NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

Immersive Art Is Exploding, and Museums Have a Choice to Make

www.artnews.com: Blockbuster art exhibitions were once largely the province of museums. Crowds now flock to popular immersive exhibitions—where all you see is a part of the artwork—in a new breed of art venue. Last year, some 2.4 million people paid approximately $25 each to experience teamLab’s Planets exhibition in Tokyo, racking up ticket sales on a par with box office revenues at the Met or the Tate.

Posted by David at 9/12/2024 12:48:00 PM

Go Behind the Trapeze Work in WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

www.broadwayworld.com: See cast member Sam Renaud control the rigs for the trapezes while Isabelle McCalla sings "Easy." While singing along, Renaud manages the ropes that support the intricate fly system used in the production.

Posted by David at 9/12/2024 12:44:00 PM

Where Did the Creatives of the 2023–24 Broadway Season Go to School?

Playbill: As part of Playbill's Back to School week, take a look at our annual report on the colleges and universities with the most creative alums performing on Broadway in the 2023–24 Broadway season. Below you'll find this year's top 10 most represented schools for Broadway creatives, plus some honorable mentions. Take a look and see if your school—or a school you're considering attending—made the list!

Posted by David at 9/09/2024 03:36:00 PM

Behind the scenes of the record-breaking Adele LED wall

www.avinteractive.com: The Adele residency at the Munich Messe in Germany did not just witness the installation of the world’s largest, continuous, temporary outdoor LED wall. It also required “the largest hanging bracket ever built”, and immense feats of accelerated planning by supplier Solotech, working in collaboration with its partners.

Posted by David at 9/11/2024 11:41:00 AM

All About Scentscaping

www.specialevents.com: By now, you’ve probably seen the video circling around that shows fresh flowers being sprayed with fragrance in preparation for a wedding ceremony—someone’s definition of scentscaping. Was it just us or was anyone else horrified when they saw this (we know all the florists in the room are screaming with us)?!

Posted by David at 9/10/2024 04:08:00 PM

 

Ayrton Rivale Profile impresses in Sweden with Hov1’s 4-Ever Tour 2024

LightSoundJournal.com: Hov1 (pronounced Hovet) is a Swedish hip hop group formed in 2015 with 26 top ten hits in the Swedish Singles Chart, 12 of which reached the top spot. The band is currently undertaking a tour of Sweden visiting the major cities of Gothenburg, Malmo and Stockholm.

How ‘Coconut Cake’ Is Being Served at 5 Black Theatres

AMERICAN THEATRE: Chicagoan and English professor Melda Beaty started writing plays in 2011 and sent them out to readings, festivals, and theatres, with limited response. Then she submitted to a contest—and won. Her life changed when the International Black Theatre Festival (IBTF) awarded her play Coconut Cake the Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin Rolling Premiere (SSHRP) Award, presented at the IBTF July 29-Aug. 3 in Winston-Salem, N.C. Named after the co-founder of the IBTF, the SSHRP award includes “rolling premieres” at several Black theatres. For Beaty, the second SSHRP recipient, this meant having Coconut Cake produced in five theatres over the course of two years, starting in 2024, including North Carolina Black Repertory Company, which is also the sponsor of the IBTF.

‘It’s three hours, but it’s action-packed’: How the cast of Cymbeline navigates one of Shakespeare’s most eventful plays

Intermission Magazine: A lot happens in Cymbeline. If asked to recount the plot of the mammoth Shakespeare romance after a single viewing, I’d wager most audience members would forget at least one major element — whether it’s the beheading, the visit from Jupiter, the vial of poison that’s actually a sleeping potion, or the full-on Roman war.

2024 Hewes Design Awards Winners Revealed

www.broadwayworld.com: “The 2023-24 theater season was a memorable one for its breadth and creativity”, said Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, chairman of the committee. “We continue to recognize the outstanding contribution that designers make to the creative process in all theater productions and we congratulate the 2024 Honorees for their excellent work.”

Reframing 9/11: PAC NYC’s First Year

New York Theater: The opening of the new performing arts center at the World Trade Center site a year ago has done what the rebuilders had hoped it would, at least for me. On the twenty-third anniversary of 9/11, the imagery of Ground Zero, and my memory of that awful day, have been supplemented (if not yet completely replaced) by a year’s worth of memorable theatrical performances within the glowing marble cube of the Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, now commonly called PAC NYC, during its eclectic and effective inaugural season.

First Look Inside the Newly-Restored Majestic Theatre

www.broadwayworld.com: Guests were invited on stage to experience the original orchestrations from Gypsy with a 26-piece orchestra, which have not been heard live in nearly 60 years. Following the presentation, which included welcome remarks from Robert E. Wankel (Chairman and CEO of The Shubert Organization), six-time Tony Award-winning director George C. Wolfe, and six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, guests were invited to explore the theatre to take in the renovations up close.

ETC Student Nina Wang uses State-of-the-Art Facilities To Create 'Flow'

News - Carnegie Mellon University: In spring 2024, second-year Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) student Nina Wang led a team of ETC students on "Flow" — a one-of-a-kind project meant to utilize the state-of-the-art facilities on offer at the ETC. In fact, the project was specifically conceived with one of those facilities in mind: the CAVERN.

Broadway Across America and Black Theatre Coalition’s joint apprenticeship program will return in spring

www.broadwaynews.com: Broadway Across America (BAA) and Black Theatre Coalition (BTC) have announced the return of their joint regional apprenticeship in spring 2025. The 14-week, paid program focuses on the business side of the commercial theater industry, with the goal of increasing involvement by individuals from communities that have been historically underrepresented in American theater.

Celebrating National Arts in Education Week 2024: CMU Community Shares Personal Reflections on Art’s Impact

News - Carnegie Mellon University: National Arts in Education Week is Sept. 9-13, serving as a reminder of the profound impact art has on humanity. This week, members of the Carnegie Mellon University community share how the arts have touched their hearts and minds — and influenced both their personal and professional journeys. From the delicate stitches of embroidery to the vibrant worlds of film and theater, each reflection is a testimony to the transformative power of creativity.

Arts and media unions lay out new policy agenda

www.broadwaynews.com: On Sept. 10, the Arts, Entertainment and Media Industries (AEMI) coalition announced a new policy agenda, entitled Reimagining Federal Support for the Arts and Public Media. The plan outlines ways in which the federal government can support nonprofit arts and public media.

AGMA Shares Reasons Not to Support Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s New “Season”

American Guild of Musical Artists: DBDT has branded their new season as "Larger Than Life," a phrase that can suggest a sense of being untouchable or beyond accountability. But ticket buyers have the unique power to show that no entity, regardless of its prestige, is beyond reproach when it comes to fair labor practices and the treatment of its workers.

Music industry’s 1990s hard drives, like all HDDs, are dying

Ars Technica: One of the things enterprise storage and destruction company Iron Mountain does is handle the archiving of the media industry's vaults. What it has been seeing lately should be a wake-up call: roughly one-fifth of the hard disk drives dating to the 1990s it was sent are entirely unreadable.

Representation Of Women In Iraqi Theatre: An Interview With Playwright And Director Dr. Awatif Naeem

The Theatre Times: Awatif Naeem is an award-winning TV and theatre actress, director, playwright, and critic. She previously served as the vice president of the Iraqi Artists Syndicate. She was born in Baghdad in 1950 and has a Ph.D. in Directing from the College of Fine Arts in Baghdad. She is the Director and Founder of the Children’s Theatre of Baghdad, a cofounder in 1994 of the Iraqi Theatre Critics’ Association, and the Vice-President of the Iraqi Union of Artists.

Immersive Art Is Exploding, and Museums Have a Choice to Make

www.artnews.com: Blockbuster art exhibitions were once largely the province of museums. Crowds now flock to popular immersive exhibitions—where all you see is a part of the artwork—in a new breed of art venue. Last year, some 2.4 million people paid approximately $25 each to experience teamLab’s Planets exhibition in Tokyo, racking up ticket sales on a par with box office revenues at the Met or the Tate.

Bringing New Harmony to Indy’s Inaugural PlayFest

AMERICAN THEATRE: Just about three hours southwest of Indianapolis, nestled against the Wabash River where it carves the border between Indiana and Illinois, sits the small town of New Harmony, Ind. New Harmony boasts a population that doesn’t quite top 700, but it has long punched above its weight in one respect at least: For three decades, the New Harmony Project has offered writers a retreat away from the bustle of major cities to workshop and focus on creating new work.

SIXTY82 launches new TPM39 Series at Distributor Day Celebrations

LightSoundJournal.com: Sharing all the benefits and features of the TPM29 Series, the new TPM39 is up to 25% stronger – yet fully compatible and interchangeable with – M39 box truss, with all the reliability and versatility the industry expects from SIXTY82 products.

Broadway's Newly Refurbished Majestic Theatre Reopens With a Performance of Gypsy's Iconic Overture | Playbill

Playbill: Curtain up! Light the lights! The Majestic Theatre has now officially reopened. The theatre was previously home to the long-running Broadway show The Phantom of the Opera. When that show closed in 2023 after running 35 years on the Broadway, the Majestic also went dark as it underwent a belated makeover, including renovations to modernize the theatre in time for its first post-Phantom tenant: a Broadway revival of Gypsy starring Audra McDonald.

Lincoln Center Theater Chooses Lear deBessonet as Artistic Director

The New York Times: Lincoln Center Theater, a leading nonprofit theater with a long track record of producing luxe Broadway musical revivals as well as contemporary plays, has chosen new leadership for the first time in more than three decades.

Go Behind the Trapeze Work in WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

www.broadwayworld.com: See cast member Sam Renaud control the rigs for the trapezes while Isabelle McCalla sings "Easy." While singing along, Renaud manages the ropes that support the intricate fly system used in the production.

Pittsburgh Musical Theater's 'Evil Dead' Returns to the West End

onstagepittsburgh.com: “I’m absolutely gobsmacked that this giant risk of a show has evolved into a bloody tradition here in Pittsburgh,” said director Nick Mitchell. “Each year the show is infused with fresh blood – pun Intended – and to be the director of such an amazing cast, crew and creative team, with the full support of PMT, is quite the privilege.”

Yesterday’s Broadway Warhorses, Saddled With Today’s Concerns

The New York Times: Two cheers for new voices! Of the 16 productions scheduled to open on Broadway between now and the end of the year, 12 are new to the Boulevard of Broken Budgets. But I’d like to reserve a third cheer for the fall’s four revivals, which may get less attention, having been this way before, but are likely to earn their keep if history holds true.

Perfect Prop Pie

AMERICAN THEATRE: The musical Waitress charmed Broadway audiences in its 2016-21 premiere run. Now regional theatres are dipping their spoons for a taste. The story of Jenna, a young woman stuck in a bad marriage and a dead-end job at a small-town diner who finds solace in baking, started as an independent film starring Keri Russell and eventually made its way to the stage with catchy tunes by Grammy winner Sara Bareilles. As the 2024-25 season unfolds, 10 theatres are producing the endearing musical, which comes with the creative challenge and opportunity of depicting more than two dozen prop pies onstage, plus some edible ones.

Paris 2024 Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony: Best Photos

www.billboard.com: The ceremony, which happened at Paris’ Stade De France on Sept. 8, assembled not only athletes, but a legendary crew of French dance producers that included the pioneering Jean Michel Jarre, Ed Banger founder Busy P, dance-pop master Martin Solveig, Kavinsky — whose 2010 classic “Nightcall” experienced a streaming surge when he also performed it at the Closing Ceremony of the 2024 Olympics Games — and other French Touch stars including Étienne de Crécy, DJ Falcon and Alan Braxe, Breakbot, Irfane, Chloé Caillet and more.

8 Years Later, an Infamous Star Wars Scene Just Sparked a New Disney Controversy

www.inverse.com: Rogue One was a revolutionary Star Wars movie for several reasons. It proved Star Wars could succeed at the box office beyond the flagship saga, it fleshed out a crucial part of the timeline leading up to A New Hope and, although no one knew it at the time, it led to the creation of Andor, the best Star Wars show on Disney+.

A Message from San Francisco Symphony Chorus Director Emeritus Vance George Regarding Proposed Chorus Budget Cuts

American Guild of Musical Artists: On September 4, San Francisco Symphony Chorus Director Emeritus Vance Y. George sent a personal message to Symphony CEO Matt Spivey and the SFS Board Officers, expressing his concern about the drastic proposed Chorus budget cuts. Today, with his permission, we are sharing the letter more widely.

Boots On The Ground: Life As A Long-Time Local Audio Professional

ProSoundWeb: One reason why I like living in the “mouse house” (Orlando) is because the work comes to me. I got a bellyful of touring back in the early 80s as a keyboard player and vocalist for a 25-piece show band that toured worldwide. I made it to the top in the entertainment world only to discover that it just wasn’t my cup of tea. It felt like just another job.

'Ripley' VFX Supervisor Urges Support for Union at Emmys

variety.com: “Ripley” VFX supervisor John Bowers urged the television community to support VFX unionization Sunday on stage at L.A.’s Peacock Theater, as he and his team accepted an Emmy for the Netflix miniseries.

Behind the scenes of the record-breaking Adele LED wall

www.avinteractive.com: The Adele residency at the Munich Messe in Germany did not just witness the installation of the world’s largest, continuous, temporary outdoor LED wall. It also required “the largest hanging bracket ever built”, and immense feats of accelerated planning by supplier Solotech, working in collaboration with its partners.

Three Reasons to Partner with Ethical Vendors

www.specialevents.com: Organizing an event involves coordinating numerous details, managing logistics, and addressing emotional elements that can often come with hosting special occasions. On top of this, for professionals and their clients who value sustainability and social responsibility, it becomes a mission to make the event not just successful, but ethical too.

RECAP: IATSE, Union Members Power Historic 2024 Democratic National Convention

IATSE: From August 19 to 22, the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago was union-made, with IATSE members from Locals One, 2, 22, 33, 46, 59, 84, 110, 476, 600, 695, 700, 720, 728, 762, 769, 800, USA 829, and ACT producing the historic event. IATSE used their skills to make the DNC go off without a hitch in a clear example of how IATSE members’ work in the entertainment industry intersects with political campaigns and public service.

Inside Loudspeaker Sensitivity: What's A Watt Anyway?

ProSoundWeb: The specification of a loudspeaker’s sensitivity is probably one of the most common, yet perhaps one of the most misunderstood. It’s common to see the magnitude response of a loudspeaker system reduced to a single number as a sensitivity rating. This is perhaps at the heart of the confusion.

IATSE Says '40 Acres' Producers Owe 'Significant' Money to Crew

www.indiewire.com: IATSE has called out the producers of “40 Acres,” a drama that premiered this weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival, saying that almost a year after the film wrapped principal photography crew and vendors have yet to be paid.

Keynotes Take Center Stage At LDI 2024

Live Design Online: The accent is on innovation as LDI 2024 presents four thought-provoking keynotes by Thibaut Duverneix, Sharon Huizinga, Emily Malone, and Craig Winslow that explore different angles of the industry. Coming from different disciplines — as well as several different countries — these keynote speakers bring an incredible amount of knowledge and experience to the table. A keynote a day keeps the cobwebs away and could be the key to your future!

More Than Line-by-Line: Mixing Sound

StageLync: When I started mixing sound for shows in high school—and I use the term “mixing” loosely—I had no idea what I was doing. Which is normal for anyone’s first foray into a new subject, but the problem was that no one else knew either. My training was our TD basically saying, “here’s the board, plug this cable in here, and that’s the mute button,” before he had to rush off to put out another fire somewhere else.

Introducing the Women of 'POTUS,' the Political Farce Opening City Theatre's 50th Season

onstagepittsburgh.com: City Theatre is getting ready to open its 50th season with an election-season farce, featuring a cast of formidable women who together keep a fictional administration afloat.

Oracle Red Bull Racing installs 'record-breaking' LED wall

www.avinteractive.com: PPDS has completed a “record-breaking” installation of a 46.25 x 2.75 metre dvLED wall inside the global HQ of Formula One giant, Oracle Red Bull Racing (ORBR). The installation is the largest known indoor dvLED wall to feature in an events venue in Europe and is PPDS ‘ biggest installation (by size) to date.

All About Scentscaping

www.specialevents.com: By now, you’ve probably seen the video circling around that shows fresh flowers being sprayed with fragrance in preparation for a wedding ceremony—someone’s definition of scentscaping. Was it just us or was anyone else horrified when they saw this (we know all the florists in the room are screaming with us)?!

X-MEN '97 Star Lenore Zann Rocks Rogue Cosplay at the Emmy Awards

Nerdist: Few voice actors love the character they portray as much as X-Men ’97’s Lenore ZannOpens in a new tab loves Rogue. And playing the sassy mutant Southern Belle for thirty years has not diminished Zann’s affection. At the 2024 Creative Arts Emmy Awards, where X-Men ’97Opens in a new tab received a nomination for Outstanding Animated Program, Zann took her fangirling to the next level.

Gird Your Loins, David Furnish Just Dropped a Thrilling Update on 'The Devil Wears Prada' Musical

collider.com: After much anticipation, The Devil Wears Prada musical is finally ready to hit the London stage. The production, featuring Vanessa Williams as the formidable Miranda Priestly, opens on December 1 at the Dominion Theatre. In an exclusive interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub at TIFF for the upcoming documentary, Elton John: Never Too Late, David Furnish offered insights into the show’s development and why it’s set to be a must-see for fans of both the original film and the fashion world.

Fyre Festival 2: Billy McFarland Sets Date Without Booking Artists

consequence.net: “Fyre Festival II is happening April 25, 2025, so we’re seven and a half months away,” McFarland said. “We have a private island off the coast of Mexico in the Caribbean, and we have an incredible production company who’s handling everything from soup to nuts.”

Vari-Lite VL2600 SE Series Wins Exclusive PLASA Sustainability Award

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: Vari-Lite, a Signify entertainment lighting brand, announces that the VL2600 SE Series has received the PLASA Award for Innovation in Sustainability at the recent PLASA Show London 2024.

OUR TOWN Releases Tickets for Exclusive Onstage Seating

www.broadwayworld.com: It's Our Town, YOUR seats. Step into the heart of Grover's Corners with Stage Manager's Seats. Experience Thornton Wilder's timeless classic like never before, with exclusive onstage seating that surrounds the action. With just 30 seats available per performance, you'll be immersed in the world of Our Town, becoming part of the story in an intimate and unforgettable way.

You Can’t Shop Palace Costume (Costumers and Stylists Only!) But You Can Browse This New Book

Vogue: “I first started going to Palace Costume about 20 years ago, through a stylist friend of mine, and it was obviously love at first sight,” says Mimi Haddon, the Los Angeles-based photographer, costume designer, educator, and author of Palace Costume: Inside Hollywood’s Best Kept Secret, out tomorrow.

Fourier Audio Wins 2024 PLASA Innovation Award

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: The 2024 PLASA Innovation Awards saw a record-breaking 44 products vying for recognition, with only eight being selected by the esteemed panel of judges. The judges commended the Fourier Audio transform.engine for being "an elegant solution for the integration of studio technologies in live events with reliability and functionality at its core."

9 Recipients of Beowulf Boritt's The 1/52 Project Named for 2024

Playbill: The nine recipients, who will benefit from $150,000 in grants, include lighting designers Emma Deane, Emmanuel Delgado, and Carolina Ortiz Herrera; costume designers Camilla Dely and Meg Powers; sound designer Dee Etti-Williams; projection designer Hannah Tran; and set designers Miguel Urbino and Teresa L. Williams.

Museum of the Bible Adds High-Tech Interactive Exhibit with L-Acoustics L-ISA

Church Production Magazine: The Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. is adding a high-tech interactive exhibit designed to bring scripture to life through immersive technology. “All Creation Sings” offers a 45-minute immersive worship experience inspired by Psalm 148. Featuring content by CREATR of Costa Mesa, California, the 100-by-60-foot space surrounds visitors with interactive biblical storytelling. Atlanta-based Meptik, designed the visual spectacle, using 360-degree projection mapping and LiDAR sensors for interactive, generative effects.