Jenny Beavan On ‘Cruella’, ‘Furiosa’ Costume Design

Production Value – Deadline: As the costume designer for Disney’s Cruella, Jenny Beavan would have the opportunity to craft dazzlingly inventive designs befitting a world of fashion, and to put her stamp on a classic Disney character. Still, she admits that when she was first approached for the Craig Gillespie film, her initial response was one of “fear, not excitement,” given the fact that she would need to prep the “massive” production in just 10 weeks.

We'll Drink to That: The Top Theatre Stories of 2021

Playbill: The Main Stem experienced immense joy and alarming setbacks in 2021, a year of exciting comebacks and devastating losses. Look back on some of the top stories that dominated theatre headlines over the past 12 months.

New York’s Public Theater Cancels Under The Radar Fest Due To Covid

Deadline: The Public Theater, one of New York’s premiere Off Broadway companies, has canceled its prestigious 18th annual Under The Radar Festival due to “multiple disruptions related to the rapid community spread of the Omicron variant.”

12 of the weirdest things dropped across Pennsylvania towns on New Year’s Eve

News | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: 2021 is almost over and that means Pennsylvanians are getting ready for New Year’s Eve. And getting ready to watch some random items be dropped across the commonwealth.

How ‘American Utopia’ Managed to Remain in Light

AMERICAN THEATRE: The day before Christmas Eve, the show I’m working on as production stage manager, David Byrne’s American Utopia, was supposed to have two performances. I woke up early that morning to make sure I was available for whatever work crisis would arise; lately that seems to be every day.

TAIT Talks Presents Jim Love, VP of Engineering and Head of Navigator at TAIT

Tait Towers: For much of the past decade, live events have evolved into immersive experiences that are ideal for audience interaction. Throughout the last 40 years, TAIT has been the leader in advancing these types of experiences and have done so with a dynamic, talented team of designers, engineers, fabricators and integrators. But, the secret sauce is our proprietary technology, TAIT Navigator Automation Platform.

Stagehand who alleged safety violations after he fell during 2017 NFL Draft construction settles with league

Pennsylvania Record: The National Football League has settled a lawsuit brought against both itself and ESPN that alleged safety violations were committed during the construction of a temporary stage, leading a New Jersey man to fall 30 feet and suffer severe bodily injuries.

Best Hammer Drill 2021 | Video Review

Pro Tool Reviews: We’ve done a ton of drill testing over the past months between our Test Track, speed challenges, power challenges, and more. We mentioned we were building up to something bigger… and now we’re ready to reveal the top 10 best cordless drills of the year.

Hooray for 'Nollywood': Why Nigerian Actors Are All the Rage

www.thewrap.com: Some fun facts about Nigeria: It’s the seventh most populated country in the world, with more than 200 million people. The official language is English but more than 500 dialects are spoken within its borders, including Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. The capital is Abuja, the national anthem is “Arise, O Compatriots” and its biggest national export, as everybody knows, is movie and TV actors.

Get connected: TAIT integrators share their work processes with LinkedIn

Tait Towers: Join LinkedIn’s in-depth discussion with TAIT about what it’s like to work behind the scenes in the live event industry. This episode highlights TAIT Integrators as they discuss what it takes to create World Class Experiences.

Year in Review: Theater productions elevate amid the pandemic struggle

ARTS ATL: Theater in 2021 was especially poignant, for audiences weren’t sure if and when they were going to receive it live and on stage, rather than virtually. Artists sidelined for 18 months returned in earnest to live performance beginning in late summer with new safety protocols, socially- distanced seating and vaccine-card checks at the door. Shows with smaller casts were staged to minimize risk of illness. Trips to the theater may not feel quite normal yet, but audiences are quite grateful.

#10: The New World: Content Streaming & Artistic Intent In Live Production

ProSoundWeb: I’ve been thinking a lot lately about “artistic intent” and how it applies to what we do in the craft of live event production. Specifically, now that streaming and video recorded performances are the norm (and likely to stay), I believe we must all think long and hard about the role of technology and delivering an immersive, satisfying experience to the intended audience. With the pandemic winding down in some ways (or is it?), it’s important to take stock in what has changed along with perhaps what hasn’t changed for performers and audiences.

Bay Area arts outfits cancel New Year's shows, citing omicron, while others look hopefully to 2022

Datebook: As the omicron variant spreads in the Bay Area, including a “vertical wall” jump in COVID-19 cases in some parts of the region, local arts and entertainment companies must again confront questions familiar from an earlier era in the pandemic: At what point should they cancel performances, especially as New Year’s Eve events approach?

Alice Cooper Set Money Aside for His Crew When Pandemic Started

consequence.net: Live music was one of the industries hit hardest when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Shock rock icon Alice Cooper saw the writing on the wall and put money aside for his road crew as lockdowns hit last year.

Major Australian musicals cancel shows as more than 90 performers contract Covid

Stage | The Guardian: Covid is sweeping through the casts of musical theatre shows in Sydney and Melbourne, with major live productions forced to cancel performances. At least 90 performers have tested positive to the highly infectious virus and whole companies have been forced into isolation.

Bay Area theater in 2022 plans to be dynamic and dizzying

Datebook: Throughout the pandemic, I’ve struggled to answer a constant question: “What have you been writing about with theater on hold?” As if the shuttering of playhouses meant theater artists completely stopped working, stopped inventing, stopped existing.

Once again, the UK Government ignores the Live Events Supply Chain

LightSoundJournal.com: The recent government announcements to help hospitality, leisure and cultural industries on the surface are welcome, but they fall significantly short of providing the financial support needed by the live events supply chain, without whom these events cannot take place.

Sardi’s is back after 648 days, its fortunes tied to Broadway

The Seattle Times: It felt sort of like old times, the other night at Sardi’s. Joe Petrsoric, back in his familiar red jacket, was lining up martini glasses at the second floor bar where he has worked since arriving from Yugoslavia in 1972. Manning the front door, his traditional dark suit now accessorized with a face mask, was Max Klimavicius, who started working in the kitchen in 1974 after immigrating from Colombia; he now runs the place.

On Broadway, a playwright becomes an actor, saving a show

Entertainment | phillytrib.com: Keenan Scott II made his Broadway acting debut this week in "Thoughts of a Colored Man," which is a remarkable milestone. It's even more remarkable when you consider he also wrote it. The actor-turned-playwright was pressed into acting duties at the last moment Tuesday night to keep his show open while all around Broadway battles spikes in COVID-19. He saved at least one performance.

WIT to require booster shots and medical-grade masks

DC Metro Theater Arts: In response to the surging, highly transmissible omicron coronavirus variant, Washington Improv Theater has announced more stringent vaccine and masking requirements to ensure the highest level of public safety for its students, audiences, artists, staff, and volunteers. Proof of a COVID-19 booster shot will be mandatory for entry to Source Theatre where WIT performs, and medical-grade masks (not cloth masks) will be required.

American Psycho the Musical: Best Recent Film-to-Musical

www.themarysue.com: I am a loud and proud fan of American Psycho in all forms because I think that Bret Easton Ellis had no idea what he was doing and that every adaptation of his novel has told a better story for Patrick Bateman as a character. Ellis was making a commentary, and his novel became a satirical masterpiece when told through the lens of literally anyone other than Ellis—a common theme for his work.

3D Prints With A Mirror Finish

Hackaday: As anyone who has used a 3D printer before knows, what comes off the bed of your regular FSD printer is by no means a mirror finish. There are layers in the print simply by the nature of the technology itself, and the transitions between layers will never be smooth. In addition, printers can use different technology for depositing layers, making for thinner layers (SLA, for example). With those challenges in mind, [AlphaPhoenix] set out to create an authentic mirror finish on his 3D prints.

Susannah Clapp’s best theatre of 2021

Theatre | The Guardian: It was a year of promises and postponements, of dodgy mask-wearing in the stalls – and of sudden soarings. It was no surprise that Rebecca Frecknall’s spectacular production of Cabaret, with Jessie Buckley and Eddie Redmayne, should prove one of the big excitements of the year – and one of the most expensive

Pulitzer Prize Winner 'A Strange Loop' to Make Broadway Bow Spring 2022

thebroadwayblog.com: A “big, Black, and queer-ass American” musical is coming to Broadway in the spring of 2022! Pulitzer Prize winner A Strange Loop, a new musical with book, music, and lyrics Michael R. Jackson, will bow at the Lyceum Theatre next year, with exact dates to be determined. Stephen Brackett (Be More Chill) will direct and Raja Feather Kelly (If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka) choreographs the production.

DCMTA 2021 Staff Favorites: Outstanding Professional Theater Productions

DC Metro Theater Arts: Any way you look at it, 2021 was a terrible, awful, no good, really bad year for theater. COVID. Delta. Omicron. Can we just get a break already? The performing arts sector was completely blindsided by a pandemic that kept venues shuttered and people out of work for 18 straight months. And the year is closing with yet another set of disruptions as shows are forced to cancel performances due to breakthrough cases of omicron.

Our 5 Favorite Theatrical Performances of 2021

TheaterMania: In a year chockfull of great performances across the boards, it was hard to single out — near impossible — to pick our favorites. After much deliberation (and a lot of residual guilt), we've narrowed our lengthy list down to the following 5.

10 lessons in productivity and brainstorming from The Beatles

by Tom Whitwell | Fluxx Studio Notes | Nov, 2021 | Medium: The first part of Peter Jackson’s epic Beatles documentary Get Back is a masterclass in facilitation and creative management. Paul McCartney tries a stoned, grumpy band through writing, arranging, recording and performing dozens of songs within a short deadline. He’s using the Design Thinking playbook, 20 years before it was written…

Exclusive: Sharen Davis talks costume designs for Sony Pictures' A Journal for Jordan

The Knockturnal: Sharen Davis is behind some of the film industry’s most historic costumes. From the glamorous dresses in Dreamgirls to Ray Charles’ iconic suits in Ray, Davis has been one of film’s most renowned costume designers in the past few decades. And what’s additionally special about Davis’ work are the names she gets to work—Bill Condon, the Hughes brothers, and Dezel Washington, who she’s worked with about six times.

Now supply-chain woes have come for the color blue

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: It’s the color of the Virgin Mary’s robe, used in the Impressionists’ sumptuous seas and skies, favored by a depressed Picasso and a spendthrift Vermeer. Once more valuable than gold, ultramarine blue, now sold in its synthetic form, is so popular today it ranks just below whites and blacks in sales by top suppliers of paint for artists.

Holiday Season Lights a Bright Spot Amid Pandemic Resurgence

Nevada News | US News: The holiday season is shining brightly during the pandemic as businesses pour money into extravagant light shows to spread cheer.

'And Just Like That' costume designer says viral dress cost $5

pagesix.com: From the moment photos from the set of “And Just Like That…” first surfaced this summer, fans couldn’t help but wonder about the fashion featured in the “Sex and the City” revival. But not all the style sneak peeks were met with equal excitement; when internet sleuths incorrectly identified one of Carrie’s dresses as a Forever 21 find, fans feared she’d traded designer duds for fast fashion.

Women in the trades stuck wearing men's gear call for 'not pink' work clothes that actually fit

CBC News: Driving a fuel truck between construction sites, Aslan Selby says she's sick and tired of tripping over her overly baggy mesh pants in the summer and fumbling with oversized gloves in the winter while her male colleagues have thousands of options.

Remarks by Broadway League President Enrage Theatre Community

Observer: Amidst the turmoil of show closures and cancellations during the Omicron surge, Broadway has been roiled by controversy following contentious remarks made by Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League, in an interview in The Hollywood Reporter on December 21.

15 Memorable Moments on Stage in 2021

New York Theater: Three of the most memorable moments on a New York stage in 2021 were of characters getting high; can you blame them, given the year we’ve had? Among the moments represented in the photo gallery below are Tony Yazbeck as Cary Grant in vigorous and transcendent tap dancing after dropping acid in “Flying Over Sunset,” Michael Urie as Logan with Aigner Mizzell as his boyfriend’s cousin La’Trice sharing a joint in a funny moment of unlikely bonding, in “Chicken & Biscuits,” and Christopher Fitzgerald as David smoking marijuana for the first time with his wife and friend, in a moment of physical comedy that’s both transcendent and funny.

Our Favorite Immersive Shows & Experiences of 2021

by No Proscenium | Dec, 2021 | No Proscenium: The end of the year means end of the year lists from critics of every stripe. This year we limited our Review Crew to three picks at most, all of which had to have made their debut this year. (We were more lax in our rules for Best Moments, which you can also check out.) 2021 has been an incredibly strange, and undoubtedly difficult year. What you find below are some of the experiences that reminded us of why we do what we do. Each member of the Crew has their own list.

Featured Friday: Decades of Style Patterns

Redthreaded: With cozy season in full swing, many of us are planning our winter wardrobe projects, and this month’s featured business will certain spark some inspiration! For over 15 years, Decades of Style has been providing high-quality reproduction sewing patterns, perfect for your vintage or modern closet.

Susan Lyall (Being the Ricardos costume designer) video interview

GoldDerby: Costume designer Susan Lyall has worked with a number of top filmmakers, including Jodie Foster, Steven Soderbergh, and Jonathan Demme, but her recent work has come in collaboration with Aaron Sorkin

Alvin Vincent, Jr. Named Executive Director of Actors' Equity Association

www.broadwayworld.com: Alvin Vincent, Jr. Named Executive Director of Actors' Equity Association Actors' Equity Association, the national union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, has named Alvin Vincent, Jr. to be its 12th executive director. He assumes the role on February 1. He replaces Mary McColl, who announced in June that she would leave at the end of her contract.

The Guardian view on Covid-hit arts: there is a solution

Editorial | The Guardian: It is not just the hospitality industry that is facing chaos in this moment of not-lockdown. The cultural sector, especially the performing arts, is similarly afflicted by the message that – quite rightly – extreme caution should be observed when it comes to attending crowded indoor events. What’s wholly unfair, though, is that the workers in the live arts – everyone from electricians to wigmakers, actors to folk musicians, front-of-house personnel to opera singers – are, once again, left flailing.

Playwright Steps Into THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN and Saves Performance From Being Cancelled

www.broadwayworld.com: Last night at Broadway's new hit play, Thoughts of a Colored Man, playwright Keenan Scott II made the rare move of going on in one of the roles, after a cast member tested positive for COVID-19 and two non-COVID related illnesses felled the cast.

No Total Lockdown for Broadway During Omicron Surge

Observer: The Omicron variant has dulled but, so far, not put out the lights on Broadway. With daily case rates soaring to over 16,000 a day in New York, as high as it’s ever been, and growing exponentially, the extra contagious variant—four times more transmissible than the Delta—has driven many New Yorkers into a state of high anxiety.

Top 10 Lists of Top 10 Theater in 2021. Best NYC stage plays and musicals

New York Theater: The Broadway debut of “Trouble in Mind” some three decades after playwright Alice Childress’ death is the most popular choice among critics whose lists of top 10 New York theater for 2021 are featured below.* This play is followed close behind in critical popularity by the Broadway revival of the Tony Kushner/Jeanine Tesori musical “Caroline, or Change” and the new rock concert/musical “Six.”

Emerging Dance: Point Park University

onStage Pittsburgh: There has been an explosion of live performances, which created a traffic jam of sorts. So, although it’s somewhat late, I will be writing about them, beginning today. I first immersed myself at Point Park University’s Contemporary Choreographers program. Like taking a plunge into an unfamiliar mountain pool, I approached it with a combination of excitement and trepidation.

Broadway Not Shutting Down Amid Omicron, Says League President

The Hollywood Reporter: Broadway had its mostly successful pandemic run disrupted over the last week. Having caught public health experts and New York City’s live performance community off-guard, the latest wave of COVID-19 cases from the highly contagious omicron variant is causing concern in New York, home to the country’s largest theater district. But it’s also raising concerns elsewhere, including the U.K.’s West End and in California.

What success means on Broadway this year

Broadway News: After an unprecedented shutdown, Broadway theaters reopened this fall. That, in and of itself, marked one major accomplishment for an industry that had been dark since March 2020. But the goal posts for the rest of the season were not as clear.

Designing Disney Wonder and Magic with Light

LightFair Blog: Many of us may remember our first magical Disney Park experience. Find out what goes into creating that sense of wonder and unforgettable memories for millions of guests from around the world. The LightFair blog team interviewed Disney Imagineer Jason Scott Read about his work, the role of lighting design in creating these experiences, favorite projects and more.

If You Live-Stream It, Will They Watch?

AMERICAN THEATRE: Over the course of the pandemic closures, the Cherry Arts, home to the Cherry Artists’ Collective in Ithaca, N.Y., did what many theatres across the country did to continue making their art: They split their season between outdoor and streamed shows. Earlier this year, the company staged and streamed Alejandro Ricaño’s Hotel Good Luck (translated by Jacqueline Bixler). This wasn’t an edited-down rendition of the play, recorded in front of a live audience, but a production patrons could only live-stream. According to Cherry artistic director Samuel Buggeln (he/him), doing it live, with a specific date and time to be watched, made the collective realize that producing their art this way felt true to their work as theatremakers. By keeping it live, they found they were able to capture the feeling of urgency and immediacy that accompanies a performance happening now.

Why Interactive Films Are Not A Success...Yet

AMT Lab @ CMU: Motion picture companies in recent years are blurring the line between film and video games, bringing technical practices that have been adopted by interactive video games for many years. With the drift of film history into greater realism and higher audience immersion interests, interactive films that make compromises for the audience to take control are emerging.

Interview: How Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman Created a Marvel Musical in HAWKEYE

www.broadwayworld.com: Disney's latest Marvel series, Hawkeye, featured a trip to Broadway with Rogers: The Musical. Tony-winning collaborators Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote an original song for the series' fictional musical.

Broadway Schedule Rocked by COVID Breakthrough Cases

www.ticketnews.com: Broadway has been dealing with an unwelcome interloper in recent weeks, as COVID has taken center stage, to the chagrin of performers and consumers alike. Breakthrough infections of COVID-19 have caused numerous cancellations of scheduled performances, despite stringent requirements for both performers and audiences to be fully vaccinated against the virus.

Alliance for Broadcasting and Cultural Frequencies

LightSoundJournal.com: Whether it’s election coverage, live concerts, theatre and musical productions or sporting events – wireless microphones have long since been an indispensable part of the broadcasting and entertainment industries. December 1 marked the inaugural conference of the Alliance for Broadcasting and Cultural Frequencies, a German organisation which has taken up the cause of saving these frequencies for its current users. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Wilzeck, Head of Spectrum Policy and Standardisation at Sennheiser, was a panelist and explains what is at stake.

Broadway stage managers see strides in diversity

Broadway News: When stage managers Lisa Dawn Cave and Beverly Jenkins held the first Broadway & Beyond event last December, their goal was to make general managers and directors aware of the number of diverse candidates ready to take on new work.

Hollywood Workers in 2021 Not Satisfied With Status Quo

The Hollywood Reporter: In his dozen years at IATSE Local USA 829 — United Scenic Artists — national business agent Carl Mulert says he’s never seen members as engaged as they are now, with more calls coming in to his office and heightened attendance at the organization’s meetings. “We have awoken a sleeping giant,” he says, explaining that the pandemic has reframed expectations about worker quality of life and broadened labor’s primary focus beyond wage bumps. “People didn’t realize how important rest periods were until they actually were getting rest. How important a meal break was until they were having three meals a day at regular times.”

Director Bartlett Sher on reviving ‘My Fair Lady,’ coming to Seattle’s Paramount Theatre, in the #MeToo era

The Seattle Times: When Lincoln Center Theater revived Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” on Broadway in 2018, some eyebrows rose at the timing. In the thick of the #MeToo movement, did it really make sense to give renewed attention to a show about a man working to modify a woman to meet his specifications?

It Takes a Virtual Village: New Motherhood, Theatre, and the Pandemic

AMERICAN THEATRE: As I stare at the pieces of rubber and debris rolling off the back right tire of the Ford pickup in front of me, puttering our lane to a full stop, my breath quickens, my mind races, anxiety and guilt flood in. I usually feel several degrees of stress on the Atlanta 75/85 Connector commuting from campus to home. As anyone who has even visited Atlanta can attest, traffic is a nightmare wrapped up in misfortune. But today the stuck traffic is stickier.

Broadway and Omicron: Cancellations “Out of An Abundance of Caution.” #Stageworthy News

New York Theater: A third of all Broadway shows were canceled on Sunday because members of the company or crew tested positive for Covid, the latest in “a raft of cancellations unlike any in history,” evidence of the surge of infections, including among the vaccinated, “We are seeing a very substantial rise in the number of cases in a way we haven’t seen previously,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said yesterday, the third day of a record number of daily cases in New York – which, as in the first wave of COVID-19 in March 2020, is the American city hardest hit at the outset of this fourth wave. Due to the highly infectious variant Omicron,Anthony Fauci, the nation’s infectious disease expert, predicts that, “it is going to be a tough few weeks to months as we get deeper into the winter.”

And Just Like That's Costume Designers Spill On NYC's Best Vintage, Secret Storylines, And Dressing Room Gossip

Daily Front Row: Fashion is as intrinsic to the Sex and the City DNA as the turbulent love story of Carrie and Big. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine a time when brands weren’t willing to loan pieces to a then-unknown low-budget production, particularly as the show ultimately catapulted Galliano newspaper dresses, floral pins, Baguette bags, Manolos, and even ballerina tutus into cult status items all over the world. Ironically, it’s the prevailing scrappiness of mixing thrift store and vintage finds with luxury pieces that created an unmistakable fashion language for the show. Fully fluent in that style narrative are costume designers Molly Rogers and Danny Santiago, who have returned to lead the wardrobe department for the And Just Like That reboot.

Working conditions in Hollywood were always bad. The pandemic is making them worse.

www.mic.com: Hollywood, according to workers across the globe, needs to change its culture. This week, UNI Global Union, a union the represents 20 million workers across some 150 countries, released a report calling on global film and television industry to change its “long hours” culture. Based on survey data and responses from 150,000 workers in 28 unions across 20 countries, the report titled “Demanding Dignity Behind the Scenes” paints a devastating picture in which overtime is normalized, breaks can be nonexistent, working conditions are dangerous, and pay is low.

Broadway shows, newly reopened after COVID, face new cancellations

NPR: Many stages on both Broadway and the West End have been forced to go dark once more as the live theater community grapples with backstage outbreaks of the coronavirus and its variants, temporarily closing everything from London's revival of Cabaret starring Eddie Redmayne to mighty Hamilton in New York.

Pittsburgh troupe gives modern spin to film of 'Hansel & Gretel' opera

90.5 WESA: Gingerbread is part of some families’ Christmas traditions. Cannibal witches? Less so. Yet the classic opera “Hansel & Gretel” is a holiday staple, and one that Pittsburgh’s Resonance Works has helped update in a playful new film version.

Neumann presents the Miniature Clip Mic System

LightSoundJournal.com: German microphone specialists Neumann.Berlin have announced their first product range designed especially for close miking instruments. To create their new Miniature Clip Mic System, the engineers in Berlin elevated electret technology and its production process to a whole new level. The new KK 14 capsule is able to capture the details of sound better than anything that came before – without any of the production tolerances that have been associated with electret solutions to date.

Top Excel experts will battle it out in an esports-like competition this weekend

PCWorld: Move over, League of Legends. Does anyone even care about Overwatch? No, the real future of esports is spreadsheets and Microsoft Excel. Don’t believe us? Then tune in to ESPN3 or YouTube this weekend to find out.

Film, TV Worker Fatigue Reaching “Life-Threatening Levels,” Say Global Unions

The Hollywood Reporter: Global unions and guilds have called for the film and TV production industry worldwide to end a “long hours culture” that has only worsened during the current post-COVID-vaccine surge in filming.

‘Hamilton’ Is Latest Broadway Covid Cancellation

Deadline: Hamilton is the latest Broadway productions to cancel performances due to breakthrough Covid cases, joining Tina – The Tina Turner Musical, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Ain’t Too Proud. Those shows, along with Mrs. Doubtfire and Freestyle Love Supreme, missed performances this week.

Electro-Voice RE20 Review: 5 Reasons I Love Recording With This Mic

Pro Audio Files: If somebody paid me a dollar for every instance of the words “studio legend” I could find in ad copy for recording gear, I could probably raise enough money to buy a vintage Pultec EQ or Fairchild compressor. You know… a real studio legend.

Christmas Movies Show How Fake Snow Evolved, From 'It's A Wonderful Life' To Harry Potter

LAist: Watching classic holiday movies is a journey through the technology used to create yuletide joy in different generations. We once used asbestos as movie snow — now the technology ranges from computer graphics to a special type of paper.

Hollywood has got method acting all wrong, here's what the process is really about

theconversation.com: So-called method acting seems to be having a moment. Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst apparently didn’t speak to each other on the set of their new film, Power of the Dog, to help them stay in character. While Lady Gaga is said to have spoken entirely with an Italian accent for nine months while working on her new film, House of Gucci – using it even when calling her mother.

The Music of Words: The Metropolitan Opera’s “Eurydice”

The Theatre Times: The Met’s new production of Kevin Aucoin’s Eurydice with libretto by Sarah Ruhl (based on her 2003 play of the same name) is a fresh, whimsical, and simple love that blends beauty and wit with a singular ease that is as effective as it is unexpected. The opera premiered at LA Opera in 2020, just before the shutdown, and is making its New York premiere here at The Met.

Everything in Moderation: Rethinking the Talkback

AMERICAN THEATRE: It was a popular source of humor among the theatre industry responses: the universal dislike of post-show talkbacks. I cringed with familiarity: At the time of the live, in-person theatre shutdown on March 12, 2020, I had moderated 101 talkbacks in my role as resident dramaturg at New York’s Signature Theatre, with roughly another 50 or so in previous literary positions, before I started keeping an official count. I’ve seen it all, and I have some thoughts.

A snapshot of PENKO & its history

blog.etcconnect.com: Today we take a look back at the history of PENKO Engineering B.V. and where it all began. The company which has been a part of the global ETC Inc. group for over 17 years, originally started as a trading business which sold weighing equipment. Today however, PENKO delivers a range of customized solutions in more than just weighing, specifically for the process industry – including food, beverage, pharmaceutical, packaging and much more!

How Enid Blyton created the template for children's theatre in Britain

theconversation.com: Head to London’s West End and you are likely to find all sorts of plays for families, inspired by some of the most loved children stories. There is JK Rowling’s Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, Neal Foster’s adaptation of David Walliams’ Gangsta Granny and Tim Minchin’s “anarchically joyous, gleefully nasty and ingenious musical adaptation” of Roald Dahl’s Matilda, as theatre critic Lyn Gardner described it.

Kid Confidential

Costume Designers Guild, I.A.T.S.E. Local 892: “Never work with animals or children.” W.C. Fields’ advice wasn’t just part of his grumpy persona, he knew audiences gravitate to the adorable actors. Not only can they steal every scene, their nature is in a word—unpredictable. We spoke to three costume designers about their experiences with young thespians. Catherine Adair’s show, The Mysterious Benedict Society, premiered on Disney+ in June 2021. Soyon An has won a Daytime Emmy for Julie and the Phantoms, as has Cynthia Summers for her work on The Baby-Sitters Club. They give us a glimpse of what it is like working with a pint-sized cast with powerhouse energy.

World Builder

richmondmagazine.com: Richmond-based production designer and art director David Crank first built a model of Jamestown Fort from Popsicle sticks for a fourth-grade school project at Crestwood Elementary in Chesterfield County. Fast-forward to 2005, and as art director for Terrence Malick’s film “The New World,” he designed a set for the haphazard frontier village that the production crew constructed from real mud and sticks.

Gender and Sexuality on Broadway: You Oughta Know Better

AMERICAN THEATRE: Pre-pandemic, the last full Broadway season we had (2018-2019) began with Head Over Heels and ended with Tootsie. The former was a landmark musical for gender and sexual diversity, including lesbian leads, a character that does drag and explores his gender, and Broadway’s first explicitly nonbinary character, played by Peppermint, the first trans person to orginate a leading role on Broadway. In many ways Tootsie was its antithesis: a musical rooted entirely in transphobic man-in-a-dress jokes. In May of 2019, I wrote an essay for American Theatre, “The Gender Problem Tootsie Can’t Dress Up,” which became the site’s most read story of the year and sparked a lot of critical debate.

‘There is no book of rules’: how theatres aim to safeguard child actors

Theatre | The Guardian: Two young children cower before an avalanche – and then, just as terrifying, amid their parents’ fracturing marriage. Force Majeure at the Donmar in London is a dark comedy based on Ruben Östlund’s film about a responsibility-dodging father and his family, including his two children. Terror and trauma aren’t easy subjects for young actors to negotiate – so how do theatres help them through? It’s a rich yet evolving area. As safeguarding expert Joanna Nicolas, consulting on the Donmar show, says, “there is no book of rules”.

Stage Floors that Work

ASTC: Stage flooring may seem like a dull topic, but many theatre consultants spend a lot of time on the subject. Frequently the stage floor needs to be sturdy enough for heavy scenery and large rolling loads, while also providing an appropriate degree of resilience for long-term performer health. It is a delicate balance that may be difficult to achieve.

Five Plays about Enslavement by Black British Women Playwrights

The Theatre Times: “There’s a sidestep that Europe does where it takes itself out of the triangle… I’m never quite sure how that sleight of hand is achieved, but it’s like, slavery, it’s that American thing, we don’t have to worry about it,” said playwright Selina Thompson when talking about Britain’s role in the transatlantic trade of humans from Africa. She’s not wrong: The narrative of slavery in the UK has long been shaped by the celebration of white abolitionists, while the violent part is often obscured.

CHAUVET Professional at the American Music Awards

LightSoundJournal.com: There were two superstars on the set when Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood performed their hauntingly moving hit “If I Didn’t Love You” for the American Music Awards 2021 broadcast. But as Keith Hoagland saw it, there were really “three artists” he wanted to light.

Nine bucket-list theatres that you should visit

OnStage Blog: Theatres and art houses are important symbols of talent and creativity. Many visit these places to have an experience they can’t have anywhere else. While Broadway and the West End have some of the most famous theatres globally, others deserve attention as well. There are thousands of theatres around the globe that showcase one of the world’s oldest professions. There is only one question left: which theatres and art houses should you visit?

On stage, the return of 'The Nutcracker' and the birth of a ballet company

The San Diego Union-Tribune: “The Nutcracker” ballet has a storied history, one that begins with disappointment and ends with surprising success. Critics reviled the 1892 Russian premiere, declaring the Sugar Plum Fairy too fat, the battle scene clumsy and the costumes tasteless. Even Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who composed the familiar score, considered the show “rather boring.”

'This Ability' at Chicago Children's Theatre puts youth with disabilities in the spotlight

Chicago Tribune: The Chicago Children’s Theatre (CCT) has been making its mark with youth with special needs, offering programming for those with developmental disabilities, those on the autism spectrum, the visually-impaired and hearing impaired communities for years.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

Visions about Higher Education in the Performing Arts

HowlRound Theatre Commons: What makes a good university? How can universities prepare young performing arts workers for a field that seems both straightforward and immensely unsure? How can universities empower students to become active players and generators of change in their field, both in an aesthetic and a structural sense?

Posted by David at 12/07/2021 09:43:00 AM

Why do we hate the sound of our own voices?

Big Think: As a surgeon who specializes in treating patients with voice problems, I routinely record my patients speaking. For me, these recordings are incredibly valuable. They allow me to track slight changes in their voices from visit to visit, and it helps confirm whether surgery or voice therapy led to improvements.

Posted by David at 12/08/2021 09:57:00 AM

The Brilliant Lighting of the Disney Parks

Disney Tourist Blog: Lighting is an integral part of the Disney theme park atmosphere and experience. The parks come alive at night in large part as a result of meticulously arranged lighting schemes. Without this attention to detail in terms of lighting, at night the parks would be dark and lifeless instead of feeling moody and looking beautiful.

Posted by David at 12/08/2021 09:56:00 AM

Why Can’t I Hear The Movie?

kottke.org: In theory, this should be a golden age for movie sound. There’s better digital recording and mixing equipment than ever, theaters are incentivized to offer a premiere experience, and home theater equipment is more expensive, elaborate, and ubiquitous.

Posted by David at 12/07/2021 09:42:00 AM

Los Angeles Soundstages Can’t Keep Up With Demand

The Hollywood Reporter: Amid a production rise fueled by Hollywood’s pivot to streaming, the need to lock in filming space is becoming more critical — and a soundstage boom is overtaking the Southland, with competition for space and clients.

Posted by David at 12/06/2021 10:57:00 AM

Makita 12V Max CXT 360° 3-Plane Laser Level

Pro Tool Reviews: There are four really big talking points about Makita’s latest laser. The first is that these models move beyond standard cross line lasers and into the 3-plane class. You still get the vertical and horizontal beams of the cross line models with the addition of a third beam that gives you a cross target on the floor or ceiling. All three beams run 360°.

Paul Tazewell on Designing Costumes for 'West Side Story'

www.harpersbazaar.com: Everything about the production is memorable, from the romantic music by the late Stephen Sondheim to the Romeo and Juliet undertones of the play's tragic plot. And the production's costume design is equally indelible. You can't mention West Side Story without thinking of Maria's delicate white dress and cinched red belt, Tony's pale-yellow blazer, or Anita flouncing around a rooftop in a vibrant lavender number.

Cinderella, Cruella, Last Night in Soho Costumer Designers Detail Film Fashion

The Hollywood Reporter: Aneophyte undergrad in the contemporary West End traversing the swinging ’60s, a grifter turned apprentice in tumultuous ’70s London, and an aspiring entrepreneur in a timeless fairy-tale realm: Last Night in Soho‘s Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie), Cruella‘s Estella (Emma Stone) and Cinderella‘s Ella (Camila Cabello), respectively, have one thing in common, besides the potential same nickname: fashion design talent. The films’ costume designers shared the challenge of not only portraying distinct protagonists but also imparting character through the young women’s creative visions and sartorial perspectives.

Seaweed In Fashion

News | CFDA: The crossover of food and fashion is becoming increasingly common, with bio-based textiles making their foray into the new realm of fashion sustainability. The most commonly used biomasses include seaweed, coffee grounds, corn, pineapple and spoilt milk. With a percentage of biomass mixed with cellulose or recycled polyester, one can reduce the impact of virgin polyester and help reduce deforestation caused from the demand of wood pulp for cellulose.

Rumors of the Demise of the Shipping Crisis are Premature

Industry Insights | CFDA: In the past few weeks, everyone from President Biden to Port Directors and pundits have claimed that we are now seeing the other side of the shipping crisis, the very same shipping crisis that has led to exorbitant and unjust costs, empty shelves, and higher prices at the cash register for the fashion industry this holiday season. The pundits claim that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. But, to quote the immortal words of Monty Python, the shipping crisis is instead telling everyone “I’m not dead yet!”.

THE LITTLE PRINCE Will Come to Broadway in March 2022

www.broadwayworld.com: Following sold-out runs in Paris, Sydney, and Dubai, The Little Prince, one of the best-selling and most translated books ever published, will come to Broadway in a new stage production. This new production will feature dance, aerial acrobatics, and video mapping technology that bring the classic adventure story loved by generations to life.

Fox Television Stations (WNYW / WWOR & WTTG / WDCA) Bargaining Update

IATSE: On Tuesday December 7, IATSE Locals 794-819, Television Broadcasting Studio Employees Union, met via Zoom with representatives from Fox Television Stations in New York and Maryland for collective bargaining in joint sessions.

Sapporo Television Broadcasting Deploys Riedel MicroN Devices as a Core Router in Distributed AV Network

LightSoundJournal.com: Riedel Communications announced that Sapporo Television Broadcasting Co. Ltd. (STV) has deployed 17 MicroN media distribution network devices along with two MetroN core routers as part of a distributed MediorNet real-time media network extending across two control rooms, broadcast master control, news editing, and other areas of the station. With this deployment, STV has become the first Riedel customer in Japan to use the MicroN media distribution network device as a core video router.

FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME Announces National Tour

www.broadwayworld.com: FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME Announces National Tour Following a successful limited Broadway engagement this fall that included a 2020 Special Tony Award, improv sensation FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME, conceived by Anthony Veneziale and created by Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anthony Veneziale, announced a national tour to kick off in San Francisco on January 21, 2022. Produced by Kail, Miranda, Jenny & Jon Steingart, and Jill Furman, FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME is an intermission-less, roller-coaster ride of a show.

Broadway Expands Vaccination Requirement to All Over Age 5

www.ticketnews.com: The Broadway League announced that it is expanding its requirement for full vaccination against COVID to all patrons over the age of five. All 41 Broadway theaters in New York will now require proof of vaccination for that group beginning December 14, 2021. Those over the age of 11 have been required to show full proof since New York’s famed theatrical ecosystem was reopened earlier this year.

American Conservatory Theater Announces Appointment of New Board of Trustees

www.broadwayworld.com: American Conservatory Theater Announces Appointment of New Board of Trustees American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Executive Director Jennifer Bielstein and Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon announced the appointment of seven members to their Board of Trustees-Schatzie Allen-Jefferson, Jill Cowan, Kathleen Donohue, Rodney Earl Jackson Jr., Cristy Johnston Limón, Jomar Tagatac, and BD Wong. The seven new trustees join a board of 32 influential community leaders who provide strategic support for the continued growth and advancement of A.C.T.'s mission-to engage the spirit of the San Francisco Bay Area, activate stories that resonate, promote a diversity of voices and points of view, and empower theater-makers and audiences to celebrate liveness.

‘Becoming Santa Claus’: Chicago Opera Theater goes for the ho-ho-ho notes

Chicago Sun-Times: Ballet has “The Nutcracker” as its time-tested Christmas classic, and what yuletide season would be complete without the theater world’s productions of “A Christmas Carol”? But the opera world has never had such a reliable holiday staple.

Machining Fundamentals: Intro to Speeds and Feeds

Fusion 360 Blog: We created the Machining Fundamentals series to help you brush up on your CAM knowledge, whether you work in a machine shop or are just getting started. In-house machinists at our Birmingham Technology Center host each episode and provide a detailed overview of a tool/process. In the last edition, we covered Work Coordinate System (WCS). Here we introduce speeds and feeds — what they are and how to set your own values in Fusion 360.

Sondheim’s ‘Assassins’ lays bare bizarre role of guns in American culture

New Pittsburgh Courier: Long before the numbing regularity of school shootings, the Kyle Rittenhouse trial and the current Supreme Court debate over whether to further relax gun laws, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim was sounding the alarm about the role of guns in American culture.

Sky-High "Dynamic" Adele Ticket Prices Sting "Verified" Fans

www.ticketnews.com: After much speculation and a full day’s delay from its original plan of going out Tuesday, the presale for Verified Fans to Adele’s Weekends With Adele residency in Las Vegas went off Wednesday. Organizers never formally released any ticket prices, but speculation was that the average for the room would likely be at least $4-500 per seat, with prime locations going for far more.

Oscar-winning director brings innovative VR experience to Dallas

CultureMap Dallas: The Nasher Sculpture Center, in a partnership with the George W. Bush Presidential Center, is bringing to Dallas the virtual reality exhibition CARNE y ARENA (Virtually present, Physically invisible), conceived by Academy Award-winning writer and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu.

Meyer Sound Announces SSL Live Integration & New DAW Plugins For Spacemap Go

ProSoundWeb: SSL Live users now have control of Spacemap Go’s spatial sound capabilities from the console touchscreen and they also can synchronize Spacemap Go snapshot recall via the console automation.

Best Project, Manufacturing: CalPlant Rice Straw to MDF Manufacturing Plant

Engineering News-Record: A two-decade engineering push has culminated in what is the world’s first production facility to sustainably manufacture medium-density fiberboard (MDF) from post-harvest rice straw waste that has no added formaldehyde.

GLP JDC1 and X4 Bar 20 light Volbeat’s Aftershock show

LightSoundJournal.com: Production designer Niller Bjerregaard turned to a large inventory of GLP fixtures, dominated by the JDC1 hybrid strobe and impression X4 Bar 20 batten, when Danish rock band Volbeat played the recent Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, California.

Review Roundup: KIMBERLY AKIMBO Starring Victoria Clark, Bonnie Milligan, & More- See What the Critics Are Saying!

www.broadwayworld.com: Kim is a bright and funny Jersey teen, who happens to look like a 72-year-old lady. And yet her aging disease may be the least of her problems. Forced to maneuver family secrets, borderline personalities, and possible felony charges, Kim is determined to find happiness in a world where not even time is on her side.

Green Code of Conduct for UK Outdoor Event Industry Consultation launched

Event Industry News: Vision:2025 launch a consultation for ground-breaking industry Green Code of Conduct, to provide clear minimum environmental standards for all UK outdoor events. The code has been developed by Vision:2025 member associations, including AIF, AFO, NOEA, EIF, and organisations such as Festival Republic and Julie’s Bicycle, with support from live event promoters across the UK.

Immersive new Las Vegas Strip attraction Arcadia Earth highlights the beauty—and peril—of our planet

Las Vegas Weekly: Many immersive art installations transport viewers to fantasy landscapes. But with Arcadia Earth, the enchanting world on view is our own. The soon-to-open Las Vegas Strip experience will allow viewers to wander through 15,000 square feet of magic. Its 15 art exhibits will remind us of the unique beauty of our own planet … and the unprecedented peril it faces due to human actions.

Pulling the Strings of Resiliency Planning

Performing Arts Readiness: As performing arts organizations around the world shut their doors to in-person performances in early 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia was able to take advantage of our existing Digital Learning Department to expand their international virtual audience from 9 countries to over 94 countries.

SBA Administrator Guzman on Broadway and the SVOG grant process

Broadway News: As the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program winds down, Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, has been touring the country to witness its impact.

UAE celebrates 50th with spectacular floating experience

www.avinteractive.com: On December 2nd 2021, the UAE celebrated its 50th National Day with a spectacular floating experience on Hatta Dam in the Hajar Mountains. With this year’s National Day ceremony also marking the country’s Golden Jubilee, it was the largest celebration of the UAE to date.

The Dezeen guide to biomaterials in architecture, design and interiors

www.dezeen.com: Thinking of using natural materials in your project? Our latest Dezeen guide includes 12 types of biomaterials commonly used in architecture, design and interiors. The term biomaterials is used to describe building materials derived from living organisms including plants, animals and fungi.

Ryobi vs DeWalt – Which Tool Brand Reigns Supreme?

Pro Tool Reviews: Readers—be they professional or tool enthusiasts ask us about two key brands more than any others: Ryobi and DeWalt. However, in the Ryobi vs DeWalt debate, the issue isn’t so much which brand is more Pro. The real question is whether Pros can accomplish the work needed with a lesser-priced, budget-saving tool versus a more premium model. So, rather than address who makes the best tools between these brands, we plan to talk about both to discuss the differences Pros should consider depending upon the type of work they do and the needs they have.

Afterword to ‘Eurydice’ in the Form of 20 Questions

AMERICAN THEATRE: After 20 years, it is difficult to ask questions of a play you once wrote, and difficult for the play to answer. Am I the same person who wrote Eurydice, if there ever was such a person? Still, I feel compelled to ask her some questions; mainly, the questions I have been time again asked by actors, designers, audience members, directors, and students. It seems only compassionate to answer them in print. These questions, mind you, are not the most important ones to ask of the play, but because they seem to be repetitively mysterious, I wanted to be of service.

Why do we hate the sound of our own voices?

Big Think: As a surgeon who specializes in treating patients with voice problems, I routinely record my patients speaking. For me, these recordings are incredibly valuable. They allow me to track slight changes in their voices from visit to visit, and it helps confirm whether surgery or voice therapy led to improvements.

Sidney Poitier's Life to Inspire New Broadway Play

www.theroot.com: He may be best known for his dynamic and pioneering work onscreen, but Sidney Poitier’s history-making journey to stardom began on the stage. Soon, the Bahamian-American actor-director’s inspiring life story will also take the stage, as Poitier has garnered his own biographical Broadway play.

The Brilliant Lighting of the Disney Parks

Disney Tourist Blog: Lighting is an integral part of the Disney theme park atmosphere and experience. The parks come alive at night in large part as a result of meticulously arranged lighting schemes. Without this attention to detail in terms of lighting, at night the parks would be dark and lifeless instead of feeling moody and looking beautiful.

URTA Announces Recipients of 2021 Excellence Awards

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: URTA announces the recipients of the 2021 Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Training. The awards recognize outstanding work of undergraduate instructors, coaches, mentors, as well as institutions, for excellence in the training and preparation of undergraduate theatre artists.

Costume Design: What Goes Into Telling a Character's Story?

boxofficebuz.com: When you think about your favorite iconic films, chances are you think about the characters that made them memorable. While actors and actresses deserve a lot of the credit for making performances stand out, they’re only one piece of the puzzle.

d&b Soundscape Delivers Sonic Unity At Edinburgh International Festival

ProSoundWeb: Restrictions due to the pandemic at this year’s iteration of the long-established Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland saw the deployement of d&b Soundscape to help unite the disparate worlds of classical music and sound reinforcement in support of numerous performances.

Keith Hoagland Sets Stage for Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood at AMA Awards with Chauvet Professional

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: There were two superstars on the set when Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood performed their hauntingly moving hit "If I Didn't Love You" for the American Music Awards 2021 broadcast. But as Keith Hoagland saw it, there were really "three artists" he wanted to light.

Pittsburgh arts groups have returned to indoor shows, but not all patrons have followed

90.5 WESA: Three months after indoor performing arts returned to Pittsburgh, most groups are finding attendance significantly down from pre-pandemic levels. But they expected the drop, and hope to continue luring back audiences.

'And Just Like That' Costumes Feature Vintage, Indie Designers and Pieces From Sarah Jessica Parker's Archive

Fashionista: Of course, the fitting room for "And Just Like That," the "Sex and the City" sequel, is a fashion fever dream: a luxury-boutique-meets-members-only-club filled with A-listers, endless glittering accessories and free-flowing beverages.

Serious Upgrade: Inside An Extensive Sonic Renovation Project At Jack Singer Concert Hall In Calgary

ProSoundWeb: When interviewing Jack Jamieson, head sound technician at Calgary’s Jack Singer Concert Hall (JSCH), it’s not unusual to catch him on a ladder or otherwise engaged in wrangling the facility’s gear, and this time is no different. “Our recording engineer’s working on some multi-track files I recorded, and two of our consoles weren’t talking to each other as they’re supposed to,” he explains. “What you can do with this technology is amazing but getting it all to play the way you expect it to isn’t always the easiest thing.”

The Great Outdoors: An Adventure In Orchestral Sound Reinforcement

ProSoundWeb: Lessons learned by a veteran practitioner in working with a series of outdoor chamber music concerts in Cincinnati, including learning the genre’s unique language, mic selection and placement, stage plots and more.

The complete guide to Pittsburgh's First Night and the giant, inflatable rabbits

nextpittsburgh.com: If you’re looking for a place to ring in the new year, hop on down to the Cultural District. Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2022 features free outdoor and indoor performances, art galleries, fireworks (of course) … and giant, inflatable, illuminated rabbits.

There's a new Belle in town — and she's shattering all kinds of princess beauty standards

www.msnbc.com: If you ask a young child to describe the heroine from “Beauty and the Beast,” they might reference the slim, fair-skinned Disney princess in the memorable blue-and-white dress from the animated movie or the petite Emma Watson from its live-action remake.

Visions about Higher Education in the Performing Arts

HowlRound Theatre Commons: What makes a good university? How can universities prepare young performing arts workers for a field that seems both straightforward and immensely unsure? How can universities empower students to become active players and generators of change in their field, both in an aesthetic and a structural sense?

Sennheiser’s Digital 6000 Series at the heart of a resurgent West End

LightSoundJournal.com: The “ghost lights” are gradually disappearing from London’s theatres as the world learns to live with COVID-19. One by one, the household-name shows which bring so much joy, colour and revenue into the most vibrant theatre scene on earth are returning, and the audiences with them. As ever, Sennheiser wireless technology takes centre stage, with Hamilton, Les Misérables, Phantom Of The Opera and Disney’s latest production Frozen just some of the shows currently relying on Sennheiser’s Digital 6000 wireless systems.

Why Can’t I Hear The Movie?

kottke.org: In theory, this should be a golden age for movie sound. There’s better digital recording and mixing equipment than ever, theaters are incentivized to offer a premiere experience, and home theater equipment is more expensive, elaborate, and ubiquitous.

Theatre of the Oppressed Pittsburgh to address homelessness with H.U.D. (Housing Under Distress)

Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: For centuries, art has been used to inspire change in the society in which it was built. From poetry to plays, artists often seek to critique or show error in the ways their society operates, highlighting the stories of those who have suffered the most under oppressive laws and policies. The tradition of using art in that manner continues to this day, even here in Pittsburgh.

Review: An Untitled New Play By Justin Timberlake at City Theatre

onStage Pittsburgh: There’s no doubt that a great deal of talent, heart and commitment is on display, both on stage and behind the scenes, of City Theatre and Pittsburgh CLO’s co-production of the world-premiere musical, An Untitled New Play By Justin Timberlake, with book, music, and lyrics by Matt Schatz, now playing at City Theatre.

House of Gucci Made Me Love Bad Movie Accents

jezebel.com: It’s not often that accent coaches make headlines, but when one who worked on the set of The House of Gucci spoke to the Daily Beast last month, she made a swipe that quickly spread around the internet. The accusation levied? That the heavy accent Lady Gaga deploys in the film, which catalogues the fall of the dynasty that founded and initially ran the famed fashion house, “sounds more Russian than Italian.”

12 Best Art Books of 2021 To Keep You Creatively Inspired for Years

mymodernmet.com: As we count down the final weeks of 2021, we are taking a look back at everything that has creatively inspired and artistically educated us. What better way to do that than by looking back at the books that have been published this year? So, we pulled together an incredible guide of some of the best art books around.

Hippotizer Boreal+ and Karst+ power visuals for Queen Relived

TPi: Queenie frontman, Michael Kluch and his band took to the stage in September for a huge concert at Prague’s 18,000-capacity O2 Arena. The Queen tribute group performed the Queen Relived show with a rock ‘n’ roll lighting design and a mix of pre-made and live feed visual content driven by Green Hippo Hippotizer Boreal+ and Karst+ media servers.

Museums and emotion | changing attitudes & behaviour

blooloop: Emotion has not always enjoyed a positive reputation within the museum and heritage world. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, emotion and heritage were considered unnatural bedfellows. Emotion in the heritage world was seen as mere nostalgia; an unhelpful distraction from the objective gaze of historyi.

Thom Davis To Resign As Business Manager Of IATSE Grips Local 80

Deadline: Thom Davis, one of IATSE’s longest-serving leaders in Hollywood, announced on Sunday that he will resign effective Dec. 31, as business manager of Grips Local 80—a job he’s held since 1998.

Los Angeles Soundstages Can’t Keep Up With Demand

The Hollywood Reporter: Amid a production rise fueled by Hollywood’s pivot to streaming, the need to lock in filming space is becoming more critical — and a soundstage boom is overtaking the Southland, with competition for space and clients.

'Trouble in Mind' has its long-overdue Broadway premiere

NPR: Trouble in Mind, a 1955 play by Alice Childress, looks at a company of mostly Black actors putting on an anti-lynching play by white creators. It was supposed to transfer to Broadway. But in a case of life imitating art, white producers insisted that the Black playwright provide a more upbeat ending. Childress refused.

Insecure: For the First Time, Every Single Costume Was Designed by a Black Woman

Vanity Fair: On Sunday night’s episode of Insecure, every detail of every costume was designed by a Black woman—from clothing to accessories to shoes. It’s a fashion first for the series, intentionally accomplished by longtime costume designer Shiona Turini and executive producer and writer Amy Aniobi, who also directed the episode. It goes hand in hand not only with the overarching theme of the show—a celebration of and devotion to Black womanhood—but also with the theme of the seventh episode itself, which features best friends Issa, Molly, Kelly, and Tiffany bonding over the course of a day that morphs into a cozy night sewn with secrets.

Outside Theatre: Why It Mustn’t Stop After the Pandemic

The Theatre Times: Indoor theatre is back. Despite audiences being inscrutable in masks, I’ve seen two packed shows and begun to believe that theatres are finally recovering after a dreadful year. But the outdoor experiments that have kept theatre’s flame alight during the pandemic shouldn’t be cast aside in the process.

More Robe in the House at Vejle Musikteater

LightSoundJournal.com: Vejle Musikteater, one of the busiest and liveliest multi-purpose live performance venues in Jutland, Denmark, reopens fully after the pandemic period, complete with a new Robe ESPRITE house lighting package comprising 32 x ESPRITES in total.

Review Roundup: MRS. DOUBTFIRE Opens on Broadway

www.broadwayworld.com: Daniel Hillard, a struggling, out-of-work actor, will do anything for his kids. After losing custody in a messy divorce, he creates the kindly alter ego of Scottish nanny Euphegenia Doubtfire in a desperate attempt to stay in their lives. As his new character takes on a life of its own, Mrs. Doubtfire teaches Daniel more than he bargained for about how to be a father. A hysterical and heartfelt story about holding onto your loved ones against all odds, Mrs. Doubtfire is the musical comedy we need right now - one that proves we're better together.

‘I cried every day at work – now I am here!’ Spring Awakening’s fresh cast step on stage

Musicals | The Guardian: No one saw Spring Awakening for the first 15 years of its existence. Written in 1891 by Frank Wedekind, a former cabaret performer, the German play about a group of randy teenagers trying to figure out themselves and their desires was outlawed for obscenity. Criticising and satirising bourgeois oppression, moral convention and the lack of anything close to comprehensive sex education, it was deemed entirely inappropriate for audiences.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Is Now Accepting Nominations for the 2022 Barbara Whitman Award

www.broadwayworld.com: Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), announced today that nominations for the 2022 Barbara Whitman Award are now being accepted through December 21, 2021. The Barbara Whitman Award was founded in 2021 and includes an unrestricted grant of $10,000. The Award is presented annually to a female, trans, or non-binary early career director who has demonstrated unique vision in their work.

‘We are in limbo’: banned Belarus theatre troupe forced into exile

Belarus | The Guardian: For 16 years, the Belarus Free Theatre has advocated for freedom of expression, equality and democracy through underground performances from ad hoc locations to audiences hungry for an alternative voice to the country’s repressive dictator, Alexander Lukashenko.

Review Roundup: ANNIE LIVE! Comes to NBC

www.broadwayworld.com: "Annie" is one of the most beloved and biggest hits in Broadway history and the winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It has been licensed and performed in 50 countries and translated into eight languages. Based on the Harold Gray comic strip "Little Orphan Annie" that debuted in 1924, the musical premiered on Broadway in 1977 and initially ran for over four years.

Party-like spookiness with RCF at the Smèrrig Halloween Festival in the Netherlands

LightSoundJournal.com: The Smèrrig Halloween Festival in s’Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, was celebrated with four stages. The event is an institution in Den Bosch and this year’s edition attracted around 11,000 fans to the Brabanthallen. In a spooky atmosphere, many nationally known DJs and music acts provided the atmosphere and party mood. Audio equipment from RCF provided the perfect sound on three out of four stages.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

When You Need to Take Time Off for Your Mental Health

Dance Magazine: In the dance world, most companies and training programs have resources to support injured dancers. However, the same standards are not always in place for dancers who need time off for mental health reasons. "It's hard enough to take time away for a physical injury," says former Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre dancer Casey Pentrack. In 2016, although she had been poised for a long, promising career, she quit dancing due to challenges with depression and an eating disorder. "For something that's so unseen as a mental injury," she says, "it can be difficult to convince yourself or communicate to others that time off might be necessary."

Posted by David at 12/02/2021 10:52:00 AM

Immersive Exhibit offers wall-to-wall-to-wall-to-wall Van Gogh in Pittsburgh’s North Side

Visual Art | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: The key word is “experience.” The Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit is not an exhibition of paintings, but a 35-minute “immersive digital art experience,” designed by Massimiliano Siccardi with a significant assist from Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). In a repurposed warehouse on the North Side, visitors stand or sit in a darkened room while a steady stream of digitally projected images drawn from dozens of Van Gogh paintings unfold across a seamless four-walled screen and the floor.

Posted by David at 12/01/2021 09:54:00 AM

Insider tips for the 10 best holiday light displays in the Pittsburgh region

nextpittsburgh.com: From out-of-town destinations to favorite destinations right here in the city, Pittsburgh is filled with incredible holiday light displays. Check out our top 10 places for holiday light experiences this year.

Posted by David at 12/03/2021 11:05:00 AM

How Theatre Training Works in Football!

Dramatics Magazine Online: My early theatre training and experience gave me the groundwork for the adventures I’ve had. My entertainment career has been a wild roller coaster ride of travel, working with amazing actors, directors, designers, and technicians, and more.

Posted by David at 12/03/2021 11:05:00 AM

Lighting for musicals: an interview with Emanuele Agliati & Oscar Frosio

et cetera...: Emanuele Agliati and Oscar Frosio are two lighting professionals from Italy with an abundance of experience, especially in the world of musicals. Emanuele is an esteemed lighting designer and co-founder of k5600 Design – an associate studio of lighting designers focusing on visual lighting design projects. Oscar is a lighting designer and programmer and works in close collaboration with Emanuele as the main lighting programmer and engineer for k5600 Design. Additionally, Emanuele and Oscar teach lighting design and lighting programming respectively at La Scala Academy (Accademia Teatro alla Scala) in Milan.

Posted by David at 12/02/2021 10:56:00 AM

 

Broadway theaters will dim the lights on December 8, in honor of Stephen Sondheim

DC Metro Theater Arts: As the Broadway community continues to mourn the loss of legendary composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who passed away on November 26, at age 91, The Broadway League announced that the Committee of Theatre Owners will dim the lights of Broadway theaters in NYC for one minute on Wednesday, December 8, at exactly 6:30 pm, to commemorate his life and work.

A Love Letter to D.C.’s Cultural Scene

District Fray: It’s always been easier to tell people I’m “from D.C.” rather than the Northern Virginia suburb of Falls Church. I was raised on field trips to the Smithsonian and infrequently trekked across the Potomac with my friends for birthdays, concerts or afternoon window shopping. I also was the kid who could easily identify towering landmarks for visiting relatives, swelling with pride for my city, with every word. It wasn’t until I began writing for District Fray two months ago, though, that I awakened to the richness of its arts community and the beautiful complexity of the people stewarding its diverse culture.

Insider tips for the 10 best holiday light displays in the Pittsburgh region

nextpittsburgh.com: From out-of-town destinations to favorite destinations right here in the city, Pittsburgh is filled with incredible holiday light displays. Check out our top 10 places for holiday light experiences this year.

How Theatre Training Works in Football!

Dramatics Magazine Online: My early theatre training and experience gave me the groundwork for the adventures I’ve had. My entertainment career has been a wild roller coaster ride of travel, working with amazing actors, directors, designers, and technicians, and more.

Here’s how the ‘Titans’ VFX team turned Beastboy into a bat and a tiger

befores & afters: One of the superpower-ed characters from the third season of the DC Universe HBO Max series Titans is Beastboy, who is able to transform into a green tiger, as well as a bat. Folks VFX was behind this work, and here visual effects supervisors Gunnar Hansen and Brodie McNeill tell befores & afters how the character transformations were achieved.

'Tug of Words' reimagines classic game on LED ribbon

NewscastStudio: Game Show Network’s “Tug of Words” drives home the idea of the infamous old school playground game through the use of an arrow motif and digital “rope” — along with a very brief appearance of an actual one.

Interview: Michael Starobin on the Art of Orchestrating and the Importance of Writing

TheaterMania: For every performer that steps into the spotlight as the curtain rises, there are hundreds of people working behind the scenes to make the magic of theater real. From dressers to spot-ops, house managers to stage door attendants, and everything in between, it truly takes a village to put on a show. This is the second in a series of articles designed to introduce you to the many unique theater professions you might not realize exist.

Secret of tempera’s pleasing properties is how egg yolk interacts with pigment

Ars Technica: Tempera is a painting medium that has been used to decorate everything from early Egyptian sarcophagi to India's rock-cut temples. The medium was particularly popular with medieval and early Renaissance artists until it was eventually supplanted by oil-based paints. But while there has been a great deal of research on the chemistry of oil paints, tempera has been largely neglected in the scientific literature, according to researchers at the Sorbonne University in France.

Life of Pi review – the animals are the stars in this puppet-powered show

Theatre | The Guardian: Life of Pi had a first life as a Booker prize-winning novel by Yann Martel and a second as an Oscar-winning film by Ang Lee. Both were utterly captivating. Now comes playwright Lolita Chakrabarti’s stage spectacular (first presented in Sheffield in 2019) about Piscine “Pi” Patel, the zookeeper’s son from Pondicherry who claims to have survived a shipwreck in a life-raft with a Bengal tiger in tow.

Asia Poised for Boom in Virtual Production, Says Epic's Dean Reinhard

Variety: Dean Reinhard, technical account manager, Southeast Asia, at Epic Games, and an evangelist for virtual production spoke this week at an Asia TV Forum & Market panel on virtual production. He chatted with Variety after the session and identified Asia’s strengths and weaknesses with the technique.

NF embarks on US tour with versatile lighting rig

TPi: Rapper and songwriter, Nate Feuerstein, more commonly known as NF, embarked on a massive amphitheater tour this past fall that showcased Martin Professional by Harman VDO Sceptron and MAC Quantum Wash fixtures with P3 system control, provided by Solotech.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour opening to fans in February 2022

blooloop: Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment and Linen Mill Studios have announced that the Game of Thrones Studio Tour is opening on February 4, 2022 at Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge, Northern Ireland.

4 Theatres Form Artistic Caucus to Open New Development Pathways

AMERICAN THEATRE: Baltimore Center Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Long Wharf Theatre, and the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis have announced a joint effort to hire a group of freelance artists to participate in a year-long Artistic Caucus as key parts of the artistic development teams within each theatre, and across all four theatres. The new initiative, which combines the forces and resources of four institutions as an investment in interconnection and abundance, is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Lighting for musicals: an interview with Emanuele Agliati & Oscar Frosio

et cetera...: Emanuele Agliati and Oscar Frosio are two lighting professionals from Italy with an abundance of experience, especially in the world of musicals. Emanuele is an esteemed lighting designer and co-founder of k5600 Design – an associate studio of lighting designers focusing on visual lighting design projects. Oscar is a lighting designer and programmer and works in close collaboration with Emanuele as the main lighting programmer and engineer for k5600 Design. Additionally, Emanuele and Oscar teach lighting design and lighting programming respectively at La Scala Academy (Accademia Teatro alla Scala) in Milan.

'A Christmas Carol' at Ford’s to benefit Theatre Washington Taking Care Fund

DC Metro Theater Arts: Ford’s Theatre Society has announced that the company of the 2021 production of A Christmas Carol has selected Theatre Washington’s Taking Care Fund as the recipient of this year’s donation drive inspired by the themes of giving and charity in Dickens’s holiday classic. The Taking Care Fund provides financial assistance to DC-area theater professionals in times of unforeseen hardship.

What’s Opera, Director?

AMERICAN THEATRE: What’s the main difference between opera and theatre? The answer, in formal terms, is easy: One is music-based, the other text-based. Plays have actors, operas singers. There’s also a contrast of scale and logistics: A play doesn’t need an orchestra or conductor, a chorus or an army of supernumeraries. Theatre spaces are often smaller because of this, more amorphous and malleable, whereas the opera “house” is a house for a reason. Obviously these contrasts are a bit less sharp when it comes to musical theatre vs. opera—but even the Gershwin Theatre, largest of all Broadway houses and the longtime home of Wicked, is about half the size of the Metropolitan Opera.

Foo Fighters Cancel Planned Minnesota Show Over COVID Policy

www.ticketnews.com: The Foo Fighters abruptly called off a planned performance in Minnesota after the venue refused to adhere to the band’s requested requirements related to COVID-19 vaccination. The performance, announced Tuesday as part of the group’s Live in North America 2022 tour, was planned for August at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, but was pulled from the presale shortly after being announced.

Appreciation: Atlanta theater community shares Stephen Sondheim inspiration

ARTS ATL: Few Atlanta theater artists knew Stephen Sondheim personally. Yet the loss felt personal for countless Atlanta actors, directors and other theater professionals, as is apparent in social media posts and buzz that has spread following the death of the acclaimed songwriter and master of musical theater at age 91 last Friday.

Stéphane Lefebvre named Cirque du Soleil CEO

www.cirquefascination.com: A soft-spoken bookkeeper with a low-key profile will now take the spotlight at Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group as the circus giant tries to reconstruct a business shattered by the coronavirus pandemic. The famed troupe said Tuesday it is naming Stéphane Lefebvre, a chartered accountant who has been Cirque’s operations chief for the past year, as its chief executive officer, effective Dec. 1. He replaces communications specialist Daniel Lamarre, who is taking a step back into an executive vice-chairman role after two decades at the helm.

When You Need to Take Time Off for Your Mental Health

Dance Magazine: In the dance world, most companies and training programs have resources to support injured dancers. However, the same standards are not always in place for dancers who need time off for mental health reasons. "It's hard enough to take time away for a physical injury," says former Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre dancer Casey Pentrack. In 2016, although she had been poised for a long, promising career, she quit dancing due to challenges with depression and an eating disorder. "For something that's so unseen as a mental injury," she says, "it can be difficult to convince yourself or communicate to others that time off might be necessary."

Nonverbal "King Lear" Review - Conflict in Visuals, Sounds, and Imaginations

The Theatre Times: What has been left after all well-written dialogues, which were once deemed to be the spirit of Shakespeare’s play, were to be removed? An all-female nonverbal stage version of King Lear adapted and directed by Tang Shu-wing opens on October 28 at the Hong Kong Arts Centre in Wan Chai might be a perfect response. They showcase lethargy and grievance of life without uttering a word, but louder with body movements and expressions.

Theatre Facts 2020 Report Shows COVID’s Initial Impact

AMERICAN THEATRE: Theatre Communications Group (TCG), in partnership with SMU DataArts, has released Theatre Facts 2020. Theatre Facts, which is based on TCG’s fiscal survey and SMU DataArts’ Cultural Data Profile (CDP), is the only in-depth report examining the attendance, performance, and overall fiscal state of the U.S. professional nonprofit theatre field. This year’s survey, which covers the period from Oct. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2020, shows that even amid a foreshortened season, nonprofit theatres contributed nearly $2.1 billion to the U.S. economy and attracted 23 million attendees.