A Transgender Theatre Group Focuses on the Lives of Fellow Members Through a Play

The Theatre Times: Celebrity make-up artist Renju Renjimar believes that it takes both rain and sunshine to make a rainbow. Despite years of bias and marginalization the trans person has encountered, she has learned that life is not without its silver linings. Renju is now happy to have a platform to tell the world both the high points and the vicissitudes of her life.

Mazhavil Dhwani, the first transgender theatre group in the State, has been taking the stories of the community far and wide through the play Parayan Maranna Kadhakal in an attempt to wake up society’s conscience and help it see both sides of the coin.

Building Community in Artistic Processes

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Now in its third year, Company One Theatre’s 2019 PlayLab Bootcamp—a three-day intensive for people dedicated to making new plays—was held 27-29 September 2019. Thirty-seven participants attended sessions on the theme of Circles of Community, and the rigorous mix of panels, hands-on workshops, and participant-guided conversations was free for all registrants, thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Boston Public Library.

Carnegie Mellon University Announces Landmark $2 Billion Campaign

www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University today announced a $2 billion comprehensive campaign —the largest in its history — that will accelerate the institution's leadership at the critical intersection of technology and humanity. Make Possible: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University will build resources to address society's greatest challenges and support educational initiatives across the institution.

'Color Blind' Assessments of Grant Proposals Don’t Work. Here’s a Better Idea.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: My organization, Nonprofit Finance Fund, has for decades urged grant makers to take financial analysis seriously when figuring out which grantees to support and how to support them. We believe that is still an imperative. But we also now recognize that colorblind financial analysis too often unintentionally exacerbates racial inequality and ends up hurting the nonprofits who can do the most good in advancing justice.

There’s Nothing Quite Like ‘CAGES’

No Proscenium: The Guide To Everything Immersive: Have you ever wondered how a two man band could feel like a rock ensemble backed by an orchestra? Ever longed to see music videos come to life? Do you lust after the state of the art in theatrical showmanship?

Well, come on down to The Chemist, just past the woods at the edge of Anhedonia (aka LA’s Arts District) and get yourself a ticket to CAGES, a rock opera that does all these things and serves up an immersive course at intermission for good measure.

Robe gets Operatic in Estonia

LightSoundJournal.com: A Robe moving light rig supplied by Tallinn-based rental company E&T was used for Estonia’s two highest-profile annual summer opera festivals, the Birgitta Festival organized by the Tallinn Philharmonic Society and Saaremaa Opera Days organized by Eesti Kontsert.

How to stay out of crisis mode at work

www.fastcompany.com: If you feel like you’re constantly flying by the seat of your pants, perhaps one (or more) of the following habits is the cause. If these sound familiar, don’t worry—I have some suggestions for how you can get back on track and breathe a little easier.

15 Home Office Organization Tips to Save Time and Get More Done

www.lifehack.org: The opportunity to work from home has become more common as the way we work shifts away from the traditional office to more flexible arrangements where companies can hire the best not just locally, but globally.

Did the world really need the 'Mona Lisa' in 3D VR?

www.fastcompany.com: As anyone who’s already taken the pilgrimage to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa already knows, you can’t really see the Mona Lisa. Oh, it’s on display! But the diminutive painting is tucked behind annoyingly reflective bulletproof glass, itself surrounded by an omnipresent crowd that prevents you from getting close enough to really see it.

Art Talk with Minnesota Opera Chief Artistic Officer Priti Gandhi

NEA: Although Priti Gandhi performed as a full-time opera singer for almost 20 years, performing with companies such as the San Diego Opera, the Royal Opera House, and New York City Opera, there were certain roles for which she was not deemed an appropriate fit. “People looked at me and didn't have the imagination to imagine me in certain roles, because I have brown skin and black hair,” said Gandhi, who is of Indian descent.

#PayUpHollywood: Why You Should Be Fed Up with Low Assistant Pay

Ms. In The Biz: It’s a Thursday at the end of the month, which can mean only one thing if you’re an assistant in entertainment: payday. After pulling a long 60-hour week plus overtime, you are counting on every penny of this check to pay your rent, your car payment, your student loan bill, and pray you have enough left to make a small dent on that credit card. You check your bank account for the deposit…

Arts Center Reaches for the Sky

ProSoundNetwork.com: The MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, a new arts venue, sports five exhibition galleries, a large learning and community studio, and The Sky Room, a flexible auditorium on the upper floor with 150 retractable seats (300 standing). The performance space is equipped with an EM Acoustics sound system supplied by event production specialists, Hawthorn.

Minor Offenders Can Substitute Jail Time for an Art Class at the Brooklyn Museum

hyperallergic.com: A new program in New York City allows people arrested for minor offenses to avoid jail or court appearance by enrolling in an art course. A pilot run of the program has shown a reduction in recidivism and an improved view of criminal justice agencies among participants, a study by the Court Center for Innovation says.

Andy Grammer's Open Letter To The Males Of The Touring World

Pollstar: With my wife being recently pregnant (with a little girl) and watching her go through a super tough pregnancy, it’s been fresh on my mind how wildly different life in general can be for women. So, for the first time in my eight years of touring, there was a sit-down with the women on tour (there are five) and they were asked a super simple question: Is there anything we can do to make this tour better for you?

Everybody Wants to Record the World

ProSoundNetwork.com: The first season of Simon & Greg Record the World, an online video series presented by pureMix, poses the question, How do you build a recording studio in a remote part of Senegal when transport is limited and materials are hard to come by? The answer, as demonstrated by both Simon Walls, a Montreal-based music producer, songwriter and adventurer, and Greg Bonnier, a record producer, sound engineer and filmmaker also based in Montreal, is through a little ingenuity and a lot of elbow grease.

Bathrooms at ‘Hamilton’: Can 200 women make it through 16 stalls in a 20-minute intermission?

www.inquirer.com: The house lights flash on, signaling the end of the first act of Hamilton, and women dart out of their seats.

They try not to trip as they rush down staircases and weave through crowds, leaving behind friends and family to fulfill nature’s call.

Caption glasses at People’s Light theater are among first in U.S., aiding the deaf and hard of hearing

www.inquirer.com: Deaf in one ear and significantly hard of hearing in the other, Cheryl Johnson does not go to the theater unless she gets great seats.

Understanding the actors is a perennial struggle even from up close. And if another audience member coughs or opens a crinkly bag of chips, forget it.

Review Roundup: Classic Stage Company's MACBETH - See What Critics Thought

www.broadwayworld.com: Shakespeare's terrifying tale of revenge, murder, and madness, Macbeth traces the fallout when the darkest side of humanity cheats its way into a position of power. Stoll and Bowers, real-life spouses, will portray the titular couple whose trajectory has proven historically prophetic: Shakespeare's portrait of the psychology of tyranny has found itself in unsettling dialogue with societies around the world time and again.

Podcast Episode 199: Tony Award-Winner And All Around Inspiration Ali Stroker

The Producer's Perspective: There have been just a few times during the 199 episodes of my podcast that I’ve wished it was video, so you could see what I see.

Watching Ali Stroker’s joy-filled smile as she talks about living out her dreams is at the top of that list.

Shaming actors for their day jobs is classism disguised as entertainment

Metro News: The acting profession is as unpredictable as a soap character’s family tree and those at the top will have had their fair share of trial shifts and tribulations. Only two per cent of actors actually make a living from acting alone and 90 per cent of actors are out of work at any given time so that means, more often than not, actors have to make money elsewhere.

Concert Promoters Turn Away From Facial Recognition Tech

Pollstar: Concert promoters in the U.S. are stepping back from plans to scan festivalgoers with facial recognition technology, after musicians and others gave it some serious side-eye.

Although it remains entirely possible that music venues will eventually take a second look at the controversial technology.

Live-entertainment giants AEG Presents and Live Nation both recently disavowed any plans to use facial recognition at music festivals, despite earlier indications to the contrary. Their public pronouncements have led a group of musicians to declare victory after a months-long campaign to halt the technology’s use at live shows.

Why you should see theater in languages you don't speak

Datebook: I had a feeling there would be jokes and references I wouldn’t get at Tagalog 2019, Bindlestiff Studio’s festival of one-act plays performed in Tagalog, which I don’t speak. The Filipino American performing arts company, now celebrating its 30th year, planned to project English supertitles during the show, but I was anticipating that some concepts would defy translation, and that my brain might not always be able to toggle quickly enough between reading text and watching performance.

At the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Wigs are Serious Business. | Portland Monthly

Portland Monthly: For Cherelle D. Guyton, little is more irritating at the theater than an actor in a bad wig.

“A bad wig is one of the first things people will notice,” Guyton says. “It’s incredibly distracting.”

As supervisor of the wigs and hair department, Guyton brings a literal head-first perspective to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Why it's better to be efficient rather than productive

www.fastcompany.com: I’m not here to make a semantic argument, really. But there’s a difference between being productive and being efficient, and efficiency wins every time.

Productivity measures how much you do or produce within a given timeframe. Efficiency, on the other hand, is about being productive with less effort.

Cultivating the Next Generation of Critics

HowlRound Theatre Commons: The theatre world is going through a wave of change that is long overdue. Playwrights of color are challenging audiences and companies are finally recognizing the value of people of color in leadership roles. However, there is one place that still needs changing: criticism. Where are the critics of color?

An Interview with Stan Lai on "The Village," His Artistic Vision, and Hong Kong

The Theatre Times: US-born, Taiwan-raised theatre director and playwright Stan Lai (Lai Sheng-chuan) has enjoyed widespread critical and commercial success within and beyond Asia. His original plays, which include A Dream Like a Dream and Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, are well-known for combining innovative stage designs with epic storytelling. He is also the author of a best-selling book on creativity. Michael Cheuk talks to Director Stan Lai ahead of the Australian premiere of The Village at the 2019 OzAsia Festival.

Production Notes: Lavalier Mic

Nevada Film Office: A lavalier mic, also known as a lav or lapel mic, is a small microphone that is good for capturing dialogue. Their size and flexibility allows them to be easily concealed in clothing or hairlines. They are often used in documentaries for interviews as well as in other cases where boom mics are not an option.

Bart Kresa | AI, Sviatovid and the BARTKRESA Studio

blooloop: His groundbreaking Sviatovid projection sculpture debuted at ISE 2019 in February. Bart Kresa gave the opening address before the sculpture moved to the Centre for the Meeting of Cultures in Lublin. Sviatovid is a multifaceted, five-metre-tall projection sculpture. It marks the launch of the new BARTKRESA Academy of Projection Design at BARTKRESA studio.

Boulevard theatre in London by Soda features a revolving auditorium

www.dezeen.com: A theatre has opened in London's Soho that can be completely reconfigured at the touch of a button.

The Boulevard theatre features stalls and a balcony that both revolve independently, along with a stage that moves up and down, making a wide variety of different configurations possible.

Sound for Film & TV 2019 Event Provides Highlights

ProSoundNetwork.com: The program for this year’s sixth annual Mix Sound for Film & TV event, a sold-out affair that attracted 650 attendees to the Sony Pictures Studios lot, offered a twin focus—immersive audio and IP networking—that reflected concerns of today’s audio industry. That’s not to say there weren’t the usual sessions digging into the creative process behind some of the latest productions, such as Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, Spider-Man: Far from Home, Carnival Row and others, but in session after session, discussion turned to immersive sound formats and AoIP workflows.

Academy’s Governors Awards Puts Spotlight on Gender Parity

Variety: Lina Wertmüller wants to see a big change for the Oscars.

The 91-year-old Italian director had Isabella Rossellini acting as her translator while accepting her honorary Oscar on Sunday night at the Academy’s Governors Awards in Hollywood.

“She would like to change the Oscar to a feminine name,” Rossellini said. “She would like to call it ‘Anna.’”

Writers PA left to pick up the tab

johnaugust.com: I was in my early 30’s when I finally landed a Writers PA gig on a comedy. We had a toddler so just to take the job, I had to work weekends waiting tables to pay for the childcare during the week. (Which is another issue entirely.)

One Man’s Trash...

ProSoundNetwork.com: About a year ago, I was rummaging through a neighbor’s trash—well, not exactly. I was digging through a garage sale, and like they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure...but what I was finding was trash. As I left, I looked in one last cardboard box on the driveway, and from under all the broken toys and stray playing cards, I pulled out a relic from another age: a consumer MiniDisc of Natalie Cole’s 1991 smash, Unforgettable with Love.

A raptor almost bit my head off, today. Well, an actor in a 140-pound dino suit almost bit my head off

Features | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Jurassic World Live is on stage at PPG Paints Arena all weekend, and from what we at the behind-the-scenes event were told and shown, I went from skeptic to believer.

It's easy to become numb to media that on its surface appears to be an easy money grab off an established franchise.

Will Contemporary Opera Take Root at Lyric?

www.chicagomag.com: Four years ago, Lyric Opera of Chicago staged its first commissioned grand opera in more than a decade: Bel Canto, adapted from Ann Patchett’s 2001 novel about a terrorist hostage crisis. The production had no trouble demonstrating its relevance or engaging a modern audience; the Islamic State attacks in Paris had come less than a month before the opening. Lyric held sessions after each performance so that audience members could discuss the piece. Sometimes more than 200 people would stay.

‘Into the Woods’ Can’t See the Forest for the Trees

noproscenium.com: Growing up Catholic, it was always a running joke that Sunday mass was a “workout” with the number of times the congregation stands up and sits back down again. It wasn’t until recently that I realized the same standard held true for immersive theatre set inside a church. Rooftop Musical Society’s immersive spin on the Sondheim classic Into the Woods takes place throughout the two floors of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Williamsburg, with the “woods” set in the more traditional stage space upstairs and everything else (the Baker’s house, the castle, and Jack’s house) set in the open room downstairs.

‘Watchmen’ Costume Designer on Building Practical DIY Superhero Looks

Variety: In Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ classic 1986 graphic novel “Watchmen,” the superheroes and vigilantes make their own costumes. This gives every look a level of accessibility that’s not often a consideration for big-budget action projects, but was a theme that needed to be carried over into HBO’s adaptation of the award-winning comic book.

Art Piece 'Waterlicht' Wants You to Talk About Climate Solutions

earther.gizmodo.com: Roughly a third of the Netherlands lies below sea level. Even when water isn’t physically present, the specter of it is.

That feeling of looming water is central to Studio Roosegaarde’s installation, Waterlicht, which made its U.S. debut this week at Columbia University. Viewers stand amidst a sea of ethereal fog that slowly rises to meet blue LED projections that undulate above viewers’ heads. The effect gives the sense of being underwater.

Rihanna's lingerie show set design is an architectural "mash up"

www.dezeen.com: Canadian designer Willo Perron created a a "mash up" of architectural iconography for the set design of Rihanna's Savage x Fenty show at New York Fashion Week.

Singer-turned-businesswoman Rihanna presented her fashion show as an hour-long music and dance performance on a stage filled with exaggerated architectural elements.

Tips for sending a video résumé

www.fastcompany.com: When it comes to job-hunting, video résumés are a tricky topic.

A great video résumé can inject some personal flair into your job application, highlight important skills, and demand the hiring manager’s attention.

However, depending on the job you’re applying to, they can also be unorthodox or inappropriate.

A Basic Guide to Microphone Specifications

Pro Audio Files: Choosing a mic can be a daunting task when confronted with specification sheets littered with numbers that may seem meaningless since making comparisons across similar mics is not easily done. There is usually no hard reference or minimum level of acceptability to guide your choice. And often the measurement units or methods used vary across manufacturers, further complicating matters.

Exploring An Equity & Inclusivity Problem: Gender & Ethnic Diversity in Video Games

AMT Lab @ CMU: The video game industry expanded rapidly in the last decade with the U.S.A games market exceeding revenues of $43 billion in 2018. While there is growth, the industry is also facing an increasingly apparent and problematic disparity among audiences. In many traditional PC and console genres, women and non-white ethnicities are underrepresented both among the player-base as well as on-screen; furthermore, the player experience for underrepresented players is markedly different than their over-represented white male counterparts.

PROJECTIONS: How Mixed Reality Game Trailers Are Made

Tested: Ever wonder how mixed reality videos are made showing users in virtual reality games like Beat Saber? That kind of compositing is done using the free LIV app, camera with HDMI output, video capture card, and green screen. We set up our studio to test some mixed reality and chat with LIV engineer David Goodman about the awesome ways mixed reality videos can bring new perspectives to VR capture.

6 Strategies for Taming Midrange in a Busy Mix

Pro Audio Files: Achieving a well-balanced midrange in a recording is one of the biggest challenges of mixing. Beginning producers especially tend to struggle in this area. The ranges of many instruments overlap quite a bit, and some negotiation will always be necessary to help them share space in a mix. Muddy room resonances only complicate things further. When we have a session with a busy arrangement and high track count — a pretty common occurrence in digital recording — midrange problems can multiply out of control.

What's A Watt? Clarifying Audio Power & The Amplifier-Loudspeaker Relationship

ProSoundWeb: Years ago, only car stereo makers would advertise “2,000 Watts Of Earthshaking Power!” But with the recent shift to switching power supply amplifier topology, we’re now seeing this with many pro-oriented products.

What’s behind the hype? And what about properly matching power amplifiers and loudspeakers? Answers start by focusing on the fundamental unit of measure in audio, the watt.

Exploring the stunts, sounds and story behind new Cirque du Soleil action show ‘R.U.N’

Las Vegas Weekly: The last time Cirque du Soleil launched a new show in Las Vegas was more than six years ago. Michael Jackson One officially premiered on June 29, 2013, at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, and audiences knew exactly what to expect. The Beatles Love was already seven years into a historically successful run at the Mirage and served as the blueprint for another colorful production combining Cirque’s trademark theatrics with the familiar and beloved catalog of a music icon.

The Aha Moment: When Life Gets in the Way

ProSoundNetwork.com: My parents both grew up on farms in Saskatchewan. My grandparents were homesteaders who moved to the prairies at the turn of the last century; there, they dug out and built sod homes to protect themselves from the brutal winter cold and oppressive summer heat before they could afford to build a real house. Mom’s family had 11 kids; dad’s 13.

“The World As We Know It (by 6 women of a certain age” at CorningWorks

The Pittsburgh Tatler: What do women “of a certain age” have to tell us about the world?

A great deal, it turns out, although – when told through the medium of dance, as in the CorningWorks dance assemblage The World As We Know It – obliquely and with circumspection. These women aren’t giving their hard-earned knowledge of the world away.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

The Ickiness of Marketing Your Art

Exeunt Magazine: Last week me and my colleagues aka The Figs had a marketing meeting with the team at Pleasance, and once again we attempted to describe our show. This is an ongoing game that we have to play whenever meeting new people, speaking to potential bookers or collaborators, or explaining to our relatives when they ask us, just one more time, to explain what it is exactly that we do…

Yuck. We hate talking about our shows, especially before we’ve made them. Because ultimately what you’re doing is trying to sell yourself, or your ideas, before you’ve actually worked out who you are or what you think.

Posted by David at 10/25/2019 11:06:00 AM

Why They Walked – Members of the Cast of ‘Starcatcher’ at Citadel Theatre Speak Out

rescripted.org: We write to you to share that we, the cast of Peter and the Starcatcher directed by Jeremy Aluma and produced by Citadel Theatre, concluded three weeks ago that due to persistent and pervasive problems with the production, our relationship with Citadel was no longer sustainable. Our production was scheduled to run from September 18th to October 20th, but after eight public performances and much deliberation, it became clear that in view of the circumstances, we could no longer continue in the production.

Posted by David at 10/25/2019 11:02:00 AM

How Matthew McGee, Little Shop's puppet master, created new, more terrifying Audrey IIs

DC Theatre Scene: In a season with high profile productions of Little Shop of Horrors on Broadway and across the country, the DMV is getting its own taste of the Alan Menken sci-fi musical theatre classic this October, with a new twist. Little Shop of Horrors at Constellation Theatre Company may be in a small space, but they’re doing big things, especially with its innovative puppet design by the intrepid puppet designer/actor Matthew McGee. The four pods – designated as Pods One, Two, Three and Four – display the terrifying development of a plant into an alien-like monster.

Posted by David at 10/24/2019 10:58:00 AM

Everything to Know About Internships in the New York Theatre Community

www.broadwayworld.com: Internship application season is officially underway! With such an array of careers in theatre at your fingertips, an internship can be a great way to explore different areas of the community and learn some vital skills. To help you navigate it all and prepare you to apply, we're giving you an inside look at some of the New York theatre community's most coveted internships, including Feinstein's/54 Below, Marathon Digital, and more to see what the day-to-day intern life is like and what these companies look for in applicants.

Posted by David at 10/25/2019 10:59:00 AM

Study finds live theater enhances student learning, empathy

Campus | purdueexponent.org: A research study conducted by a Purdue Convocations staff member has found that live theater can be used as a teaching tool to enhance student learning and retention of information — and even levels of empathy.

“Students tend to better remember and understand a historic event when exposed to its story via live performance — particularly live theater,” Amanda Mayes, Convocations’ manager of education, said in an email.

Posted by David at 10/22/2019 03:19:00 PM