Video Design of Opera Australia Madama Butterfly

www.livedesignonline.com: This season, Opera Australia broke new ground by presenting a completely “digital” season. No, singers weren’t replaced with holograms, and, no, the audience didn’t listen through headsets. Rather than staging the three-opera season on traditional scenery, with all necessary construction, dismantling, and re-construction of a typical repertory opera season, Opera Australia asked its artists to embrace a digital version of the scenery. Following a move in this direction with last year’s Aida, the company went full speed ahead for its productions in the Sydney Opera House. The season included new productions of Madama Butterfly, Anna Bolena, and the world premiere of Whiteley.

'Baby Shark', Derived From A Public Domain Folk Song, Now The Subject Of A Copyright Dispute

Techdirt: If you have had a toddler in your house sometime over the past few years, you likely already know all about the "Baby Shark" song. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you are among the luckiest people on the planet. Except now I'm going to embed the video below to ensure you are aware of it.

Playwrights of Color, White Directors, and Exposing Racist Policy

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Damn. This thought reverberates through my body, an ultrasonic sound wave carrying much more than disappointment and dismay. As a Black director, actor, and facilitator of anti-racist theatre, I am unable to shake myself free of the viscosity of thoughts I’m having around another company’s decision to uphold a racist policy: hiring a white director to stage a play written by a playwright of color. This has happened time and again: with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights, Suzan-Lori Parks’ Father Comes Home From the Wars, James Ijames’s Kill Move Paradise, David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish, Karen Zacarías’ Native Gardens, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.

Making a Frame: How I Found an Augusto Boal Book in Myself

www.clydefitchreport.com: My name is Ali Campbell and for my entire career as an artist and activist I’ve made theatre anywhere but theatres. Most of us were taught that theatre is about a bunch of (paying) people sitting in the dark, watching another bunch of (paid) people pretending to be a bunch of other (often dead) people, telling a story. And indeed, that’s the theatre I studied at University in Edinburgh in the 1970s and later made my way to London (as you had to do then, and probably still need to do today) to see whether I could make it on the stage. Alive. Paid!

I Admit It! Sometimes I Fall Asleep at the Theatre

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: I didn't see a lot of theatre growing up, but every winter my parents took me and my sister to a concert by the Boston Pops. The evening was an occasion: I had to wear a dress, and it always seemed like an exciting event until we actually sat down to listen. The music, which was classical, sounded nice but, without fail, I would fall asleep. "Lizey slept through it again!" my mom would proclaim. Yet waking up to the crease of my father's blazer imprinted upon my cheek and my family's jokes about my snoozing I was never quite ashamed. I felt, if not exactly celebrated, at least seen. It was an honest response to the experience.

Jane Goodall's Immersive Paper Forest Promotes Conservation

The Theatre Times: A rainforest has risen on the ground level of the Hong Kong Science Museum. Leaves rustle underfoot, stag beetles meander on the tree branches and exotic moths with wings a vivid shade of pea green blend into the foliage. And all of it is made of paper.

Panels And Post Show Discussions

Arts Hacker: Conversations around performances and events really can enhance the experience for people, but making it an effective and enjoyable experience can take some preparation and discipline.

One of my favorite pieces on the practice was written for HowlRound by Brant Russell reflecting on his experience leading the discussions at Steppenwolf Theatre. He presented 11-ish rules that were basically aimed at having the moderator employ the lightest touch while also keeping the discussion away from questions like “how did you memorize all those lines?”

Production Artist Jane Wu Breaks Into Action Movies’ Boys Club

Variety: “If no one is dying, nothing is exploding and no one is trying to kill each other, you shouldn’t be calling me,” says Jane Wu, a storyboard artist with credits including “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Thor: Ragnarok” and Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of “Mulan.”

Expect incredible local talent during New Hazlett Theater's upcoming CSA Performance Series

Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Pittsburgh artist and musician Brittney Chantele's album A Fire on Venus, released earlier this year, earned the pop singer a spot at large festivals including The Three Rivers Arts Festival and People's Pride, as well as airtime on independent local radio station WYEP.

The creators of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance just loved throwing puppets

The Verge: Just because there are puppets involved doesn’t mean The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is for little kids. “It’s not like they call it The Light Crystal,” executive producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach joked with The Verge on the eve of the premiere of the Netflix series, which serves as a prequel to the cult-favorite 1982 fantasy drama.

Boston.com

An immersive Dr. Seuss exhibit is coming to Boston: While the grin-inducing rooms of “Happy Place” left Boston in June, a new collection of brightly colored, interactive spaces will hit the city in the coming months. And this one may get to your sentimental side.

Five Reasons To Add DMG Lumière SWITCH LED Lights To Your Kit

Rosco Spectrum: When I first opened the packages from DMG Lumière by Rosco, I had no idea just how integral a piece of kit I had just received. Inside were two SL1 SWITCH lights and one MINI SWITCH light, as well as AC Power Supplies, and DOP Choice SnapBag & SnapGrid Accessories for each of them. After my Junior Magliner, these flexible, adaptable LED soft lights are often the first items to be lifted into my VW Transporter. I can safely say that I have had them on 70% or more of my jobs in 2019 so far. When my gaffers see the DMG lights, they often do that little happy nod, knowing they have a simple and effective addition to today’s kit.

Skil 12V Brushless Circular Saw Review - CR541802

Pro Tool Reviews: If you don’t need all the power the Skil 20V Brushless Circular Saw affords for $186.98, their smaller saw might fit the bill. The Skil 12V Brushless Circular Saw presents a great compromise on both power and price for those looking for a compact saw. If you’re not familiar with Skil, they provide some excellent values in cordless power tools. If their 20V brushless saw pits itself against mainstream corded framers, the 12V model tackles consumer expectations. The Skil CR541802 circular saw kit costs less than $140 with 4Ah battery and PWRJump charger. That’s almost $50 less than you’ll pay for their 20V version.

Using Remote Text in AutoCAD: Tuesday Tips With Brandon

AutoCAD Blog | Autodesk: Learning
Using Remote Text in AutoCAD: Tuesday Tips With Brandon

In my tip today I wanted to highlight an older Express Tool that tends to get overlooked by many users: Remote Text (RTEXT command). It has been made less popular in some aspects by Fields (you can see my tips on Fields here), but it still has some specific, very useful, and underutilized functions that can really come in handy! Lets take a look at using RTEXT in your own drawings.

Putting the Robe Art into Shlomo Artzi

LightSoundJournal.com: Shlomo Artzi is one of Israel’s most successful and popular male singers, and his most recent shows hit the road with an ongoing lighting design by Gadi Spivak who has worked for the artist for over 20 years.

Gadi and his lighting associate Shlomit Lola Nehama chose to use 24 x Robe Spiider LED wash beams for a key element of his lighting rig.

Chronic illness on TV: More nuanced and realistic portrayals are needed

Salon.com: “Modern Family” star Sarah Hyland and writer Emily V. Gordon are partnering up for a new ABC comedy, The Hollywood Reporter reports. Both women will executive produce the series alongside “This Is Us” showrunners Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger.

There aren’t many details about the as of yet unnamed comedy series, but initial reports say it will be based on the personal lives of its creators, which has led to speculation that the series will, in some way, tackle the topic of chronic illness.

Rotten Tomatoes' Newest Approved Critics Are 55% Women

The Mary Sue: Film criticism, like every other aspect of the industry, tends to be dominated by cishet white men. Rotten Tomatoes is trying to level the playing field with both their grants for underrepresented critics to attend film festivals and by welcoming in a large class of new Rotten Tomatoes-approved critics. Of the 600 critics, 55% are women, which means that the class has reached gender parity, a rare statement to be made.

To save opera, we have to let it die

The Washington Post: The summer of 2019 has been a fraught one for opera. In June, diva soprano Anna Netrebko came under scrutiny not only for her use of skin-darkening makeup to sing the role of Verdi’s Ethiopian princess Aida but also for her blunt defense of a practice that has been widely discredited. This month, the legal battle between the Metropolitan Opera and its one-time music director James Levine — which began when the former fired the latter last year after accusations of sexual misconduct — quietly ended with a settlement. And last week, nine women accused superstar singer and conductor Plácido Domingo of sexual harassment over the past 30 years.

Two Senators Call on DOJ to Investigate Ticketing Industry

Variety: Senators Richard Blumenthal of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota are requesting a Department of Justice antitrust investigation into competition in the ticketing industry.

Into the Woods hews a fresh, intimate path into Stephen Sondheim's musical

Theater Review | Chicago Reader: In Look, I Made a Hat, the second volume of his lyrics and musings about his work, Stephen Sondheim notes the unlikely genesis for Into the Woods: he and book writer James Lapine had concocted an idea for a TV special mashing up characters from similar comedies (Ralph and Alice Kramden from The Honeymooners, Archie and Edith Bunker from All in the Family) with characters from various cop and medical dramas, using a car accident as the narrative pretext for bringing them all together.

Big data analysis reveals staggering extent of gender inequality in creative industries

theconversation.com: The term “big data” may bring to mind swaths of private information held by tech companies. But lots of big data is, in fact, visible to all – we just may not think of it as “data”.

If you’ve been to the movies recently, you will have seen a dataset of credits – listing the cast and crew members alongside their roles. While the credits from any one film may not be that useful, the credits from every film can form a big dataset. At Nesta and the PEC (a new policy and evidence centre for the creative industries), we have been exploring how these types of non-confidential big datasets can shine new light on gender representation in the creative industries.

Blow to 10,000-hour rule as study finds practice doesn't always make perfect

Science | The Guardian: With blatant disregard for the public benefits of motivational idioms, researchers have concluded that practice does not, necessarily, make perfect.

A study of violinists found that merely good players practised as much as, if not more than, better players, leaving other factors such as quality of tuition, learning skills and perhaps natural talent to account for the difference.

Musical Malaise: The Twilight of the Original Score?

www.clydefitchreport.com: In a disturbing and all-but-hilarious New York Times story from London, it was reported that staff members at several West End musical theaters may now be wearing body cameras. This is to combat an apparent plague of “aggressive, alcohol-fueled theatregoers.” An usher at one of the theaters was quoted as calling the audiences for jukebox musicals the “worst behaved.” London’s “more upmarket productions,” it seems, “are not immune from rowdy behavior.”

BFI London Film Festival: More Than Half Of Films In Competition Directed By Women

www.forbes.com: While the 76th Venice International Film Festival is set to begin today, August 28, with only two films from female directors in competition, the BFI London Film Festival (LFF) has announced that 60% of films selected for their festival, taking place in London from October 2-13, are directed or co-directed by women.

How the composer of Deadpool and Mad Max is changing the way we score movies

The Verge: Sitting in a room that looks more spaceship than studio, movie composer Tom Holkenborg (also known as Junkie XL) tells me about the first time he heard his music in a movie. It’s an iconic scene you might know — the blood rave from Blade. “It’s a track from my first album,” he says. “It’s a very aggressive breakbeat track, and it plays when all that blood comes out of the ceiling.” The track worked so well, that he “really got interested in pursuing [movie scoring] myself.”

Young People Pushing Career Boundaries in Industry First Initiative

TPi: In an industry-first initiative, the events sector opened its doors to upcoming young talent with the ‘Get Into Events’ programme. A three-day training course run and hosted by youth charity The Prince’s Trust, in collaboration with specialist event crewing company Crewsaders and global creative communications DRPG, saw 12 candidates between the ages of 18 and 30 learn the ropes of the event crewing industry.

How to make great videos

www.fastcompany.com: Despite 40-plus years on this big, blue rock, I’ve come to the realization that I don’t actually know all that much. Except how to make web videos. I’ve made hundreds of them over the years and currently create product videos as my day job. Here are some of the tips, tricks, and apps I use on a regular basis to make better videos with a reasonable amount of time, budget, and expertise. My advice is best suited to you if you’re just getting into video making or perhaps have made a handful of videos already and are looking to get a bit more serious.

'WoW Classic' launch draws over 1 million concurrent viewers on Twitch

Business Insider: More than 15 years after the game's release, there's a new peak viewership record for "World of Warcraft" on Twitch, the most popular platform for video game streaming. Blizzard Entertainment is currently celebrating "World of Warcraft's" 15th anniversary with the release of "WoW Classic," and more than 1.1 million concurrent viewers tuned in to watch "World of Warcraft" streams on Twitch.

Problem Solving, Fire and THE HANDMAID'S TALE

VFX Voice MagazineVFX Voice Magazine: The first two seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu utilized a real house to shoot exteriors for the home of Gileadan Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and his wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski), to which Handmaid June Osborne/Offred (Elisabeth Moss) is assigned. But for season 3 of the series, production was no longer about to continue to use that location.

Several high-profile game developers publicly accused of sexual assault

The Verge: Back in 2018, Guardian editor Keza MacDonald wrote that “the video games industry isn’t yet ready for its #MeToo moment.” But whether or not that’s still true, people are attempting to hold abusers and their enablers accountable. Over the past day, multiple high-profile men in the video game industry have been accused of sexual assault. Many of the accusations are years old — in some cases, more than a decade — and they all point to a toxic environment where developers not only have to live with a constant fear of abuse, but also the significant professional and personal repercussions of outing their abusers.

Multileader Style and Creating Custom Multileaders: Tuesday Tips With Seth

AutoCAD Blog | Autodesk: We all add notes (multileaders) to our drawings. Notes can convey anything from how something should be built, to designating a spec that needs to be followed for construction. Many users just use the default multileaders without realizing the power of what multileaders can do.

Workshop glue guns compared

Maker Project Lab: The glue guns I’m talking about here are the Surebonder Pro2-100, which runs around $30. The Ryobi Cordless Glue Gun, which is also around $30. And the FastenMaster HB220 adjustable glue gun, which I got for $80.

Hollywood's Latinx representation is dismal: Why don't movies look more like America?

Salon.com: Movies featuring strippers as lead characters have a history of struggling at the box office. “Striptease” and “Showgirls,” which both came out in the mid-'90s, had disappointing opening weekends, making just about $10 million each, while costing about $50 million to make.

“Hustlers,” which debuts September 15, may subvert the trend. With rumored production costs of about $20 million, The Hollywood Reporter is predicting a $24 million opening weekend.

Looking Back on Star Trek: The Experience, Trek's Galaxy's Edge

io9.gizmodo.com: This week, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens in Walt Disney World, bringing an unprecedented theme park experience to the citizens of Orlando, Florida. Eat the food and drink of a galaxy far, far away! Hop aboard an iconic Star Wars ship! Live in a fantastical world, populated by people in character, an immersive experience! It’s unlike anything we’ve seen before.

Except when Star Trek did it 20 years ago.

For 'The Purists' At The Huntington, Billy Porter Puts On His Directing Hat

The ARTery: It’s two weeks before the world premiere of "The Purists," and Billy Porter wants the cameras to stop clicking.

The Tony and Grammy Award-winning artist sits in front of a small group of actors, watching intently as they rehearse their lines. Two characters, Mr. Bugz (played by J. Bernard Calloway) and Lamont (played by Morocco Omari) are yelling at each other. Their voices echo off the walls and can be heard down the hallway. The scene, close to the end of the play, is a sensitive one. That’s one of the reasons Porter asks the press to briefly stop circling and taking pictures.

Rock Lititz eyes $30M expansion creating +200 jobs

lancasteronline.com: Seven years ago, when Rock Lititz was just a concept, its developers figured that firms making equipment and systems for putting on live events — and bands using them — would flock to a business campus dedicated to that field.

And without doubt, the visionary developers have been proven right, judging from the emphatic success of their first three buildings at the Warwick Township campus — Rock Lititz Studio, Pod 2 and Hotel Rock Lititz.

Fast forward to 2019.

"Alegría": The Cirque du Soleil Resurrects the Show that Defined Its Aesthetic

The Theatre Times: Time has passed and even if Alegría does not capture the in depth artistry brought about by memory, desire and all that swirls in a mind returning to its past inspired by Fellini’s cinema that made Corteo so special, Alegría, created in 1994, did define a brand new circus aesthetic that has grown with the company, especially since its work in Las Vegas.

How to Kill Endless Meetings and Stay Productive

www.lifehack.org: We’re in the middle of a meeting epidemic. Executives now spend an average of 23 hours a week in meetings, with 71 percent reporting that those meetings are generally unproductive and inefficient.[1]

Despite their drawbacks, meetings remain an integral part of any modern workplace. The rise of office silos and remote workers make regular check-ins an absolute must for keeping everyone on the same page. Meetings aren’t going away anytime soon, so how can we work to cut down on their time and productivity drains?

The Gender Equality Pledge Signed by Five Nordic Festivals

Variety: Following the footsteps of major festivals including Cannes and Venice, five Nordic festivals have joined forces to sign the 50/50 by 2020 gender equality pledge.

Initiated by WIFT Nordic (Women in Film and Television), the pledge for gender parity and inclusion was signed Monday by officials from Sweden’s Carl, Denmark’s CPH:DOX, Oslo Pix in Norway, Tampere from Finland and Northern Wave in Iceland.

Hollywood Provides Few Jobs for Latino Actors, Filmmakers (Study)

Variety: Hollywood has failed miserably to provide Latinx actors with starring roles in major movies, according to a new study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.

To draw its conclusions, the report examined the 100 top grossing movies from 2007 to 2018 and found that only 3% of the films had Latinx actors in lead or co-lead roles. A mere 4.5% of all speaking characters were Latinx. More troubling, there was no meaningful change in representation over the 12-year time period that the study examined.

25+ Free Microsoft Word Business Card Templates (Printable Ready 2019)

business.tutsplus.com: A well-designed business card can go a long way towards creating a lasting impression about your brand and business. While designing a business card might seem daunting, you can easily design a business card yourself with the right Microsoft Word business card template.

Lara Spencer apologizes for "stupid" words about boys and ballet; dancers say bullying is no laughing matter

The Washington Post: “I screwed up,” said ABC’s “Good Morning America” host Lara Spencer, speaking about mocking statements she made last week about Britain’s 6-year-old Prince George — eldest child of Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge — and his plans to take ballet at school. That segment was slammed on social media and quickly went viral.

Last Friday, Spencer posted an apology on Instagram. In her on-air apology on Monday, Spencer went further, saying her comments were “insensitive and stupid, and I am deeply sorry.”

Broadway Reacts to Lara Spencer's Apology on GOOD MORNING AMERICA

www.broadwayworld.com: As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Good Morning America host Lara Spencer was at the center of a controversy after laughing at Prince George (aged 6), the future King of England, for taking ballet classes.

Emmys: How 'Chernobyl' Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir Transformed Nuclear Power Plant Recordings into a Compelling Score - Sound & Picture

soundandpicture.com: Inspiration is all around for those who know how to look… or listen. But who knew that a nuclear reactor could be a source of both inspiration and instrumentation? Before starting the score on HBO’s Chernobyl miniseries, award-winning composer Hildur Guðnadóttir decided to visit the decommissioned Lithuania power plant where the show was to be filmed, in order to discover the space’s character and tone. She was joined by field recordist Chris Watson, whose recordings there became the raw material for Guðnadóttir’s musique concrète approach to the score.

D23 Expo: Disney redefines EPCOT, showcases new Avengers lands, and announces cruise ships for sea and space

InPark Magazine: Today at D23 Expo 2019, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Bob Chapek unveiled details on how Disney is bringing the next generation of immersive storytelling to life.

Chapek welcomed thousands of fans as he shared more about the ambitious plans in store for one of the most extraordinary periods of expansion in Disney history. From Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser and the timeless transformation of Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort, to the Avengers Campuscoming to both Disneyland Resort and Disneyland Paris, to the Disney Wish arriving on the high seas in January 2022, there are more ways than ever for guests to be front and center in their favorite stories.

Stephen Buescher settles racial discrimination lawsuit with ACT

Datebook: Former American Conservatory Theater faculty member Stephen Buescher, after suing the theater company for alleged racial discrimination in February, has reached a settlement with his past employer.

Neither party would share or comment on the terms of the agreement, but they did release a joint statement on Monday, Aug. 19.

MSMT sensory-friendly performances promote theater, community, inclusion

The Times Record: When Collins Rush brought out his Collier the dog costume before getting dressed on Saturday, the audience was delighted to pet the soft fur, talking excitedly about their own dog’s names. When Nicola Fava, playing Flutter the butterfly, came out and showed them how her “wings” lit up with bright rainbow lights, the audience again started talking excitedly.

Watch A “Hamilton” Stagehand on Telling Stories with Lights

The New Yorker Video | CNE: Rizzo has been lighting the stages of Broadway for almost forty years. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at “Hamilton” through the eyes of a stagehand, who tells us what goes into lighting one of the most successful Broadway musicals.

Why Theatre Row's Makeover Is More Than Façade Deep

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: Earlier this summer after months of work, the six-stage Theatre Row complex on West 42nd Street raised the curtain on its renovation. But while the glass storefront, modernized interior and refurbished lounge are all pretty snazzy, the upgrades you can't see are even more exciting. The organization that runs the venue, Building for the Arts, has plans to make Theatre Row a hub for New York's nonprofit theatre scene.

FALSETTOS UK Producers Respond To Jewish Representation Criticism

www.broadwayworld.com: The forthcoming UK premiere of Falsettos was met with criticism this week when a group of Jewish actors and theatremakers spoke out over a lack of Jewish representation in the show's casting.

Miriam Margolyes, Maureen Lipman, and director Adam Lenson were among the 23 artists that signed an open letter calling out the production's failure to hire any Jewish artists, both onstage and behind the scenes.