33 Shakespeare Quotes About the Weather

Folger Shakespeare Library: How’s the weather? Hot enough for ‘ya? How about this weather? There’s no topic of conversation more universal than the weather. Here in Washington, DC, we’ve had a scorching summer—our hottest on record according to the Washington Post. July 14 – 17, the city experienced four days in a row with temperatures over 100° F. With so many miserably hot days, we quickly ran out of ways to say, “It’s too darn hot.” So, we turned to Shakespeare. Thankfully, the Bard’s plays offer lots of literary and sophisticated ways to take your weather-related small talk to the next level. Here are some great lines from the Bard about the weather.

A Comprehensive Construction Bidding Software Features Checklist

Engineering News-Record: Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic drove the need for remote solutions, the use of construction bidding software has become nearly ubiquitous. The challenge? Not all construction bidding software is built the same. Some may act more like a glorified file share, while others provide a robust set of features that can add efficiencies to the bidding process.

2024 Paris Olympics: Hidden Details in Women's Gymnastics Leotards

Business Insider: It took around three months and 33 different departments to produce the glittering leotards worn by the US women's gymnastics team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Trygge Toven (Fallout music supervisor) video interview

GoldDerby: Music supervisor Trygge Toven received his first Emmy nomination for his work on “Fallout” and he found out about it in a very cliched way. “”I’ve been working with a PR film … and they gave me a call. I got the fun call right in the morning that the actors talk about,” Toven tells Gold Derby (watch the exclusive video interview above). “I love the show, but you just never know what to expect when awards go, so it’s pretty exciting,”

Why Did WBD Mention AI 8 Times in One Call?

theankler.com: If you listen to entertainment CEOs talk about AI to investors, you quickly learn that they’re mostly focused on one thing. Last May, WBD CEO David Zaslav mentioned AI eight times, touting its value in content discovery, ad-targeting, content recommendation, inserting ad breaks at the right time while generally promising to “utilize AI to increase productivity in all facets of business operations.”

Fans Upset To Learn The Paris Olympics' Flame Is Just LED Lights

brobible.com: Sure, it looked like it was a real flame when French Olympic gold medalists Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner “lit” the Olympic cauldron with their torches (which were real flames), but all that really happened was someone flipped a switch and turned on the lights.

Is the Olympic Flame Real?

The New York Times: The Olympic flame isn’t a flame. Well, it’s sort of a flame. But it’s not made of fire. Even if it looks a lot like fire.

Paris 2024's Olympic Flame: A High-Tech Marvel Or Just A Glowing Illusion? Is The Tradition Of Real Flame At Risk?

greekcitytimes.com: Paris unveiled a groundbreaking feature of the Summer Games with a remarkable twist on the traditional Olympic flame. During the opening ceremony, the cauldron, designed to rise into the sky attached to a balloon, was lit by former French Olympians Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner. The city’s reputation as the “City of Lights” was perfectly showcased through this innovative display.

Paris Olympic Games Use Fake Flame for Cauldron

www.thedailybeast.com: During the opening ceremony, French Olympic gold medalists Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner seemingly used torches to set the Olympic cauldron ablaze, but the flame was actually an illusion made with 40 LED lights and over 200 water misting nozzles.

Ridley Scott Wants to 'Embrace' AI (Specifically for Rhino Skin)

www.indiewire.com: The auteur behind the upomcing “Gladiator 2” told Empire that he believes Hollywood has to “embrace” AI, especially given how necessary the technology has become in post-production and special effects. For a particular scene in “Gladiator 2” where Paul Mescal’s character battles a rhino, Scott said his team built an “eight-wheeled, digitally driven” rhino that is plastic and practical. Mescal, per Empire, was even able to climb aboard, and the beast down to its skin and shape looks terrific.

Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony: Biggest Moments and Performances

variety.com: Years in the making, this opening ceremony has been envisioned as the French answer to the Super Bowl, boasting pop legends such as Lady Gaga, who has been spotted rehearsing with a grand piano floating down the Seine, as well as Celine Dion, who is expected to make her big comeback this evening with an Edith Piaf song. Other artists, like R&B star Aya Nakamura, will sing songs by late French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour. The show, which is orchestrated by artistic director Thomas Jolly, will also pay tribute to French cinema classics with references to films like Leos Carax’s “The Lovers on the Bridge.”

Will female stories ever have a place in Canadian theatre?

Intermission Magazine: I was 26 when the friend of a guy I was seeing came home from watching a production of Top Girls by Caryl Churchill and declared, without an ounce of embarrassment, that he did not like to hear stories about women and that, in his opinion, there were no good female writers.

Musselman & Hall Streamlines Takeoffs, Project Management with Bluebeam

Engineering News-Record: Musselman & Hall Contractors LLC, based in Overland Park, Kansas, has spearheaded construction projects throughout the Midwest focused on concrete, asphalt and railroad for the better part of the past century. Employee owned and built on long-lasting customer relationships, the company has in the past 20 years broadened its work beyond its historic specialties and government projects to include more general contracting to a wider customer base.

From Chicago: Beyond the Bylines

AMERICAN THEATRE: The Chicago Tribune’s Chris Jones keeps up with his BeReal. The Washington Post’s Naveen Kumar travels the world by storm. The New York Times’s Maya Phillips touts that she’s an anime nerd. And The New Yorker’s Justin Chang quips like a stand-up comic. The National Critics Institute, a two-week workshop for arts writers at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, transformed how I view not only my own capacities in the world as a writer, but the gorgeous, quotidian humanity of giants in arts journalism.

Soho Rep to Depart its Home & Share Space With Playwrights Horizons

www.broadwayworld.com: Soho Rep and Playwrights Horizons are launching a partnership meant to leverage the strengths of both organizations. Soho Rep will depart its longtime space at 46 Walker Street this January after more than 30 years and take up temporary residence at Playwrights Horizons’ Peter Jay Sharp Theater at 416 W. 42nd Street, where Soho Rep will produce the majority of its season for the next 2-3 years.

Which Broadway Theatre Has Won the Most Tony Awards?

Playbill: With 41 Broadway theatres to choose from, it is immensely important that a producing team pick the right venue for their particular production. Each theatre has their own particularities, and there are a wide range of factors to consider when selecting a theatre: Is it the right size for the show? Are there the right number of dressing rooms for the cast? How large of a fly space is needed?

Exclusive: AKA’s Arts Insider program announces latest cohort

www.broadwaynews.com: The Arts Insider, a content creator program of the Broadway advertising agency AKA NYC, has named its newest members. The Arts Insider platform comprises influencers who create arts-, culture- and entertainment-related social media content.

New York City Theatre Is Undergoing a Once-in-a-Generation Shift

Playbill: At the 2024 Tony Awards, one of the many producers who took to the stage when Stereophonic won Best Play was Adam Greenfield. He is the artistic director of Off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons, which premiered Stereophonic last year before the show transferred to Broadway. In his brief remarks on the Koch stage, Greenfield said: “Every play nominated in this [Best Play] category tonight came from an Off-Broadway theatre. Playwrights Horizons stands very proudly among our peers. And if a culture of risk-taking new work is important, then we need the support of our city to maintain that.”

The Other Side of Summer

AMERICAN THEATRE: Snakes on the sidewalk. No, it’s not a new Samuel L. Jackson movie. The snakes are real, and are just one of the seemingly endless challenges facing summer theatre companies and festivals as they struggle toward recovery after 2020. Snakes—and skunks and bears, oh my—are showing up in theatre communities as their habitats shrink, giving the artistic and managing directors of these companies just one more thing to worry about.

KARTA SVITU finds Space for Important Things Like Robe moving lights

LightSoundJournal.com: Popular Ukrainian rock band KARTA SVITU launched their new album The Space of Important Things with a high-profile, hi-energy showcase gig at the Bel Etage venue in Kyiv, Ukraine, which was recorded for subsequent broadcast.

Lorna Courtney, Damon Daunno, Taylor Iman Jones, More Cast in World Premiere of Empire Records Musical

Playbill: Empire Records tells the story of a band of idealist misfits fighting to save their beloved record store from a corporate takeover. The team comes together during a visit by over-the-hill pop star Rex Manning to discover the true value of friendship, love, and music.

Rock opera based on ‘Moby-Dick’ is in the works

www.broadwaynews.com: PEAK Performances director Wiley Hausam has announced the development of the new musical “Kill the Whale.” PEAK will produce a developmental workshop of the Daniel Henri Emond-scored rock opera adapted from Herman Melville’s classic 1851 novel “Moby-Dick.” “Kill the Whale” will be workshopped at PEAK’s Alexander Kasser Theater on the Montclair State University campus in Montclair, New Jersey this July.

Lifeline, New Musical Detailing the Birth of Penicillin, Sets Off-Broadway Bow

Playbill: Lifeline, a new musical tracking Alexander Fleming's word-changing discovery of penicillin in 1928, has set an Off-Broadway run. The show will play the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center beginning August 28. Opening night is September 4, and the run will continue through September 28.

Public Statement from the Dancers of Dallas Black Dance Theatre: Can You Hear Us Now, Leadership?

American Guild of Musical Artists: We, the dedicated dancers of Dallas Black Dance Theatre (DBDT), voted unanimously on May 29 to form a union with the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). Since that day, DBDT’s leadership has made several unusual and aggressive decisions. Why? It would seem for no other purpose than to punish us for our decision to have a real voice in our working lives. We’ve attempted to communicate with leadership and have been met with silence. We now exercise our collective right to talk about our situation publicly, with the hope that DBDT leadership will hear us and work with us on a path forward.

Get a Look at the Production Design of the Upcoming Wicked Films in This New Featurette

Playbill: Trailers for the upcoming two-part screen adaptation of Broadway's Wicked had many fans expecting a lot of CGI, but according to a new featurette spotlighting the films' production design (by Nathan Crowley), a shocking amount of practical sets were built and used—including 9 million tulips and a 16-ton train! See director Jon M. Chu and stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande talk about the films' visuals in the video above.

Venice Immersive 2024 Features Gundam, VRChat Worlds & More

www.uploadvr.com: Originally launched in 2017, Venice Immersive serves as the annual XR segment for the 81st Venice International Film Festival, and the latest edition promises 63 different projects from 25 countries. This year's competition will see 26 projects up for three awards, as determined by the three judges: Celine Daemen, Marion Burger (Emperor) and Adriaan Lokman.

Save Your Settings With Layer States

Tuesday Tips With Frank | AutoCAD Blog | Autodesk: Using various tools, and hopefully, the filter tools we learned about last time, you go about turning things off and changing the necessary layer colors to 8. Now, you have the architectural base layers set for you to start your design. Since you just spent your time performing this task, chances are you don’t want to do it again. That’s where Layer States comes in handy.

Mixed Blessings: Knowing When To Say “No” When Work Offers Flood In

ProSoundWeb: For anyone just starting a career as a live sound engineer, I offer my congratulations and a warm welcome to the club. You may discover initially that jobs are hard to come by, but when you do land some work, I’m sure you’ll feel very fortunate to have been given an opportunity to earn some money and add another client to your resume.

2025 Oscar Predictions: Best Production Design

GoldDerby: As is the case with most below-the-line Oscar categories, bigger equals better when it comes to Best Production Design. The more lavish the sets, the more accurate the period detail, the more extravagant the designs, the more likely your film will win an Academy Award. Formerly known as Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, this prize goes to the production designer and set decorator, leaving the poor art directors on the outside looking in; perhaps that accounts for the title change.

Apple Is Cutting Costs on Its Series and Films

www.indiewire.com: For Apple, cost-cutting, the latest push toward profitability (or for the profitable, higher margins) in streaming, is a Pro Display XDR-sized about-face. To launch Apple TV+ the company courted huge talent, and did so with a seemingly unlimited budget.

Akris’ Albert Kriemler on costuming John Neumeier’s ballets

Wallpaper: ’Ballet is a total work of art, a Gesamtkunstwerk,’ says Albert Kriemler, creative director of Swiss fashion label Akris. The German term, which rose to prominence in the late 19th century, refers to artworks that combine different mediums into a singular, coherent whole. For ballet, Kriemler lists choreography, lighting, set design, music and – as Kriemler is well-versed, having collaborated with Hamburg Ballet artistic director John Neumaeier for over 20 years – costumes.

Miami station uses 900 LED panels, sleek new desk to build new set

NewscastStudio: A Miami station has unveiled a standout new set that pushes the envelope in U.S. news set design by essentially using only a video wall and anchor desk to create a home for its newscasts. WPLG, the ABC affiliate in Miami, Florida, had been broadcasting from a temporary version of the set it first debuted in 2014.

Weerhoud at The Hepworth Wakefield: the spirit of dance animates Igshaan Adams’s reflection on South Africa’s history

theconversation.com: To understand the history of South Africa, you must understand how the the laws of apartheid forced South Africans to live in assigned racial spaces. To comprehend present day South Africa, you must understand that even 30 years since my country’s first national democratic election, these racist and fascist laws are still held in our bodies and are passed down through the generations.

12-foot-tall daddy longlegs spotted at Pittsburgh Botanic Garden

nextpittsburgh.com: David Rogers has built hundreds of massive wooden critters over the last few decades, and 10 of them are on display at the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden. He transported those massive sculptures unassembled in a shipping container called his “bug shack.” David and a small team spent just under a week unpacking and assembling the giant insects.

English National Ballet Dancer Vsevolod Maievskyi's Journey to Loving Ballet

Dance Magazine: In 2018, Vsevolod Maievskyi achieved his dream of joining the Mariinsky Ballet. For four years, Maievskyi was onstage night after night, dancing everything from demanding corps parts to Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, a role in which he debuted at age 23. Originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, Maievskyi made the decision to leave the Mariinsky in 2022. He danced with Dresden Semperoper Ballett from 2022–23 and joined English National Ballet last year as a junior soloist.

Brazilian singer dies from electrocution after ‘hugging wet fan’ at concert

The Independent: A Brazilian musician died from being electrocuted during a live performance on Saturday after he allegedly hugged a wet fan. Ayres Sasaki, 35, was performing at the Solar Hotel in Salinópolis, Brazil, on 13 July, when he touched the soaking-wet fan. The contact between the two triggered a fatal electric shock.

Steve Way, Maysoon Zayid, Disabled Comedians on Industry Inaccessibility

variety.com: A day before Ramy Youssef was set to record his latest special “More Feelings,” a friend and fellow comedian and actor Steve Way was scheduled to do a practice run as his opener at Brooklyn’s Bell House. It never happened. “The day of the show, they tell Ramy, ‘Sorry, we can’t get Steve on stage.’ They needed a week’s notice to rent a ramp,’” Way, who has his own special coming soon, recalls. “This isn’t Make-A-Wish. I would rather be told I’m not good enough than, ‘Sorry, there are stairs.’”

From Space Age to Metaverse: Vitra's New Sci-Fi Design Exhibition

design-milk.com: Science fiction has had an immense influence on the arts, including literature, cinema, graphic arts, and design. This impact is so significant that Swiss furniture company Vitra has dedicated a year-long exhibition titled Science Fiction Design: From Space Age to Metaverse to explore this intersection of design and science fiction.

Best Tool Chest Reviews for 2024

Pro Tool Reviews: Our picks for the best tool chest take into account organization, application, value, and size. When dealing with tool chests we address the needs of mechanics, DIYers, home users, and even contractors. A solid tool chest helps a Pro or home user organize his or her tools in such a way as to keep them safe, make them easily accessible, and help them stay organized so they are easy to grab and replace as needed.

SAG COVID Safety Rules Lawsuit: Cases Over Vaccine Mandate Dismissed

www.hollywoodreporter.com: The thrust of the lawsuits was that the negotiation and implementation of the return-to-work agreement violated the SAG-AFTRA’s constitution, as well as its collective bargaining and membership agreements. Among the complaints was that the union failed to adequately represent the interests of every member despite its duty to represent them fairly and equally.

Meet the man who is pumping air back into the RNC balloon drop

PBS News: Treb Heining’s ambitions for a celebratory atmosphere at this year’s Republican National Convention are sky-high. The self-described “balloon guy” has orchestrated the celebratory balloon drop at every GOP convention since 1988.

IATSE Members Ratify Contract With All Locals in Favor

www.thewrap.com: Members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees have voted to ratify their two proposed bargaining agreements, both by a wider margin than the razor-thin vote held during the last contract cycle in 2021.

Use the 'MIT Method' to Meet Your Productivity Goals

Lifehacker: So many productivity methods ask you to prioritize your daily tasks by considering how much time or effort they'll require, then tackling the resource-heavy ones. For some people, that's a solid strategy, since you can definitely get some motivation from getting your toughest, most demanding responsibilities out of the way. But you can also find motivation in working toward a bigger goal, so what if you prioritized your tasks based on importance and impact, no matter how big or small they are?

Ricky Spicuzza appointed as GM of Kennywood and Sandcastle Water Park

InPark Magazine: Palace Entertainment, the leisure park operator with more than 20 major entertainment venues across the United States and Australia, announced the appointment of Ricky Spicuzza to General Manager of Kennywood Park and Sandcastle Water Park. As a native of Pittsburgh, he brings more than 20 years of dedicated amusement and waterpark experience to the role. Spicuzza’s first order of business has been extending park operating hours, offering 20 days of 10 p.m. closes in July.

York County teen finishes as runner-up in Duck Tape prom suit contest

ABC27: A York County teen who was a finalist in the annual Duck Tape “Stuck at Prom” contest was announced as a runner-up in the competition. Finn Beauregard of York was a top 10 finalist in the contest, “which challenges high school students across the U.S. and Canada to create promwear entirely out of Duck Tape® for a chance to win college scholarships.”

Disneyland Paris sets drone show Guinness World Record

www.avinteractive.com: A drone light show featuring a Mickey Mouse head made out of 1,571 drones has achieved a Guinness World Record. The record for “largest aerial display of a fictional character formed by multirotos/drones” was set by Disneyland Paris, with the support of drone show technology provider Dronisos.

Illustrators in ADG Recommend Vote Against IATSE Deal Over AI Terms

www.indiewire.com: Illustrators and matte artists within the Art Directors Guild Local 800 have issued an open letter recommending guild members vote against IATSE’s tentative deal with the studio in the ongoing ratification vote. The group is specifically opposed to the language in the deal surrounding “AI Systems.”

Christie projectors aid education at Angolan science centre

www.avinteractive.com: An auditorium at the CCL has been equipped with two Christie Griffyn 4K35-RGB pure laser projectors and Vive Audio speakers to deliver impactful educational content, while eight Christie D20WU-HS 1DLP laser projectors are powering a permanent outdoor video mapping attraction on the building’s facade.

Lily Gladstone, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Kali Reis: First Emmy-Nominated Indigenous Actors in 17 Years

www.thewrap.com: Long overdue recognition for indigenous actors finally came on Wednesday, when Lily Gladstone, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai and Kali Reis received Emmy nominations. Together, Gladstone, Woon-A-Tai and Reis are the first indigenous actors in 17 years to receive an acting nomination from the Television Academy after the late actor August Schellenberg did it for his supporting role in 2007 for the HBO TV movie, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.”

FDM Filament Troubles: Keeping Hygroscopic Materials From Degrading

Hackaday: Despite the reputation of polymers used with FDM 3D printing like nylon, ABS, and PLA as being generally indestructible, they do come with a whole range of moisture-related issues that can affect both the printing process as well as the final result. While the concept of ‘baking’ such 3D printing filaments prior to printing to remove absorbed moisture is well-established and with many commercial solutions available, the exact extent to which these different polymers are affected, and what these changes look like on a molecular level are generally less well-known.

Balancing Act: A Guide To Mixing Multiple Stages Simultaneously

ProSoundWeb: Whether it’s running a couple of small stages at a festival, handling multiple ballrooms, or even managing multiple stages in a club, there are ways to streamline the process to make it as painless as possible for everyone.

Call for Nominations for PLASA's Gottelier Award

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: PLASA and LSi are calling for nominations for this year's Gottelier Award. Named after the late lighting designer and innovator Tony Gottelier, the award recognizes the invaluable contributions of the people behind the products.

How the Elaborate Costumes of 'House of the Dragon' Came to Be

www.harpersbazaar.com: For a show like House of the Dragon, the audience’s expectations are astronomically high — every detail needs to be executed flawlessly. So it makes sense that HBO brought in the big guns: enter Jany Temime, veteran costume designer. Her credits stretch back to the 1970s and include more recent blockbusters such as six of the Harry Potter films, Black Widow (2021), Judy (2019), and not one but two James Bond films: Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015).

2024 Emmy Contenders Talk Method Acting, Sex Scenes, Hollywood, More

www.hollywoodreporter.com: The Hollywood Reporter’s award-winning Roundtable series features top talent working in television today. The most recent discussions included such talent and Emmy contenders as Jon Hamm and Nicholas Galitzine (Drama Actor Roundtable), Jennifer Aniston and Jodie Foster (Drama Actress), Anthony Mackie and Ricky Martin (Comedy Actor), Quinta Brunson and Kristen Wiig (Comedy Actress), Ramy Youssef and Taylor Tomlinson (Stand-Up), and Peter Morgan and Issa López (TV Producer).

My “Live Show Technology: Past, Present, and Future - Have We Reached a Maturity Point?” Talk from HOPE XV

John Huntington: I was honored this past Friday to do my ninth talk at a Hackers On Planet Earth conference. Here’s some video I captured from the live stream. The sound system in the room was not working at all by this point, and so I had try and talk loud.

Make Your Classroom Multilingual: On Training Students For Rapidly Changing Cultural Landscapes

The Theatre Times: How do we train students to work within rapidly changing landscapes and for a theatre of the future that does not exist yet and already is an accumulation of multiple things?

Original Willy Wonka Actors Join Parody Musical

consequence.net: Because memes never truly die, the disastrous Willy Wonka exhibit that spawned such viral images as the sad Oompa Loompa and ‘The Unknown’ now has a fully produced musical parody on the way titled Willy’s Candy Spectacular. Because that alone isn’t absurd enough, original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory actors Julie Dawn Cole and Paris Themmen have officially joined the cast.

Theatre Lab’s 'Titanic: The Musical' had stunning teen talent aboard

DC Theater Arts: The kids, who are only 5 to 11 years younger than me, are all right. Director Deb Gottesman introduced the Theatre Lab’s Musical Theatre Institute for Teens’ production of Titanic: The Musical by saying that the students had three and a half weeks to prepare the material, and I’m absolutely stunned by the astonishing results. This production had a cast and crew of 13- through 19-year-olds, and several belong in community and professional theater, stat.

Will the Olympics Help Dancers Get Paid Like Athletes?

Dance Magazine: Let’s call the question settled: Breaking’s debut at the 2024 Olympic Games confirms that, yes, dance can be considered a sport. For the most part, we’ve moved past outdated stereotypes and collectively agree that dance is challenging both artistically and physically. It’s no longer an anomaly when dancers lift weights at the gym or model fitness apparel, because dancers can be athletes, too.

'Best in Show' 2024 New Product Showcase Awards

Safety+Health: Get ready to vote! The 2024 “Best in Show” New Product Showcase is quickly approaching, and you’ll be able to choose your top three products. You’ll have two ways to vote: In person at the 2024 NSC Safety Congress & Expo in Orlando, FL, or on this page. More products are added every day, so be sure to check in often on the website for the most up-to-date list.

Alec Baldwin Manslaughter Trial in ‘Rust’ Shooting Dismissed Over Evidence

The New York Times: A judge in New Mexico dismissed the case against Alec Baldwin on Friday after finding that the state had withheld evidence that could have shed light on how live rounds got onto a film set where the cinematographer was fatally shot. The dismissal was with prejudice, meaning that the prosecution of Mr. Baldwin is over. If he had been convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Mr. Baldwin would have faced up to 18 months in prison.

Arduino’s Plug and Make Kit lets your hacking imagination run wild, sans solder

Ars Technica: I know how to solder, but I do not always want to solder, and I think there are a lot of folks like me. Even if the act itself can be done (and undone, and redone), the friction of hauling out the gear, preparing a space, and fine-motor-skilling a perfect shiny blob can put a halt to one's tinkering ambitions.

Looking Back on the Legacy of the Court Theatre's Artistic Director Charles Newell

Playbill: When Charles Newell transitions out of his role as Court Theatre’s artistic director in July, the classics-focused theatre-in-residence at the University of Chicago will become the latest of Chicago’s major theatres to undergo a leadership change in recent years—a list that includes Steppenwolf, Goodman, Writers, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Thibaut Duverneix To Present Keynote At LDI & DSE On December 9, 2024

Live Design Online: CEO, executive creative director, Multimedia Experiences, at Gentilhomme in Montreal, Thibaut Duverneix will present a keynote at LDI & DSE on Monday, December 9, 2024 in Las Vegas. In this joint keynote, he will address "Future World-Building: The Art of Digital and Physical Storytelling." Gentilhomme is an earth-based multimedia entertainment studio, creating immersive experiences at the junction of magic, humans and the mediums that bond them.

Olympics 2024: USA Gymnastics' Bedazzled Uniforms Will Make You Flip

www.eonline.com/news: The leotards that Team USA's gymnasts will wear on the mat at the Paris Olympics were revealed by USA Gymnastics and gymnastics apparel company GK Elite on July 10, and the outfits were made with thousands of Swarovski crystals. In fact, one uniform—the red, white and blue Luminous Legacy tank leotard—contains more than 10,000.

Verge Aero Presents One Of The First Public Pyrodrone Shows

Live Design Online: The University of Texas at Austin celebrated the Longhorns joining the Southeastern Conference in style on Sunday, with a campus event that included children's activities, merch sales, and the first public pyrodrone show in the Americas. Buda, Texas-based Verge Aero stepped up the festivities with a groundbreaking display of drones flying pyrotechnics.

Door County Beach Vibes

AMERICAN THEATRE: If the name Girls on Sand rings a slight bell, that may be because you’ve heard of Guys on Ice, the massively popular musical comedy by Fred Alley and James Kaplan that celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, originally joint-produced by Northern Sky Theater (then American Folklore Theatre) and Milwaukee Rep. While Girls on Sand—a new musical receiving its world premiere at Northern Sky (through Aug. 24)—isn’t connected to Guys on Ice, the new show’s creative team hopes to capture a similar exploration of friendship with new characters and a fresh season as they turn coastal.

Review Roundup: SLAVE PLAY Arrives in London

www.broadwayworld.com: Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris, and directed by Robert O’Hara, has arrived in London! This ground-breaking play about race, identity and sexuality in twenty-first century America will play a strictly limited season through 21 September 2024 at the intimate Noël Coward Theatre.

Alec Baldwin’s recklessness led to on-set ‘Rust’ shooting, court hears

National | Globalnews.ca: As opening statements began Wednesday in the long-awaited Rust trial of Alec Baldwin, prosecutors and defence lawyers tried to paint him in different lights — as a safety-negligent leader, and an innocent actor playing a part. Baldwin, 66, is on trial in Santa Fe, N.M., for involuntary manslaughter over the October 2021 on-set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Nothing Beats a Wire

Exertis Almo Installments Blog: What a refreshing request: hardwired microphones. Yes, I’m aware that wireless cleans up the stage and wireless certainly looks better on camera, especially since so many churches are now streaming their services each week.

Is Netflix Launching Brand-Building Theme Parks or a House of Cards?

www.indiewire.com: In 2025, Netflix will launch “Netflix House,” aka brick-and-mortar fan venues located in former department stores in Dallas, Texas, and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. They will offer food, shops, and immersive experiences based on and inspired by Netflix shows and films. Your local zombie mall could have a new lease on life as a Netflix theme park.

Alec Baldwin 'Rust' Trial Officially Begins

variety.com: Nearly three years after accidentally shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, actor Alec Baldwin gets his day in court on Wednesday, as his involuntary manslaughter trial begins in Santa Fe, N.M.

The Physical Theater Festival turns 11

Chicago Reader: Alice da Cunha remembers the day she and her husband, Marc Frost, first came up with the idea of the Physical Theater Festival Chicago in the spring of 2013. “I was three months pregnant with our first child,” she says. She and Frost were just out for a walk in West Loop and had stopped in a coffee shop when Frost got a text on his phone from Links Hall, informing him that they were taking applications for a curatorial residency. “And he’s like, ‘Let’s apply,ʼ” says da Cunha.

Color rules at Color Factory Chicago

Chicago Reader: Everyone loves a splash of color. In fact, last year Psychology Today reported that color is an important stimulus for the brain, and can enhance mood and memory, lower blood pressure, and more. But in a recent study of data from the 1800s through today, researchers discovered that the world is losing its color, as shades from across the rainbow are traded for a neutral palette.

The Courtroom Battle to Make DEI DOA

www.hollywoodreporter.com: The DEI dominoes started falling — or at least wobbling — last summer. There was a Supreme Court ruling all but gutting affirmative action on college campuses. In Hollywood, there was the mass exodus of diversity officers — at Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Netflix and the Motion Picture Academy. Meanwhile, conservative activists launched a barrage of anti-DEI lawsuits with corporations in the crosshairs, like the one filed in March against CBS and Paramount by former (and possibly future) Trump aide Stephen Miller on behalf of a white SEAL Team writer who was allegedly denied advancement because of DEI policies.

Future Forward at PAC NYC and Aviva Studios

AMERICAN THEATRE: In 2023, two of the most complex and anticipated new theatre buildings in the world opened their doors to audiences for the first time. The Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) in Manhattan, designed by the architecture firm REX, and Aviva Studios in Manchester, U.K., designed by the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), both enable radical flexibility, allowing artists and directors to configure the shape of the audience seating to suit their specific production needs.

Generative AI Text-to-Image: Artist, Audience and the Comic Book Industry

AMT Lab @ CMU: As little as ten years ago, the capabilities of publicly accessible image generators were mere fantasy. Now, images can be made in seconds or minutes and children’s books can be generated in an hour. In some instances, like in the case study between Beihang University and Tsinghua University, text-to-image AI is heralded as a resource to expand production, increase communication, efficiency, and boost creative design

The mysterious art of the casting director: ‘When you see the truth in front of you, it’s the right person’

Theatre | The Guardian: The popular image of auditions today is defined by the cruelty and cringe of reality TV. “People expect Nicole Scherzinger saying, ‘You’ve made it to judges’ houses!’ and Rylan crying,” says freelance casting director Jatinder Chera, one sceptical eyebrow raised. In the media, heartless rejection and impossible dreams seem to be the currency of castings. “But there’s a lot more to it than people really know.”

WESTAF Celebrates 50 Years Developing Technology For Arts

Butts In the Seats: What was really interesting was the story about how they decided to focus on technology for the arts. I knew each of the regional arts organizations has a different focus, but I hadn’t known that WESTAF’s focus on technology was based in a desire to diversify the organization’s income stream so that they weren’t entirely dependent on grants and donations. Episodes two and three talk about all the different products they have developed over the last fifty years.

Miley Cyrus Rumored Favorite For Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show

brobible.com: Following the performance of Usher at the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show, rumors indicate that the NFL is going back down the pop star route for next year’s halftime show.

At Avignon Festival, Theater’s World Gets Wider

The New York Times: Who belongs onstage at an international theater festival? It’s a thorny question for programmers with limited spots to fill. Already-famous artists bring predictable box-office returns, yet the picture of “the world” they offer rarely extends beyond a small group of countries.

Catching Up With Actors' Equity Association Executive Director Alvin Vincent, Jr.

Playbill: After narrowly avoiding strikes while negotiating on new Broadway and national touring contracts, the union finds itself again at odds with theatrical producers via The Broadway League, this time over the Development Agreement that governs pre-production work for plays and musicals on their way to the stage.

Is Alec Baldwin to Blame for a Fatal Shooting on Set?

variety.com: Alec Baldwin’s temper is the stuff of Hollywood legend. His volatile behavior on the set of “The Edge” — he refused to shave his beard — left such an impression on producer Art Linson that he made a movie about it, “What Just Happened,” with Bruce Willis caricaturing Baldwin as a tantrum-throwing star.

How to Thin Latex Paint for Spraying, Brushing, and Rolling

Family Handyman: To thin or not to thin, that is the question. The answer? Thin latex paint if the manufacturer provides directions and it benefits your project. Paint formulas are carefully calculated to provide specific results, so changing paint’s physical makeup by thinning can void warranties and alter product performance if not recommended by the manufacturer.

'Stepping into a video game' in Vegas with Electric Playhouse CEO

attractionsmagazine.com: Electric Playhouse isn’t your average afternoon outing. The 10,000-square-foot facility in Las Vegas, Nev. leverages body-mapping technology and motion sensors to create what it calls a “digital twin” of every guest. This avatar conduit renders the guest as their own character in a real-life video game, with 360-degree effects activating in response to the guest’s actions.

Hearing health takes center stage with Sensaphonics at 2024 AES International Conference on Audio and Music-Induced Hearing Disorders

LightSoundJournal.com: Sensaphonics recently took a leading role in the 2024 AES 4th International Conference on Audio and Music-Induced Hearing Disorders, held May 29 – 31 at the Aalborg University Copenhagen Campus in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Are We In a Sondheim Renaissance?

www.broadwayworld.com: We lost the great Stephen Sondheim in November of 2021. Widely regarded as one of the most important Broadway writers of all time, Sondheim had a long and illustrious career populated by some of the most significant shows of the 20th century. Known for the risk-taking subject matter and originality of his shows and the complexity, skill, and sophistication of his writing, Sondheim’s work spans from West Side Story to Sunday in the Park with George, from Sweeney Todd to Merrily We Roll Along, from Gypsy to Follies.

A Google Search is NOT Exhibit Development

ExhibiTricks: The Museum Exhibit Design Blog: First, let me state that I really like Google --- I've even been to the Googleplex. But Google has a tendency to erode exhibit research and let some museum folks think that a Web-infused shortcut is a substitute for the tricky work of actually understanding and connecting ideas.

Slave Play: How boycotts, walkouts, and Rishi Sunak made this the hottest ticket in town

The Independent: Is Broadway ready for Slave Play?” asked The New York Times before Jeremy O Harris’ taboo-breaking production opened back in 2019. So anticipated was its 17-week run, attended by Scarlett Johansson, Harry Styles, and Rihanna, that afterwards they ran a second piece: “Was Broadway ready for Slave Play?” The answer today remains as split as the reviews. Now, as Slave Play makes its UK debut at the Noël Coward Theatre, as incendiary and controversial as ever, the question rings out: is London ready?

The show must go on, heat wave edition: How outdoor theater handles extreme weather

Datebook: If in recent years Northern California wildfires brought attention to the difficulty of mounting outdoor theater amid poor air quality, 2024 is already posing challenges to the Bay Area’s open-air theaters for the heat alone. But as record-breaking temperatures baked the Bay Area on Independence Day, many theaters with performances scheduled over the weekend are practicing one of the art form’s oldest traditions: adapting to the unexpected.

Lumber Prices Trend Lower on Soft Demand

Builder Magazine: Lumber prices have been trending down recently, in large part due to weaker demand on the market, according to recent reports from Madison’s Lumber Reporter and the NAHB.

Makita 40V XGT Circular Saw Review GSH01 Pro Tool Reviews

www.protoolreviews.com: The Makita 40V Max XGT Circular Saw is an all-around solid saw with capable features and above-average performance in our test-track. We just (continue to) wish Makita had made their 40V Max XGT batteries backward-compatible with their 18V tools. If you're already on the 18V LXT platform, switching to 40V XGT involves the exact same sacrifice as switching to another tool brand.

The FTC’s ban against noncompete agreements may be under threat

The Verge: A federal judge could block the Federal Trade Commission’s impending ban on noncompete agreements from going into effect. Noncompete agreements are intended to make it difficult for employees to switch to similar positions at other companies or start businesses of their own, and they’ve been a contentious issue within tech companies in particular.

Best Tool Box Reviews for 2024

Pro Tool Reviews: Having used and reviewed a LOT of the best portable toolboxes from just about every manufacturer, I’ve assembled my top recommendations. My list of the best tool boxes and storage systems focuses on jobsite solutions. The picks range from stackable jobsite boxes to rolling solutions and tool boxes pre-filled with mechanics tools.

Blank! The Musical builds a brand-new show each night

Chicago Reader: The Revival celebrates its new South Loop location with Blank! The Musical, an off-Broadway hit created a decade ago by Michael Girts, T.J. Shanoff, and Mike Descoteaux. Shanoff, who also directs this Chicago premiere, should be familiar to local improv fans from his long associations with Second City (Rod Blagojevich Superstar) and iO (The Roof Is on Fiddler: A Musical Parody).

Rethinking Construction: The Rise of Wood as a Sustainable Material

Architect Magazine: Wood’s popularity as a construction material has surged due to its impressive carbon sequestration capacity. Wood is about half carbon by weight, allowing the material to perform significantly better than others—such as concrete and steel—from a carbon emissions perspective. The realization of wood’s massive carbon storage capacity has encouraged much of the recent proliferation of new timber structures.

Your Next Audio Book Might Be Read by Judy Garland

Playbill: Favorite stage and screen stars of yesteryear may soon be releasing new content from the beyond. AI company ElevenLabs has secured agreements with the estates of Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds, and Laurence Olivier to add AI versions of their iconic voices to their Reader App, which allows users to listen to digital text from articles, PDFs, ebooks, and more.

Reviving Outdoor Furniture

This Old House: Left outdoors in rain and shine, metal deck and patio furniture take a beating. Frames accumulate unsightly nicks, scratches, and rust. Vinyl straps discolor and loosen. Mesh slings rip, and fasteners pop out. But that doesn’t mean you have to toss the old set and buy new.

'Word-first' acoustic transparent LED cinema screen debuts

www.avinteractive.com: A ‘world-first’ acoustic transparent LED cinema screen has been unveiled at a cinema in China late last month. Supplied by Unilumin, the screen is said to have “unique” module perforation design, which achieves a sound cavity through the structure of the LED cabinet.

Brooke Shields Has Worn Many Hats. Now She’s a Labor Boss

The New York Times: Brooke Shields has a new office. It’s empty, and she hasn’t figured out how she wants to furnish it, or even how often she’ll be there, but it’s a sign of her new and unexpected status, as president of Actors’ Equity Association, the labor union representing theater actors and stage managers in the United States.

15 Summer Theaters for That Nearby, Out-of-Town Experience

The New York Times: Summer used to be when playgoing in the city came to a full stop. With no air-conditioning, most shows closed, at least until fall. But now that urban theater is a year-round sport, Memorial Day is more like a comma than a period. Notable productions play straight through the hot months — some even opening in August, even on Broadway.

Lauren Lewis and Minh Nguyen Receive 2024 Broadway Green Alliance College Captain Award

Playbill: The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) has announced Lauren Lewis and Minh Nguyen are the 2024 recipients of its annual College Green Captain Award. The award recognizes students who make an effort to prioritize sustainability in college theatre.

Iconic Stonewall Inn is Tranformed Into an LGBTQ+ Visitor Center

mymodernmet.com: Fifty-five years after the historic Stonewall Rebellion sparked the fight for queer equality, the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center (SNMVC) has opened its doors. Located at 51 Christopher Street in the same site as the Stonewall Inn, it is the first LGBTQIA+ visitor center in the National Park System, since the site was named a National Monument in 2016.

Road Test: Radial Engineering Catapult Rack

ProSoundWeb: A catapult is an old-time device that’s designed to project objects a long distance with out propellants or explosives. The Catapult Series from Radial Engineering is designed to do the same with audio signals passively via Cat-5/6/7 cable.

Glastonbury 2024: The story behind Arcadia's new Dragonfly stage

Wallpaper: Glastonbury is many things to many people. For some, its draw is the ability to party into the small hours, often amidst the chaos of the site’s renowned South-East corner. For years, one of Glastonbury’s most hedonistic fields has been ruled by Arcadia – the sculptural art and dance collective known for their 50-tonne, mechanical fire-breathing spider. Said spider has toured the world, providing D‘n’B beats (and a few scorched eyebrows) to global festival goers, but this year, it was time for something new.

This Teen Crocheted The Perfect Prom Dress In 3 Days

mymodernmet.com: Prom is arguably the most anticipated event in many teenagers' young lives. Many of the youthful attendees go all out for the evening and even tend to spend hundreds of dollars on the perfect outfit. For 18-year-old Sarah Akinbuwa, this was not the case, though. The crafty teen managed to steal the show at Somerville High School's prom by relying on her talent and determination instead of her bank account.

CONDUCTR opens U.S. production facility

InPark Magazine: CONDUCTR has officially opened its U.S. design and production studio in Orlando, Florida, and incorporated as a fully operating U.S. entity. This comes as the company continues to diversify its operations, extend its vertical markets just as over 20 significant projects are set to go live in the U.S. this year.

Pritzker signs expansion of Illinois Film Production Tax Credit Reel Chicago News

reelchicago.com: The legislation, an omnibus economic development bill which also includes incentives for quantum computing development and redevelopment zones across the state, importantly removes restrictions on national talk shows, contests, and game shows, allowing these productions to participate in the Film Production Services Tax Credit program.

Turandot Armor by Cynthia Gomez Wins Silver in A' Costume Design Awards

www.wrbl.com: The A' Design Award, a highly respected and well-recognized award in the field of costume design, has announced Turandot Armor by Cynthia Gomez as a Silver Award winner in the Costume and Heritage Wear Design category. This prestigious recognition highlights the significance of the Turandot Armor design within the costume design industry, positioning it as an outstanding example of innovation and craftsmanship.

BET Apologizes for Muting Parts of Usher's Lifetime Achievement Speech

www.thewrap.com: BET apologized to Usher on Monday for muting large portions of his Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech during Sunday’s BET Awards, blaming “an audio malfunction” and stating that it was inadvertent. The performer delivered an emotional 13-minute speech while accepting the award. He also won Best Male R&B/Pop Artist at the ceremony.

Resonance Works – 'Rossini’s La donna del lago'

onstagepittsburgh.com: This weekend Resonance Works gave two performances of Gioachino Rossini’s romantic rarity, La donna del lago at the Charity Randall Theatre in Oakland. If it were possible to produce it as it was Friday evening and yesterday afternoon, it might be heard more often. But it’s long, however beautiful, and it requires a large cast of first-rate singers in the leading roles, a powerful chorus and a strong orchestra, along with a conductor who feels the music. All these were on hand for the performances.

COMING SOON: Escape From Godot. The legendary hit returns for an LA…

by NoPro Newswire | Jul, 2024 | No Proscenium: Mister & Mischief have been delighting audiences in Southern California for years with their highly inventive immersive creations like 40 Watts From Nowhere and The Apple Avenue Detective Agency, both of which were Without Walls Festival selections.

Authentic Storytelling: Costume Designer Amy Higdon’s Approach to ‘Fancy Dance’

The Art of Costume: In this insightful interview, Spencer Williams chats with Amy Higdon, the costume designer behind the new film Fancy Dance. They discuss Amy’s journey from working on the Oscar-nominated Killers of the Flower Moon to designing the costumes for her first feature film, Fancy Dance. Amy shares the collaborative experience of working on this project, her inspirations for the characters’ costumes, and her journey as a costume designer.

Colten Hyten and Sensaphonics dB Check Pro protect George Thorogood and the Destroyers’ hearing

LightSoundJournal.com: Legendary blues rocker George Thorogood is hitting the road once again with his iconic band, The Destroyers. Renowned for classic hits such as “Bad to the Bone,” “Who Do You Love,” and “Move It on Over,” Thorogood and The Destroyers have consistently delivered high-volume, electrifying shows worldwide for the past five decades, cementing their legacy in the music industry. Monitor engineer Colten Hyten cares about sound, most importantly the mixes that Thorogood and his band are listening to on stage and the levels reaching their ears during a typical 90-minute set.

June News: Artists Take a Stand on AI

AMT Lab @ CMU: This month, it may be challenging to find a headline that doesn’t mention “AI.” For artists and arts managers, AI can now be integrated in every aspect of our work - from creation, to promotion, and general administration. Even your iPhone may soon have AI features integrating messages, calendar, photos, and other personal content. In both performing and visual spaces, artists are finding ways to push back on unethical use – while some take legal action, others call for change through the spaces they share their work. Learn more in the sections below.