Tim Treanor reviews his life as a theatre critic

dctheatrescene.com: I am – was – the lawyer for DC Theatre Scene, and have the melancholy task of closing the house. I had long retired as a critic, having lost the heart for it, although I still reviewed plays when necessary pursuant to the in-house counsel’s first rule, which is not to let the house burn down. “Closing the house” describes a legal and ministerial task, but also a surprisingly physical one: putting an enormous pile of undifferentiated theater programs into some sort of order.

Best 12V Cordless Drill Head to Head Review

Pro Tool Reviews: We love the 12V class for its lighter weight and smaller footprint than 18V/20V max models. There’s always been a trade-off in speed and power. But while the 18V class continues to advance, so does 12V and some of the best 12V cordless drill models compete with compact 18V drills.

A ‘Frankenstein’ That Never Lived

The New York Times: “Frankenstein,” an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel, had cost a reported $2 million, at the time a record for a Broadway play. The screen legend John Carradine and a young Dianne Wiest were in the cast, and the unprecedented stage effects came courtesy of Bran Ferren, the wunderkind behind the mind-bending hallucinations in the film “Altered States,” released two weeks earlier.

Broadway Gets Creative With New Small Businesses

Playbill: Looking for creative outlets can be overwhelming even in the best of times, but in the COVID-era, when countless theatre workers have lost their jobs, starting something new is an even bigger challenge. Energies are sapped, social circles are disconnected, and resources are limited—but sometimes working with limitations brings about the best ideas.

A year later, 'Beach Blanket Babylon' actors reflect candidly on loss

Datebook: On Dec. 31, 2019, “Beach Blanket Babylon” gave its last performance, ending a 45-year run as the world’s longest-running musical revue. The next day, its cast and crew, many of whom had worked with the iconic North Beach show for decades, were unemployed. Two-and-a-half months later, much of the rest of the theater industry was out of work, too.

One concert, many technical remote locations

LightSoundJournal.com: In the 1980s and 1990s, Purple Schulz achieved great national fame as a German pop singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and radio presenter with titles such as “Sehnsucht”, “Verliebte Jungs” and “Kleine Seen”. In times of Corona he was also looking for ideas how to perform concerts despite the restrictions – with success

The Theatre Community Shares Insight and Advice in These Memorable Quotes From 2020

Playbill: Each year, the staff at Playbill interviews hundreds of theatre makers. They largely talk about the work—the show they’re putting up. This year, of course, there were fewer red carpets and press days. With live theatre on pause, there was less work. The events of the year have steered theatre conversations toward public safety and social justice, and artists were faced with examining how Broadway will move forward changed by the time away. Read on for some of the soundbites that have stayed with us this past year, as artists share their thoughts on the growth of the theatre industry and of the personal self.

A defense of writing critical arts reviews during a year of catastrophe

Datebook: Maybe some critics relish writing a zinger-stuffed, disdain-drenched drubbing. You know this sort of pan. To read it is to sneak a forbidden candy — provided you’re not the one being panned. Even in the before times, though, my own pan process was less licking of lips, less issuing of “muahahaha” and more pulling out of hair, more gnashing of teeth, more curling into the fetal position to ask the gods if it’s really worth it to make so many people hate me once again, just to write something less than a paean.

Ridgid Subcompact Tools - Outsized Power

Home Fixated: A big trend in dwellings over the past few years has been to so-called micro homes. These structures, on average, have square footages totaling less than 300. Themes of minimalism are popular here – with the onus being on the homeowner to simplify their lifestyle to match the space. However, micro-homes still need to be maintained, and it seems kind of silly to use full-size tools to fix a micro-home.

Adam Savage's Favorite Tools: McMaster-Carr Catalog!

Tested: For Adam’s final tool tip of the year, he reads from an iconic yellow book: the mighty McMaster-Carr catalog. Not only is it an essential reference guide to the over half million products sold by McMaster-Carr, but its detailed descriptions unlock the utility for all manner of esoteric tools and hardware supplies. The printed catalog isn’t easy to get ahold of, but thankfully the entire catalog is also online and in McMaster-Carr’s mobile app!

Zoo and museum associations applaud US COVID relief measures

InPark Magazine: The Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) and the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) have applauded the US Congress for including much needed COVID-19 relief aid for their members in the recently passed “Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.” The bill was signed into law by President Donald J. Trump on December 27.

LADPH Urges Film Industry Vigilance to Help Contain COVID-19

FilmLA: On December 24, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) emailed an update to the County’s film industry contacts, reminding them of the present surge in local COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations, and urging filmmakers to exercise every caution in their work.

See the sunburst crystals that adorn the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball this year

www.timeout.com/newyork: As the ball in Times Square descends this New Year's Eve, it'll be covered with about 200 Waterford Crystal triangles etched with sunbursts. For the past eight years, Waterford Crystal has designed a new triangle each year under the umbrella of its "Greatest Gift" series. Last year, the triangles featured pineapples for 2020 to represent "The Gift of Goodwill" — concern and support for others.

Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl Salutes Supporters of Save Our Stages Act

Rolling Stone: Dave Grohl on Monday expressed a “huge, heartfelt thank you” to supporters of the Save Our Stages Act, which provides approximately $10 billion for independent concert venues amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding is part of a long-delayed economic stimulus bill that President Trump signed into law on Sunday.

5 Tips for Creating Exceptional Renderings

Fusion 360 Blog: Designers and engineers may already know that rapid prototyping is crucial to getting products to market. Creating 3D renders helps bring projects to life and allows teams to produce numerous iterations in relatively short order. However, creating detailed renderings isn’t always simple. Creative challenges present roadblocks, and workflow limitations can stunt productivity.

Glimmers of Light: The Theatre Moments That Gave Us Comfort Amid a Chaotic 2020

Playbill: Needless to say, 2020 didn't exactly go as planned. Broadway's busiest time of year became an increasingly lengthy intermission. Frolics in Times Square became rallies for artist relief and social justice. But this Thanksgiving, we're grateful for the glimmers of light that illuminated a path through dark times. Read on below as members of the Playbill editorial staff (past and present) share some of those moments—primarily on screen—that offered a respite from tense times, hope for the future of live performance, and a reminder that even if theatres are dim, the theatre community is as vibrant as ever.

Bridgerton Costume Designer on Creation of Season 1 Looks for Shondaland Show

collider.com: Bringing the Shondaland version of the early 1800s to life was no mean feat, especially when it comes to the intricate and ornate clothing of the era. Making all of the costumes which, for their part, establish the look and mood of Bridgerton, was a massive task required that required the expertise of costume designer Ellen Mirojnick (The Greatest Showman).

Maintaining Whoville: Interview with Designers Chris Rynne and Shelly Williams

The Theatre Times: For the past twenty-three years, The Old Globe’s production of Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas!: The Musical has become an established and cherished holiday tradition in the San Diego community. Since 1998, the musical about the ‘green ol’ grump’ who terrorizes the Christmas festivities of the happy “Whos down in Whoville” has been performed on The Old Globe stage every holiday season.

A ‘Great Cultural Depression’ Looms for Legions of Unemployed Performers

The New York Times: Pain can be found in nearly every nook of the economy. Millions of people have lost their jobs and tens of thousands of businesses have closed since the coronavirus pandemic spread across the United States. But even in these extraordinary times, the losses in the performing arts and related sectors have been staggering.

Writer-Director Aaron Sorkin on His 'Trial of the Chicago 7' Crew

Variety: “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” about protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention and the ensuing trial, features great work by writer-director Aaron Sorkin, who is quick to salute his below-the-line colleagues: “They’re not there to take my instructions; they’re there to top my instructions. I consider these people to be co-authors of the film.”

IATSE Members Sleigh the Holiday Season With Their Decorations

IATSE Cares: ‘Tis the Season for Holiday Cheer! On December 16, 2020, IATSE announced it’s first Annual Holiday Photo Contest designed to spread holiday cheer for our members this holiday season. IATSE members joined in the holiday fun by entering the photo contest and are excitedly spreading some holiday cheer. Our members are adding a decorative touch with their festive holiday decorations from Christmas trees, to holiday wreaths and electric trucks.

Yes, You Can Take a Day Off: The Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Rest

Pointe: I graduated from college in May with my dance degree. After taking ballet and other dance classes every day for the past four years, I was unsure how to manage my training on my own during a pandemic. Sometimes the last thing I want to do is take a virtual ballet class in my tiny New York City apartment. But then I see my friends posting videos of themselves in Zoom class to Instagram, and I feel guilty. Am I allowed to take a day off from technique classes?

Column: In 2020, San Diego's artistic spirit made a bad year better

The San Diego Union-Tribune: In April, before any of us had an inkling of just what kind of year 2020 was going to be, James Halliday of A Reason to Survive (ARTS) already had a pretty good idea of what San Diego’s arts and culture organizations would have to do to meet the unknown challenges ahead.

Black company pulls out of Birmingham theatre over Nightingale court

Stage | The Guardian: Talawa, established as the first professional black theatre company in Britain in 1986, was due to stage a “Black Joy” season at Birmingham Rep. But it said it was forced to pull out after the theatre announced its decision, along with the library of Birmingham, to hire out spaces to the Ministry of Justice for court cases from December 2020 to June 2021.

The 5 most memorable Dallas-Fort Worth theater moments of 2020

CultureMap Dallas: Writing my reflections on the Dallas-Fort Worth theater scene of 2020 has been ... interesting. Obviously, nothing went to plan this past year, and many of the performances we all had been looking forward to were postponed or outright canceled (though Hamilton is supposedly still coming to Fort Worth in 2022).

Actors' Equity Releases Updated Covid-19 Safety Guidelines for Live Productions

www.broadwayworld.com: In consultation with Dr. David Michaels, former head of OSHA, Equity's safety team has created detailed instructions arranged according to the four types of productions commonly seen currently: outdoor with an audience, outdoor without an audience, indoor with an audience and indoor without an audience.

How Production Designer Gavin Bocquet Created the Magical, Musical World of Jingle Jangle

Playbill: Turning a two decade old concept of a musical fantasy into a reality is a tall order, but production designer Gavin Bocquet was up for the challenge. Inspired by films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, director and writer David E. Talbert sought to create a new holiday classic, one made to help ignite the imaginations of a new generation the same way his had been as a kid. The result was Jingle Jangle, Netflix’s acclaimed Christmas movie that is both classic in sentiment and modern in nature, existing in a world of its own.

The livestreams that won us round to online theatre in 2020

Exeunt Magazine: Normally, getting to grips with a new medium and a new artform is something you do by choice; “this winter I’ll get really into Twine”, you say to yourself, with no special urgency attached. But 2020 was the year when anyone interested in theatre and performance was ushered (or dragged, vigorously protesting that “it’s not the same!”) into the world of livestreaming.

Theatre As Commodity: Saving Our Industry By Undoing Our Worst Mistake

Bitter Gertrude: Theatre is a shared artistic experience, both in its creation process and in its performance. In human history this shared artistic experience has been framed in a multitude of ways — as ritual, as religious observance, as entertainment, as propaganda, as resistance. And while it has been — and will continue to be — all these things in modern America, what it is primarily for us is a commodity. Framing theatre as a commodity is at the root of every major problem we have.

Motion Control Tips: The top 5 posts for 2020

www.motioncontroltips.com: An end-of-year tradition here at motioncontroltips.com is to look back at some of our most viewed articles we published on the site throughout the year. This represents what you, our readers, clicked on the most throughout the year. Curiously enough, some of the most-read content in 2020 revolved around electrical and networking topics. We’re not quite sure what this fact means in the grand scheme of things, but there you have it.

Pittsburgh venues celebrate passage of Save our Stages Act for economic relief

Music | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Like many cities across America, Pittsburgh has unfortunately lost some of its longtime music and entertainment venues due to coronavirus, including South Side's beloved Rex Theater in September. And with coronavirus cases rising again this winter, many other venues that have held on have been desperate for help to keep afloat.

Close reading of the $15 Billion for Save our Stages shows relief for area theatres

dctheatrescene.com: Congress has included a $15 billion grant package for performance and related arts, including theaters, in the $900 billion coronavirus relief package it passed on Monday. The program, called “Grants for Shuttered Venue Operators” in the new bill, will provide up to $10 million in grant money to beleaguered cultural institutions.

He’s applied for 52 jobs and had no second interviews, so Aaron Hochheiser is delivering for UPS in the family minivan after Hartford Stage closed

Hartford Courant: When Aaron Hochheiser was laid off from the Hartford Stage Co. in August after a four-month furlough, he hit the streets with his resume applying for manager jobs. But no matter how he reworked his resume as project manager of the theater’s lighting department, he couldn’t compete with those with experience in insurance and financial services.

Concert Industry Reacts to Passage of Save Our Stages

Variety: T​he Save Our Stages Act — sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) in the Senate, Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) in the House and championed by Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) with 230 bipartisan cosponsors in Congress — passed late Monday night as part of the government’s larger COVID-19 Relief Bill.

It's not enough to 'save' theatre — we have to transform how its marginalized artists are treated

CBC Arts: In the face of almost a year of empty stages and closed doors, there has been no shortage of coverage lamenting the future of the performing arts industry. But the shutdown of venues is only one facet of the mounting cry for change from within the theatre community. A spotlight is finally being shone on the precarity of being a freelance artist, and the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement has enabled Black, Indigenous, POC, Queer, and Disabled artists to unveil the oppression, discrimination, and racism that exists behind our industry's velvet curtains.

CommLink Implements Multi-Zone Wireless Strategy At Renovated Boston Cathedral

ProSoundWeb: The recent $26-million restoration of the 150-year-old Cathedral of The Holy Cross in Boston, a 2,000-seat cathedral, saw New England-based CommLink Integration taking on the challenge of implementing new “works everywhere” wireless microphone systems, utilizing a variety of components from RF Venue.

The Choreographer's New Skill Set: Working From Home

Dance Magazine: Boston Ballet principal Viktorina Kapitonova's bare limbs emerge one at a time from a giant bathtub set in front of an elegant, candle-covered fireplace, her feet flexing and pointing while her hands create beakish shapes. This is the opening shot of "Swan Lake Bath Ballet," the three-minute viral hit released in July.

Virtual Education: Best Practices when Facilitating Immersive Experiences

VRFocus: With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, educators and school boards began exploring ways to approach online learning and stay connected with their students. While many of these virtual experiences and distanced classroom tools aren’t completely new to the education industry, this period of crisis compelled administrators and teachers to learn more about VR, explore its versatility, and experience for themselves how effective it can be in the classroom.

Robe MegaPointes for the People’s Choice

LightSoundJournal.com: The 2020 E! People’s Choice Awards (PCAs) was again staged at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, USA, and lit for the third consecutive year by Tom Sutherland of DX7 Design, working for production company Den of Thieves.

Circus Acrobats Reach $52.5 Million Settlement in 2014 Fall

The New York Times: When eight acrobats suspended high above the ground at a performance in Rhode Island suddenly came crashing down in May 2014, gasps and screams ripped through the crowd of spectators. In a YouTube video of the episode, one person can be heard asking, “Were they supposed to fall like that?” They were not.

Dance in 2020 explored boundaries away from the stage

Dance | Chicago Reader: The view is divided by screens and mirrors in Jane Jerardi's delicate hold. Fragmentation by the frame creates incomplete views of arms and torsos, close and deliberate. You hear the squeak of the pencil, the rustle of paper—a voiceover, separated from the person dancing in the grass, says, "How can I expand my box?"

GLP’s Streamer Enhances Videoconferencing Experience, with Portable LED Light

LightSoundJournal.com: Responding to the current trend for streaming and videoconferencing, necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic and social lockdown, GLP has designed Streamer. This is a small, versatile LED light source whose sole purpose is to present hosts, interviewees and collaborators in professional, studio-type lighting with the ability to be fully remote controlled by a lighting designer, if required.

The onstage season was short, but there was plenty of drama in 2020

Performing Arts Feature | Chicago Reader: On Monday, March 16, I walked into a theater for the last time in 2020. It was at Theater Wit for their production of Mike Lew's Teenage Dick, a Richard III-meets-high-school-angst dark comedy-drama. The show was supposed to have a regular run but then . . . well, you know.

How I run one of the US' biggest Christmas events during COVID-19

Business Insider: I've worked at The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess resort for ten years, where I organize the signature events including Christmas at the Princess. It's been amazing to be a part of such a great creative team and connect with the local community.

Theater and social justice are a perfect match for San Diego artist and activist

The San Diego Union-Tribune: It’s a wonder figuring out how Sofia Zaragoza seems to squeeze so much time out of 24 hours, let alone what she’s already done in 24 years. Her work in both the community and the performing arts has found her serving as an actor, writer, producer, director, teacher, stage manager and activist.

It's time for theatres to stop treating front-of-house staff as disposable

Exeunt Magazine: “My front of house colleagues and I were told to ‘watch our emails, because some news is gonna come through’ and then the next day, it was like ‘Okay, you’re fired.’” I’ve sat poring over statements like this by front of house (FOH) workers for several days now and it’s staggering how many of us have gone through almost the exact same experience, during the mess we’re (still) in. It’s shocking, but not surprising.

The queer punk party confronting panto's outdated attitudes

Stage | The Guardian: “Kids love a mosh pit! They love a headbang,” says Tali Clarke, the writer and director of a queer punk pantomime, Madre Goose, which is streamed this month. Madre Goose tells the story of an LGBTQ+ community of activists rallying against gentrification and materialism. All the wacky costumes, silly characters and daft jokes are as you’d expect from panto, but it has punk songs, psychedelic green-screen backgrounds and embraces inclusivity.

Unforgettable: Moments That Defined Immersive in 2020

No Proscenium: The Guide To Everything Immersive: 2020 is a hard year to love, so we won’t try. That doesn’t mean there weren’t moments that made it, well, survivable. Glimmers of hope and humanity that reminded us why we do what we do every day. Which gave us the strength to keep going on.

How Artists, Workers Are Helping to Diversify Music Road Crews

Rolling Stone: By the time he signed on for Justin Bieber’s Believe tour in 2012, Lance “K.C.” Jackson had more than 30 years under his belt as a stage manager and touring pro; he’d worked with Prince, Destiny’s Child, Luther Vandross, and Earth, Wind, and Fire, among others. Now, on a tour headlined by a white artist, he drew quizzical looks backstage whenever he went to help Bieber with a harness that allowed him to descend onto the stage sporting wings. “There aren’t a lot of black props workers out there, so people were looking at me like, ‘Who is this guy? Can he make it happen?’” Jackson recalls. “It was a prejudgment.”

Even When the Music Returns, Pandemic Pay Cuts Will Linger

The New York Times: When the coronavirus outbreak brought performances across the United States to a screeching halt, many of the nation’s leading orchestras, dance companies and opera houses temporarily cut the pay of their workers, and some stopped paying them at all. Now, hopes that vaccines will allow performances to resume next fall are being tempered by fears that it could take years for hibernating box offices to rebound, and many battered institutions are turning to their unions to negotiate longer-term cuts that they say are necessary to survive.

Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter Focus of New Museum Exhibit

Variety: Ruth E. Carter made history in 2019 by becoming the first Black person to win an Oscar for costume design for her work on “Black Panther.” It was her third nomination in a career that began when Spike Lee hired her for his second feature, 1988’s “School Daze.” To date, Carter has 66 credits spanning television and film.

What's New at Museums This Year? Labor Unions.

AFL-CIO: Despite the challenging environment of 2020, museum workers have scored a series of organizing victories. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced organizers to adjust their efforts and try new approaches to bringing workers together. The series of successes serve as examples that other organizing drives can learn from and help more working people have a voice on the job.

Managing the Impact of the Pandemic

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Emika Abe and Sarah Williams are managing directors who each started their first executive leadership roles at regional theatres only the autumn before COVID-19 kickstarted a weekslong shutdown across the United States—Emika at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC, and Sarah at California Shakespeare Theater in the San Francisco Bay Area. As the manager of the Press Play Digital Theatre Initiative at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, and a former coworker of Emika’s, I was curious about how their experience managing the impact of the pandemic has shaped their views on art in virtual spaces, leadership amidst crisis, and the future of the American theatre.

Change in the American Theatre Begins and Ends Outside the Theatre

AMERICAN THEATRE: This past summer, there was a national uprising led by Black people in response to our continued murders at the hands of the police. People called for defunding the police in order to abolish the police, for funding Black futures instead of funding our murders at the hands of the state. It was powerful. And how did the American theatre respond?

NBC-TV special raises over $3 million to aid the Broadway community

DC Metro Theater Arts: NBC’s One Night Only: The Best of Broadway was not only a dazzling celebration of the hottest shows and stars from the New York stage, it was also a smashing success in raising $3,051,297 in donations for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS – the single largest financial provider for The Actors Fund – to give immediate help to members of the NYC theater industry facing a year of closure, unemployment, and health concerns.

AEA/SAG-AFTRA agreement paves way for digital theater options post-pandemic

Datebook: On. Nov. 19, Actors’ Equity Association, which traditionally covers in-person, onstage work, and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which deals with any show on a screen, resolved a monthslong jurisdictional dispute about streamed theater.

Call It A Comeback: The Concert Industry Looks To 2021 With Hope

Pollstar: After a number of agencies and promoters agreed to cancel all shows for several weeks on March 12 to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, there have been strings of hope that the pandemic might last only a few weeks, a few months, or maybe just the year.

Hollywood is still overlooking Latinx filmmakers: "My story matters, my pain matters"

Salon.com: The lack of Latinx American filmmakers is troubling — especially considering that the Latinx community is the largest non-white moviegoing audience in the United States. In fact, Latinx viewers were 24% of the audience for the first Paul Walker/Vin Diesel "Fast and the Furious" film,and were 38% of the audience for the sequel, "2 Fast 2 Furious," according to Target Latino.

Examining the carefully selected color palette of Netflix's THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT

Boing Boing: There are a lot of reasons why Netflix's The Queen's Gambit won* so many people over this fall. Based on a novel, the series tells the story of a young woman in the 60s and 70s who rises through the ranks of chess stardom, even as she drinks and pop pills and descends into her loneliness.

One Way to Stop Whitewashing: It’s Got to Be Taught

AMERICAN THEATRE: A few months ago I was added to a seemingly innocuous Facebook group for alums of my high school theatre program, but a brief scroll through the feed showed ample brownface and whitewashed casting. Greatest hits included questionably cast productions of Hairspray, Aida, and Once on This Island. Though my time there spanned 2010 to 2014, and the conversations around culturally conscious casting have since turned mainstream, these practices continue, not just in my previous high school, but also in colleges and on the professional stage.

Chicago’s Theatre Y plans a campus in North Lawndale

Chicago Tribune: Theatre Y, a small Chicago theater company that has put on mostly experimental and European plays, is relocating — from its storefront space in Lincoln Square to the West Side neighborhood of North Lawndale. At a time when many of Chicago’s nonprofit theaters are looking long and hard at both their business models and how they measure up in terms of social and racial equity, Theatre Y is looking to reinvent itself.

SAG-AFTRA Leaders Requiring Members to Comply With COVID-19 Protocols

Variety: SAG-AFTRA’s national board is requiring its 160,000 members to fully comply with COVID-19 safety protocols on set, saying that they will face disciplinary action if they fail to do so.

Same-Day Testing Experiment Held at Barcelona Club

Vanity Fair: The Apolo Theater, a 77-year-old concert venue in Barcelona, Spain, opened its doors Saturday to people so desperate for live music they were willing to become medical experiments. As reported by the Associated Press, 1,000 people volunteered for an antigen screening before 500 were randomly selected. The plan is to see how effective same-day tests are at preventing the spread of coronavirus.

Ava DuVernay's Colin Kaepernick Series Logs Nine COVID-19 Cases

Variety: Nine cases of COVID-19 have been recorded among crew members during pre-production on Ava DuVernay’s “Colin in Black & White,” Variety has learned.

SAG-AFTRA National Board 'Condemns' Alleged Misinformation on Plan

Variety: SAG-AFTRA’s national leadership has waded into the bitter dispute over the looming deep cuts in the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan as the union’s national board vowed to combat “misinformation” and condemned opponents of the cuts.

Artists vs. the Flea Theater: ‘We Will Burn It All Down’

www.vulture.com: When we last checked in on the Flea Theater, good things were happening. In June, galvanized by an open letter from a company actor, the members of the Off–Off Broadway theater had called for a racial and labor reckoning. All eyes were on the downtown house, potentially the industry’s prototype — proof that, in some places at least, the summer calls for justice were bearing fruit. Then, without warning, on December 2, the board unilaterally dissolved its artists’ programs, cutting loose over a hundred affiliated theater-makers.

Actors Equity Releases Statement After New Unemployment Report Reveals Highest Numbers Since September

www.broadwayworld.com: Actors' Equity Association released the following statement following the new unemployment report, which found that over 850,000 Americans have newly applied for unemployment in the last week, the highest it has been since September, and a jump of over 100,000 from the week prior.

Concert Industry in North America Lost $30 Billion in 2020

Consequence of Sound: We all knew the entertainment industry was going to take a huge hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but as the year rounds out and the shutdown stretches into its ninth month, numbers are coming in worse than many had predicted. According to Pollstar (via Variety), the concert industry in North America alone stands to lose more than $30 billion in 2020.

A happy ending for King Lear? Trauma of plague caused Shakespeare to change play’s finale

Culture | The Guardian: The ravages of the plague are the true source of the dark sorrow driving Shakespeare’s later work, a leading authority on the playwright has claimed – and were even behind his decision to change the traditional ending of the King Lear story for his own play. According to the artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Greg Doran, the national trauma behind this masterpiece has always been hiding in plain sight.

Doing Right by the Dressing Rooms

ASTC: A backstage dressing room is not just a space for performers to get into costume and apply makeup; it is often a home away from home for the actors, particularly in a touring company. It can be a messy place, but one that is be easily cleaned and maintained in between rotations of different performance companies, groups, or ensembles.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

TikTok ‘Ratatouille’ Musical Snares Broadway Producer For Benefit

Deadline: More than 200 million TikTok users can hum along to selections from Ratatouille: The Musical, a statistic all the more impressive considering there’s kinda really no such thing as Ratatouille: The Musical.

Posted by David at 12/11/2020 11:27:00 AM

WarnerMedia's CEO says that blockbuster movies will cost $1 billion

Business Insider: WarnerMedia sent shockwaves through Hollywood last week when it announced that all of Warner Bros.' 2021 movies would debut on its streaming service, HBO Max, and in theaters on the same day in the US. The move is in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has upended the theatrical industry. But it will also boost Max, which has struggled to convert subscribers since launching in May.

Posted by David at 12/11/2020 11:36:00 AM

The Coalition Of Broadway Unions & Guilds Stands United With IATSE Local One In Met Opera Lockout

www.broadwayworld.com: In response to the lockout by the Metropolitan Opera against Local One stagehands, members of the Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds (COBUG) issued the following statement

Posted by David at 12/11/2020 11:31:00 AM

IATSE Statement on Met’s Lockout of Local One Stagehands

IATSE Cares: On Monday, Metropolitan Opera management announced that it plans to lock out union stagehands represented by IATSE Local One at midnight. These workers have been furloughed since April, and the Met’s management is demanding these workers take an extremely unreasonable 30% reduction of earnings for an indefinite period of time, and half of that (15%) reduction “in perpetuity” in exchange for short term relief payments.

Posted by David at 12/09/2020 11:46:00 AM

Arts Workers Unite to Pen Letter to Biden/Harris Calling for Cabinet-Level Arts & Culture Agency

www.broadwayworld.com: As President-Elect Joe Biden continues to make preparations for the start of his administration, members of the arts community have banded together to pen an open letter calling for support of the industry in the wake of the growing health crisis. The document has already been signed by hundreds of artists, including Broadway veterans like Rachel Chavkin, Phillipa Soo, Steven Pasqual, Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Celia Keenen-Bolger, Adam Chanler-Berat, Greg Hildreth, Leah Silverman, Shaina Taub, Taylor Tresch, and many more.

Posted by David at 12/09/2020 11:45:00 AM

 

With Paris Theaters Closed, Church Is the Only Show in Town

The New York Times: Where can you find elaborate costumes, choreographed flourishes and live music in France right now? Not in theaters. Since the country eased its second lockdown in late November, the show has resumed in only one setting: churches. Catholicism is the predominant faith in France, and on paper, a Roman Catholic Mass and a stage performance aren’t all that different: Both events involve a cast of professionals addressing a seated, and now socially distanced, audience.

What Does It Take to Pull Off the Gigantic Christmas With the Tabernacle Choir?

Playbill: The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (previously known as The Mormon Tabernacle Choir) is an institution and an anomaly. There is no other choir in America of this size with as wide a reach for as many years. Approximately 360 singers perform a weekly international broadcast Music & the Spoken Word, the longest continuous broadcast on air that began in 1929.

WarnerMedia's CEO says that blockbuster movies will cost $1 billion

Business Insider: WarnerMedia sent shockwaves through Hollywood last week when it announced that all of Warner Bros.' 2021 movies would debut on its streaming service, HBO Max, and in theaters on the same day in the US. The move is in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has upended the theatrical industry. But it will also boost Max, which has struggled to convert subscribers since launching in May.

UNCSA Students Create a Collaborative "Nutcracker" Movie for the Pandemic Era

Pointe: Earlier this year, anticipating the ongoing repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, University of North Carolina School of the Arts' interim dean of dance, Jared Redick, started looking ahead to their annual Nutcracker performances. In May, he and the deans of UNCSA's Film, Music, and Design and Production schools started brainstorming on how to maintain some semblance of the holiday tradition safely, while also being instructive for their students and beneficial to the community.

Pantone Announces Two Colors of the Year for 2021

mymodernmet.com: Each December, Pantone announces the new “Color of the Year” to inspire upcoming art and design trends for the following year. Last year, the color experts declared “Classic Blue” as its 2020 hue, with the intention of “Instilling calm, confidence, and connection.” And although 2020 didn’t quite go exactly as planned, Pantone has chosen two colors for 2021 that represent hope for the upcoming year.

The Best Multi-Tool

Reviews by Wirecutter: Carrying a multi-tool opens up an entire world of problem solving and empowerment. It’s like keeping a flashlight in your pocket: If you don’t carry one, you can’t imagine ever using it, but once you have it, you use it seven times a day. We spent three weeks fixing fences and cutting hay bale twine in rural New Hampshire with 19 multi-tools, and the Leatherman Skeletool CX was the best tool for most jobs.

Grammy Producer Hopes to 'Do Something Exciting' With Indie Venues

Variety: New Grammy Awards executive producer Ben Winston says he is “looking to do something quite exciting with independent venues” either in or around the 2021 show, according to a comment in an interview with Billboard.

The Coalition Of Broadway Unions & Guilds Stands United With IATSE Local One In Met Opera Lockout

www.broadwayworld.com: In response to the lockout by the Metropolitan Opera against Local One stagehands, members of the Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds (COBUG) issued the following statement

As Theater Goes Virtual, Alvin Ailey Artistic Director On The Future Of Dance

NPR: NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Robert Battle, artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, about their new all virtual season and how the pandemic has impacted the world of dance.

TikTok ‘Ratatouille’ Musical Snares Broadway Producer For Benefit

Deadline: More than 200 million TikTok users can hum along to selections from Ratatouille: The Musical, a statistic all the more impressive considering there’s kinda really no such thing as Ratatouille: The Musical.

Mandalorian tech comes to town: the $1.5m TV screen changing filmmaking

www.theage.com.au/culture: The room is spinning around a man and woman as they sit at a table. A skeleton walks through another room and waves at a man, who waves back. A moment later, we're on Mars. A moment after that, we're in the Antarctic. A little later, we're in warmer climes, in a narrow street in Venice.

December Theater Guide: Full Stream Ahead

Entertainment Central Pittsburgh: Someday, live theater will return to the real world. This month, all productions from Pittsburgh companies come to you via the medium we share at this moment. Which is not such a bad thing—at least not for us, the people in the audience. The actors are real. The shows are good.

A Key First Step For A Smart Contact Future Just Happened

by NoPro Newswire | Dec, 2020 | No Proscenium: The Guide To Everything Immersive: We’re still a long way from Smart AR lenses, but we’re a little closer as of today The dream tech for augmented reality isn’t smart specs — we all saw what happened with Google Glass — it’s smart contact lenses. While it will be years before such a thing comes to market, there are certain steps that need to take place.

American Duchess Cape – Sewing it up

Avant Garbe: After the ridiculousness that was FOUR MOCKUPS FOR A FRIGGIN CAPE sewing it up was nice and straightforward. The outer fabric was an easy choice. I’ve had some dark gray wool satin in my stash since 2012 (sheesh both my stash and I are getting old) that I bought when it was on sale with no real plans for it.

Germany announces €2.5bn event cancellation fund

IQ Magazine: The German federal government has announced a €2.5 billion cancellation fund to allow event organisers to plan for the second half of 2021 without the financial risk posed by a potential Covid outbreak.

With These Experiences for Kids, All the Living Room’s a Stage

The New York Times: Back in March, when New York’s governor abruptly ordered Broadway theaters to shut their narrow lobby doors, many of us thought they would soon open again — in April or July, surely by January. I remember kidding a friend, via text, about it: “If not, I’ll just make the kids do ‘Hamlet.’” Careful what you joke about.

Did You Know – The Classic Fourth Wall

ASTC: What exactly is a proscenium? What is a proscenium arch? Thanks for asking. Let’s have a little chat. The proscenium is roughly equivalent to a picture frame that surrounds a piece of 2-dimensional art. In the theatre world, this “picture frame” separates the audience from the actors and the stage scenery, except when it doesn’t.

How Theatre Can Help Young Nigerians Who Are Living With HIV

The Theatre Times: Nasarawa state in the north-central region of Nigeria is known for agriculture, salt mining, and one of the higher waterfalls in Africa. It has also consistently registered one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in Nigeria with an HIV prevalence of 7.5% compared to the national average of 4.1%. As part of a strategy to tackle the epidemic, the Nasarawa state government decided to employ theatre to raise awareness.

'The Crown' Season 4: Composer Martin Phipps on Princess Diana Wedding

Rolling Stone: Season Four of The Crown, Peter Morgan’s historical Netflix series about Queen Elizabeth and the British royal family, marks the highly anticipated debut of Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) and covers the first nine years of her marriage to Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor). And, since it’s set in the 1980s, the “People’s Princess” brings a great pop soundtrack with her that includes Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Billy Joel, and Queen.

Eight Lights of the Israeli Theater: Isra-Drama Performances that are Worth Seeing Twice – Online and Offline

The Theatre Times: If theater around the world previously sought to destroy the fourth wall, it has recently had to deal with this wall doubling. It is increasingly difficult for the audience and the performance to meet during the COVID-19 pandemic. Theaters in many countries are closed or operating in a limited way. For many theater organisations, online projects have become the only way to survive because theatre is impossible without an audience. It is not easy to convey the live energy of theater, the atmosphere of the auditorium and the tension on stage through digital technology. While some say that nothing compares to the living breath of the theater hall, others are trying to adapt to new conditions. This is achieved with varying degrees of success.

When Culture Really Began to Reckon With White Privilege

The New York Times: “Dear White American Theater.” So opened the scathing statement released on June 8 and signed by some of our most influential playwrights and directors who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. “We see you. We have always seen you,” the letter read a few lines later. “We have watched you pretend not to see us.”

When a Theater Critic Learned to Grade on a Curve

The New York Times: Nothing much about the process of reviewing theater had yet changed by March 7, when I set out to see the musical “Six” on Broadway. My husband and I braved the subway from Brooklyn to a jammed Times Square, squeezed our way into the Brooks Atkinson Theater, hugged friends, took our seats and inhaled the atmosphere of joy and anxiety that perfumes every show about to open.

Pantone's two 2021 Colors of the Year seek to encourage, uplift

www.usatoday.com: 2020 may have felt bleak, but Pantone's two Color of the Year picks for 2021 are here to remind us a new year is on the horizon. Ultimate Gray and Illuminating, a cheery butter yellow, were selected as "two independent colors that come together to create an aspirational color pairing, conjoining deeper feelings of thoughtfulness with the optimistic promise of a sunshine filled day," Pantone announced Wednesday.

How To Get Started With G-Code

Fusion 360 Blog: Programming is a fundamental skill for all types of CNC machining, even as automation and new technology seem to be replacing programming tasks. Every machinist still needs to understand how their programs and tools work. Whether you’re new to CNC programming and its most common language, G-code, or you’ve been writing code by scratch for years, CNC codes can still feel like a foreign language.

The Transformation of the Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny into MuseumLab - A Beautiful Ruin

Green Building Alliance: What happens when you take a team of museum professionals and combine them with architects and contractors that have a shared interest in inspirational problem solving, mixed with the hope to discover and reinstate the historic architecture of a building that had been dampened by a 1970’s renovation?

IATSE Statement on Met’s Lockout of Local One Stagehands

IATSE Cares: On Monday, Metropolitan Opera management announced that it plans to lock out union stagehands represented by IATSE Local One at midnight. These workers have been furloughed since April, and the Met’s management is demanding these workers take an extremely unreasonable 30% reduction of earnings for an indefinite period of time, and half of that (15%) reduction “in perpetuity” in exchange for short term relief payments.

grandMA3 Software Release 1.4

LightSoundJournal.com: MA Lighting has now released grandMA3 Software Version 1.4. This release rolls out many enhancements to continuously improve the basic workflow, as well as new features that enrich the overall lighting control experience. Additionally, it marks a fundamental step in the evolution of lighting control software and introduces the new concepts of Recipes and MAgic (MA grid interpolation concept).

Arts Workers Unite to Pen Letter to Biden/Harris Calling for Cabinet-Level Arts & Culture Agency

www.broadwayworld.com: As President-Elect Joe Biden continues to make preparations for the start of his administration, members of the arts community have banded together to pen an open letter calling for support of the industry in the wake of the growing health crisis. The document has already been signed by hundreds of artists, including Broadway veterans like Rachel Chavkin, Phillipa Soo, Steven Pasqual, Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Celia Keenen-Bolger, Adam Chanler-Berat, Greg Hildreth, Leah Silverman, Shaina Taub, Taylor Tresch, and many more.

Cirque Remains Committed to Entertainment in Las Vegas

www.cirquefascination.com: About a year ago, Cirque du Soleil’s aquatic landmark “O” shifted to a seven-night schedule, a first for the dream-like epic that originally opened with Bellagio in October of 1998. After passing the 10,000-show mark last September, the production hired new artists and increased the cast to 117 from 77 in preparation for what should have been its biggest year yet.

Acoustic Transmission: Part 1 In A Series On The Fundamentals Of Audio

ProSoundWeb: For many of us fundamentals are like Swiss cheese: mostly solid but with intermittent but noticeable holes. This is the first in a series of articles exploring the principles and properties of audio systems and related fields. Here we focus on the properties of acoustic transmission. Perhaps you know everything on this subject already, but just maybe there are a few holes that can be filled, making the reading effort particularly worthwhile.

The Ableist Effects of Creating “Post-Pandemic Theatre” During a Pandemic

HowlRound Theatre Commons: When theatre houses around the world shuttered their doors back in March, we were all devastated. We watched our entire community lose everything from their income and health insurance to university admissions and even visa opportunities. Manhattan traded twinkling lights for refrigerated trucks. We stayed inside. We grieved.

Keeping The Faith: Looking Forward To Returning To The “Heat Of The Moment"

ProSoundWeb: Oh, how I miss mixing live shows! I miss the hours we spend every day getting the system dialed in, line checked, sound checked and show ready. I even miss the preshow jitters. I know that nervous energy is always rewarded with the thrill of an audience roaring when the house lights go out! It’s been way too long.

Tips for Nailing Your Online Christmas Eve Service

Church Production Magazine: For many churches, Christmas Eve draws in more attendees than Easter. So Christmas Eve services represent an incredible opportunity to reach people who once attended and now don’t, the unchurched, and the fence-sitters.

Zmorph Matures And Brings Industrial Quality To 3D Printing

makezine.com: Zmorph is a name many of you might recognize from hearing it in the 3D printing community. Founded in 2012, Zmorph made waves with the VX, an all-in-one unit that had 3d printing, CNC machining, and Laser engraving in one platform.

A Clear Path to Razor-Sharp Estimating

Remodeling: The typical progression of a building contractor is this: You work as a carpenter, start doing work on your own, hire a helper, hire an experienced carpenter, start doing more complicated work, and, before you know it, you’re doing a half million in volume and realize you don’t actually know if you’re making any money or not. At that point, you start looking for resources that can help you move from busy to profitable.

Air-System Leak Assessment in 12 Steps

Hydraulics & Pneumatics: A compressed-air system analysis consists of a complete review of the compressed-air system from the air intake to the end users, plus a compressed-air leak detection and correction program. To achieve success in your compressed-air system analysis, follow these 12 steps

How Australia’s Bonfire Of Live Music Rules Could Save The Industry From The Pandemic

www.forbes.com: Yes, good things came out of 2020. Here’s one from Australia that has the power to save and support live music scenes everywhere. In November, the Government of New South Wales in Australia passed a set of sweeping legislative reforms, all at once, in support of its live music sector. In a world where crisis also lends itself to opportunity, what emerged in Australia at the end of 2020 offers a new model to engage with, invest in, regulate and support live music and culture in cities. And if implemented in other jurisdictions, it will create better cities and places as relief subsides and recovery begins.

Bah, Pandemic! How Theaters Are Saving ‘A Christmas Carol’

The New York Times: For all his flaws, that cranky old miser Ebenezer Scrooge has been a godsend for American theaters. Through recessions and blizzards and other upheavals, he has drawn small children and big money to his redemption story in “A Christmas Carol.” Stage adaptations of the tale, which generally run between Thanksgiving and year-end, have been a tradition and a lifeline for troupes big and small, professional and amateur. But now, after decades in which the Dickens classic has sustained them, this year theaters are sustaining Dickens.

Augment3d helps drive-in opera happen at high speed

et cetera...: San Diego Opera used creativity and all the tools at their disposal to stage a full run of the opera classic La Bohème recently. Presented as a drive-in experience in the parking lot of a local sports arena, the opera came together under tight constraints. Luckily for the lighting team, ETC’s suite of lighting tools on the Eos 3.0 platform, including the Augment3d visualizing software, was there to give a high-tech assist to this classic opera.

Here’s what readers think of COVID-era virtual arts

Los Angeles Times: For Pamela Geisel, the performing arts — even in their virtual state — have been a lifeline during the pandemic. Geisel, 65, has spent much of the year driving between Burbank and Prescott, Ariz., which is home for her parents, who have dementia. In between caregiving responsibilities, she has caught at least 10 shows, including Los Angeles Philharmonic highlights at the Hollywood Bowl, Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday bash and virtual conversations hosted by arts organizations.

Artist Creates Opportunities for Black Mothers

www.cmu.edu/news: Alisha B. Wormsley built her career as an artist around residencies, which provide opportunities to live and produce work in different environments, including in places like Houston and Cuba. Then came her first pregnancy. "I had two years of residencies lined up," recalled Wormsley, who is a Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow in art at Carnegie Mellon University. "I reached out to the organizations and they were all like, 'I guess you're not coming.'"

Theatergoers and John Gore Organization Donate $1 Million to BC/EFA

thebroadwayblog.com: When theaters across the country shut down in March, countless theater fans who had previously purchased tickets to Broadway and national touring shows suddenly had their plans canceled. In an act of unparalleled generosity, Broadway Across America gave purchasers the option to donate the value of their unused tickets to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The John Gore Organization added to their customers’ goodwill, bringing the total donation to Broadway Cares to an astounding $1 million.

Storied Dallas-Fort Worth costume emporium is on the brink of closing

CultureMap Dallas: Rose Costumes has been designing and renting out costumes to Dallas-Fort Worth theater companies, schools, and seasonal events for the last 44 years. And unless it raises a significant amount of money soon, it will be closing its doors forever. Current owner Annemarie Aldrich started a GoFundMe on December 1, imploring the communities it has served over the past four decades to now help continue the "legacy of creativity, love, passion, and service" by raising $100,000.

Alumni News: Su Su is Among Ten Finalists for The Bennett Prize

Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama: Su Su (MFA ’15) was recently named one of ten finalists from across the country for the $50,000 Bennett Prize for women artists who paint in the figurative realist style. The ten were selected from among 674 entrants by a four-member jury, which includes eminent realist painters Alyssa Monks and Katie O’Hagan, director of world-renowned The Andy Warhol Museum, Patrick Moore, and Prize co-founder Steven Bennett. The Prize is the largest art award ever offered solely to women figurative realist painters.

Behind-The-Scenes Documentary of Rise of The Resistance Has To Be Seen To Be Believed

Theme Park University: We’ve talked about the great work Martin Smith does here at Theme Park University for years. When it comes to Disney attractions, you can’t find more history and behind-the-scenes info than the work Martin puts into his videos. This time, the new Rise of the Resistance Ultimate Tribute is easily his best work yet.

How To Get Into Lost Wax Casting (with A Dash Of 3D Printing)

Hackaday: I’ve always thought that there are three things you can do with metal: cut it, bend it, and join it. Sure, I knew you could melt it, but that was always something that happened in big foundries- you design something and ship it off to be cast in some large angular building churning out smoke. After all, melting most metals is hard. Silver melts at 1,763 °F. Copper at 1,983 °F. Not only do you need to create an environment that can hit those temperatures, but you need to build it from materials that can withstand them.

Lotte World becomes world’s first theme park to deploy Christie Mystique for outdoor 3D projection mapping

InPark Magazine: Widely acknowledged as the most famous landmark in Lotte World’s outdoor theme park known as Magic Island, the 41-meter-high Magic Castle is distinguished by its medieval-style towers with signature blue tiles and white brick exteriors. This new six-minute nighttime spectacular, which made its debut in August, is the latest initiative by the theme park operator to rejuvenate major attractions and reinforce its position as South Korea’s leading themed entertainment destination. This highly impactful graphic-based 3D mapping show has been designed by international digital company d’strict based on the formative characteristics of Lotte World Magic Castle’s architectural structure.

Review: Doodling in three dimensions with the 3Doodler Pro+

newatlas.com: We've been following the developments of WobbleWorks since the first Kickstarter in 2013, even raising our doodles off the page on a number of occasions. The professional-grade Pro+ went on sale at the end of October, and we've been spent some time having creative fun and (mostly) making a mess.

“Building the Character a Closet”: Costume Designer Trish Summerville on the 1930s Hollywood Style of David Fincher’s Mank

Filmmaker Magazine: A repeat David Fincher collaborator after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and Gone Girl (2014), multi-award winning costume designer Trish Summerville has been signing her name onto numerous challenging film and TV projects throughout her storied, genre-spanning career, including the likes of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Red Sparrow. But Mank—Fincher’s meticulous creation of the Golden Age of Hollywood through the story of Herman J. Mankiewicz’s writing of Citizen Kane—and working in black-and-white presented a new challenge for the artisan, who had only done small projects in monochrome previously.

What is augmented reality? Here's what you need to know

Business Insider: Augmented reality can figure in a number of ways, such as through AR goggles that combine a view of the immediate surroundings with computer graphics, or on a smartphone display that does the same thing using the phone's camera to see and manipulate the world in front of the viewer.

SAG-AFTRA Attacks Opponents of Healthcare Cuts: 'You Are Being Misled'

Variety: Three days after the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan and its Trustees were sued over upcoming cuts in benefits and eligibility for the plan, leaders of SAG-AFTRA have blasted backers of the suit and accused them of lying. “There’s no easy way to say this: You are being misled,” the performers union said Friday night in a message to its 160,000 members.

Adam Savage's One Day Build: Sticky Storage!

Tested: Today’s One Day Build is an workshop infrastructure improvement, creating storage and organizational spaces for the numerous sticks that Adam uses in his every day building. These include things like tongue depressors, skewers, acid brushes, and swabs that are used for everything from mixing epoxy to holding up model kit parts to prime and paint. And like every other shop infrastructure build, it requires some introspection as to how Adam thinks about and uses these tools.

VFX Team at Weta Digital Break Down Sequences from Disney's “Mulan”

Variety: “Mulan” lands on Disney Plus for subscribers at no extra charge this weekend. The live-action remake directed by Niki Caro is an adaptation of Disney’s 1998 animated film and based on Chinese folklore. The film stars Yifei Li as Mulan.

Folies Bergère goes crazy for L-ISA immersive sound

LightSoundJournal.com: Celebrating all things glamorous, sensual and flamboyant, Folies Bergère is one of Paris’ most revered nightspots. Originally a cabaret music hall and variety-entertainment theatre, The Folies made its mark during the Belle Epoque of the late 1800s with its music hall revues featuring stunning women dancers. More recently returning to its musical production roots, the Folies Bergère stage has been graced by famous artists from Charlie Chaplin, Ella Fitzgerald, Marcel Marceau, Frank Sinatra, Charles Aznavour through to Elton John.

As Theater Goes Virtual, Alvin Ailey Artistic Director On The Future Of Dance

NPR: All this month, we are thinking about the global coronavirus pandemic and how it has upended the arts. We're looking at how those who make a living in the arts have adapted creatively and personally, and we're asking if some of these changes might become permanent. Today, we're focusing on the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

How ‘Wolves’ and ‘Heroes’ Are Saving Pandemic Theater

The New York Times: It’s all well and good that some theaters are making money during the pandemic by producing what can only be called quasi-theater: magic shows, murder mysteries, a hundred variations on “A Christmas Carol.” I won’t congratulate them here; let their income be its own reward. With luck, they may keep the spark of performance alive to light another night.

RCF at Bellator MMA. Interview with Emanuele Morlini

LightSoundJournal.com: Doing live events in this period seems almost unthinkable. Even more if you immagine one fully managed by a team of only Italians and realizing it in another country. We spoke with Emanuele Morlini (RCF Product Specialist) who told us about his “French experience” at the Bellator MMA event in the Accor Arena in Paris.

Steven Soderbergh on Whether Movie Theaters Can Survive Beyond 2021

collider.com: In recent years, Steven Soderbergh has established a footprint in the streaming world. Having directed or executive produced content which has gone to Netflix, Quibi, and soon HBO Max (with his new movie Let Them All Talk), Soderbergh has shown a willingness to embrace the growing world of streaming in a noticeable way. With this in mind, it seems natural that Soderbergh might be asked to weigh in on the recent announcement from HBO Max regarding the decision to release Warner Bros.' 2021 slate — including big tentpoles Godzilla vs. Kong, Dune, and The Matrix 4 — on the streaming platform the same day as their theatrical release. Does Soderbergh, a creative with experience working with streamers, have any strong opinions about sending potentially huge blockbusters to HBO Max at the risk of impacting attendance in movie theaters?

SAG-AFTRA Accused of Misrepresenting Health Plan Crisis

Variety: Opponents of the looming SAG-AFTRA Health Plan cuts have hit back at SAG-AFTRA over the leadership’s accusations that the opponents are spreading “misinformation and fear.” In a message Sunday morning, the SOS Health Plan said the Dec. 4 message from the union’s official SAG-AFTRA Communications’ account is “deliberately misrepresenting the Health Plan Crisis.”

Who Was William Shakespeare? Get to Know the Man Behind the Legend

mymodernmet.com: Who was William Shakespeare? Most people do not know much more about the Englishman except that he wrote plays. But for over 400 years, the playwright has managed to captivate readers, filmmakers, and pop-culture fans alike. The answer to his allure may lie in the enduring characters of his works or perhaps his poetic voice. Each generation reinvents Shakespeare. The audience members who sat in the Globe Theater laughed at the ribald jokes of Twelfth Night; 400 years later a young Channing Tatum played Duke Orsino in She's The Man, a role which subtly introduced millennials to the works of Shakespeare.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

Does online theatre really need to be live?

Exeunt Magazine: When artists talk about what makes theatre and performance special, the word ‘liveness’ reverberates through the air. It has so many exciting associations – a whiff of danger and sweat and romance and religion all stewed together. Artists like to compare live performances to other emotionally charged communal experiences, like church services (presumably not of the CofE variety) or protests or raves. In the past, ‘liveness’ in performance has usually been synonymous with another favoured concept, ‘being in a room together’. But how can you carry those ideas through to the realm of online theatre – and do you need to?

Posted by David at 12/02/2020 11:47:00 AM

Land of the Bittersweet: COVID's Effect on Nutcracker

Pointe: To some dancers, a winter without The Nutcracker may seem like a gift. No Tchaikovsky on an endless loop. No missing real parties to dance in the party scene. No pulling fake snow out of your hair. It's the stuff that burned-out ballerinas might dream about in mid-December. But, true to E.T.A. Hoffmann's original "Nutcracker and Mouse King," sometimes gifts are broken, and dreams are not as they seem. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies into nightmare scenarios to keep audiences and dancers safe: canceling or rethinking entire seasons, including the hallmark Nutcracker.

Posted by David at 12/03/2020 11:43:00 AM

SAG-AFTRA Health Plan Changes Spark Outrage From Senior Performers

Variety: Amid the avalanche of disheartening developments this year, few were as dispiriting in Hollywood as the Aug. 12 announcement by the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan that it was eliminating coverage for 11,750 of 32,000 participants, including 8,200 senior performers.

Posted by David at 12/04/2020 11:33:00 AM

Studios Will Continue to Put Movies on Streaming in 2021

Variety: In Hollywood these days, the only certainty is that nothing is certain. Already, the coronavirus pandemic has been responsible for some shocking developments in the film world: “Tenet” keeping its release date, “Wonder Woman 1984” debuting on HBO Max and “Mulan” eschewing U.S. theaters for Disney Plus, to name just a few. As the new year beckons, one thing is clear: Don’t expect the tumult to end in 2020.

Posted by David at 12/02/2020 11:40:00 AM

New Theatre Producers of Color Group Sets Mentorship Program

Deadline: The newly formed Theatre Producers of Color organization announced today its first educational program to support and mentor the next generation of BIPOC producers. The 10-week, limited-space program will be tuition free.

Posted by David at 12/02/2020 11:41:00 AM

 

British Columbia Sees Filming Boom

Variety: Following a lengthy production shutdown in British Columbia due to the coronavirus pandemic, the B.C. film and TV industry is now officially back in full swing. Given the jurisdiction’s appealingly lower COVID-19 infection numbers, productions have been betting on B.C. — in fact, it’s even busier than prior to the March 13 shutdown. For example, there were 58 productions in town the week of Sept. 15, 2019. This year during the same period, there were 69. For the week of Oct. 15, 2019, there were 53 productions filming in B.C.; this year, there were 76. And during the week of Nov. 15, 2019, there were 49. Currently, around 60 projects are shooting.

Christie Pandoras Box rolls out new render engine – powered by Medialooks Video SDK

blog.medialooks.com: Christie, a leading supplier of visual display technologies, has recently released a new version of its media server, now with expanded file format support and 10-bit color depth. We had a fireside chat with Markus Zeppenfeld, who runs the product’s development team in Germany, about why our Video SDK was helpful in achieving his goals with Pandoras Box, a turn-key solution for real-time rendering, 3D compositing and projection.

Researchers Create Super-Strong Glue That Releases by Dissolving Into Thin Air

gizmodo.com: Products designed with temporary adhesives that don’t hold forever—such as sticky notes, painter’s tape, and bandages—still require some level of force to be removed, meaning there’s always the risk of damaging paint on a wall or painfully losing some body hair. But what if glue simply vanished into thin air when it was no longer needed? It’s an idea that researchers at Dartmouth College have made a reality.

Digital Technology Will Be Important for Compliance and Safety Testing Beyond the Pandemic

2020-12-03 | Engineering News-Record: When construction companies can’t build, it affects us all. According to McKinsey defines the construction industry as encompassing real estate, infrastructure, and industrial structures, and ranks it the largest industry in the global economy, accounting for 13% of the world’s GDP. Few sectors are more critical to the economy

Hazard / En Riesgo

HowlRound Theatre Commons: My country of Colombia is one of the most unequal countries in the world. “The Dynamics of Inequalities in Colombia,” a 2019 study by Luis Garay and Jorge Espitia, reveals that a quarter of the farms here own almost three-quarters of the total land of the country, some three thousand people account for 44 percent of gross national income, and the country’s five hundred largest companies account for 81 percent of declared assets. On top of that, despite the peace agreements, we are still in a war that has lasted more than fifty years; there are over nine million people registered in the Victims Unit.

Independently connected: Fefu and Her Friends meet virtually

Performing Arts Feature | Chicago Reader: Fefu and Her Friends, written and directed in 1977 by Cuban American playwright Maria Irene Fornés, is set over the course of one day at Fefu’s New England home, where she has gathered seven of her female friends in order to make preparations for an upcoming arts education fundraiser they are hosting.

What’s Playing in Dallas? With Streaming, I Could Find Out

The New York Times: Over the past few weeks, I’ve gone on a Dallas theater binge. From Teatro Dallas I caught “Pizcas,” about migrant workers, as well as the Dael Orlandersmith one-act play “My Red Hand, My Black Hand,” jointly presented by the Cara Mía and Soul Rep companies. Dallas Children’s Theater served up a trio of Idris Goodwin plays about race, while the youth company Cry Havoc presented its climate change project, called “Endlings.” And Shakespeare Dallas packed a lot of information into the 30-minute “Shakespeare and the Suffragists.”

San Diego Opera plans drive-in 'All Is Calm' film and live sing-along

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Fresh from the success of its drive-in “La bohème,” San Diego Opera has announced its second outdoor event of the season: a live sing-along holiday concert and screening of the company’s 2018 production of “All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914.”

SAG-AFTRA Health Plan Changes Spark Outrage From Senior Performers

Variety: Amid the avalanche of disheartening developments this year, few were as dispiriting in Hollywood as the Aug. 12 announcement by the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan that it was eliminating coverage for 11,750 of 32,000 participants, including 8,200 senior performers.

British Columbia Takes More Tech Steps

Variety: Technology has stepped up its game when it comes to dealing with various production challenges brought on by COVID-19. Given the two-week quarantine requirements for entering Canada, not all producers and writers are able (or willing) to travel to set anymore. Instead, they connect via services such as Evercast, which allow execs to remotely view the set using ultra-low latency real-time streams.

MTV's 'The Challenge' Boss on Filming in Iceland Amid COVID-19

Variety: In April 2020, just when “The Challenge” audience was getting used to sheltering in place in their own homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MTV launched the “Total Madness” season of that reality competition series, which sealed its contestants off from the general public and housed them in a bunker, due to its post-apocalyptic theme.

Here's what you'll see in Ars Nova's 24-hour telethon this weekend

www.timeout.com/newyork/news: If you've got some time to kill this weekend, Ars Nova has just the weapon. The consistently hip and sharp-minded theater company, a keystone of NYC's Off Broadway theater scene in the 21st century, has come up with a characteristically crazy-ambitious idea for its annual benefit: a free, star-studded live-streamed telethon that will last 24 straight hours and involve more than 150 different artists.

Elegies for empty stages, by Whitney White and Psalmayene 24

DC Metro Theater Arts: Working on James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner was one of the most fulfilling artistic experiences I have ever had. During this time of the shutdown when live theater has all but ground to halt and so many artists like myself and my brilliant scenic designer Dan Soule are wondering if, when, and how we will ever return to our art form, I have been amazed by how much working on that production has sustained me. The memory of the production and what it was like working in DC has provided us both hope, and strength. I still hear Victor Simonson’s beautiful arrangements, and remember the feeling I had when the ensemble hit the stage for the first time in costume.

Land of the Bittersweet: COVID's Effect on Nutcracker

Pointe: To some dancers, a winter without The Nutcracker may seem like a gift. No Tchaikovsky on an endless loop. No missing real parties to dance in the party scene. No pulling fake snow out of your hair. It's the stuff that burned-out ballerinas might dream about in mid-December. But, true to E.T.A. Hoffmann's original "Nutcracker and Mouse King," sometimes gifts are broken, and dreams are not as they seem. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies into nightmare scenarios to keep audiences and dancers safe: canceling or rethinking entire seasons, including the hallmark Nutcracker.

Just Me and the Music and the Green Screen

The New York Times: “Are you making a kissy face, Max?” Shereen Ahmed is blushing as she leans into her Zoom window to ask a question of her co-star, Max von Essen. “Yeah, I think I am going to close my eyes,” he replies. Then he leans into blank space with puckered lips. She does the same, becoming half of a Norman Rockwell valentine, and the primal act of musical theater, the ingénue kissing the juvenile, has taken place — only with the actors hundreds of miles apart, locked down in their apartments, acting into their iPhones, while the rest of us in the cast watch from our own muted Zoom squares.

How to Fix Funky Points on 18th Century Stays

blog.americanduchess.com: If you've got a pair of 18th century stays that lace at the center front, either fully or partially, you may have noticed those funky points that curve upwards at the bust. They're weird and annoying - they show their funky pointy selves when you wear the laces anything other than fully closed. Luckily, though, theses are very easy to fix.

What Are The Challenges In Translating Comedy For The Stage: Laughs Sans Frontières

The Theatre Times: ‘We’ve been doing this play in our acting evening class. It’s absolutely hilarious, and I thought it was right up your street!’ One of my oldest and dearest friends, John, an English expat living in France since 1990, was talking about Qui est Monsieur Schmitt? by Sébastien Thiéry, and he was right. The moment I read the play I knew I was going to have to translate it, to see if I could do justice to this accomplished comedy.

Walkie Talkies brings together history, nature, and storytelling

Theater Preview | Chicago Reader: Aztec deities. Sistine Chapel replicas. Ancient mulberry trees. Ground Michelle Obama probably walked on. These are the elements that await within the latest adventures proffered by Chicago Children’s Theatre. Let it be said that if the CDC were to visit CCT, they’d approve of the 15-year-old company’s latest three productions. All are wholly outdoors and all will spur kids and their families to explore worlds completely inaccessible via computer screens. They are also marvelously engaging, no matter your chronological age.

City Theatre debuts first filmed stage production with "Claws Out: A Holiday Drag Musical"

Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: The holidays are all about peace and togetherness, showing family and friends how much you appreciate them by exchanging tidings of good will and, of course, gifts. But City Theatre will give audiences a different kind of gift this December when it debuts Claws Out, an original drag holiday musical starring Shua Potter and Monteze Freeland as women fighting for the title of Mrs. Claus.

Creativity in Strange Times / Creatividad en tiempos extraños

HowlRound Theatre Commons: When the pandemic hit and preventive isolation began in Colombia, many organizations and artistic groups were scared by the distancing measures that forced them to close their physical spaces and cancel their events. They had all believed this would be a magnificent year for cultural and artistic practices. But it was not like that. The impact was immediate. It took all of us artists in Colombia by surprise, and we quickly began to reinvent ourselves.

A Case For Project Part Numbers

Hackaday: Even when we share the design files for open source hardware, the step between digital files and a real-world mechatronics widget is still a big one. That’s why I set off on a personal vendetta to find ways to make that transfer step easier for newcomers to an open source mechantronics project. Today, I want to spill the beans on one of these finds: part numbers, and showcase how they can help you share your project in a way that helps other reproduce it. Think of part numbers as being like version numbers for software, but on real objects.

The Best Cordless Drills in 2020

theinventory.com: When people have spare time, some turn to cooking or traveling while others turn to home improvement projects, and that means you need a new cordless drill. If you haven’t invested in one yet, you might be just a little overwhelmed with the options out there. So, I set out to get you the best information with the help of some DIY experts, who offered their thoughts and recommendations.

Mixed Reality Revolution: Out-of-Home!

VRFocus: With the latest news of a major ‘AR-powered’ theme park attractions, this news underlines the investment this sector is making in these types of experiences in the attraction scene. Kevin Williams gives a brief overview of the deployment that has led to these latest announcements concerning Super Nintendo World.

Local artist is a finalist for the $50,000 Bennett Prize

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Su Su, a Pittsburgh artist who grew up in China, is among 10 women nominated for The Bennett Prize. Inaugurated in 2018, the $50,000 biannual award is the largest art prize offered solely to women figurative realist painters. The 10 finalists were selected from 674 entries.

Does online theatre really need to be live?

Exeunt Magazine: When artists talk about what makes theatre and performance special, the word ‘liveness’ reverberates through the air. It has so many exciting associations – a whiff of danger and sweat and romance and religion all stewed together. Artists like to compare live performances to other emotionally charged communal experiences, like church services (presumably not of the CofE variety) or protests or raves. In the past, ‘liveness’ in performance has usually been synonymous with another favoured concept, ‘being in a room together’. But how can you carry those ideas through to the realm of online theatre – and do you need to?

'Super Nintendo World' Will Have Real-Life Mario Kart

The Mary Sue: Super Nintendo World still doesn’t sound real to me. It sounds like a fantasy park my kid self would try and manifest into existence because a classmate’s uncle worked at Nintendo and swore it was real. Turns out that classmate was right several decades later (about the park, not the uncle) because Nintendo’s theme park is ready to let’s a go!

Disney Is Teaching Robots How to Sculpt With Clay

gizmodo.com: Robots might have already taken over industries like manufacturing, but when it comes to more creative endeavors, like the arts, humans still hold a strong lead. But for how long? Disney’s researchers have created a system that allows human artists to teach aspiring robotic Michelangelos how to sculpt clay using tools to mimic various artistic styles.

21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards Overcomes Covid Challenges for Nov. 19 Broadcast

PLSN: Univision’s exclusive telecast of the 21st annual Latin GRAMMY® Awards, aired Thursday, Nov. 19 and — like most 2020 awards shows — this year’s awards operated a bit differently than previous ceremonies. The telecast included a mix of remote performances filmed from multiple cities all over the world, along with the main event broadcast from Miami’s American Airlines Arena.