Dearth of women in classic Hollywood was result of studio system, study finds

Ars Technica: The so-called Golden Age of Hollywood produced some of the most memorable films ever made, from 1927's The Jazz Singer to Gone With the Wind (1939) and Citizen Kane (1941). But it wasn't so golden for women in the film industry, according to a recent paper published in PLOS One that analyzed a century's worth of data and concluded that the rise of the infamous studio system produced severe gender inequality. Female representation started rising again in the 1950s, after two pivotal lawsuits effectively broke the studios' stranglehold on the industry.

Extra legroom and no interval: Germany plans for post-lockdown theatre

Theatre | The Guardian: Going to the theatre after the coronavirus lockdown could be not just a novel but a more pleasant experience, if the plans of Germany’s leading theatres are anything to go by. There will be generous legroom for spectators and a more casual attitude to toilet breaks.

Adam Savage's One Day Builds: Mini Bandsaw Upgrade!

Tested: Adam continues work on his portaband conversion into a mini tabletop bandsaw with his solution for a speed control system that taps into the portable bandsaw's existing trigger controller.

Music Industry Calls for Tuesday Blackout, Solidarity for George Floyd

Variety: A message circulated widely on Instagram and other social media platforms on Friday evening (May 29) calls for “a day to disconnect from work and reconnect with out community” and “an urgent step of action to provoke accountability and change.”

Randall Miller Violated Probation by Shooting New Film, Officials Say

Variety: Georgia officials have determined that director Randall Miller violated his probation by shooting a movie in Serbia last year, according to the state’s Department of Community Supervision.

Midnight Rider Director Randall Miller Faces New Arrest Warrant

Deadline: Law enforcement authorities in the Peach State today requested that Department of Community Supervision issue a warrant for Miller for violating the conditions of his probation, we have learned. The effort arises from Deadline’s exclusive earlier this week that Miller had directed the DGA sanctioned film Higher Grounds last summer in Serbia, Colombia and the UK.

WGA Leaders Demand Studios Deliver More Data on Diversity and Inclusion

Variety: Leaders of the Writers Guild of America have told the major studios that they need to improve their practices on diversity and inclusion as part of the guild’s negotiations on a new master TV and film contract.

“For many years, some WGA writers have faced unfair discrimination based on factors that have nothing to do with their writing,” the WGA negotiating committee wrote in a message to members.

The Best Drawing Tablets to Bring out Your Inner Picasso

theinventory.com: While everyone’s busy brushing up on new skills, why not pick up something to appease the artist in you? Unleashing your inner Bob Ross is probably easier said than done, though. We’ve moved past easels and paints, so you might need something a bit more high-tech to keep up.

New York's independent theaters look for rent forgiveness

Broadway News: Off-Off-Broadway theaters are banding together to seek some form of rent relief as continued payments threaten their survival.

Close to 400 attendees tuned in to a virtual town hall Thursday in which elected officials urged members to make their voices heard on state rent forgiveness bills, extended eviction suspensions and business interruption insurance coverage.

Frank Sinatra Sings Britney Spears in AI-Generated Cover

Nerdist: The music industry has changed greatly in the 21st century, and collaborations between big artists is now the norm. Having one pop star write a song for another to sing it is just how the music biz rolls these days. In fact, musical collaborations are even’t just between artists who are contemporaries anymore, or even living in the same time.

WGA Leaders Seek Paid Parental Leave in Negotiations With Studios

Variety: Writers Guild of America leaders are pushing for paid parental leave as one of the demands in the guild’s master contract negotiations with studios.

The WGA’s negotiating committee disclosed its focus on the issue of paid time off for parents in a message sent Thursday to members about the guild’s talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Theater Imagines Its Post-COVID Future, Including a Socially Distanced ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ on Broadway

www.thedailybeast.com: “I have gone through Mrs. Doubtfire beginning to end, and I have re-choreographed it with social distancing in mind,” Latarro told The Daily Beast of her creative breakthrough, sparked in lockdown. “I have taken out any ‘clumps’ of performers. I have taken out any partnering—which I love to do—which makes me very sad, and anything involving people being very close to each other.

Randall Miller Directs New Movie: Was It a Probation Violation?

Variety: Randall Miller, the director who served a year in jail following a fatal accident on the set of “Midnight Rider,” shot a new film in London and Serbia last year.

In recent days, word of the project has spread in the Georgia film community, provoking outrage.

Town Hall: How Off-Off Broadway Can Be Saved

New York Theater: Hundreds of people attended a virtual town hall Thursday afternoon with city and state public officials to talk about how to save Off-Off Broadway. That was not the explicit topic. Hosts League of Independent Theater and Indiespace billed it as a “Small Venue Rent Forgiveness Town Hall,” with LIT organizer Guy Yedwab speaking in front of a banner that read “#CancelRent,” and some in-depth discussion of current state bills that would “forgive” commercial tenants (such as theaters) from paying their rent during the crisis.

Small Arts Organizations Quickly Adapt to Survive

Bloomberg: Theaters are dark, concert halls silent, and bookings for performers and stage crews canceled. The same shutdown that’s endangering small businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic is threatening small arts organizations.

Unlike large national arts groups, which are tapping their affiliations with famous stars and rosters of wealthy donors to survive the pandemic, local and regional groups have few resources to keep them afloat.

What the Pandemic Has Clarified for Me About Life on the Road

The Atlantic: Near the end of my tour, in March, the coronavirus cases were rising back home in New York, and the emergency declarations kept coming, as we left California, as we left Colorado, as we got to Idaho. “I just want to go home,” I told John, my husband and musical partner, over and over. On the day of our Boise show, the Idaho governor declared a state of emergency. John and I got on the phone with my agent and my manager to discuss the risk—physical and professional—of canceling. But it was too late.

Sarah Jones’ Parents Call On DGA To Remove Randall Miller After Learning Of His New Film

Deadline: The parents of Sarah Jones are calling on the DGA to kick Randall Miller out of the guild after learning that he recently directed a new movie, Higher Grounds, in Serbia and Colombia last summer — this despite the special conditions of his probation after he spent a year in jail for the death of their daughter, Sarah Jones.

Think tank to help restore live music safely established in Yorkshire

Yorkshire Post: The live events sector is widely predicted to be one of the last areas of business to return to normal owing to mass gatherings being banned in order to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

Theater artists envision the post-coronavirus stage

Los Angeles Times: No one knows when the theaters will reopen, when actors will be able to rehearse in safety or when audiences will feel confident that attending a show won’t kill them. It could be months away. It could be more than a year.

Midnight Rider Randall Miller Directing Again After Sarah Jones Death

Deadline: Due to ambiguity in probation documents, disgraced Midnight Rider director Randall Miller is back behind the camera and making movies – despite an involuntarily manslaughter guilty plea that many believed forbid such work for up to decade.

Attaining Better Sound For Smartphone Video

ProSoundWeb: When performing music on video via a smartphone, is the sound distant and muddy? If so, it’s because the smartphone’s built-in microphone is too far from you/your band.

What’s needed are ways to get one or more mics closer to you (and if applicable, your fellow performers), and here I’ll describe several ways to do just that. Then you can record and/or stream videos with a professional sound: clear and close.

Today’s Leatherman: OHT

brobible.com: With our goal of bringing you the best products out there, we’ve decided to bring back our Today’s Leatherman series. So be sure to check back each and every day for a new, must have multi-tool from Leatherman. You’ll be able to check out all the amazing features each tool has and find the one that works best for you.

IATSE Grips Local 80 Chief Thom Davis On Restarting Production

Deadline: As the film and TV industry prepares to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, Thom Davis, business manager of IATSE Local 80, told his members that “We must recognize that we cannot eliminate 100% of the risk, but we are working toward the goal of providing for the safest workplace possible. There is a deep understanding of the perils if we don’t get it right.”

Makers Gonna Make

The Glimmerglass Festival: Our production team recently learned about a need for intubation boxes for healthcare workers during COVID-19. Joel Morain, one of our carpenters and our A/V Coordinator explains what came next

Ally Maki, Kumail Nanjiani, on Success in Hollywood

jezebel.com: A handful of prominent Asian American actors, writers, and directors (virtually) sat down with Variety this week for a roundtable on achieving success in Hollywood. The industry has historically reduced Asian American actors, stories, and characters to stereotypes, and the roundtable participants all pointed out that subverting those stereotypes was not easy.

Rigging Safety and Responsibility: Better Safe Than Surprised

Church Production Magazine: What is hanging over head at your church? Do you know without looking? From outside the sanctuary, grab a pen and paper and make a list of everything you can think of. Now, walk into the sanctuary and look up. Did you miss anything? Speakers, video displays, light fixtures, chandeliers, trusses, acoustical clouds, suspended ceiling, curtains, pipe grid, pipe battens, chain hoists, cameras, scenic elements, and a cross are some of the items you might see. You probably have more than you realized. Churches of any size are likely to have at least a half dozen of these items. Now I ask, how are these items hanging? Safely? If so, how do you know?

Livestream Shows Featuring German Artists Lit with Chauvet Professional Fixtures

PLSN: Music label Lukins organized a series of livestream events featuring Eberswalde artists affected by the Covid-19 lockdown. The shows, streaming from the vacant indoor climbing center Bloc48 on April 21 and 23, were lit with Chauvet Strike and COLORado fixtures supplied by Kingsize. Events.

5 Tips for Event Organizations to Respond in the Crisis Situation

The Web Writer Spotlight (@writerspotlight): The global crisis brought on by the Coronavirus has slowed down activities in most industries and continues to provide numerous challenges for businesses to overcome. Organizations that wish to stay afloat during these difficult times need to learn to respond to the crisis appropriately, or risk damaging their reputation and or going under.

Report: Theater Producers and Concert Promoters Call it Quits on 2020

Vanity Fair: While Broadway producers have already aired their dire predictions about this autumn's season to V.F.’s Casey Mink — “if you think you’re going to see The Music Man in 2020, you’re out of your goddamn mind,” reads one choice quote — getting word from the rest of the country is equally upsetting. Producers, promoters and executives at arts organizations from Minneapolis to Berkeley all say pretty much the same thing: forget fall.

Minneapolis Ice Cream Truck Plays Extreme Metal, Serves No Ice Cream

Consequence of Sound: According to City Pages, area residents have noticed a black ice cream truck cruising through the streets while blaring out extreme metal music. Even though it also plays a more traditional ice-cream-truck jingle and appears to have images of various ice cream choices on the side of the truck, it never stops for treat-seeking kids with money in their hands.

R.A.W: Christina Kamma

Blog | Women in Lighting: To go back to the root of lighting design as per the one we know it, with all its declinations, we don’t have to go back too far away from 50-60 years ago. This relatively modern job is based on one of our primary needs - the ability to see after dark and the comfort of it – therefore it comes that lighting planning was already existing, it was just giving another name and performed by people with another hat than LD.

How the movie industry is fighting lockdown

theconversation.com: It’s a tough time for the global film industry, for which the pandemic represents a disruption of seismic proportions. All movie production spaces have been officially “locked down” and all talent – whether in front of or behind the camera – has been quarantined. Film festivals have all been cancelled or moved online and cinemas are closed and the industry faces an uncertain economic future.

“Not Until There’s a Fucking Vaccine”: Broadway Struggles With How It Can Reopen

Vanity Fair: “When can people go to the theater again? Not until there’s a fucking vaccine.” That’s how one Broadway producer, frustrated with some more optimistic projections, described the circumstances around reopening.

Top Concert Promoter Peter Shapiro on the Future of Live Music

Rolling Stone: In the 25 years since he took over New York’s Nineties jam-band haven Wetlands, Peter Shapiro has become known for pulling off impossible stunts. The concert promoter once approached Robert Plant backstage with a brown bag containing $50,000 in cash to play a midnight show at his tiny Brooklyn Bowl. (Plant accepted.) In 2015, Shapiro helped smooth over decades of bad blood in the various Grateful Dead camps to bring the band back together for their Fare Thee Well concerts.

Broadway League President Charlotte St. Martin Hopes for January Reopening—with Full Theaters and Masks

www.thedailybeast.com: Charlotte St. Martin, the president of the Broadway League, makes clear she does not “have a crystal ball.” But her personal belief is that Broadway will reopen in January 2021, she reveals in an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast.

Nearly 50% of Theater Professionals are out of work. Here's why they should be your next Temp Hire.

www.linkedin.com/pulse: Although we are certainly not alone, Broadway has been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our value proposition is based on large groups of people, skewed towards ages 40-60, paying premium prices to closely gather in one room.

Funder To Cut $20 Million Budgeted For Pittsburgh Parks, Libraries And More

90.5 WESA: One of the area’s largest and most stable sources of funding for libraries, parks and arts groups is cutting about $20 million in grants this year due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The board of the Allegheny Regional Asset District, or RAD, voted Thursday to slash 20 percent of operating grants across the board, and to suspend indefinitely millions of dollars more in capital funding.

Gavin Newsom's plan to restart filming next week meets resistance

Los Angeles Times: When California Gov. Gavin Newsom revealed Wednesday that the state will deliver guidelines that will allow many counties to resume filming as early as next week, the reaction in Hollywood was muted.

What Do Those Charts & Graphs Mean? Understanding Gear Specification Sheets

ProSoundWeb: For the majority of humans, there is nothing simpler than listening to sound. You simply, well, listen.

When it becomes necessary to describe the listening experience analytically, however, a host of complex equations and diagrams are required to describe even the simplest of sonic events.

How to load trucks and trailers safely

Constru-Guía al día: On many jobsites, any workers in the area will likely be told to help load trucks and trailers, whether they are properly trained or not. Even though loading and unloading trucks and trailers are daily activities in many businesses, they are a major cause of workplace injuries and fatalities.

Dressing scenes for Killing Eve was "like finding treasure" says set decorator

www.dezeen.com: Contrasting drab investigator Eve Polastri with decadent assassin Villanelle was key to creating the visual mood for hit TV thriller series Killing Eve, says set decorator Casey Williams.

"Each set is character-led," explained Williams, explaining how set design and location choices were used to express the radically different lifestyles of the two main characters.

Your Guide to Virtually Maker Faire

makezine.com: Virtually Maker Faire is a 24-hour online event, consisting of online video sessions and a curated collection of maker projects, many of which were developed in response to Covid-19. LIke any Maker Faire, it is a showcase of what people are doing right now, what they are interested in, and what they want to share with others. We are proud to feature the many efforts of makers in their community, what we’ve called a civic response to the pandemic.

Industry Infighting, Union Turf Battles Slow Development of Back-to-Work Plan

Variety: The entertainment industry’s efforts to develop safety protocols for restarting production is predictably becoming a brawl among the major studios and Hollywood unions that has delayed the presentation of the industry’s back-to-work plan to state and local officials. As Variety has reported, jumpstarting production amid the coronavirus pandemic will be complicated and expensive.

Dyeing Fabric To Create Sensors

Hackaday: Fabrics with electrical functionality have been around for several years, but are very rarely used in mainstream clothing. The fabrics are very expensive and the supply can be unreliable. Frustrated by this, [Counter Chemists] developed PolySense, simple open-source technology to make any fibrous material into a conductive material that can be used to sense pressure, stretch, capacitive touch, humidity, or temperature.

Alley Theatre cuts budget, staff, performances amid Covid-19 pandemic

Houston Business Journal: One of Houston’s largest performing arts organizations will be imposing additional layoffs and cutting its production schedule for the 2020-2021 season due to the financial fallout from the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The Alley Theatre announced on May 22 that the social distancing mandates that effectively shut down all of its productions in March forced the nonprofit to reduce its $20 million operating budget by 35% to $13 million.

The Hollywood Safety White Paper to Get Film & TV Back To Work

IndieWire: During California Governor Gavin Newsom’s May 20 Economic Recovery Listening Tour: Entertainment Industry Zoom panel, he announced that on May 25, the state will issue guidelines to allow film and TV production to begin in some California counties.

CA Gov. Gavin Newsom Says Film & TV Production Could Restart Next Week

Deadline: Governor Gavin Newsom brought his Economic Recovery & Reinvention Listening Tour to Hollywood on Wednesday, virtually that is.

Newsom hosted a Zoom roundtable with Californians who work in the film and television industry. It started late but, once it got going, streamed live on the governor’s YouTube page.

Three Rivers Arts Fest goes virtual, but "the art is real"

Features | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: For the first time in its 61 years, the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival is taking place exclusively online.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announced today that this year's festival, running from June 5-14, will be all-digital and found its website, using the tagline, "The festival is virtual, and the art is real!"

Crayola launches different skin tones crayons to foster representation

www.usatoday.com: No more green, red or blue people. Crayola is launching a box of crayons with different skin tones for children to "accurately color themselves into the world."

"Colors of the World" crayons, the company said in a statement, includes 24 new crayons designed to mirror and represent over 40 different skin tones.

Ted Cruz Is Wasting All Our Time

The Mary Sue: As we head into the fourth month of an international pandemic, the Republicans in the US Senate are doing everything they can stymie relief efforts. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is committed to ending unemployment benefits despite nearly 40 million Americans filing for unemployment. They continually block efforts to vote remotely. They’re not even going to work through the Memorial Day recess, despite the crisis.

Shakespeare's Globe May Close As A Result Of Pandemic

Coronavirus Live Updates : NPR: A short plea on the website of Shakespeare's Globe theater underscores a bleak truth: "As a charity that receives no regular government subsidy, we desperately need your support, more than ever before."

Disney Springs Re-Opens, Applies Baseball Rule to Coronavirus

io9.gizmodo.com: One additional feature that is eyebrow-raising, then, is Disney’s addition of liability signs mixed among its reminders for returning guests to practice social distancing measures. As photographed by Walt Disney World Today, placards throughout Disney Springs also carry a warning that by choosing to show up at the re-opened space, basically, it’s on you if you contract the novel coronavirus.

Broadway Takes Back the Tony Awards

The BroadwayBlog: Broadway On Demand, the newly launched streaming platform for theater devotees, with support from the Co-Producers of the Tony Awards: the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League, will host a specially created, never-before-seen event in celebration of the Broadway community, the Tony Awards, and the global impact that Broadway has as a cultural touchstone around the world on Sunday, June 7 at 6 p.m. ET exclusively on TonyAwards.com and BroadwayOnDemand.com

Navigating Indigenous Storytelling with Mixed Company

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Last summer, Keith Barker, artistic director of Native Earth Performing Arts, Canada’s oldest professional Indigenous theatre, curated the Indigenous Body of Work unit at the Stratford Festival Lab in Ontario, Canada, which brought together a mixed company of Indigenous artists and members of the Stratford ensemble to explore several Indigenous playwrights’ work.

Site-specific performances moved us beyond the black box

Art Feature | Chicago Reader: The truth about theaters is that they’re boring. This is not, however, to say that what happens within them is boring; merely that they’re rather blank, expectant, waiting. This waiting assumes added significance at the present moment, as no one can predict when lights will return to Steppenwolf, the Goodman, the Lyric. Like us, some will die. Less than two weeks after temporarily closing on March 14, the venerable Hubbard Street Dance Chicago announced the nearly half-century-old Lou Conte Dance Studio would remain shuttered indefinitely.

Meet Broadway’s Most In-Demand Livestream Director

Variety: A note to creators looking to make theater during the coronavirus lockdown: “Zoom is not the answer to everything.”

Here's What the First Socially Distant Concert in America Looked Like

Consequence of Sound: Health experts have predicted that shows wouldn’t able to return until Fall 2021 “at the earliest.” But that didn’t stop Bishop Gunn singer/guitarist Travis McCready from being the first artist to experiment with the format last night at TempleLive in Fort Smith, a city located right on the border of Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Hubbard Street evolves with a 'new paradigm'

Dance | Chicago Reader: On March 12, the dancers of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago were onstage preparing for opening night of their spring program, Ohad Naharin’s DECADANCE/CHICAGO, at the Harris Theater. They continued to rehearse until 5 PM, the hour when Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced guidelines for the cancellation of large-scale and community events to stem the spread of COVID-19. “How could we justify performing [that] night when the following day was not safe?” recalls artistic director Glenn Edgerton. With performers at the ready, the show was canceled just hours before curtain.

Dave Grohl: The Irreplaceable Thrill of the Rock Show

The Atlantic: Where were you planning to be on the Fourth of July this year? Backyard barbecue with your crankiest relatives, fighting over who gets to light the illegal fireworks that your derelict cousin smuggled in from South Carolina? Or maybe out on the Chesapeake Bay, arguing about the amount of mayonnaise in the crab cakes while drinking warm National Bohemian beer? Better yet, tubing down the Shenandoah with a soggy hot dog while blasting Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re an American Band”?

Will Theater Come Back? What Will It Look Like When It Does?

Vogue: ON THE AFTERNOON OF WEDNESDAY, March 11, I went to the Ethel Barrymore Theatre to catch the last few minutes of my play The Inheritance. It was a matinee day, which meant a marathon—part one in the afternoon, part two in the evening. We did three of these each week, a grueling schedule for the actors (the play runs six and a half hours in total), but they loved being able to tell the entire story in one go, for an audience that had committed to being at the theater all day.

Shepherding the Show: A Day in the Life of Hamilton’s Stage Manager

Playbill: By the time Hamilton’s Amber White takes her perch in the stage manager’s booth at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, an entire theatrical engine has been hard at work, ready to cross its final hurdle: show time. With the announcement of upcoming release of the filmed stage production, which captured the original Broadway cast, go on an in-depth journey at the technical side of running the show on Broadway, showing what it takes to raise the curtain on Great White Way.

'I am not a digital artist. I feel like a cobbler in a world of people who no longer wear shoes'

CBC Arts: I am not a digital artist.

I do not create online content.

No matter how many incentives, financial or otherwise, are presented to me during this unprecedented time, I am not, nor will I ever be, an artist who will distinguish themselves in an online world. I must admit I have been in some anguish about this since the world — in my case, in Canada — changed in mid-March.

Event Safety Alliance issues guidelines for the return of concerts

RIFF: The biggest question at the top of the minds of music fans, artists, club owners and the rest of the music industry is when concerts can resume. The answer is complicated because in many circumstances, it will come down to individual states—or even to the local municipality level.

Going to see your favorite band in concert is going to look very different once venues reopen

www.wsbtv.com/news: Catching a concert used to be a fun way to unwind on the weekend.

But live music and sporting events are expected to be some of the last activities to resume over the coronavirus shutdown because they draw large crowds, making it hard to follow social distancing.

Travis McCready Performs America’s First Concert in Months

The New York Times: Travis McCready sang “Riders,” a song about perseverance, on Monday in a former Masonic Temple as Americans returned to hear live music in a concert hall for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic pulled the plug on the nation’s entertainment industry.

Translating Theatre/Trans-lating Theatre

The Theatre Times: Eleven festivals, hundreds of guests and participants, scores of events — a dizzying variety of faces, of topics, of venues, of moments. Each participant — and some keep coming back — each organizer will have a different mosaic.

However, certain outlines — perhaps surprisingly — are clear.

Quarantine is a weirdly good time for animation

Ars Technica: The creators of the surreal animated series Tooning Out the News had Rudy Guiliani on the show multiple times during their first week on air. They also had a six-year-old hang up on the former New York City mayor. Like many people around the world, the people behind Tooning Out the News are working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pittsburgh Museums Contend They Should Be Free To Open In Yellow Phase

90.5 WESA: Pittsburgh’s museums argue they should be allowed to operate during the “yellow” phase of the state’s coronavirus re-opening plan.


Steven Knapp is president and CEO of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.
CREDIT CARNEGIE MUSEUMS OF PITTSBURGH
Allegheny County went yellow Friday. Shops began opening, with restrictions, and libraries are getting ready for limited reopenings, too.

'Hero' Is Their Middle Name: Entertainment Artists Answer the Call for PPE

www.broadwayworld.com: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the heroic efforts of first responders, frontline healthcare professionals, and essential workers have moved and inspired regular folks the world over to mobilize in the fight against the virus.

Newly Founded Nicely Theatre Group Prioritizes Inclusivity, to Host its First-Ever Online One-Act Festival

Pride Source: Having participated in southeast Michigan’s world of theater as a performer, director and teacher for two decades, it’s fair to say that Mitch Master lives and breathes his craft. In fact, it was at a community production of “Guys and Dolls” through The Village Players of Birmingham where he made a connection that would help expand the already robust Metro Detroit theater scene even further. He said that his co-star, David Caroll, managed to bring hundreds of audience members to see the performance. And it got rave reviews.

AutoCAD How To: Bind vs. Insert External References - What's the Difference?

2 Minute Tuesday | CAD Intentions: Back to today’s topic, we take a quick look at the differences between Bind and Insert when inserting External References (xrefs) directly into our drawings. I show the various differences between the two options as well as a few use cases of each.
Bind & Insert have been around in AutoCAD for a long time yet hardly anyone I’ve talked to fully know the difference between the two and when each should be used.

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 992 – A Successful Woman Scenic Artist, 1918

Drypigment.net: The following article was written by Henry T. Parker and published in “American Magazine” (August 1923, page 68). Keep in mind that this was the same year that Sosman & Landis closed their doors. Times were certainly changing.

d’strict projects an endless simulated wave on massive LED screens in south korea

www.designboom.com: the gangnam-gu area in seoul is the korean version of times square and it’s the country’s first free display outdoor advertisement zone. here, mega-size LED screen displays have been installed on the walls of large buildings which create an electronic display for 18 hours a day. one of the most notorious of these buildings is the COEX artium, also known as the mecca of K-pop.

Hulu’s ‘The Great’ Design Team Created Opulent Scene for Bio-Series

Variety: When it came to designing the court of Peter III in Hulu’s “The Great,” which premieres May 15, production designer Francesca di Mottola carefully avoided the style of the Versailles-like Russian Winter Palace. “We wanted to invent our world for the show,” she says.

Two Projects Are Filming Again. Here’s How They’re Doing It.

The New York Times: Baltasar Kormakur, the Icelandic director best known in the United States for “Everest” and “Contraband,” turned to a color-coded armband system to get his Netflix sci-fi series “Katla” back into production in Reykjavik after the coronavirus shut it down in mid-March.

Lockdown Lessons: A Guide For Sound Engineers & Techs

ProSoundWeb: Live events were one of the first industries to be hit hard by the global COVID-19 pandemic as large gatherings and international travel were first discouraged and then banned. Virtually overnight many of us went from having a full calendar to being unemployed, which has created a range of unprecedented challenges not least of which is what to do with all of the unexpected free time.

Will Anything Open This Year on Broadway or Beyond?

thebroadwayblog.com: News of shows delaying their Broadway openings continues to pour in, forecasting a sparse future for the remainder of 2020.

Lia Vollack Productions and The Michael Jackson Estate announced this week that, due to the Broadway shutdown, dates have been rescheduled for the upcoming World Premiere of MJ the new musical on Broadway. Preview performances are now set to begin on Monday, March 8, 2021, with Opening Night scheduled for Thursday, April 15, at the Neil Simon Theatre, New York City.

Francesca Zambello: Thoughts on opera in the time of Covid

dctheatrescene.com: On May 13th, Opera America launched its first annual conference online, marking the organization’s Fiftieth Anniversary. Over 1200 people had signed in when I checked the count of attendees, representing fellow artists and organizations the world over.

UK theatres in 'high jeopardy' as doors remain closed amid pandemic

Stage | The Guardian: British theatres are in a state of “high jeopardy” and some will go bust unless the government comes up with a specific package of help, leading figures in the industry have told the Guardian.

Theatres are expected to be among the final organisations to open after the lockdown and, with warnings of physical distancing continuing at least until the end of the year, many fear they will not be able to properly operate until 2021.

The Theaters Are Shut. Why Not Put On a Play at Home?

KQED: You can’t go to the theater these days.

So theater companies big and small across the country, including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, New York’s Public Theatre and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., have asked dozens of professional playwrights to create short dramas for people to perform at home. The play scripts, part of a new initiative called Play at Home, have been downloaded 20,000 times since the start of April.

SAG-AFTRA Requiring Members to Seek Union Approval, Due to Coronavirus

Variety: SAG-AFTRA is requiring members to seek union approval before accepting any new work, citing health and safety concerns stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

The union, which represents about 160,000 performers, posted the urgent notice on its website on Thursday.

What Will It Take to Reopen Venues? Conversation With Virologist Vincent Racaniello and Pasadena Playhouse’s Danny Feldman, Pt. 2

sellingout.com: Jim recently chatted with virologist Vincent Racaniello and Pasadena Playhouse’s Danny Feldman about reopening live entertainment venues. You can watch the full chat here, or read on for an excerpt of their conversation (which we’ll post in two parts — click here for part 1).

First, a little about Vincent: He is a Professor of Microbiology & Immunology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University and has done laboratory research on viruses since 1975, specifically influenza viruses. He also writes a Virology Blog and hosts several podcasts about virology.

Rolling Stones, Stevie Nicks Tour Manager on COVID-19's Impact

Rolling Stone: I was so excited about the Stones tour. It was going to be the first tour I’d ever done with them. We had talked for a long time about it, but for one reason or another I never got the gig; my schedule wasn’t available or they hired someone else. This time it all worked out, and I had to fly to London to interview with Mick Jagger to get the job.

Broadway Costume Designers Are Making PPE for Healthcare Workers

Vogue: Broadway has been closed for three months and this week, it was announced that New York City’s Broadway theaters will remain closed until at least September 6, in an effort to continue social distancing and curb the spread of coronavirus. Film and TV productions have been put on hiatus as well, and as a result, many costume designers have suddenly found themselves out of work for the summer. But in light of the pandemic, a new collective of hundreds of costumers are repurposing their craft to make Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers, who are on the frontlines battling the virus every day.

What Socially Distanced Live Performance Might Look Like

www.vulture.com: Just off Columbus Avenue, a self-appointed DJ pulled up to an extra-wide sidewalk and greeted the weekend by blasting salsa from his car stereo. A small crowd gathered to dance at a distance, bringing some safety-rated joy to the neighborhood. It wasn’t a packed club or a raucous street party, like the kind that birthed salsa decades ago, but it felt like a sign, an early crocus announcing the rebirth of live entertainment.

The Coronavirus Means Curtains for Artists

The Nation: In attempting to understand the impact of the pandemic on artists and the arts, we need to start by recognizing that this new crisis has collided with an arts economy that was already severely weakened by 20 years of digital assault. The assault has taken the form, specifically, of demonetization. Any content that can be transmitted over the Internet—music, text, still images, video—has seen its price severely cut, often to zero.

More coronavirus layoffs and furloughs: Hollywood Bowl

Los Angeles Times: The Los Angeles Philharmonic‘s announcement Wednesday that it had been forced to cancel the 2020 seasons at the Hollywood Bowl and the Ford Theatres came with details of an $80 million budget shortfall and a painful ripple effect in the form of staff furloughs and layoffs.

Playing with Fire

Guild of Scenic Artists: Creating beautiful scenery on a budget often requires Scenics to paint on lightweight soft goods like muslin, silk, lace, and burlap. Unfortunately, these fabrics are also very combustible and have a long record of contributing to some of the worst theatre fires in history. With so many products and tools available to us (and because it is a fire code issue!) there is no reason why we shouldn’t be adding the time and budget to properly flame retard our soft goods – painted or not. In this article, we’ll break down what products are available for treating your fabrics and help you identify which one to use on each substrate.

Checking In With 'The Americans' Costume Designer, Katie Irish

CreativeFuture: Much has changed in the world since we spoke with Katie Irish in June of 2018. Back then, Irish had just wrapped up the job of lead costume designer on FX’s acclaimed series The Americans – and was looking toward the future with both excitement and trepidation.

“It was a dream job across the board and it makes me nervous about what comes next,” she told us at the time.

The Timely Retrofuturism of UC Berkeley’s Virtual Theater

WIRED: On April 24, UC Berkeley’s production of Snowflakes, or Rare White People was supposed to open at the 500-seat Zellerbach Playhouse. In the sci-fi comedy, black and brown women run a far-future America, while two of the last remaining white people are confined to an exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. For the seniors in the cast, it would be their last performance in college, perhaps the last performance of their lives, as they were interviewing for jobs in consulting, teaching, marketing.

Pittsburgh's Performance Students, Teachers Adjust To Virtual Lessons

90.5 WESA: It’s one thing to learn economics or world history off a lecture on Zoom. But try it with dance, acting – or tuba.

Ethan Marmolejos got a sudden and unexpected taste of the latter experience starting in mid-March. While on spring break, the Carnegie Mellon University sophomore learned that campus was shutting down due to the coronavirus pandemic. He packed up and headed back to Watchung, N.J., and the house where he grew up.

Thought Leader Of The Week: Jim Tetlow, Nautilus Entertainment Design

LiveDesignOnline: President and principal consultant at Nautilus Entertainment Design, Jim Tetlow has been negotiating the shutdown of the events and entertainment industry with aplomb. From cruise ship technical systems to theme parks by way of theatre consulting and lighting design, his company thrives on diversification, a strategy that has proved especially savvy in recent months. Live Design chats with Tetlow on his background, current projects, and the future in the age of COVID-19.

Our Industry isn’t coming back like yours is.

The Startup - Medium: I grew up in Miami, Florida, which meant living through countless hurricanes. Each one brought a level of chaos and disruption, but they mostly affected only our corner of the world. This, however, is something different. Unlike any natural disaster, this is the first time in my life I’ve witnessed something that everyone, regardless of location, has had to cope with at once. No person, industry or area of daily life has been left untouched by what’s going on right now.

Care, Maintenance and Removal of Wire Ropes

Silver State Wire Rope & Rigging: Wire ropes are well known for their strength, they are used in many different capacities from construction to mining and from transportation to movie stunts. People using wire ropes count on them daily to do their job, however, wire ropes don’t last forever. They are built to endure, but how long they can be in use depends on how well they are cared for.

No, moshing and crowdsurfing will not be allowed when concerts resume

www.altpress.com: The live music industry has made various headlines over the past few months. From Arkansas scheduling their first socially-distant concert to Live Nation announcing their plans for drive-in concerts, a lot has happened since the coronavirus pandemic began. Now, a new health and safety guide is announcing what changes will have to be made once live events resume. This includes a temporary ban on moshing and crowdsurfing.

Stage Design: Tradition of Diversity

The Theatre Times: Germany applied to UNESCO for intangible cultural heritage status, citing the highest concentration of theatres in the world. And in the small cellar theatres and large concert halls, for all the plays, puppet theatres, operas and musicals: stage designers are always working behind the scenes to ensure audiences enjoy a special experience at every venue. In an interview, set designers Katrin Nottrodt and Philipp Fürhofer provide insight into the world of stage design in Germany – and tell us what they find particularly fascinating about their work.

Discrimination During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Actors' Equity Association: Actors’ Equity condemns the surge in COVID-19 related hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. A family with two small children was stabbed in a Texas grocery store. A woman was attacked with acid in front of her Brooklyn home. Nearly 1500 racially motivated attacks on Asians in the US have been reported since mid-March, including refusal of service, vandalism, verbal harassment, and physical assault. Asians are being irrationally targeted during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Allegheny County pledges support for arts and culture scene with #All412gether Week proclamation

www.pghcitypaper.com: Arts & Culture #All412gether Week continues through May 17 and, according to a press release, recognizes the “vibrant arts and culture community and their commitment” to the region's “civic life, health and well-being by working together to innovate and provide creative engagement and educational resources for our community, at home.”

Cruise Line Industry Chaos Threatens Broadway Licensing Revenue

www.forbes.com: With the cruise line industry treading water, Broadway investors might no longer be able to count on a steady stream of licensing revenue.

As empty ocean liners sit at ports and customers demand refunds for their trips that were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Norwegian Cruise Line warned that it might run out of cash in the next year, and need to declare bankruptcy.

This digital escape room is popular with teams and families

www.fastcompany.com: In a world inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, you and your fellow adventurers are tasked with working together to break a witch’s curse and escape from an enchanted forest. To find the clues, you’ll need to choose whether to first visit a series of mysterious castles or speak to a set of magical animals, knowing that only some of them will tell you the truth.

300 Drones Illuminate the Sky to Honor Health Care Workers

WIRED: Last Tuesday, at 10 pm local time, medical workers and patients at the Netherlands’ Erasmus MC hospital—currently the epicenter of the country’s Covid-19 response—flocked to the windows. Outside, above Rotterdam’s inky black Nieuwe Maas river, a swarm of mysterious floating lights were rising in gentle flight. Shimmering, they swirled into a mass both organic and out of this world, visible not only to the people inside the hospital but to many of the city’s inhabitants who, like so many around the world, are confined to home.

Arkansas Venue To Hold First "Socially Distant" Concert Since Lockdown Began

metalinjection.net: Health experts be damned, a venue in Fort Smith, Arkansas has announced the first official concert since lockdown began in the United States in mid-march. Country rock artist Travis McCready, known for his work in Bishop Gunn, will be taking the stage at TempleLive on May 15th.

VIOSO Brings World’s Largest Dome Projection to the 2020 Super Bowl

LightSoundJournal.com: Taking place at the beginning of each year, the Super Bowl is the culmination of the American NFL season, drawing hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide. This year, the championship was hosted at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. System design consultant Lumen & Forge was chosen by Broadwell Airdomes USA, on behalf of show organiser AG Entertainment, to help create an unforgettable experience for the over 60,000 people in attendance.

What We Learned When the 12 Largest Entertainment Unions Gathered to Discuss the COVID-19 Pandemic

Playbill: On May 6, leaders from 12 major unions and organizations in the entertainment industry gathered for a call to discuss their current efforts to support the hundreds of thousands of members who have been affected by the shutdowns associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

Discrimination During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Actors' Equity Association: Actors’ Equity condemns the surge in COVID-19 related hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. A family with two small children was stabbed in a Texas grocery store. A woman was attacked with acid in front of her Brooklyn home. Nearly 1500 racially motivated attacks on Asians in the US have been reported since mid-March, including refusal of service, vandalism, verbal harassment, and physical assault. Asians are being irrationally targeted during the COVID-19 outbreak.

1,000 Music Venues Across the U.S. Are in Danger of Closing, Says NIVA

Rolling Stone: It’s been nearly two months since live music shut down. For large concert companies, the revenue slippage has been a major burden. For independent venues, which have no corporate parent to fall back on, it’s an “existential crisis,” says Dayna Frank, board president of the newly formed National Independent Venue Association (NIVA).

Live Nation Is Planning for Crowdless Shows and Drive-In Concerts

Rolling Stone: With concerts on hold for the past two months due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Live Nation Entertainment on Thursday reported a 21% drop in revenue for its first quarter, with concert revenue alone dipping 25% and ticket revenue dropping 16% year over year. Shares of Live Nation — which also owns ticketing company Ticketmaster — have dropped about 48% since the middle of February.

Cuba Reflections

ASTC: Webster has several definitions of “community”: a people with common interests living in a particular area, joint ownership or participation, or a group linked by a common policy. All three of these apply to Cuba, especially for those individuals and groups involved in the performing arts that ASTC members met during the 2019 Forum in Havana.

Capturing the Ephemeral: Marc J. Franklin on Theatre Photography, Inspiration, and Community

The Theatre Times: His photography is undoubtfully radiating, soulful, with a hint of edgy energy. Marc J. Franklin is the Principal Photographer and Assistant Photo Editor at Playbill, and his work includes capturing the intangible, ever-fleeting, essence of live performances. As a lifestyle and portrait photographer, he focuses on the artistic process that transcends the technological elements of his craft. Since the Broadway theatres shut down due to the COVID-19 quarantine, Marc J. Franklin has been exploring the history of some of the most iconic theatre photography moments and individuals, to the delight of his thousands of social media followers on Twitter and Instagram @marcjfranklin.

The power of "I don't know"

www.fastcompany.com: If you’re a top-level business manager, admitting that you don’t know something can be difficult. After all, anyone who has clambered to the top of the corporate food chain is expected to exude certainty and self-confidence. In short, you’re supposed to be the person with all the answers.

HAUSER & WIRTH presents 'beside itself', a VR exhibition at its future gallery in menorca

www.designboom.com: HAUSER & WIRTH launches the gallery’s first entirely VR-based exhibition under the newly launched research and innovation arm, ArtLab. the group exhibition, entitled ‘beside itself’, takes place in the gallery of the future, HAUSER & WIRTH menorca, allowing visitors a first look at the art centre ahead of its opening in 2021. together with long-standing collaborator of the gallery, architect luis laplace, the gallery is conducting major conservation work to the island’s 18th century buildings. visitors are able to take a 3D tour of the exterior gallery building restorations as well as experience the exhibition created in HWVR — a first in virtual reality exhibition modeling, through the gallery’s website.

Broadway unions raise concerns on health insurance, the return of theater

Broadway News: A coalition of entertainment unions held a call with members of the press Wednesday to highlight the similar issues plaguing their members while theater and film productions remain suspended.

Among the critical issues raised, Broadway union leaders spoke to the importance of continuing health coverage for their members, whether it be through federal subsidies, relaxed qualifications or through extended contributions from the Broadway League.

Lectrosonics Introduces the DPR Digital Plug-on Transmitter and the DSQD/AES-3 Receiver

LightSoundJournal.com: Lectrosonics is very pleased to introduce the two newest members of the D Squared digital wireless family, the new DPR digital plug-on transmitter and the DSQD/AES-3 receiver.

The next extension of the D Squared wireless family platform which premiered in 2019, the DPR digital plug-on transmitter is fully compatible with the DSQD digital receiver and features a tuning range of 470 to 608 MHz (470 to 614 MHz for the export version).

'You can dream bigger': what writers prefer about stage to screen

Stage | The Guardian: A play in its conception is, for me, uniquely intimate and private. Eventually it grows to be the opposite of that and blossoms outwards, but there’s something about building it that initially feels delicate, fragile and personal. I think that might have something to do with my childhood; listening to conversations and writing things down, and that being the start of me thinking about plays.

An Online Theater Festival Where the Future Is Female

The New York Times: This year’s Theatertreffen, the annual festival of the best in German-language theater, was supposed to be something different. After years of criticism that the event was a boy’s club that ignored female artists, Theatertreffen’s organizers had introduced a quota: At least half the productions would be directed by women or majority-female collectives.

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 983 – Camouflage Artists, the American Camoufleurs of 1918

Drypigment.net: Yesterday’s post concerned studio founder Gerald V. Cannon and his recruiting of scenic artists for the war department in 1918. He was part of a countrywide plan to mobilize scenic artists to paint camouflage for war purposes. WWI signaled a new era of concealing military vehicles and weapons with paint.

What Are the Implications of Free or Fee-Based Dance Online?

Dance Magazine: From mid-March into early April, dance communities around the world experienced a seismic shift as performance seasons were canceled, training programs were suspended and physical contact outside one's home was mandated unsafe. As dancers, we are taught to problem solve in real-time, so it came as no surprise when streamed performances and classes began popping up almost immediately.

Will Socially Distanced Rehearsals Leave Space for Good Theater?

The New York Times: As much of Europe has started emerging from lockdown this week, countries are working out how they can live with the coronavirus. In Germany, you can now get a haircut; in Austria, you can play tennis (but only singles).

Both countries also have plans to restart theaters — or at least get actors and directors back to work.

Art All Night continues through pandemic with first-ever online arts festival

Features | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: The 23rd annual Art All Night will happen more or less the same way it's happened for the past 22 years. At 4 p.m. on Sat., May 16, the arts festival will open and provide the public with free access to tons of original artwork for 22 consecutive hours until it concludes at 2 p.m. the following day. There will still be activities for children and adults, performances by local bands and performers, and live painting. And people can still place bid on their favorite pieces.

Cirque du Soleil gets US$50 million in emergency funds from main shareholders

Montreal Gazette: The Cirque du Soleil has received an emergency injection of US$50 million from its three main shareholders to try to keep it afloat, chairman Mitch Garber said.

The shareholders are American private equity investment firm TPG Capital, Chinese investment company Fosun and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

Broadway considers the path forward for shows to go on

The Seattle Times: When Broadway theaters finally reopen, at least one musical theater fan will show up. But she’ll look a little different.

“I would wear a mask and gloves,” said actress Emily Hampshire, the “Schitt’s Creek” star and huge “Hamilton” fan. “I don’t think we can forget what happened for a long time.”

Has Social Media Changed How We Experience Dance in Public Spaces?

Dance Magazine: When choreographer Stephan Koplowitz presented Natural Acts in Artificial Water in Houston's Gerald D. Hines Water-wall Park in 2012, he hired a professional videographer to document the performance. But when he looked over the footage, he found that one section of the piece hadn't gotten enough coverage. "I put out a call to my cast and said, 'Did any of your friends video this part of the piece?' " Koplowitz remembers. "And I got footage that I ended up using, from someone who had filmed it with either a small video camera or their iPhone."

Send a letter outlining priorities for Entertainment Workers' in subsequent COVID-19 Legislation

IATSE Cares: Congress has begun to pursue additional federal legislation in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The entertainment industry will continue to be disproportionately impacted by this health crisis and we need to ensure that that subsequent COVID-19 legislation puts workers first. We must act now and urge our representatives to include the following priorities in any subsequent legislation

Are You a Performer When the Theatre Is Empty?

Cory Goodrich - Medium: I had a ‘real talk’ conversation this week with a musician friend. We discussed how the closing of the theatres and of all live performance venues was devastating in a way non-performing people could never understand. I am an actor. I am a musician. My most authentic self is the person I am when I am on stage, so how do I deal with this loss of identity when the theatres are closed for an indeterminate amount of time?

Expanding Where, Why, How, and With Whom Artists in the United States Work

HowlRound Theatre Commons: How do we live through these times? Surely, as Nick Slie of Mondo Bizarro Productions in New Orleans commented to me, making digital theatre is not the only response. For many of us, this is also a time for reflection, to contemplate what we do with our little span on Earth and think about our avocation. As a scholar of art that is described as “cross-sector,” “community-based,” “socially engaged,” etc., I’ve been using this time to talk with artists in the United States (yes, mostly over Zoom) who, at any time since the mid 1960s, have expanded where, why, how, and with whom they work. I mean all of these together—the “why” determining “with whom,” “where,” and “how”—and all linked to a passion for social justice.

Gamer, actor Tasi Alabastro helps theaters use Twitch to adapt to coronavirus era and beyond

Datebook: Tasi Alabastro was “currently on the finger mikes,” he told audiences at an April 24 performance of “Tell Tale Hearts.” “I guess that’s the keyboard, huh,” he joked.

Bay Area Theatre Cypher’s show, a blend of hip-hop and theater led by performers Dan Wolf, Phil Wong and Carlos Aguirre, a.k.a. Infinite, has already had two runs at Aurora Theatre Company. But under shelter-in-place orders, Cypher migrated online to Facebook Live and Twitch, thanks to Alabastro’s help.

Psychotherapist practices the goofiness and creativity that she preaches

Music | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: A couple of weeks into the stay-at-home order, Sarah Rashmee Souri hit a wall. She was still working as a psychotherapist, though all her sessions were moved online, but Souri wasn’t finding any personal moments of joy.

“I realized I was not doing something during this pandemic that I was encouraging all my therapy clients to do,” she says. “Try to incorporate some fun into this difficult lockdown situation many of us are in these days.”

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 982 – Scenic Artists and WWI Camouflage, 1918

Drypigment.net: A while back I explored the career of Gerald V. Cannon, of Joy and Cannon Scenic Studio in St. Paul, Minnesota. Although the life of the firm was brief, each co-founder certainly made his mark on the world. At the time that I was researching Cannon’s life, I stumbled across multiple references to his military career and work for the US marines. Cannon organized the first unit to specialize in the brand new art of camouflage in 1918. He gathered together a group of scenic artists and once they learned the painting procedure, they were split up among the services. Cannon chose the marines.

Actors Equity Association President Kate Shindle Reveals There Has Been Progress Made in Health Insurance Issue

www.broadwayworld.com: From Broadway to Hollywood-and everywhere in between-COVID-19 has paused, postponed and cancelled productions, performances and events leaving most of the country's four million creative professionals out of work. Arts, entertainment and media professionals and their unions have united to ensure all workers in the industry can access economic relief. With the expectation that arts and entertainment professionals will be some of the last workers able to return safely to their jobs, creative professionals and their unions continue to advocate for government-provided economic support.

Uprising Theater shifts focus from Palestine to PPE

Performing Arts Feature | Chicago Reader: Since founding Uprising Theater Company in 2014, Iymen Chehade and Maren Rosenberg have worked to tell stories of marginalized communities, especially those of Palestinians and Palestinian Americans. The specificity of their focus—including the first-ever reading of Chicago playwright Rohina Malik’s Layla in Lala earlier this year—makes them singular. But like every other theater in Chicago, Uprising has been dark for over a month, one of countless casualties of COVID-19.

We can learn from South Korea, where theatre has stayed open for business

The Stage - Opinion - Richard Jordan: South Korea’s strong, reactive response to the crisis, and the continued support of the country’s theatregoers, should give the industry hope, says Richard Jordan

Willing Change in a World of Many Crises

HowlRound Theatre Commons: What does it mean to talk about theatre, politics, and activism at a time when we all isolate our bodies from those of others? As I’m writing this, the rain is hammering on the window outside my house in southwestern Norway, all my travel plans to meetings and conventions cancelled for the forthcoming months. My mind, which I had thought would vibrate with energy and burning questions about activism and the performing arts, feels terrifyingly blank.

“The Wretched” Filmmakers on Practical Effects and Making Horror Films

Variety: In the new horror film “The Wretched,” troubled teen Ben, played by John-Paul Howard is sent to live with his father for the summer in a coastal town. Ben busies himself until he discovers that his neighbor Abbie (Zarah Mahler) is actually possessed by a thousand-year-old witch who preys on children and removes all traces of their existence.

'I went into a show that physically maimed me': Australian acrobat prepares to sue Cirque du Soleil

www.sbs.com.au/news: A star acrobat who was once a poster boy for Cirque du Soleil is now preparing to sue the company, after being left to foot the bill for multiple spinal operations and procedures.

32-year-old Daniel Crispin worked for Cirque du Soleil between 2015 and 2017 as a principal character and soloist in the record-breaking arena show Toruk - The First Flight, a production inspired by James Cameron's Avatar.

Cheryl Capezzuti spreads joy through puppets with new social distance public art project

Features | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: A new project from local artist Cheryl Capezzuti will ensure that people across Pittsburgh will be able to mark “Saw giant puppet” off their pandemic BINGO card.

Over the past month, Capezzuti has been loaning out her collection of giant parade puppets to people all over the city as a way to help them entertain their neighbors during social distancing.

New £3.5m facility will help Wakefield becoming a 'leading light' in live events sector

Wakefield Express: The Backstage Innovation Hub, which will be built at Production Park, in South Kirkby, will feature specialist equipment designed to support the live events industry, as well as a business support programme focused on assisting small and medium enterprises.

‘The Chicago Artists Relief Fund’ Raises $75000, Doubles Fundraising Goal

rescripted.org: The Chicago Artists Relief Fund was founded in response to the devastating impact of the quarantine on the performing arts community. Recent surveys have indicated 95% of artists have lost income due to the pandemic.

Preview The Met's postponed About Time: Fashion and Duration exhibition

www.dezeen.com: New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has created a virtual version of its About Time: Fashion and Duration exhibition, which has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Met's Costume Institute has made a short Youtube video of the museum's annual major spring exhibition to coincide with its original opening date this week. It will now open 29 October 2020.

‘Feed Our Crew’ Initiative in South Africa

Techie Talk: Feed Our Crew is an NGO initiative (non-government organization) in South Africa co-founded by Johannesburg-based Tamsyn Strydom (project manager from production and rental company MGG), Kagiso Moima Wa Masimini (KG) who owns Blackmotion Production and Marcia Alves from We Are Boundless.

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 981 – John Hanny and the Chicago Service Studios, 1918

Drypigment.net: When there is a major disruption in production, industries change for the better or worse. WWI, the measles epidemic, the Spanish flu and the 1920-1921 recession all hit in a relatively short period of time. Factor in prohibition and it may have seemed like the end of the world. Many studios did not weather these storms.

Alas, Germany Didn’t Allocate $54 Billion In Relief Funding To The Arts

Butts In the Seats: You may remember reading that Germany had rolled out €50 billion ($54 billion) in funding for the arts a few weeks back. The news was touted as putting arts funding in the US to shame. While it may ultimately still be the case that aid to arts will put the US to shame, the claim that all that money is going to the arts is not accurate.

Lockdown Lessons: A Guide For Sound Engineers & Techs

ProSoundWeb: Live events were one of the first industries to be hit hard by the global COVID-19 pandemic as large gatherings and international travel were first discouraged and then banned. Virtually overnight many of us went from having a full calendar to being unemployed, which has created a range of unprecedented challenges not least of which is what to do with all of the unexpected free time.

In The Studio: Dynamic EQ For Vocals

ProSoundWeb: Most of us have heard about the New York parallel compression drum mix technique. (Not to be confused with our Hot Drum Setup Tip.) This is where you send a drum mix to a stereo bus and then apply compression to the bus and feed that signal back into the two mix.

Virtual Becomes A Reality: A California Church Delivers Its Large Choir Remotely – And In Real Time

ProSoundWeb: In over 40 years as an audio professional, I’ve never seen anything quite like the sea change in technical creativity and resourcefulness that’s emerged from the social distancing measures imposed on most of us in early 2020.

This article chronicles one such leap made while many businesses, schools, and houses of worship have been closed or seriously hampered by the inability to assemble. Fortunately, some churches can offer live streaming of their worship services. Shadow Mountain Community Church (SMCC) in El Cajon, CA is a good example.

Bring back the laugh track

theweek.com: Right now, I'm imagining your laughter.

Stephen Colbert had meant that as a joke when he addressed the comment to the camera in a mostly-empty studio, during the brief period when late night TV taped in their normal venues but without live audiences, before the quarantine ax fell completely. The comment, delivered as a sort of punchline after a skit about the closure of Broadway, earned chuckles from those within earshot: Late Show technicians, the house band, maybe even a few writers who'd strayed into the theater. But watching it again today, Colbert's delivery feels a little sharper, a little less funny, a little more desperate. Without the scattered laughter, I might not have realized it was a joke at all.

Top 8 Project Management Tools

TechRepublic: Project management software or tools streamline and fast-track project team performance. Check out these eight top-rated cloud-based project management tools and see if one has the features your organization needs. All of these project management solutions are web-based and offer customizable role-based dashboards, business intelligence, and reporting capabilities; each one is accessible from mobile devices.

Puppetry and Disability Aesthetics

HowlRound Theatre Commons: The art of puppetry can push forward the imagination, conversations, experiences, and aesthetics of illness, dis/ability, and disability justice. The extraordinary language of puppetry animation holds within it a unique capacity to disrupt and interrogate the able-bodied gaze and normativity. It can open vivid aesthetic and affective responses in audiences that have the potential to widen and deepen how beauty, body, and being are perceived.

COVID-19 Update: Bikinis, Booze, and Rock & Roll: Lex Products' Finds Unlikely Heroes in the Pandemic - Lighting&Sound America Online - News

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com: From bikinis, booze, and rock and roll to the hometown heroes that help keep our employees safe during the pandemic. A few months ago this sentence would not have made sense to any of us; now it means the difference between open and closed, sick and healthy at our company.

Aki Hayakawa | Your Interviews

Your Interviews | Women in Lighting: When I was a child, I lived in Germany for three years because of my father’s job. I saw the beautiful illuminations of the churches and the buildings in the historical city, whereas, in those days, architectural lightings were not seen that much in Japan. I think that’s when I became interested in light for the first time. The Churches were silent in the daytime, but they looked different and lively in the nighttime, I felt. I remembered I looked back at those lights again and again on my way home.

Two ESTA Technical Standards Program's ANSI Standards in Public Review

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: Two documents are posted on the ESTA Technical Standards Program (TSP) website for public review through June 28, 2020. These TSP standards can be reviewed at estalink.us/pr courtesy of ProSight Specialty Insurance.

'I've traded rehearsal room for bedroom': confined creatives' lockdown dramas

Stage | The Guardian: An intensive care doctor reflects on a week on the Covid-19 frontline, a lonely woman wonders when she will next eat a meal with company and all Anya wants is some space for herself in the bedroom-turned-office she shares with her boyfriend. These are some of the scenarios – familiar from the news or from our daily experience – in a set of new lockdown dramas released online on Monday.

Off-Broadway development moves forward as theaters plan for future

Broadway News: Major nonprofit institutions including the Public Theater, the Atlantic Theater Company and Playwrights Horizons have been checking in with commissioned writers, hosting workshops over Zoom and attempting to plan future seasons that include now-postponed projects. This work is being conducted as the theaters grapple with constrained finances and an uncertain return to live theater.

#ourshininglight Nationwide Action Salutes Essential Workers

Techie Talk: UK lighting rental company Clearsound Productions has not let the Coronavirus lockdown stop them from shining their lights … to boost morale in their ‘hood, send messages of positive energy and show solidarity for all those frontline and essential workers putting their lives on the line as the country battles the virus.

Pittsburgh Fringe Festival goes online today – here's what to expect

Features | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Theatergoers value the excitement of a live experience, something that COVID-19 has made impossible for the foreseeable future. This extends to the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival, an annual showcase that gives aspiring playwrights and performers a chance to bring their visions to life. To keep its mission going, the event has moved online with a full lineup of original plays.

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 978: The Awful Grind of Stock Scenery

Drypigment.net: During the spring of 1918, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “My fingers itch to get back on special scenery. This awful grind of stock scenery is and has been almost impossible.”

In 1918, many touring shows still contracted agreements that required theatres to provide stock scenery and props.

The Post-Covid Concert Hall Catastrophe: Why Audience Attendance is the Least of Our Problems

www.middleclassartist.com: When we return to the stage to present opera, dance, theatre, or symphonic works in our 2,000+ seat halls, will our subscribers be there with tickets in hand?

This is the question spreading like wildfire through every board meeting in America. It is the question keeping Artistic Directors, General Managers, agents, and artists up at night.

It is an interesting question.

But it is the wrong one.

#97 Quarantine Happy Hour #5

in 1: the podcast: We’re back this week with another Quarantine Happy Hour featuring Scenic Designer Mike Carnahan, Production Designers Rob Bissinger and Anita La Scala, Scenic Designer Donyale Werle, Costume Designer Paloma Young, and Lighting Designers Jeff Croiter and Jen Schriever! After checking in as to how everyone is doing at the end of week 7, the group dives in to discuss what kind of work is appropriate to do before a contract, how people are engaging with future work, they discuss the newly released Barrington Stage plan for their summer shows, and whether everyone is having crazy dreams (hint: yes).

Coronavirus poses huge threat to entertainment industry

Business | The Guardian: The row between cinema chains and Universal Studios over the digital-only release of Trolls World Tour is one of may crises racking the entertainment industry during the coronavirus lockdown. The challenges range from working out how to stage live performances to managing social distancing in queues for rollercoasters. Here are some of the issues they face.

1 Regional Costume Shop Director Reflects on the Hundreds of Connections That Make Theatre Imperative

Playbill: When Arena Stage’s Mead Center for American Theater opened in 2010, people immediately marveled at the scale and design of the architecture. Our vibrant Washington, D.C. theatre was reborn—again. Through its storied history, Arena has performed in multiple venues. From the old Christian Heurich Brewery (where the Kennedy Center now stands) to the building at 6th and Maine, to temporary spaces in Crystal City and Lincoln Theater, Arena Stage performances have graced many parts of D.C. and even Arlington, Virginia. Arena has been connecting the people of the capitol years before John F. Kennedy would even be President of the United States.

Why There's No Stunt Oscar Yet, According to the Directors of John Wick

Collider: Wait, why the heck isn’t there a stunt category at the Oscars? That question has become a major talking point and rallying point for cinephiles in recent years, and it’s easy to understand why. When you consider the enormous presence and importance of films like Star Wars, the Fast &‌ Furious franchise, and the MCU‌ at the box office and in the landscape of cinema at large, it’s pretty dang crazy that the crew members responsible for some of those films’ most iconic scenes aren’t getting awards recognition on par with their peers. So what’s the holdup?

How To Create Large Light Sources On Set With MAXI MIX® And LINK

www.rosco.com: One of the key features of our DMG Lumière MAXI MIX LED lights is their ability to be tiled and synced together. This feature enables filmmakers to create large or different shaped lights on set. Watch the video below to see how nine MAXI MIX lights were connected together and then flown overhead on location.

Warner Bros. TV Presidents Say How Coronavirus Could Change Production

Variety: Warner Bros. Television presidents Susan Rovner and Brett Paul hosted a conference call Wednesday evening to share information about the studio’s current thinking on production after weeks of coronavirus-imposed shutdowns. The call was attended by the studio’s showrunners, executive producers and line producers, as well as by people from production companies with whom WBTV and Warner Horizon has deals.

"Feets-On" Museums?

ExhibiTricks: The Museum Exhibit Design Blog: Let me start out by saying I wasn't raised by wolves, so I know that "feets" is a word that doesn't technically exist in the English language, but I'm making a comparison to the oft-used term "Hands-On" and the terms "Feet-On" or "Shoes-On" didn't quite hit the mark.

A Theatre Project Explores Collective Solutions to Saving the Ocean

The Theatre Times: The earth’s oceans are under grave threat. Scientists in many fields have pointed to the large-scale negative shifts brought about by human-made pollutants, mining, and overfishing.

How people now choose to behave, make collective decisions, and build solidarity around the health of oceans has an impact not just on our own species, but on all life on earth.

HAAS Stainless Lag Swage Turnbuckles

www.e-rigging.com: The first step in the installation process will requires the drill half-inch diameter holes for our end post at the hole measurement marks that we previously marked using our marking template. In order to receive the best results we recommend using a 1/2 inch chisel point spur tip spade bit to drill your holes, since they tend to drill fairly straight and clean holes.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

Should the Virus Mean Straight A’s for Everyone?

The New York Times: As high schools approach the end of an academic year without proms or field trips or graduation ceremonies, another fundamental part of American education is being transformed: the report card.

Posted by David at 4/30/2020 09:19:00 AM

In the Time of ‘Safer at Home,’ Are Raves an Essential Business?

Variety: Virtual raves have proven to be a popular entertainment option during the coronavirus pandemic. From festivals held online — Earth Night, Room Service, Club House and Desert Hearts are among those that took place just last weekend — to rooftop events headlined by the likes of David Guetta (from the Icon Brickell in Downtown Miami) and Martin Garrix (from the top of the 22-story A’Dam tower in Amsterdam; on May 5 he performs live from a boat) to living room sets by major names likes Diplo and by complete unknowns with little more than a pair of CDJs, a USB stick and an internet connection.

Posted by David at 5/01/2020 09:46:00 AM

Mass Theater Plans Summer Opening on Checkerboard Seating Chart

www.ticketnews.com: While numerous events have postponed or outright cancelled entirely for the coming months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, one Massachusetts theater operation has a plan to open this summer – albeit in much different style than it is used to. The Barrington Stage Company, based in Pittsfield, has implemented a social distancing-friendly game plan that it believes will allow it to operate beginning in August.

Posted by David at 5/01/2020 09:44:00 AM

You are not a unicorn: The transferable skills you already have

SoundGirls.org: I have written before about the need to have a back-up plan for when times are tough What’s Your Plan B. We literally work in a gig economy and there are plenty of reasons why you might not be able to make ends meet solely through audio. Whether it’s an injury, family illness, recession or global pandemic keeping you from working, or you simply want a bit of a change for a while, knowing you have an alternative job you can fall back on (preferably one you can do in any health, from anywhere) can be invaluable.

Posted by David at 4/30/2020 09:16:00 AM

Dealing With the 'Soft' Challenges of Remote Work

www.cmswire.com: I have worked from home for 30 years, but never in forced isolation. Many of you reading this are probably now in the same boat.

Although the technology for remote collaborative working has been around for 30 years, the adoption rate had (until recently) been slow but steady. The adoption rate has shot up to almost 100% in recent weeks as all non-essential industries are working remotely to help flatten the COVID-19 infection curve.

Posted by David at 4/30/2020 09:24:00 AM

In the Time of ‘Safer at Home,’ Are Raves an Essential Business?

Variety: Virtual raves have proven to be a popular entertainment option during the coronavirus pandemic. From festivals held online — Earth Night, Room Service, Club House and Desert Hearts are among those that took place just last weekend — to rooftop events headlined by the likes of David Guetta (from the Icon Brickell in Downtown Miami) and Martin Garrix (from the top of the 22-story A’Dam tower in Amsterdam; on May 5 he performs live from a boat) to living room sets by major names likes Diplo and by complete unknowns with little more than a pair of CDJs, a USB stick and an internet connection.

Regional Spotlight: How Primary Stages is Working Through the Global Health Crisis

www.broadwayworld.com: Now more than ever it is important to support theater and do our part to keep the art form that we love so much alive and as thriving as it can be during these unprecedented times. While the global health crisis has temporarily put the theater world on hold, pausing all live performances and large gatherings to help stop the spread of COVID-19, theaters around the country have taken a hit.

Mass Theater Plans Summer Opening on Checkerboard Seating Chart

www.ticketnews.com: While numerous events have postponed or outright cancelled entirely for the coming months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, one Massachusetts theater operation has a plan to open this summer – albeit in much different style than it is used to. The Barrington Stage Company, based in Pittsfield, has implemented a social distancing-friendly game plan that it believes will allow it to operate beginning in August.

To Restart After Lockdown, Theaters Need to Think Small

The New York Times: Right now, it feels like time’s been put on hold. Or so I thought one recent afternoon as I walked the quiet streets of London and passed my local playhouse, the Hampstead Theater.

There by the entrance was an array of posters advertising a spring-summer “Hampstead Classics” season, which won’t be happening because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Drink From The Well of Yourself: “Play In Your Bathtub” as Quarantine Comfort Theatre

The Theatre Times: Individual tastes notwithstanding, it can be argued that the best theatre is that which connects us to our own humanity and lived experience. Though the COVID-19 outbreak, and ensuing mass quarantine, has curtailed our options for public performance, this collective drawing-inward has proved unexpectedly fertile ground for artistry, inspiring new means of creative expression and prompting us to delve deeper into our inner worlds for inspiration and strength.

Improvising at a distance | Performing Arts Feature

Chicago Reader: When the Upright Citizens Brigade announced that it was closing its training center and theater in Manhattan last week, it illustrated the challenges of keeping improv and sketch alive during a pandemic shutdown. But for several institutions and individual instructors, Zooming over to the online world has opened up some new possibilities and also allowed them to keep an income stream coming in as their stages remain dark.

Art Institute lions, Chicago's Picasso don face masks to fight coronavirus

Chicago Tribune: Gov. J.B. Pritzker required Illinoisans to begin wearing protective face masks in public beginning Friday. The Art Institute lions and the Daley Center Picasso jumped the gun.

Crews Thursday morning installed artisanal masks onto the downtown Chicago icons, a message to the rest of Chicago — and Illinois — that we can handle a little sacrifice, a little disruption of the face we present the public, for the sake of the common good.

This Animatronic Mouth Mimics Speech With Servos

Hackaday: Of the 43 muscles that comprise the human face, only a few are actually important to speaking. And yet replicating the movements of the mouth by mechanical means always seems to end up only partly convincing. Servos and linkages can only approximate the complex motions the lips, cheeks, jaw, and tongue are capable of. Still, there are animatronics out there that make a good go at the job, of which this somewhat creepy mechanical mouth is a fine example.

A.R.T., Harvard Public Health Researchers Map How To Resume Public Performances

The ARTery: As theaters begin to consider how they'll resume public performances after the pandemic subsides, two institutions are banding together to make sure performance spaces are prepared to mitigate the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

“The DiGiGrid IOS was a no-brainer...”

ETNow.com: As a highly respected touring front of house engineer, Tim Southorn’s day job (his description), has seen him work with a fascinating list of artists, primarily in the rap and pop genres. Tim’s day job however, is only part of a wider palette of audio work that sees him involved in broadcasting and studio mixing. Whether it’s a live concert mix, an album, a commercial, a film score or live stream, he applies a depth of critical listening that established itself in his psyche from his earliest days.