fastcompany.com: For many job seekers, it can be confusing and downright frustrating to try to understand what a recruiter is thinking when he or she reviews a resume, or is evaluating a candidate post-interview. Most recruiters would like to speak with everyone personally, but some of their job postings have so many people applying that they often have to rely on form letters.

Making 3D Objects The Scroll Saw Way

Hackaday: These days most have come to think that if you want to make a complex 3D object with all curved surfaces then a 3D printer is the only way to go. Many have even forgotten that once such things could be hand carved. [JEPLANS], on the other hand, is a master at making these objects using only a scroll saw as he’s done with his latest, a miniature camel cut from a single block of maple.