WeMakeEvents North America Advocates For The Restart Act and ExtendPUA.org In Over 50 Cities On September 1

LiveDesignOnline: It has come to our attention that a rumor has been circulated suggesting a postponement, or cancellation, of the highly anticipated #RedAlertRESTART event on Tuesday, September 1, 2020. “We’d like to assure everyone, this information is false, and has not come from anyone involved with our team. In fact, our momentum has been building steadily, with hundreds of sites already on board, and many more joining each day.

NexTech’s InfernoAR to host Virtual Conference at Carnegie Mellon Other OTC:NEXCF

www.globenewswire.com: NexTech AR Solutions (NexTech) (OTCQB: NEXCF) (CSE: NTAR) (FSE: N29), an emerging leader in augmented reality for eCommerce, AR learning applications, AR-enhanced video conferencing and virtual events is pleased to announce that Carnegie Mellon University has chosen NexTech’s InfernoAR platform for a virtual series beginning next month.

Piezo-Electric Valves for Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems

Hydraulics & Pneumatics: Piezo elements are electromechanical transducers that convert mechanical forces (pressure, tensile stress or acceleration) into voltages. The inverse piezoelectric effect, precisely the opposite, forces piezo elements to change shape when a voltage is applied to them. This lets them generate mechanical motion and be used as oscillators.

How to Use a Miter Saw: Training the Apprentice

Pro Tool Reviews: Thinking about a job in construction? Understanding how to use a miter saw for trim work gives you a leg up on one of the most basic job site skills. A miter saw works best for trim projects requiring accurate straight, beveled, and/or mitered cuts.

In its simplest form, the miter saw makes angled or mitered cuts across the face of a board. The most popular Pro models include sliding rails to increase the maximum width of the cut. That translates into the ability to cut wider boards.

Take It Outside! Fresh Air Venues for Safer Events

www.meetingsnet.com: According to preliminary Covid-19 research, outdoor meetings are safer than ones held in enclosed environments. Many hotels already offer terraces and patios, including a rooftop deck at the new Westin adjacent to the Anaheim Convention Center, and the 3,000-square-foot waterfront venue which will debut with the new JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District, but here are some unique and interesting recently-opened or in-the-works meeting venues where your guests can breathe easy.

Craftsman 20V Brushless Reciprocating Saw CMCS350B

PTR: Hitting the Craftsman V20 line comes the brushless Reciprocating Saw. With the addition of a brushless motor, Craftsman tells us that the new recip saw provides 75% more power than the last model, the brushed CMCS300B.

Audio Networking: An Introduction To Another Important Piece Of The Puzzle

ProSoundWeb: VLAN stands for virtual local area network. VLANs operate at Layer 2 on the OSI model (again, Part 2) and are a way of creating mostly isolated networks on a single set of physical cabling and switches. I say “mostly” because the traffic is isolated, but the VLANs share the same pool of bandwidth available on the switch, uplink interfaces, etcetera.

Milwaukee M18 FUEL Packout 2.5 Gallon Wet-Dry Vacuum

PTR: The Milwaukee Packout modular system might be the tippy top of what the industry has on offer for complete modular tool storage and transport solutions. And, with the addition of the Milwaukee M18 Fuel Packout Wet-Dry Vacuum (model 0970-20), the system looks like it’s now… completer.

Tome' Cousin Awarded Career Achievement Top Honor

www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama Associate Professor of Dance Tome' Cousin has been named the 2020 winner of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education's (ATHE) prestigious Ellen Stewart Career Achievement in Professional Theatre Award.

Factors that will change the future of live events

www.fastcompany.com: Over the years, corporate live events have transformed to include celebrity speakers, VIP access, exclusive private dinners, mobile-first ticketing, and a wide assortment of high production value add-ons—one of which being a film recording or, more recently, live streaming capabilities. But it wasn’t until the majority of the world went into quarantine that the concept of digital broadcasting went from being a cool addition to an in-person event to becoming its central focus.

US Music Venues Will Light Up Red on Sept. 1 to Demand Passage of The Restart Act

Billboard: Music venues across the U.S. will bathe their facilities in red light on Tuesday evening to encourage Congress to pass the Restart Act, which would provide much-needed assistance for millions of Americans who have lost income due to the pandemic.

Job diary: A day in the life of a professional bridesmaid

Business Insider: When I often tell people that I work as a bridesmaid for hire they almost immediately think that's just a fancy word for wedding planner.

But wedding planners are very different: They work on setting up the wedding and coordinating details of the look and feel of the whole celebration.

Commercials reopening in Hollywood but crews are worried

Los Angeles Times: For Lindsey Clough, June 15 was a memorable date. The wardrobe stylist celebrated her 38th birthday on the same day filming finally resumed after the COVID-19 pandemic had shut down production.

The Eagle Rock mother of two had spent nearly 100 days at home with her family, without even a visit to a grocery store. Then she was back on a South L.A. set filming a commercial for a big brand.

Apple plans augmented reality content to boost TV+ video service

Ad Age: Apple Inc. is planning to add augmented reality content to its Apple TV+ streaming video service, seeking new ways to attract and retain subscribers and drive interest in AR technology.

What Will We Do When Our World Returns?

TheatreArtLife My last day of work was March 13, 2020, and I’m still just as confused and anxious about it as the day our industry shut down. Since I was 15 years old, I have never gone this long without working, and I really just don’t know how to feel about it. I work in the arts because it feeds my soul, but can I afford that luxury anymore? Is it fair to ask me to get another job? Getting another job for me would mean getting another career, which would mean starting from zero, but I can’t afford to go back to school or pay for new training while I’m unemployed.

Broadway's Michael Campayno returns home to teach acting to students

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: For those who just “gotta sing, gotta dance,” there isn’t always an obvious path. Pittsburgh native and Broadway star Michael Campayno is trying to help clear the way.

Recreational Facilities Re-open - With Restrictions

www.cmu.edu/news: As Carnegie Mellon University prepares to welcome faculty, staff and students to campus for the fall semester, indoor and outdoor recreational and athletic facilities will re-open with a staggered and phased approach.

Sky Drama Temple Restarts Production on Season Two Amid COVID-19

Variety: Sky drama “Temple,” whose first season will soon debut stateside on Spectrum, was about to roll cameras in London on its second season when the pandemic struck. Liza Marshall, head of production company Hera Pictures, describes the measures taken in the last six months to get back on track.

Save Me A Seat

www.cmu.edu/news: When the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries' locations reopen for the fall semester, visitors will encounter many new changes, including modified seating arrangements, plexiglass barriers, restricted access to spaces and a new online seat reservation system.

‘The money’s handed out through a white filter’: First Nations performing arts fight for recognition

Indigenous art | The Guardian: With his rugby build and very physical style, choreographer Thomas E. S. Kelly prizes “ugly” dance moves, avoiding elegant leg lifts and toe points. The co-artistic director of Karul Projects also smashes stereotypes of traditional Indigenous dance: he rarely wears ochre and never has a didgeridoo on his soundtracks.

Escouade 99: Quebec actresses of Latin descent resist stereotypes

Montreal Gazette: Upon hearing about the controversy over Escouade 99, the Quebec version of American cop sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Julie Artacho decided “to do something positive.”

The new show, which launches Sept. 17 on Club Illico, cast white actresses in roles originally played by Melissa Fumero and Stephanie Beatriz, who are of Latin-American descent.

Free Kits for Students Put the ‘Well’ in Welcome

www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University is providing a free Wellness Kit to each student living on or off campus in preparation for the fall semester. The Wellness Kit contains two CMU-branded cloth facial coverings, a 3.38-ounce bottle of hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, a digital thermometer, a card summarizing A Tartan’s Responsibility and use and care instructions for the facial coverings.

Watch: Producers and Executives Discuss the Reality of Production During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Filmmaker Magazine: People are shooting again. And as film production lurches forward amidst a mass of new protocols and restrictions, Film Finances has brought together members of their own working group — both company executives and producers — as well as producers who have been working in the field to discuss shooting in the age of coronavirus.

Behind the Curtain of a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry That’s on Red Alert

www.fireplay.com: Six months ago, I stood in the middle of Bridgestone Arena in Nashville surrounded by over 15,000 screaming fans, scores of country music artists, and record company executives for the opening night of Dan + Shay the Arena Tour. Little did I know it would be the last time I attended a concert in 2020…and likely the last time we got to create a show in the music industry as we knew it.

Celebrating 10 Years Of Rosco Spectrum Blogs

www.rosco.com: In August of 2010, we published our first Spectrum blog post. We weren’t sure what we wanted our blog to be at the time, which is why our first blog post ended up being about me – your host, Joel Svendsen. Since then, we have published almost 500 blog posts! Most of them describe how creative people have put our products to work creating brilliant projects all around the world. The idea was that our Spectrum blog stories might inspire others to work with Rosco so that we could create something brilliant together with them too. I humbly believe we have accomplished that.

Mattress Factory delves into the fantastic and macabre with two new exhibitions

Visual Art | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: No two exhibits could be more different than The Museum of Everything by Jennifer Angus and Feeling The Spirit In The Dark by Pittsburgh's own Shikeith. And yet they occupy the same space, the Mattress Factory's Monterey Annex, which, much like the rest of the museum, opened recently after months of being shut down by the pandemic.

Theater Operator Sues Insurers That Denied It Coronavirus Payments

The New York Times: Jujamcyn Theaters, the operator of five Broadway houses, has sued its insurers for denying it millions of dollars that the theater company says it deserves as payment for the losses suffered during the monthslong coronavirus pandemic shutdown.

'Bill & Ted Face the Music' Costume Breakdown

Variety: Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are back for another excellent adventure in “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” hitting theaters and digital platforms on Aug. 28. This time, the time-traveling, middle-aged best friends journey out in search of one song that will unite the world.

Why Aren't U.K. Cultural Consultants Paid Fairly by the Industry?

Variety: Diversity and inclusion have become a mandate for businesses trying to build representative workplaces and improve the experience for marginalized individuals. But when COVID-19 hit the U.K. in March, schemes focused on this area were often the first casualties of cost-cutting.

3D Printering: The World Of Non-Free 3D Models Is Buyer Beware

Hackaday: There are more free 3D models online than one can shake a stick at, but what about paid models? Hosting models somewhere and putting a buy button in front of the download is certainly a solved problem, but after spending some time buying and printing a variety of non-free 3D models online, it’s clear that there are shortcomings in the current system.

A day in the life of a custom balloon installations artist

Business Insider: I've always agreed with Winnie the Pooh: "No one can be uncheered with a balloon." Lucky enough for me, after years of working in the wedding industry I was able to walk away from my corporate job, fully embrace my love of balloons, and turn my side hustle of creating balloon installations into a full-time job.

Circus shows cancelled due to COVID-19

vietnamnet.vn: The union’s premier event of seven shows featuring circus and puppet performances, to be staged by 30 young and veteran artists in Da Nang City this month, has been cancelled.

More than 30 shows, scheduled in cities and provinces of Thanh Hoa, Ha Long, Quang Binh, Nghe An and Hanoi in July, August and September, have also been cancelled.

The Mirage has returned, minus its famous entertainment array

Las Vegas Weekly: When the Mirage reopens this week after more than five months of COVID-caused closure, it will do so without the feature that has set the iconic resort apart from other Strip casinos in recent years—a truly eclectic portfolio of live entertainment options.

After reopening eight properties on the Strip in June and July, MGM Resorts announced on August 14 that the Mirage would come back to life on August 27, leaving only Park MGM still shuttered among the company’s Las Vegas resorts.

Equity Signs Off On Indoor Productions in Connecticut, Vermont, and New Jersey

www.broadwayworld.com: As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Weathervane Theatre and Actors' Equity Association announced today that Weathervane will be the first theatre since COVID-19 to mount a full-fledged production indoors in front of an audience featuring members of the union.

The New York Times is reporting that Equity has also signed off on some additional indoor productions on the East Coast.

Intimacy Direction in the Time of Physical Distance

HowlRound Theatre Commons: The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into question how to make physical storytelling in an age of physical distancing. This time of uncertainty and unrest has also highlighted the systemic imbalances prevalent in the performing arts—such as who gets to make and be paid for their art, and who is kept on the sidelines, forced back into waiting tables for maskless customers.

Connecticut's Flagship Producing Theaters Call for Financial Relief

www.broadwayworld.com: Connecticut's Flagship Producing Theaters issued an appeal to Governor Ned Lamont on July 15, 2020, requesting relief to continue their daily operations with hopes of safely reopening when restrictions are lifted.

As vital financial and cultural contributors to Connecticut's economy, CFPT is a consortium of Tony Award-winning nonprofit institutions - comprising the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Goodspeed Musicals, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Westport Country Playhouse, and Yale Repertory Theatre - collectively overcome by nearly $12M in lost revenue resultant of COVID-19.

Kansas drummer Phil Ehart on coronavirus concert halt hardships

www.cnbc.com: Phil Ehart — drummer, founder and manager of Kansas — told CNBC on Tuesday that the halt in concerts due to the coronavirus has had a chilling effect for the entire live entertainment industry.

“We’re all sitting at home. ... There’s zero income,” Ehart said in a “Squawk Box” interview. “We’re stranded.”

How Billy Porter Filled In for Henrik in A Little Night Music

Playbill: It is almost September. I was thinking of that saying “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” and I changed it to “If a summer happens and I don’t do any of the things I normally do in the summer, did it actually happen?” Every summer for years, I do one or two Broadway cruises and I spend almost every weekend performing shows in Provincetown. Well, I haven’t done a cruise since February and I haven’t set foot in Provincetown. Yet, next week is September. Or is it?

Unemployment Is Rampant. So This Theater Is Giving Freelancers Money.

The New York Times: The Public Theater, a leading Off Broadway nonprofit, is giving small grants to several hundred freelance artists as many grapple with the impact of joblessness and expiring unemployment benefits.

Capitol Theatre – New London, CT

After the Final Curtain: George Burns and Gracie Allen are one of the most well-known comedy duos of the 20th century, and legend has it that they met at the Capitol Theatre in New London, CT. This isn’t true, but they were introduced by Allen’s roommate at the time, Rena Arnold, who went on to marry Walter T. Murphy, the owner of the Capitol Theatre.

What Will College Dance Departments Look Like in a COVID-19 World?

Dance Magazine: When COVID-19 first shut down college campuses in March, most students and faculty assumed things would be back to normal by the fall. But as the summer winds down and the coronavirus still rages in much of the country, colleges are faced with the challenge of deciding how to train their dance students safely and effectively.

'They're in love with no physical contact': the socially distanced Sleepless in Seattle

Musicals | The Guardian: Kimberley Walsh and Jay McGuiness have spent the first part of their morning standing in a theatre foyer, waiting for their daily Covid-19 clearance before entering the auditorium for rehearsals.

They are at Troubadour Wembley Park theatre in London, which is putting on the first socially distanced, indoor production of musical theatre since venues went dark in March and it is quite an operation.

The coronavirus changed nightlife: Will bars and clubs open again?

Vox: Fairly early in the pandemic, when it was becoming clear that the coronavirus would change our lives in myriad ways for the long term, an LA creative studio called Production Club unveiled an invention for our times: a full-body protective suit for clubgoers.

Dubbed the Micrashell, it is a human prophylactic, enveloping wearers’ heads, fingers, and feet. The helmet is the crowning touch, surrounding the face with the sort of soft, clear plastic your grandmother might cover her furniture with.

The 2020 Pandemic: Impact Of COVID-19 On The Live Events Industry

LiveDesignOnline: The live events industry has essentially been shuttered since March 2020. Five months with very little to absolutely no activity, from Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional theatre to opera, dance, classical music, concerts, tradeshows, festivals…all of the places where the live events industry thrives; where entertainment design and technology are put to use.

Milwaukee M18 Fuel Cordless Framing Nailer Review

Pro Tool Reviews: The Milwaukee M18 Fuel cordless framing nailers (2744-21 and 2745-21) hit store shelves back in June 2020. They put out both 21-degree and 30-degree models that work identically save for the nails used. We only wish it would have been here in time for our best framing nailer shootout.

This Enormous T. Rex Made In SculptrVR Took 700 Hours To Print

uploadvr.com: After roughly 700 hours on his 3D printer and the addition of spray-painted detail, the absolute unit of a T. Rex — 1-meter tall and 1-meter long — may go in a corner of his living room set up to look like it is breaking through the wall.

It looks fairly menacing when you see it to scale next to Clark.

Australian theatres nervously reopen with mandatory masks and temperature checks

Theatre | The Guardian: Sydney Theatre Company has announced it is ready to open the doors of the Roslyn Packer theatre and present its first show since March.

Wonnangatta, a new drama written by the award-winning Melbourne playwright Angus Cerini and featuring the actors Hugo Weaving and Wayne Blair, will play from 21 September to 31 October in a socially distanced production for audiences numbering no more than 147 (the Roslyn Packer can usually seat 880 patrons).

'Love In The Time Of Corona' Stars On The Truth And Light Of Making Art Amid Pandemic

90.5 WESA: A new show, called "Love in the Time of Corona," is a series of interwoven stories about people in quarantine trying to find love and stay connected. And the cast are actual couples, families or friends, in real life, who have been quarantining together during the pandemic.

How to Use Storytelling When Facts Fail to Convince Someone

lifehacker.com: Not all arguments are worth your time and energy. In some cases—like when someone fundamentally disagrees with you—there’s nothing you can say or do to change their mind. But in other instances, it’s entirely possible to make your case and get someone to agree with (or at least understand) your point of view.

First live local theater since COVID is a new-normal 'Next to Normal'

DC Metro Theater Arts: We chose Next to Normal to be our inaugural production back in January, and had no idea at the time how prescient a choice that would turn out to be. As a brand-new theater company with limited resources, we wanted a piece that could be told with minimal sets, props, costumes, and choreography.

Do’s and Don’ts of Virtual Experiences

Immersology: In the face of an ongoing pandemic, Strange Bird Immersive has elected to keep our doors closed. To help us make rent, we’ve pivoted to creating virtual experiences.

I am eager to report that Zoom can indeed deliver the thrill of immersive theatre.

'World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji' EP Breaks Down the Race

Variety: The 11 day, 416-mile “world’s toughest race” is back. After an 18-year hiatus realty tv mastermind Mark Burnett resurrected the “Eco-Challenge” for new audiences on Amazon Prime Video. Set in Fiji, this epic quest invited 66 teams from across the globe to compete against each other and the elements through oceans, rivers, jungles and up mountainsides.

Movie Theaters' Coronavirus Safety Protocols

Variety: As cinemas welcome back audiences this summer, the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) is introducing a set of health protocols that it claims will keep customers safe from COVID-19.

The Discernable History of Camouflage

www.heddels.com: Heddels regulars might know we’ve covered camouflage a little bit over the years, but with fall coming up and everyone wanting to hide from the world a little bit more than usual, we thought an in-depth primer on the subject was in order. Blending into your surroundings is no new concept, so read on for a dive into its history and cultural associations.

City Theatrical Talks Godspell with Lighting Designer Matthew E. Adelson

LiveDesignOnline: Matthew E. Adelson is a lighting designer for theater, musical theater, dance, opera, concerts and live events. His work includes long collaborative relationships with the Berkshire Theater Group, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and Burning Coal Theater (Raleigh, NC), as well as many productions in New York and regionally. Recent projects include the first production to be presented in 2020 in a COVID-19 safe environment, Godspell, at Berkshire Theatre Group’s Colonial Theatre Tent in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Houston lost 42,500 creative industry jobs and $1.6 billion in sales in 4 months

The Kinder Institute for Urban Research: A new report measuring the damage done to America’s creative economy by COVID-19 shows the South, Texas and Houston are among the most devastated. At the metropolitan level, the Houston area is the largest metro suffering the worst losses.

Time for a Change: What If We Cut the Long Hours?

AMERICAN THEATRE: In late July, Baltimore Center Stage artistic director Stephanie Ybarra initiated some big steps to change her theatre’s practices in line with some of the anti-racist demands leveled by the We See You White American Theater movement, among them eliminating “10 out of 12” technical rehearsals—a practice that generally saw actors called to start rehearsal at noon, then released from rehearsal at midnight, with a two-hour dinner break in between—as well as a move to a five-day rehearsal week instead of the traditional six-day week and a commitment to pay playwrights for their time in rehearsal, among other changes. These, according to a press release, were steps intended to “dismantle the systemic exclusion and oppression of BIPOC artists, administrators, producers, and executives in the theatre industry.”

Theater in fall 2020: Creativity finds a way, despite pandemic

Datebook: Director, choreographer and performer Nikki Meñez, who’s also the YouthAware program director at New Conservatory Theatre Center, was supposed to make her main-stage directing debut with that company this year, helming “The Law of Attraction” by Patricia Milton.

Dancer, performance artist and activist Jose E. Abad, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, ought to have been at the art center Ponderosa in Stolzenhagen, Germany, in August, attending Color Block, a healing retreat and residency for artists of color that Abad has attended for several years.

Miami City Ballet's Pop-Up Studio Gives Dancers and the Community a Chance to Enjoy Ballet Again

Pointe: Go shopping on Miami Beach's popular Lincoln Road on a given weekday afternoon and you'll be in for a special surprise: a handful of Miami City Ballet dancers spinning and leaping in the windows of what was once a retail store. The company's new pop-up studio, which started mid-July, offers an exciting way for both MCB dancers and the local community to enjoy ballet while observing social-distancing regulations.

Hamilton’s Australian producers say social distancing will be a ‘deal-breaker’

Hamilton | The Guardian: For musical theatre fans, the recent update that a waitlist for pre-sale tickets to Hamilton in Sydney would open from Monday 23 August is about the most exciting thing to happen in months.

People are losing their minds over these tickets. Not since The Book of Mormon opened in Australia in 2017 has there been a more hotly anticipated show.

The pandemic popped the balloon drop. Here's why we might not miss it

CANVAS Arts: For decades worth of convention-goers, an indoor blizzard of red, white and blue has been an indelible showstopper. When thousands of balloons cascade to the floor, it’s a moment when pure spectacle takes over political persuasion.

Museums Show the Power of Themed Entertainment Design

www.themeparkinsider.com: The three projects featured today demonstrated immersive placemaking, special effects, storytelling, and interaction — elements that most fans associate with theme park attractions but increasingly are becoming tools for education in museums, as well.

In Las Vegas, the show cannot go on

CNN: In those long-ago days of early 2020, business was cranking for Adam Flowers, a former street magician with an enterprising mind.
The owner of a Las Vegas tour business that includes ghost and mob tours, Flowers had just teamed up with 81-year-old Frank Cullotta, an admitted former hitman for the mob. They parlayed Cullotta's violent crimes of the past -- which Cullotta says included murder -- into a schtick, creating a YouTube channel called "Coffee with Cullotta." It racked up thousands of views, which in turn drove visitors to the physical tour.

Designing Doesn’t Stop, Even When Stage Shows Do

The New York Times: Theater seats are empty, orchestra pits mute and the stages — bare and undressed, or still wearing last season’s fashions. Among those in the theater industry rocked by the pandemic are the scenic artists who create the environment and aesthetic that defines the works onstage. And though right now the shows can’t go on, the designers still must, and many are finding innovative ways to stay busy.

Move In, Move Out: For In-Person College, Everything Rests On The First Few Weeks

90.5 WESA: The excitement in the air at the University of Georgia is palpable, with move-in days for the fall semester finally here. There are packed cars, overstuffed suitcases, a white shag rug, an old grey futon and a potted succulent named Susie.

But nestled between the familiar college accessories were stark reminders of the coronavirus pandemic: Boxes of cleaning supplies. Masks. Hand sanitizer.

Column: After this awful 2020, it just makes sense to start a theater season in January — this is our chance to change

www.msn.com/en-us/news: 2020: Annus Horribilis? The Worst Year Ever? If you are in the business of live entertainment, or consider the arts to be the bedrock of life in a great urban center, I will wager you’re all in with that.

But here’s another of the year’s fascinating potential legacies: the permanent destruction of the traditional cultural season that begins in the fall and concludes in the spring or early summer.

Hundreds of entertainers gather in solidarity on the Las Vegas Strip

KLAS: Shows on the Las Vegas Strip are dark, and the performers and entertainers are suffering. Tonight, many gathered on the Strip to send a unique message to lawmakers.

Las Vegas is known as the entertainment capital, and the entertainment industry employs thousands of people. Right now, those who work in it say they want more done to help people get back to work.

Russian Ballet Returned to the Stage. Then a Covid Outbreak Hit.

The New York Times: For the past three weeks, the Mariinsky Ballet, one of Russia’s most renowned companies, led the dance world in showing how ballet could return to the stage.

It hosted galas at its St. Petersburg theaters, featuring solos and duets performed by dancers who had undergone weekly tests for coronavirus.

Five shows in 24 hours: return to theatre is a rush for actors and audiences

Theatre | The Guardian: ‘We’ve got to do that again in an hour,” one of us says between panting gasps. We were soaked with water from a slapstick bucket fight – it had seemed a good idea in rehearsal three days before. Ninety minutes of Comedy of Errors carried by just four actors. A theatrical couch-to-10k without any training in between. Literally from the couch.

Senator Chuck Schumer Co-Sponsors Save Our Stages Act

www.broadwayworld.com: U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer today announced at a press conference that he is co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation aimed at providing relief to independent live venues, promoters and festivals across the nation. Since the pandemic shutdowns began in March, music venues, comedy clubs, and festivals have been shuttered with no revenue, high overhead and no timeline for when they can fully reopen.

The New Antitheatrical Prejudice

HowlRound Theatre Commons: After years of continuing to study and work in the theatre, I’ve come to realize this disdain is actually nothing new. The market-based arguments against theatre are contemporary manifestations of a longstanding cultural opposition to theatrical activity—one based on flawed premises.

Berkeley Rep actors allege contract violations, union failures, following hastily written streaming agreement

Datebook: The cast of “School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play” got an email at 12:07 a.m. telling them to report to work at Berkeley Repertory Theatre that day, on what was supposed to be their one day off that week — the first violation of their contract that cast members Santoya Fields and Omozé Idehenre would later allege.

Costumer Mona May Breaks Down Looks of “Romy and Michelle”

Variety: Costume designer Mona May is responsible for many iconic looks that came out of the ‘90s. The designer is behind the clothes of Cher in “Clueless,” “Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion” and “Never Been Kissed.”

Her credits span 66 films and to this day, her looks are recreated at costume parties every year and on TikTok.

SAG-AFTRA's Unite for Strength Opposes Rising Healthcare Costs

Variety: “Nothing is as personal or emotionally charged as our health and the peace of mind that comes with having quality healthcare at an affordable price,” the Unite for Strength faction said in an email to members sent Monday. “Like you, we were shaken by the changes announced by the Health Plan last week. In the midst of an escalating pandemic, the timing could not be worse. The potential of reduced, or even lost coverage, is painful and frightening. The timing is particularly harsh when almost all of us are out of work.”

Signature Course: Global Histories

www.cmu.edu: In Global Histories, first-year students from across campus learn about democracies spanning a time period of more than 2,000 years, from Rome to France, Germany, Japan, China and Iran. More than just a history class, the course teaches students critical thinking, writing and the fundamentals of democratic systems.

The Black Artists Coalition announced to bring fair and equitable practices to DC-area theatres

dctheatrescene.com: The BAC was formed in response to the increasing awareness of both macro- and microaggressions that have more often than not tainted Black artists’ experience in the performing arts industry for centuries, the organization stated in today’s press release.

'Watchmen,' 'Westworld' Costume Designers Inspired by History

Variety: Whether it was the dystopian society of “The Handmaid’s Tale” or the alternate history of “Watchmen,” the Emmy nominated costume designers in the fantasy/sci-fi category sought to ground their looks in reality. This meant relying on historical research, such as art and photo references of specific time periods, to help transport audiences into different worlds, and to convey emotion through their designs.

Zerina Ayers Breaks Down Beyonce's Key Looks in 'Black is King'

Variety: Beyonce’s visual album “Black Is King,” now streaming on Disney Plus, is truly a visual feast, filled with fashion moments to celebrate as it celebrates Blackness, motherhood and womanhood. It’s a celebration of Black ancestry and Black diaspora.

Greenlee GRE-6 Cable Termination Tool

A Tool for All Occasions | PTR: If you look for versatility in your electrical tools, the Greenlee GRE-6 Interchangeable Head 6-in-1 Cable Termination Tool has you covered. This 6-ton hydraulic tool has six interchangeable tool head options to cut wire, crimp connectors, and punch electrical boxes.

Can white arts leaders become anti-racist "accomplices"?

DC Metro Theater Arts: Recently, during an interview with Nicole Brewer, founder of Anti-Racist Theatre, I learned about the Arts Administrators of Color Network’s Accomplices Leadership Institute (ALI). As a member of ALI’s national steering committee, Nicole was excited about ALI as an incredible resource of skilled facilitators to support and guide white theatermakers in doing the internal and external work of dismantling white supremacy in the arts.

Column: ‘Jesus Christ Superstar' live musical in London

Chicago Tribune: The actors came out with fabric covering their faces, each one apart from another. They found their socially distant marks and drove away the threatening rain clouds over their heads. A tense silence fell. And then the orchestra, so physically separate that the situation required the pitching of a special tent scores of feet away, began to play perhaps the most famous three notes in the almighty canon of rock opera, as birthed in the Year of Our Lord, 1970.

Big changes coming to Children’s Museum after allegations of discrimination

New Pittsburgh Courier: Following an open letter to the museum by former employees, many of whom are Black, alleging racist and discriminatory acts by the museum’s leadership, the museum has added a diversity and inclusion committee to its executive board, will hold engagement sessions with the community to help the museum become more of a model of racial justice, and is hiring a manager to oversee its Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion (DEAI) efforts.

Discover the Magical Interactive World of Art Collective, Meow Wolf

mymodernmet.com: The Santa Fe-based art collective Meow Wolf believes that creativity can change the world. What started in 2008 as a small group of passionate creatives who wanted to give back to their community has grown into a team of over 200 full-time employees and hundreds of other collaborators with the same vision.

Celebrity-backed VR Destination 'Sandbox VR' Falters as US Subsidiary Files for Bankruptcy

Road to VR: Virtual reality arcades and other out-of-home VR destinations have been some of the worst affected businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sandbox VR, one of the most well-funded in the industry, has been no exception, as the company’s US-based subsidiary filed for bankruptcy recently.

SAG-AFTRA Health Plan Changes Opposed by Petition With 11,000 People

Variety: More than 11,400 people have asked trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan to overturn recently announced changes that will cut eligibility for the plan on Jan. 1.

The petition at change.org — titled “Overturn the changes made to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan” — noted that the changes are being imposed amid the pandemic and characterized them as “unconscionable.”

"Le Reve" to Close Permanently at Wynn Las Vegas

vitalvegas.com: The inside word is the popular show at Wynn Las Vegas, “Le Reve,” will close permanently.

“Le Reve” is water-based, Cirque-style show (no association with Cirque du Soleil) and has been closed for several months due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Protect Yourself Before Your Federal Student Loan Servicer Changes

twocents.lifehacker.com: Earlier this month, the Department of Education released new details about its upcoming student loan servicer overhaul. The department first announced these sweeping changes in a June press release—including its contracts with five new student loan servicers.

Pittsburgh Ballet's New Artistic Director Explores Live Dance During A Pandemic

90.5 WESA: Susan Jaffe didn’t merely start work as artistic director at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre during the coronavirus pandemic: She actually was still involved in the interview process in the pandemic’s early days. And after she was offered the position, in March, she worried about moving to Pittsburgh and taking on her new role in the midst of a huge public-health crisis.

Playwright Jeremy O. Harris doesn’t miss ‘theater in a building’

PBS NewsHour: How will theater weather the pandemic? Especially in its more fearless forms, it will always adapt to reach audiences, said Jeremy O. Harris.

“The voices that will matter the most right now will be the voices that are radical and that are finding a way to make their voice heard no matter what,” Harris, the playwright and actor behind “Slave Play,” told the PBS NewsHour. “They don’t need a building.”

The Covid funding for UK theatres must do more than just allow them to survive

Rufus Norris | Opinion | The Guardian: On 5 July the government announced a £1.57bn recovery fund to protect arts, culture and heritage from the devastating effects of coronavirus. Of that, £500m will be distributed as emergency grants to organisations by Arts Council England, with a further £270m as loans.

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust launches Art Connects Us relief fund to survive pandemic

Features | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has launched a critical relief fund campaign aimed at sustaining the many Downtown Pittsburgh arts and cultural venues that it champions.

The campaign, called Art Connects Us, is seeking financial support after five months of canceled events has left the Trust in a dire situation.

Develop Your Painting Skillsets With Rosco’s New Scenic Sets

www.rosco.com: No matter if you’re a student or a professional scenic painter – all artists need a way to experiment and hone their craft. That’s the purpose of Rosco’s new Scenic Sets, which will be available in North America this fall. We worked with a panel of professional scenic artists and professors to develop eight different practice kits that would provide colors and materials for exploring different scenic paint techniques.

What Immigrant Theatre Can Teach Us About Perseverance and Adaptation During Challenging Times

The Theatre Times: Creating live theatre performance during the COVID-19 pandemic is tremendously complicated. At Arlekin Players Theatre, a resilient Needham-based Massachusetts theatre company with Russian roots, challenges are turned into opportunities, as Igor Golyak and Darya Denisova extend the run of their interactive online production of State vs Natasha Banina.

Hope Azeda And Her Art That Heals

The Theatre Times: “Theatre in Rwanda? Are you crazy? There’s no theatre in Rwanda,” said Hope Azeda’s brother when she asked him to take her to Rwanda. Hope, now a monumental figure in Rwanda’s theatre, was intent on seeing a Government official who had promised her support to make theatre in the small East African country. Despite her brother’s misgivings, Hope wore hope like a second skin.

Steiner Studios to Open Second Film and TV Production Facility in Brooklyn

WSJ: New York-based Steiner Studios has signed a deal to build a multimillion-dollar film and television production facility in Brooklyn, a major commitment at a time of economic uncertainty for New York City.

The agreement marks the film and television studio’s first expansion beyond the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where the company has operated a 780,000-square-foot production facility since 2004 and hosted shows including Amazon’s “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire.”

NBA Returns: Audio in the Bubble Features Mics From Floor to Ceiling

www.sportsvideo.org: Describing the audio infrastructure as “the most challenging and complex” ever undertaken for an NBA season, Dave Grundtvig, lead A1 for Turner Sports’ coverage of the league’s compressed and strange season, is still tweaking the games’ sounds over a week into play.

Cincinnati Shakespeare in the Park releases summer schedule

www.cincinnati.com: The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company has released its summer schedule just in time for the first weekend of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the park.

The 2020 Shakespeare in the Park schedule offers free performances in a variety of mediums: outdoors, at drive ins, on the radio and streamed online.

Walt Disney World and Equity Settle COVID-Fueled Feud

www.backstage.com: Walt Disney World in Orlando announced Aug. 12 that it will be providing an on-site COVID testing center for employees and their families. This announcement came after more than a month of back-and-forth between the mouse and Actors’ Equity Association, which had called for Disney to provide its employees with COVID testing, in order to ensure the safety of Equity members who work in the park. Disney World initially reacted to that request by not re-hiring the 750 union members it normally employs.

U.K. Opens First Socially Distanced Venue, With 500 Viewing Platforms

Variety: The first official socially distanced venue to open in the U.K. since the pandemic began held its first concert Tuesday night, with 2,500 fans gathering on 500 separate elevated platforms placed on a racing track field.

Sam Fender headlined the first of two sold-out shows at what has been dubbed the Virgin Money Unity Arena, a pop-up amphitheater on the grounds of Gosforth Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Each of the pens, spaced two meters apart, held a maximum of five people each.

Tyler Perry works his creativity and his financial might to get the cameras rolling again

CNN: One of the industries that was brought to a grinding halt by the coronavirus pandemic has been the entertainment industry. Broadway stays dark, concert halls big and small sit empty, and television and film production have been on perma-pause. This, at a time when many people are looking for something new to distract them.

How New Zealand's COVID-19 Return Affects Avatar, Lord of the Rings

Variety: As the magical creatures of Middle Earth prepare to resume venturing through Auckland, New Zealand, for Amazon’s “Lord of the Rings” prequel series, the mythical world of Pandora has been bursting into life for James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequels in Wellington, just one hour’s flight south. Meanwhile, on the South Island, stars like Viggo Mortensen are planning to embark on “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” in Dunedin, while a game-changing production studio has been proposed for Christchurch.

Will America's Roadside Attractions Survive COVID-19?

Travel | Smithsonian Magazine: Years ago, long before COVID-19 kept us all home, I drove from Los Angeles to New York City with a friend. We took off that first day with every intention of following a route that took us northward, through Chicago. About an hour into the trip we suddenly realized that heading north wasn’t possible. We simply could not live with ourselves if we drove across the country and didn’t stop to visit Graceland, Elvis’ home in Memphis. After all, what’s a road trip without the stops?

Disney World Performers to Return to Work After Reaching Deal With Disney

Variety: Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents more than 51,000 actors and stage managers, including around 750 Disney live performers, has reached an agreement with the Walt Disney Company for its performers to return to work at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., as the company sets up a COVID-19 testing site outside of the park. But even that memorandum of understanding has prompted further points of contention between the conglomerate and the actors’ union.

Photos: Meow Wolf's interactive grocery store in Las Vegas

www.fastcompany.com: The experience economy may feel perpetually stalled during the coronavirus pandemic, but Meow Wolf is betting on a quick recovery. The Santa Fe, New Mexico, arts collective, known for its psychedelic live events, is plowing ahead with its newest permanent installation—an interactive grocery store that blends narrative storytelling, technical wizardry, and commerce.

How to lead great meetings in hybrid workspaces

www.avinteractive.com: We’ve all gotten used to doing quick calls and hopping on video for a chat. However what about the big meetings, when you need your team to be engaged? How can you make sure everyone is involved and you avoid the dreaded “could this not have been said in an email?”

Meet ‘Black Is King’s’ floral designer. How Maurice Harris uses flowers for justice

outline.com: A week after the shocking and brutal killing of George Floyd, Maurice Harris found himself holding a pickax, digging furiously into the dirt field outside his Echo Park apartment for the first time in 16 years. As protests sprang up across the country, Harris desperately needed an outlet for his inner rage.

Restarting live events in a post-COVID world

Insurance Business: Live events, which were once staples of modern society, vanished overnight as COVID-19 spread across the world earlier this year. In an attempt to slow down the virus, governments banned concerts, sporting events, conferences, and other similar gatherings. As a result, organizers suffered massive financial losses, with no clear end in sight even to this day.

Dance fans can stay socially distant during The Pillow Project's Thought Pockets pop-up performance

Dance | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: In a time when live performances have been put on hold or moved online, Pearlann Porter of The Pillow Project realized her modern dance company could still bring one work to the public — Thought Pockets.

Are Malawi Theatre Groups Underpricing Their Shows to Extinction?

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Recently in Malawi, before artists began coping with lockdown conditions, a debate arose in the Arts Entrepreneurs Portal, a WhatsApp group made up mostly of theatre practitioners. Someone had sent an image of a poster for a performance at an arts school that had been charging both students and the general public MK 500, which equals 68 cents in USD.

Hologram Machine Will Let Us Visit Friends and Revive the Dead

Nerdist: PORTL Inc., a Los Angeles-based tech company, has just revealed its AI-enabled “StoryFile X Epic PORTL” hologram projection machine. The machine, which looks like a cyberpunk telephone booth, aims to allow people to visit each other as realistic holograms. PORTL also says the hologram machines will be used to bring historical figures and dead relatives back to life.

U.K. Live Events Industry Declares 'Red Alert'

Variety: The U.K. live events industry has declared a ‘Red Alert Day’ on Aug. 11 to raise awareness of its dire situation in the wake of COVID-19 and lobby for sustained government support.

This Drive-Through Haunted House in Japan Looks Horrifying

Nerdist: If you’re anything like me, the COVID-19 pandemic has you anxious about a lot of things. And though it’s trivial, one of those things is Halloween—among the most communal of all holidays. The spooky seasonal event involves parties and gatherings and, best of all, haunted houses, where actors dressed up in clothes jump out and scare the pants off of you. It’s great!

Stagehands rally for $600 federal unemployment benefit extension in Grand Rapids

www.msn.com: Not far from concert and entertainment venues where they would typically work, stagehands and other union workers from the industry gathered in support of the federal government’s enhanced unemployment benefit.

WTF Next

Exeunt Magazine: Like many drawn to theatre as a space in which to practise alternative ways of living together – not just to dream up new futures but begin to inhabit them in the present – I spend a lot of time feeling disappointed and dispirited by the realities of the sector. It has great people in it, people who genuinely care and transform lives with their work, but its institutional structures are indomitably capitalist, with all the inequalities and concern for product over people that implies.

The Impossible Stream: Why You Can't Just Stream the Lincoln Center Archive

www.broadwayworld.com: After cultural institutions the globe over were forced to shut their doors due to COVID-19, theatre professionals and fans quickly sprung into action, tirelessly dreaming up new ways to get their theatre fix, or more crucially, to generate revenue in unprecedented times.

Fern Mallis, Coco Rocha, and Rebecca Minkoff on future of fashion show

Business Insider: The coronavirus pandemic has thrown just about every industry for a loop — but in the fashion world, it may have only hastened a change that was already coming.

When shutdowns started, aiming to curb the spread of the virus, brands had to pivot if they wanted to maintain some semblance of normalcy.

Neil Young’s Lawsuit Against The Trump Campaign Ventures Into Legally Uncharted Territory

www.forbes.com: Since announcing his candidacy for president in 2015, Donald Trump has been using Neil Young’s songs in his political rallies—despite consistent objections from the artist. This week, Young filed suit against the Trump reelection campaign to prevent his music from being used “as a ‘theme song’ for a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate.”

Berskshire 'Godspell' opens as a test for COVID-era theater

Los Angeles Times: It’s a musical theater production like no other, in a summer season like no other.

Masked audience members had their temperatures taken. Actors had their noses swabbed three times a week during rehearsals.

Now, opening night for Stephen Schwartz’s “Godspell” is finally here. Except not in the Berkshire Theatre Group’s 780-seat Colonial Theatre but in a 100-seat tent in a parking lot next door, with plenty of room to breathe easy.

What Will We Do When Our World Returns?

SoundGirls.org: My last day of work was March 13, 2020, and I’m still just as confused and anxious about it as the day our industry shut down. Since I was 15 years old, I have never gone this long without working, and I really just don’t know how to feel about it. I work in the arts because it feeds my soul, but can I afford that luxury anymore? Is it fair to ask me to get another job? Getting another job for me would mean getting another career, which would mean starting from zero, but I can’t afford to go back to school or pay for new training while I’m unemployed.

'Telly just isn't the same': glorious return of English seaside entertainment

Devon | The Guardian: Children laughed, gasped, clapped and sang along. Families and couples strolling along the sunlit promenade paused for a few minutes to watch, smiles on faces. Even the cool kids on the skateboard park took time out to peer over the wall at the craziness.

August without Edinburgh fringe: 'the heart has been pulled out of my year'

Stage | The Guardian: Meeting Flight of the Conchords and seeing the teenage Bo Burnham. Improvising a musical with Tim Minchin and buying groceries for Michael Billington. The annual critics versus comedians football match and the bruises that followed. Watching my brains get blown out on stage. Too many all-night benders to mention – and better conversations at three in the morning than anywhere else at more civilised hours.

Photos: Berkshire Theatre Group's GODSPELL Takes Bows as First Equity-Approved Musical

www.broadwayworld.com: The first musical in the United States to be approved by Actors' Equity Association has officially begun performances. Berkshire Theatre Group's Godspell is being presented outdoors in an open-air tent adjacent to The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, and is scheduled to run through September 4.

Should Colleges Force Students To Turn Their Cameras On?

Reason.com: Zoom University will soon be in session. I suspect many faculties are wrangling with an issue: should students be forced to turn their cameras on during class?

I can see several arguments in favor of requiring students to turn on their cameras. First, if students know they are being watched, they are more likely to stay in one place and pay attention. If cameras are off, students may "listen" to the class while moving around.

Exploring an Anti-Policing Theatre

HowlRound Theatre Commons: On 18 April 2018, I saw Hamilton at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. I began crying about ten minutes in, sometime in between “Aaron Burr, Sir” and “My Shot.” While Hamilton received a lot of praise for its integration of hip-hop in the Broadway repertoire, I silently cried in my red velvet seat because Black and Brown folx rapped about a revolution, albeit from a settler’s perspective, around a large, circular table.

Sheryl Crow, Haim Discuss Misogyny in the Music Industry

Listen - Rolling Stone: Following the release of their new album Women in Music Pt. III, Haim have kicked off the second season of their Apple Music show Haim Time, in which they discuss the record, chat with special guests and review delivery food in their home of Los Angeles.

Theatergoers Are More Likely to See ‘Hamilton’ Live After Streaming It

TodayTix Insider: We all want to be in the room where it happens — whether virtually or in person. So when Disney+ released a filmed version of Hamilton featuring the original cast, the world watched, while the Broadway industry wondered: Does this mean people will stop buying theater tickets?

Actors' Equity Association's Kate Shindle on Delay to Pass HEROES Act- '[It] Is an Insult to Every Working Person in America'

www.broadwayworld.com: AFL-CIO AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka led labor leaders in a telephone press conference to discuss the importance of passing the HEROES Act to save the lives and livelihoods of America's workers. Millions of are suffering across the country and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has ignored a solution rooted in America's Five Economic Essentials for 83 days. Instead of putting the HEROES Act up for a vote, he continues to play politics.

Quebec Is Now Allowed to Hold Music Festivals

Consequence of Sound: It looks like Canadians won’t have to wait until 2021 2022 to catch a music festival like the rest of us. On Wednesday, the Quebec Tourism Ministry officially announced that indoor and outdoor gatherings of 250 people or fewer are now allowed, including festivals and concerts (via Exclaim).

Georgia Mandates Audits for Film, TV Tax Credit

Variety: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has signed a bill that mandates audits for productions claiming the film and TV tax credit, following a state report finding lax controls in the program.

Despite Bans on Public Gatherings, Marc Glimcher's New 'Superblue' Initiative Is Launching a Series of Venues for Big, Immersive Art

news.artnet.com: Before the global pandemic radically altered the potential of large public gatherings, the long lines to visit viral sensations like Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinity Rooms,” James Turrell’s “Skyspaces,” and Random International’s Rain Room reflected the public’s hunger for immersive art installations.

Not just for Christmas: panto cancellations threaten theatres' future

Panto season | The Guardian: It’s like a scene from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Dozens of pantomimes across the land have been cancelled or postponed due to uncertainty about easing lockdown restrictions for theatres. On Wednesday it was announced that pantos at King’s theatre in Edinburgh, His Majesty’s theatre in Aberdeen and Belfast’s Grand Opera House have been pushed back to 2021. All three are produced by the huge Qdos operation whose pantomimes are seen by more than two million people each festive season.

FilmLA Sees Uptick in Film Permit Applications to 18 a DayFilmLA Sees Uptick in Film Permit Applications to 18 a Day

Variety: FilmLA is reporting that 18 film permit applications are being submitted per day since resuming remote operations on June 15 — about 34% of the pre-pandemic level.

Artists First? Charting a Future for the American Theater

www.clydefitchreport.com: The word “essential” was one of the first to enter the lexicon of COVID-19. With great speed, we identified those whose labor was deemed “essential” to the economy and to our well-being: healthcare workers, garbage collectors, grocery store clerks, bus drivers, meat packers, agricultural workers, and so on. Of course, the irony is that those deemed “essential” in America are those most likely to be low-wage (and disproportionally Black and brown) workers without health insurance, job security or safety protocols at their place of work. This discrepancy is equally glaring in the arts. In this time of crisis, what is it that we consider “essential” — and how do we respond to that analysis? If we are to transcend this moment, we must honestly question our value to the culture and our values as a culture.

#MaskUpCurtainUp Campaign Encourages Public Safety so Theatres Can Reopen

Playbill: As theatres throughout the United States remain shuttered, the newly formed COVID Theatre Think-Tank, consisting of theatre professionals from across the country and a variety of disciplines, has launched the #MaskUpCurtainUp social media campaign to encourage face mask usage nationwide.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Concerts Planned Despite COVID Concerns

www.ticketnews.com: While live events throughout America are shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is set to go off at full throttle this week, including a full slate of live entertainment. While the original bill – featuring ZZ Top, REO Speedwagon, Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Shinedown and more – almost universally dropped their participation in the event, organizers were able to find acts to replace them and have the show go on.

Comedy Theater Offers Pittsburgh's First Outdoor Performance Series During The Pandemic

90.5 WESA: For nearly five months, the coronavirus pandemic has confined Pittsburgh’s performing-arts groups almost exclusively to online programming. Even after state rules loosened to allow performance halls to operate at reduced capacity, most decided it was unsafe or simply impractical to do so.

What is the Difference Between Cable and Wire Rope?

Silver State Wire Rope & Rigging: Wire rope and cable, is there a difference? The terms are often used interchangeably, but are they different? Each is considered a machine. Wire ropes are usually ⅜” in diameter or larger, while cables or cords are smaller. Though this little distinction exists in aircraft and marine cables, wire ropes and cables are synonymous in most other ways.

Powersoft Pledges Percentage of Profits to Crew Nation Fund

TPi: Live music inspires millions around the world, but while artists have been able to embrace the new possibilities afforded by social media and streaming sites in the wake of Covid-19, the talented men and women who so often stand behind them have not been so lucky.

Using AI to Track Worker Health and Safety

New Equipment Digest: Traditionally, tracking worker health and safety has been a manual task with lots of room for error. With the introduction of COVID-19, many manufacturers are looking to revamp their operational processes to adhere to new safety regulations including social distancing, the use of PPE, employee health screening, and more.

Risk Monitoring Keeps Employees Strong

New Equipment Digest: How do you get better at a sport without risking injury? The advice is to take it slow; don't do too much too fast. Train, track your progress, listen to your body, and know when to stop.

This advice is really no different for professionals in the material handling field taking on heavy lifting day in and day out. Employees go through training, have best practices, know not to lift too much on their own, know when to ask for help, and know when to stop before they obtain an injury.

'No Better Group Of People To Find The Solution': UK Production Industry Joins Forces

Pollstar: Professionals from across the global concert touring industry have joined forces to form the PSA Tour Production Group (PSA TPG), in order to provide a unified response to the impact of COVID-19 on live music events.

The group has formulated a guide to procedures that will allow the touring community to get back to work in line with government guidelines and support the industry's survival in a pre-vaccine COVID-19 era.

Mary Mazurek - When One Door Closes Keep Knocking

SoundGirls.org: “We don’t hire women engineers, but you can answer the phone if you want.” Mazurek remembers, “That completely blind-sided me. I couldn’t say anything else, other than ‘No, thank you.’” And she hung up the phone.

Mary is a Grammy-nominated recording and live broadcast engineer and works in radio production at WFMT Radio. She also works independently with clients and teaches at Columbia College and DePaul University in Chicago. She got her start at the legendary Universal Recording Studios in 1991. Unfortunately, they also closed in 1991.

Opinion: Concert Venues Will Fold Without Federal Assistance

Pollstar: Since April we have been sounding the alarm that music venues like the 9:30 Club and The Anthem cannot survive the COVID-19 shutdown without federal assistance. By design, we’re gathering places that in normal times have audience members shoulder to shoulder celebrating with friends and strangers as they sing and dance, creating lifelong memories.

Unemployment checks drop, NYS Fair canceled; entertainment gig workers are scared

syracuse.com: The loss of the extra $600 in unemployment at the same time as the shutdown of the New York State Fair is causing stress for hundreds of gig workers in the entertainment industry in Central New York.

Normally, Jeff Meyer would end his day job as manager of the MOST’s IMAX theater and go to work as a union stagehand for concerts at the Amphitheater, the state fair stages, the OnCenter or the Landmark. Other days, he would freelance live sports programming for ESPN and other networks.

Carnegie Mellon researchers use Twitch to collect sounds for AI research

VentureBeat: Carnegie Mellon researchers have designed a livestreaming video game that collects audio from players to populate a database for AI research. The team’s game — Rolling Rhapsody — is specifically designed to be played on Twitch, and it tasks streamers with rolling a ball across a map to collect “treasure” while viewers record sound from their homes via an app.

Makita DML810 Cordless Upright LED Area Light Review

PTR: Makita has expanded its range of cordless lighting options again, this time with a job site LED upright area light that stays upright no matter how much abuse you throw at it. And, though the general design might be reminiscent of a classic children’s toy line, the Makita LED Wobble-Style Light (DML810) gives you the option of lighting the site with or without battery power.

Scene changers: the theatre-makers with radical ideas to combat racism

Theatre | The Guardian: Ola Ince is a young British director in demand. This summer, she was due to stage Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare’s Globe, after directing a UK tour of the hit Royal Court show Poet in Da Corner. A leading light among a new generation of talented theatre-makers, Ince has directed productions around the world. Yet she has not always felt welcome in some British venues. She says she has experienced suspicion, condescension and prejudiced assumptions from audience members, even while attending shows she has directed herself.

10 of the Most Iconic Costume Changes in Broadway History

Playbill: A well-designed quick costume change is a true crowd-pleaser. Beyond impressive stage craft, these moments punctuate plot points and create iconic visuals on the stage that keep theatre fans talking long after a production's final performance. Take a look at these legendary costume change moments from Broadway's present and past.

How the Shaw Festival kept 500 people employed during COVID — by taking out pandemic insurance three years ago

National Post: About three-and-a-half years ago, Tim Jennings, the executive director and CEO of the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, decided to undertake some risk analysis alongside his CFO. He looked at potential problem areas, and at concerns that might arise throughout the course of an ordinary season of theatre, and came to a shrewd conclusion: The festival should take out an insurance policy against the threat of a pandemic.

Replacing Master and Slave Terminology In My Book

Control Geek: The racial justice protests of 2020 made me realize it was long past time to purge some offensive and obsolete language from the book. Specifically, the use of “master” and “slave” to describe control system architectures where one system has direct control over another. The roots of this book reach back to the 1990s, and I used this language because that’s what was widely used in the industry, and written in the technical standards that are the source materials for this book. But, in recent years, the technical community has become more enlightened, and so have I. So, this 2.1 update replaces that obsolete language, shifting to terms like “primary-secondary”.

Will theatre survive the COVID-19 public health crisis?

OnStage Blog: The Theatre community is a massively collaborative one. We rehearse together for weeks to string together a story that will transport our audiences across time and place. We consciously decide to gather for a small moment to bring joy, make people think, change a life, then it’s gone. Just like that.

'The Umbrella Academy': Kate Walsh, Costume Designer on Season 2 Style

Variety: The second season of “The Umbrella Academy” snaps its characters back in time to the 1960s — and yes, that includes Kate Walsh as the Handler, despite being shot and presumed dead in the first season of the Netflix adaptation of Gerard Way’s graphic novels. To put together the Handler’s colorful and often grand looks for the season, costume designer Christopher Hargadon relied on magazines and other photo references from the 1950s and ’60s, but he also found collaborating with Walsh herself was key.

Ryan Reynolds Unveils Diversity Initiative

Variety: Ryan Reynolds took to Twitter to announce a new initiative supporting aspiring filmmakers from unrepresented communities.

In a two-minute video, the actor acknowledged that despite its collaborative work, the film industry continues to leave out certain voices.

Another Universal Layoff Shows the Uncertainty in the Industry

www.themeparkinsider.com: The parks have reopened during the pandemic, but crowds remain slow to return, with daily attendance consistently below their lower-capacity limits. Universal laid off an undisclosed number of team members last month, making this the second round of dismissals since the Orlando parks reopened in early June.

"We have again made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce to reflect current priorities and needs. As always, we are aware of the impact this will have on those affected by this decision and their families," a Universal spokesperson said in an email provided in response to press inquiries.

'There is a sense of loss': reflections on this year's cancelled Edinburgh festival

Edinburgh festival | The Guardian: Polly MacFarlane always feels nerves and excitement building in her stomach as the train pulls into Edinburgh during the festival, clutching her hula-hoops and spangly leotards as she hurries towards the Royal Mile.

MacFarlane is a street performer and cabaret act known as Polly Hoops, and August in Edinburgh was her biggest month of the year. “It’s always exciting and you get the butterflies coming into Waverley,” she said. “It’s so beautiful and quite nerve-wracking doing the fringe but it’s always wonderfully familiar as well.”

OS Studios Helps Create Virtual Graduation in Minecraft for UC Berkeley with Blackmagic Design

Sound & Video Contractor: Blackmagic Design today announced that OS Studios used its gear to help produce a virtual graduation and two day music festival for the University of California, Berkley (UC Berkeley) class of 2020 in Blockeley University. Blockeley University is a detailed replica of the UC Berkeley campus in Minecraft, the popular video game platform, built and maintained entirely by the university’s students.

'Scary situation': delay to lockdown easing forces costly theatre cancellations

Theatre | The Guardian: The government’s last-minute delay to lockdown easing has left theatres in England scrambling to cancel performances for this weekend.

Great Yarmouth’s Hippodrome Circus had been due to open its circus summer season on Saturday. Jack Jay, the ringmaster and producer, said that they heard the news 20 minutes before starting their dress rehearsal.

Stage Management on One of the World’s Largest Cruise Ships – Part 1

www.theatreartlife.com: In the fall of 2019, Royal Caribbean offered me a contract as Senior Stage & Production Manager on the cruise ship Oasis of the Seas, one of the largest on the planet. I was supposed to take over the Aqua Theater onboard. A beautiful amphitheater with 700 seats.

The aqua theater features a 4m deep, kidney-shaped pool, and three moving hydraulic lifts. This enables the stage to be either dry or at any depth needed for what the director has in mind.