Broadway costume shops form coalition amid financial uncertainty

Broadway News: Broadway’s costume shops have banded together in a fight for their survival.

A group of more than 40 small business owners, whose costuming businesses create pieces for theater, television, film and more, have created the Costume Industry Coalition to lobby legislators for rent abatement and to try to gain input into the reopening of the theatrical industry. As Broadway and other entertainment sectors remain closed, business has dried up, putting the financial health of these shops into jeopardy.

Netflix’s "Floor Is Lava" Has The Hottest Set Design

www.housebeautiful.com: Netflix’s latest hit show, Floor Is Lava, is not only fun to watch because of its likeness to the 90s game shows that we grew up watching, but also because of the amazing set design. Riffing off of the game we all played as kids, Floor Is Lava takes place in various rooms throughout the house, including the basement, the kitchen, a bedroom, the study, and even the planetarium. To learn how these crazy hot rooms came to fruition, House Beautiful spoke to art coordinator Alison Gondek and production designers Bruce Ryan and Bill Horbury—and we can’t guarantee that no furniture was harmed in the making of this show.

Some Reasons to Save the UK's Theatres and Production Companies

Exeunt Magazine: Theatre is in the middle of its worst crisis since WWII, and before that, probably Oliver Cromwell’s ban on anything that smelt of fun. Theatres are closed. Reopening in any kind of profitable form would be horrendously dangerous. Thousands of theatre workers are facing redundancy, and thousands more freelancers have been left without financial support. This time, the physical buildings are – probably, hopefully – safe. But how do we stop them getting turned into yet more Wetherspoons-with-vague-heritage-trappings when this is over, as arch Brexiteer Tim Martin shakes his hoary locks with glee?

IATSE Leaders, Acknowledging Union’s Own Role In Perpetuating “Systemic Racism” In Legit Theater, Call For Industrywide Action

Deadline: Leaders of IATSE, which represents thousands of theatrical stage workers across the country, today acknowledged the union’s role in failing to upend “systemic racism in the arts and entertainment industry.” Calling for industrywide action, they vowed to do the “hard work” needed to “create real, lasting change.”

Pittsburgh Area Music Venues And Promoters Seek Help To Survive Pandemic Shutdown

90.5 WESA: About 20 of Pittsburgh’s independent music venues and promoters have joined a national effort to get federal relief for their industry, which has been sidelined during the coronavirus pandemic. Venues and promoters that present music and comedy said the shutdown has hit them especially hard, and there is no end in sight.

The Solution to Exploitation in the Theater: Join a Union

medium.com/@mferraro678: In recent weeks, a topic that has long simmered under the surface of the theater industry has once again come to the fore — the exploitation of non-union actors by theater companies. One prominent company in New York City that I’ve seen a lot written about is the Flea Theater, whose resident company of “BATS” did many years of unpaid work. The theater cried poverty, only to subsequently open a new multi-million dollar space, while the administrators and directors of the company were, themselves, making decent (if not extravagant) salaries and enjoying the power and perks of high-level jobs in New York theater.

Fortnite Hosts Christopher Nolan-Themed Movie Night

Consequence of Sound: Last month, Fortnite debuted the latest trailer for Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller Tenet. Now, in a continuation of their partnership, the video game platform has just hosted its very own movie night dedicated to the famed director.

How to engage a virtual audience

www.fastcompany.com: SXSW was among the first major events to be canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the list is now long and distinguished. For the next several months, and potentially much longer, the vast majority of business conferences, pitches, and presentations will be virtual.

Dear Hollywood: We Don’t Want to “Go Back to Normal." Normal Wasn’t Working.

optimizeyourself.me: Dear Hollywood, I have something I desperately need to share with you. You might find it surprising coming from a 20-year veteran who owes his livelihood to you. But it needs to be said. I apologize if this upsets you (actually…sorry not sorry).
Your shows are not worth dying for.

VIDEO: CBS Sunday Morning Checks in With Regional Theatres As They Prepare to Reopen

www.broadwayworld.com: CBS Sunday Morning ran a segment this morning on regional theatres that are preparing to re-open amidst the pandemic.

They chatted with two different regional companies - Barrington Stage Company in Massachusetts and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. - about what they have been doing to prepare for reopening, safety precautions, and more.

If There Ever Was a Time to Contact Your Congressperson, the Time is Now!

Stage Directions: The Senate and House has introduced the Prioritized Paycheck Protection Program (P4) Act. This bill will emphasize funding to the arts and entertainment sector of the economy, among others.

The Big Three: A System Is Only As Good As The Weakest Link In The Chain

ProSoundWeb: Many things around us are getting better. Computers are faster, televisions have more resolution, and dishwashers are quieter and more powerful than ever.

But with all of our digital wiz-bang processors, technology has been unable to eradicate “bad sound.” Why is this so? This short piece is an attempt to shed some light on three possible causes, two of which have been completely unaffected by the technological revolution.

COVID-19 wrecked Theatre Suburbia's plans this weekend

Datebook: As COVID-19 numbers reach an all-time high in Houston, one theater company is asking itself — must the show really go on?

Theatre Suburbia, a community theater in northwest Houston, is attempting to put on the comedy-drama “Daddy’s Dyin’: Who’s Got the Will?” during the pandemic, with the first performance originally slated for June 26 that would also have showcased the 60-year-old company’s new building at 5201 Mitchelldale. The cast of seven actors would all be wearing masks as would the audience.

Trends in personal protective equipment 2020

July 2020 | Safety+Health Magazine: The COVID-19 pandemic has put personal protective equipment in the spotlight and made “PPE” a common term among the public. Safety+Health, with assistance from the International Safety Equipment Association, recently reached out to PPE manufacturers with three questions: What trends are happening now, what challenges are your customers reaching out to you with, and what technological innovations are here or on the horizon?

Black Theatre Girl Magic Publishes An Open Letter to American Regional and Community Theatres on Inclusion

www.broadwayworld.com: BTGM is a non-profit organization committed to promoting inclusion within the theater community for all women of color.

The letter outlines what Black women are expecting from theatres moving forward, including more female-identifying BIPOC on the boards of directors, more Black and Brown Artistic Directors, educators, designers, producers, directors, and technicians, and a zero-tolerance policy on racism, among others.

'The Simpsons' to Recast Characters of Color

Hollywood Reporter: In a big shift, the producers of The Simpsons say they'll no longer use white actors to play characters of color on the long-running animated series. Additionally, one of the principal voice actors on Family Guy says he'll stop playing the show's main Black character.

On Broadway, Black artists push for racial equity

PBS NewsHour: As the Black Lives Matter movement strengthens nationwide, calls are increasing for equity in all sectors of American life -- including on Broadway. An all-star cast of Black theater artists has launched a new effort, Black Theatre United, that aims to elevate Black voices within the arts and beyond. Jeffrey Brown reports for our ongoing coverage of Race Matters and arts and culture, Canvas.

AutoCAD How To: Custom Layer Properties for Specific Viewports using Overrides

2 Minute Tuesday | CAD Intentions: In today’s 2 Minute Tuesday x Tuesday Tip Post, we take a look at a super useful yet underutilized feature within AutoCAD called Viewport Overrides. VP Overrides allow us to customize layer properties like color, linetype, lineweight, and even transparency on a viewport to viewport basis. By changing these settings in an override, the actually object properties remain the same in every other layout/viewport as well as in the model space.

What Does a Social Justice Curator Do? The Bronx Museum's Jasmine Wahi on Why Every Museum Should Have One

news.artnet.com: I discovered the work of curator Jasmine Wahi on Instagram, where she posts powerful meditations on politics, art, and the intersections between the two as @browngirlcurator. Since February, Wahi has served as the social justice curator at the Bronx Museum, which I found particularly intriguing at a time when questions about the role of social justice in museums have been amplified in the wake of recent Black Lives Matter protests.

Modern hoists give lift to prehistoric plants

Crane and Hoist Canada: The team at Chicago Flyhouse is accustomed to handling unusual and difficult projects. The 2019 NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in Minnesota required the fabrication of a flame-retardant synthetic velour to stretch across the perimeter of the 1.75 million square foot venue at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Materie Event Production Creates Drive-In Experience With CHAUVET Professional

LiveDesignOnline: For weeks, the pastoral fairgrounds remained void of public entertainment. Happily, that changed on Friday May 15 when Studio D4 launched Autokino Apolda, a pop culture throwback to the 1960s-style American drive-in, but with a decidedly high-tech touch provided by a bright 10-meter by 6-meter LED video screen built with CHAUVET Professional F4 IP panels supplied and installed by Materie Event Production.

CMU Prepares for Return to Campus

www.cmu.edu: Daryl Weinert, chief of staff and vice president for strategic initiatives, was appointed to serve as CMU’s COVID-19 Coordinator. In this role, Weinert has been working with university leadership, subject matter experts and CMU’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Team to organize a phased return this summer and prepare for the fall semester. He said he is pleased with the preventative efforts that have been made thus far, with many putting in countless hours and contributing to the campus-wide effort.

Hart 20V Circular Saw Review HPCS01

Pro Tool Reviews: The Hart 20V circular saw is a 6 1/2-inch cordless model you can find at your local Walmart. We had a variety of 2x lumber and 3/4-inch OSB subfloor cuts to make and used it as an opportunity to see how this model stacks up in the DIY market.

Everything You Wanted To Know About Line Arrays (And Then Some)

ProSoundWeb: At last count… well, I stopped counting. Suffice to say that dozens of companies now offer line array loudspeaker systems that are more than simple column designs.

Rather than discussing dozens of different product types, I thought we might approach the subject by defining the technological terms of line arrays. This way, we get a better grasp of the issues involved with line array systems and will be able to discern both the similarities of – and unique differences between – these now ubiquitous products.

We Need to Talk About Harassment in Geek Spaces. Again.

The Mary Sue: This kind of article is hard to write, not just because the topic is upsetting, but because the amount of content and allegations that need to be discussed are overwhelming. In just the past week the accusations of grooming, expecting sex in return for advancement, harassment, unwanted touching, and endless other types of creepy behavior from influential men in comics, gaming, fiction (and other geek spaces I’m sure I’ve missed) have been too numerous to count. There are so many new reports and confessions every day that it’s pointless to talk about just one or even a few specifically.

Sammy Hagar Clarifies Comments About Going Back on Tour: Only When It's "Safe and Responsible"

Consequence of Sound: Sammy Hagar made headlines recently when he said he’d “rather personally get sick and even die, if that’s what it takes” to get the concert industry going again amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the veteran rocker is clarifying the extreme portion of his comments, while also saying he does want to get back on the road this year, if possible.

Music Fans Show Solidarity for Backstage Workers in Tel Aviv

LiveDesignOnline: A star-studded line of music stars and artists performed during a protest concert in Charles Clore Park, Tel Aviv, titled “Behind The Scenes: An Assembly of Solidarity” to draw attention to the plight of freelancers, backstage technicians and all the zero-hours contract workers in the Israeli event industry whose livelihoods have been decimated as the music and live event industry has been paused in the fight to control Covid-19.

⁠Cardin, Coons & Shaheen Introduce Legislation to Get Capital to Small Businesses Hardest Hit by COVID-19

LiveDesignOnline: U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-Md.), and Democratic Senators Chris Coons (Del.) and Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), senior members of the committee, introduced the Prioritized Paycheck Protection Program (P4) Act. A House companion was introduced by Democratic Reps. Angie Craig (MN-02) and Antonio Delgado (NY-19).

One of the (many) things that worry me most about the Broadway shutdown.

The Producer's Perspective: What’s going to happen to our workforce?

I’ll tell you what could happen. We could lose the very bright and creative personnel who we’re counting on to take Broadway to new heights.

The NY Times shared some of my nerve-iness in this article, where the writer talked about how so many NYC residents, especially the younger folks, fled NYC at the beginning the pandemic. And a huge subset of that group was from our very own arts and entertainment industry, since we laid off 78% of our workforce.

Performance Space New York Hands the Reins to Artists

Dance Magazine: When Performance Space New York artistic and executive director Jenny Schlenzka asked choreographer Sarah Michelson how they should commemorate the venue's 40th anniversary, Michelson joked that Schlenzka should just turn over the keys to a group of artists for the year.

Schlenzka took her seriously. Throughout 2020, control of Performance Space New York (previously known as P.S. 122) is being shared between the staff and a cohort of artists, who have offices and salaries.

Music Venues, Theaters Keeping Doors Shut As City Reopens: ‘More Cost-Effective To Stay Closed’

Block Club Chicago: Under the city’s guidelines for reopening, performance venues must limit indoor crowds to 25 percent capacity or 50 people, whichever number is smaller. A venue can have more than 50 people in a single theater if there are groups separated by balconies and if those groups have separate entrances and bathrooms.

If a venue were to open, rows or seats would be decommissioned to allow for social distancing. Masks would be required of guests and staff, but not performers on stage. The city also recommends the use of plexiglass between vocalists and wind instrument performers.

Is the Line Between Concert and Commercial Dance Finally Fading?

Dance Magazine: Dancer Stephanie Crousillat has had the kind of career that would make most artists swoon: She's worked with choreographers like Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Andrea Miller; performed in Sleep No More and on "Saturday Night Live"; been featured in a CoverGirl ad with Janelle Monáe; and danced in music videos for Paul McCartney, Alicia Keys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Most recently, she's in the cast of the new West Side Story revival on Broadway.

Chicago’s theaters won’t survive without relief

digitaledition.chicagotribune.com: If you walked into a Broadway In Chicago theater right now, you would see a single bulb lit on each of our stages. Referred to in the theatrical world as a ghost light, it barely illuminates sets frozen in time by the COVID-19 pandemic. Broadway In Chicago’s five theaters are among the city’s roughly 250 theaters that were the first businesses to close and likely will be the last to open during the pandemic.

Theater in the time of COVID-19: How area theaters and theater artists are coping during the pandemic

The Berkshire Edge: Over the past few weeks, I had the opportunity to talk with many of our south and central county-area theaters’ artistic directors, actors and designers about how they are faring during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. All seemed eager to convey to me how they’ve been finding unique ways to cope and thrive, creating a bulwark against the adverse effects of the shutdown.

Prepping a Scenic Shop to Return: a Conversation between Hudson Scenic and NYTW on Vimeo

vimeo.com: NYTW Production Manager Hillary Luong leads a conversation with Hudson Scenic's head Production Manager, Carrie Winkler, and its owner, Neil Mazzella. This conversation emerged naturally on a workplace safety committee call, and we thought it might be of use to anyone facing the task of bringing a scenic shop (or kin workplace) back online in light of COVID.

When There Isn’t a Bad Seat in the House (Because It’s a Car)

AMERICAN THEATRE: With the usual model of theatregoing currently out of the question most everywhere, a handful of theatres have taken a cue from an old concept: medieval pageant wagons. Only this time, instead of the artists driving from audience to audience, the audience drives from artist to artist.

The Alden Theatre in McLean, Va., and the Phoenix-based physical comediennes the Ladies are just two presenters experimenting with this socially distant notion of theatre in a COVID-19 world.

Storytelling adventures and critical hits

Exeunt Magazine: I’m sitting in the pub with my demon-pal Bollox, deciding whether to use acid blast against the dimension-shifting spider in the basement. It’s already a busy Wednesday, what with the resurrected skeletons and having technically died for 12 seconds, last thing I need is to damage our stockpile of wine.

The Art of Online Teaching with Peter Fisker

Techie Talk: At the end of 2019, after three years constantly on the road, Danish lighting, video and set designer Peter Fisker wanted to spend a bit more time at home!

Fortuitously … a part-time teaching post became available at EUC Nord in Frederikshavn, who needed a tutor for the lighting module of their well-known and respected Event Technician’s course.

The college administration asked if he was interested in applying, and he jumped at the chance as this would enable him to stay home part of the year … whilst also retaining the flexibility of touring and lighting shows via his design company, HeCameToEat.

100 playwrights and actors join forces in new theatre project challenging Australian identity

Stage | The Guardian: Richard Frankland, Nakkiah Lui and Suzie Miller are among 50 Australian playwrights joining forces with 50 actors including Miranda Tapsell, Jack Thompson and Tasma Walton to challenge Australia’s sense of identity post-coronavirus in a new series of plays.

Modelled on a project run out of Ireland’s Abbey Theatre, Australia’s national playwriting organisation Playwriting Australia has commissioned the writers to produce, for specific performers, a series of original monologues that “get to the heart of where our nation is and where it might go”.

Companies Are Rethinking Live Performance—and Coming Up With Many Creative Solutions

Dance Magazine: The desire to be back dancing in the flesh appears to be at a tipping point. The dance community took a hot minute to take to the digital airwaves. But returning to live performance requires more time as we need to consider the safety of the performers, the crew and the audience.

We all know it's safer to be outside and socially distanced, but that doesn't mean we are confined to an outdoor stage with chairs placed six feet apart.

How to Find the Best Candidate for the Job

SoundGirls.org: There’s been a lot of talk about equality, equity and diversity recently. I’ll discuss the pros and cons of a diverse workplace in my next blog (spoiler: they’re mainly pros), but first I want to tackle an idea that shuts discussion about diversity down before it even begins: “It should just be the best candidate for the job.” Of course, I am 100% in agreement with that sentiment, but unfortunately, as is so often the case in live audio, the theory does not match up with real life.

Canadian Musicians Coalition’s proposal on wages is modest and make sense

Globalnews.ca: The music world has been hit hard by the coronavirus. And while famous artists have the financial resources to tough it out, the vast majority of musicians aren’t just struggling. They’re hurting. Bad.

With the demise of physical music sales, there’s very little money to be made in selling CDs or vinyl and unless your songs stream millions of millions and millions of times, there’s not much to be earned there, either.

TV writers, like all of us, are developing a love-hate relationship with Zoom

Ars Technica: Every week now seems to bring news of another Hollywood project being delayed. Sometimes this is because you can't make money in an empty theater, but it's just as often due to production halts in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. While most of that industry hits pause for now, one crucial segment has not—the writers. Like many of us, they've instead become intimately familiar with the inner workings of on-the-job Zoom calls.

Oscars diversity requirements: The awards should require audio description for Best Picture nominees.

slate.com: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced last week that it will create a new set of “representation and inclusion standards” for potential Oscar nominees. Starting next year, movies will have to meet certain criteria—to be determined by a task force assembled by Academy President David Rubin—if they want to be eligible for Hollywood’s most prestigious prize.

AMC Changes Its Mind, Will Require Moviegoers to Wear Masks

gizmodo.com: After facing customer backlash, AMC, the largest movie theater chain in the U.S., decided on Friday that health was more important than politics and announced that it would require all moviegoers to wear face masks in its theaters.

Copyright Gets In The Way Of Chef Andres' 'Recipes For The People'; Because The DMCA Takedown System Is Still Broken

Techdirt: The details of the Chef Andrés' story are instructive of just how problematic the notice-and-takedown system is, and has been. He's been creating a bunch of amazing videos under the #RecipesForThePeople hashtag, where he and his daughters cook up simple meals that anyone can prepare at home during lockdown. You should watch them. They're a joy to watch. In each one, beyond cooking a relatively simple meal, he does it to music (often dancing and/or singing along while cooking).

Some Dance Companies Are Performing Again. But What Are the Risks of Reopening?

Dance Magazine: Though the idea of performing seems like a distant future in the United States, the first theaters are starting to reopen in Europe and Asia. The Hessian State Theater of Wiesbaden in Germany has even managed to put on new performances this month. But it's far from business as usual. Dancers perform staying six meters apart and they wear protective gloves if they touch the floor. Masks are compulsory for backstage crew members, who have to remain more than one meter from each other.

Macbeth in Harlem: Black Theater in America from the Beginning to Raisin in the Sun

New York Theater: Macbeth in Harlem: Black Theater in America from the Beginning to Raisin in the Sun, (Rutgers University Press, 246 pages) is an exercise in frustration, for two reasons.
Charles Mason’s survey of the first century and a half of Black Theater in America highlights some startling history, such as The African Grove Theatre.

Behind the Curtain: Interview With Darcy Kane - Dresser on MOULIN ROUGE!

www.broadwayworld.com: Due to the global health emergency, Broadway theaters have found their bright lights dimmed and their houses dark for the first time in history. As the world works together to stop the spread of COVID-19, the theater industry has been put on hold indefinitely - theaters around the world have closed their doors in compliance with social distancing rules, and Broadway has been shut down in full since March 13.

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down Statute Limiting IMDb’s Display of Actor Ages

Reason.com: In 2016, the State of California—at the behest of the Screen Actors Guild …—enacted Assembly Bill 1687 …, which prohibits a specified category of websites from publishing the ages and dates of birth of entertainment industry professionals. The statute appears to target a single entity: IMDb.com Inc….

The statute imposes two separate but closely related prohibitions.

You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught. Juneteenth 2020.

Drypigment.net: My mother was the first person who made history come alive for me. She was just a few credits shy of getting her doctorate at the University of Minnesota when life and work interfered with further academic intentions. In the 1950s, she took every history class that the university offered and graduated top of her class. She taught history and social studies classes at local schools, even developing the Brooklyn Center curriculum.