Don Holder: The Business of Lighting Design

StageLync: Don Holder began his career working as an electrician and technical director before transitioning into lighting design. He credits his experience in these roles with providing him a pragmatic perspective on the technical aspects of lighting. His knowledge of how to physically mount and operate lighting equipment gave him an edge when he moved into design. He advises aspiring lighting designers to gain hands-on experience as electricians to understand the fundamentals of stage lighting and better communicate with technicians.

The Price of a Show

The New York Times: There’s a starry production of “Othello” opening on Broadway tonight. And if you’re among the many people who really, really want to see Denzel Washington as a jealous general, opposite Jake Gyllenhaal as a scheming Iago, it’s going to cost you: Most of the center orchestra seats, as well as a few rows in the mezzanine, are being sold for $921 apiece.

IATSE Urges Against Kennedy Center Cancellations, Citing Removal Of “Critical Opportunities” For Crew

www.yahoo.com/news: Amid a string of recent show cancellations at the Kennedy Center, the union that represents its crew is attempting to shine a light on the negative impact such moves can have on those behind-the-scenes workers.

Desert X Descends on Coachella Valley. Here Are 5 Awe-Inspiring Works

news.artnet.com: There is no museum that could contain art made on a truly monumental scale. It needs space to breathe. In turn, man-made architectural and artistic interventions have an almost paradoxical ability to articulate a landscape of already stunning natural beauty. It is these elements that make Desert X a much-anticipated staple of the art world calendar that always promises panoramas verging on the sublime. The 2025 edition is no different.

The Themed Entertainment Association creates an “INSPIRE”-ing week of events, culminating in the 31st Annual TEA Thea Awards

InPark Magazine: The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) recently hosted its annual INSPIRE Week and the 31st Annual Thea Awards Gala, celebrating excellence in the themed entertainment industry. A series of events, held from March 12 to March 15, 2025, in Universal City, California, brought together professionals from around the world to engage in educational sessions, networking opportunities, and to honor outstanding achievements in the field of themed entertainment.

Trump executive order to force changes at Smithsonian Institution, targeting funding for programs with ‘improper ideology

PBS News: President Donald Trump on Thursday revealed his intention to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order that targets funding for programs that advance “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology,” the latest step in a broadside against culture he deems too liberal.

Crowd Safety: Pink Bows Boosts Training for Event Profs Globally

www.eventmarketer.com: On Nov. 5, 2021, 23-year-old Madison Dubiski was one of 10 concertgoers who lost their lives in the Astroworld Festival tragedy. About 50,000 people gathered at NRG Park in Houston to watch rapper Travis Scott perform when chaos ensued from a crowd crush, resulting in 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries. When a pink bow was placed at the stadium following the event, among flowers and candles honoring the victims, it started a movement: #PinkBowsForMadison.

Trump and the Fate of the Government’s Massive Art Collection

Vanity Fair: Earlier this month, staffers at the General Services Administration, the federal agency that oversees, among other functions, the federal government’s vast real estate portfolio and a massive trove of fine art accumulated over the last two centuries, received an email from its new acting director, Stephen Ehikian, who Donald Trump appointed in January 2025.

Composer Kate Diaz Had Never Written a Musical Before Redwood on Broadway

Playbill: Songwriter, music producer, and multi-instrumentalist Kate Diaz is currently making her Broadway composing debut with the Idina Menzel-led musical Redwood at the Nederlander Theatre. Diaz, who composed the music, co-wrote the lyrics with director Tina Landau, who conceived the musical with star Menzel, who provided additional contributions.

State Theaters showcases recycled-material costumes at Ankara fair

www.hurriyetdailynews.com: Ankara’s State Theaters (DT) has transformed waste materials into artistic creations through its latest costume-making workshops. The designs are now on display at the “Costume Making from Waste Materials Workshop” exhibition as part of the 11th ArtAnkara International Contemporary Art Fair at the capital’s ATO Congresium.

Introducing AutoCAD 2026: Accelerate with Faster Performance, Autodesk AI, and Connected Design

AutoCAD Blog | Autodesk: Whether you’re working on intricate architectural plans or detailed mechanical designs, AutoCAD 2026 provides the tools you need to bring your boldest visions to life. Collaborate and benefit from significant performance enhancements and innovative capabilities that save you time with every DWG file. Discover new insights and automations powered by Autodesk AI.

Embracing Uncertainty: what we can all learn from how artists thrive in an unpredictable world

theconversation.com: In a recent interview, the 91-year-old Trinidadian artist John Lyons described painting as “an adventure in creative uncertainty. It is a way of existing in a world we still know very little about.” A similar perspective forms the central theme of entrepreneur Margaret Hefferman’s latest book, Embracing Uncertainty. This is a spiritual successor to her previous book, Uncharted, which portrayed uncertainty as an inevitable aspect of modern life that should be embraced rather than controlled.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

What is a Junk Journal? How to Get Creative With Everyday "Junk"

mymodernmet.com: There are some things, like that receipt for your bagel, many of us classify as “junk.” A scrap of paper or a clothing tag serves a purpose but ultimately finds itself in the garbage or the recycling bin. But there's another place for them: your junk journal. A junk journal is exactly what it sounds like: a book filled with “junk,” or small paper items that you’d otherwise discard. Think ticket stubs, food labels, random stickers—anything can be fodder for a junk journal.

How the LES MISÉRABLES Tour Moves From Venue-to-Venue

www.broadwayworld.com: Since Les Misérables' pre-Broadway run at the Kennedy Center in 1986, it has changed the world of musical theater. Now that it has returned to the Opera House, go behind the touring musical with Production Stage Manager Ryan W. Gardner, who explains how the musical continuously loads in and out of each venue on a tight schedule.

‘The Hunger Games’ New Stage Production Couldn’t Come At A Better Time

www.thedailybeast.com: May the odds be ever in your favor… when trying to get a ticket to the premiere of The Hunger Games: On Stage. On Oct. 20, the dystopian world of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy will leap from the page onto the stage, making its long-awaited theatrical debut at the Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre in London.

18th Century Pinks - 1700 to the 1730s

The Dreamstress: My posts on 18th century clothing in shades of purple, and the direction of stripes on 18th century sleeves, have been so popular that I thought you might enjoy a whole series on patterns and colours. You can learn so much by just looking at a bunch of images of clothes from any given era with one unifying detail. For my first theme I picked pink.

Family-friendly Events: Crayola Hosts an 'Unretired' Colors Reunion

www.eventmarketer.com: Across its storied 122-year history, Crayola has never revived a collection of retired crayon colors—until now. As part of its year-long Campaign for Creativity, which centers on the vital role that color plays in inspiring creativity, the brand “unretired” eight beloved hues, then marked the occasion with a nostalgic, family-friendly pop-up “reunion” in New York’s Union Square.

 

Theatre Sound Education: Collaboration and Community

StageLync: In recent decades, increasing numbers of early career theatre Sound practitioners start their journey in a formal education setting. Many of us older folk did not have the opportunity to benefit from a selection of school qualifications as diverse as to include Music Technology, Graphic Communication and Computer Science, all of which feed into supporting young people gain a broad skill set that helps feed into an Arts career. Despite the Conservative government’s asserted efforts to diminish the type of arts qualifications available, such as BTEC awards and National Progression Awards, recently there is anecdotal evidence that there has been an increase in apprenticeships and mentored roles.

Book Review of “Collected light -Volume 3 – Women in entertainment lighting”

Extras | Women in Lighting: This is the book I wish existed when I graduated from my lighting design degree in 2003. The book would have been a welcome and empowering read, as I moved into my working life in backstage lighting surrounded then, largely by a landscape of men. The truth is it has taken 22 years for the pages of this book to evolve and be populated. For the many celebrated women featured within its pages to develop and forge their creative careers within the entertainment lighting sector.

At the Oregon Arts Commission, “Sustaining Arts” means asking nonprofits what they need

Oregon ArtsWatch: For nonprofits, “operating support” is a deceptively mundane name for one of the most thrilling envelopes that will ever show up in the mail. Most grants are for project support, where you pitch a funder on the one slice of your overall work that best fits their interests; operating support is what fills the gaps in between.

Performing arts leaders issue copyright warning over UK government’s AI plans

Arts policy | The Guardian: More than 30 performing arts leaders in the UK, including the bosses of the National Theatre, Opera North and the Royal Albert Hall, have joined the chorus of creative industry concern about the government’s plans to let artificial intelligence companies use artists’ work without permission.

How the LES MISÉRABLES Tour Moves From Venue-to-Venue

www.broadwayworld.com: Since Les Misérables' pre-Broadway run at the Kennedy Center in 1986, it has changed the world of musical theater. Now that it has returned to the Opera House, go behind the touring musical with Production Stage Manager Ryan W. Gardner, who explains how the musical continuously loads in and out of each venue on a tight schedule.

Gorham Street Productions Stagehands Voluntarily Recognized, Join IATSE

IATSE: Approximately 100 workers employed by Gorham Street Productions are set to join The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 251 after company owner, Bill Norman, agreed to voluntarily recognize the crew’s union earlier this month. Gorham Street provides crewing for multiple venues throughout the Madison and Milwaukee metro areas including the Sylvee, Majestic Theater, High Noon Saloon, and Breese Stevens Field.

Q&A: Best Practices on Food Allergy Inclusivity at Events

www.eventmarketer.com: Following the high-profile death of Disney influencer Dominique Brown last December, who reportedly experienced a severe allergic reaction at a holiday event in L.A. hosted by fandom merch brand BoxLunch, food allergy safety—but most importantly, food allergy inclusivity—is in the spotlight.

What is a Junk Journal? How to Get Creative With Everyday "Junk"

mymodernmet.com: There are some things, like that receipt for your bagel, many of us classify as “junk.” A scrap of paper or a clothing tag serves a purpose but ultimately finds itself in the garbage or the recycling bin. But there's another place for them: your junk journal. A junk journal is exactly what it sounds like: a book filled with “junk,” or small paper items that you’d otherwise discard. Think ticket stubs, food labels, random stickers—anything can be fodder for a junk journal.

Joint Statement: IATSE and ‘The Last Story of David Allen’ Producers Announce Agreement Covering Crew

IATSE: International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and The Last Story of David Allen (LSDA) are pleased to announce the successful negotiation of a mutually beneficial agreement. Both parties have worked to forge a partnership that will enable LSDA to film with the excellence of a union crew in Memphis, TN, while providing the crew with benefits and protections that can only be found in a union agreement.

Creators Pull FELLOW TRAVELERS Opera From Kennedy Center Lineup Amid Trump Takeover

www.broadwayworld.com: The New York Times reports that the Kennedy Center's Washington National Opera and National Symphony Orchestra 2025/2626 seasons, the first since President Trump assumed leadership of the institution, will continue largely as planned, but one major work will not appear.

NAB Show Perspective: The three aspects critical to efficient workflows

NewscastStudio: The content supply chain (or content lifecycle by another name) is the beating heart of every broadcaster, network and media company, connecting each company’s unique (and expensive!) content with audiences that are dispersed in every geography and platform imaginable.

Watch Nike and Other Brands Take Over Tokyo’s 3D Billboard

mymodernmet.com: In 2021, a billboard in Japan made headlines around the world. This wasn't like any other digital advertisement, but a fascinating trompe l'oeil. Since then, this 3D digital billboard in the Shinjuku district has continued to play with perspective to create the illusion that characters pop out of the screen, as if it were an oversized balcony.

Family-friendly Events: Crayola Hosts an 'Unretired' Colors Reunion

www.eventmarketer.com: Across its storied 122-year history, Crayola has never revived a collection of retired crayon colors—until now. As part of its year-long Campaign for Creativity, which centers on the vital role that color plays in inspiring creativity, the brand “unretired” eight beloved hues, then marked the occasion with a nostalgic, family-friendly pop-up “reunion” in New York’s Union Square.

Inside the Fabulous Cult Fashion of A24's “Opus”

www.harpersbazaar.com: What are celebrities if not well-dressed cult leaders? Opus—the latest horror offering from A24—examines this question in all its gory, surreal details and uses fashion to imbue its characters with power and meaning. The story follows a young journalist named Ariel (played by Ayo Edebiri) as she is invited to the Utah compound of Moretti (John Malkovich), an aging and elusive pop legend on the eve of releasing his electrifying comeback album.

Amazon Loves AI, Except When Candidates Use It in Job Interviews

Business Insider: Amazon, one of the largest employers in the world, wants to curb this growing trend. Recent Amazon guidelines shared with internal recruiters at the company say that job applicants can be disqualified from the hiring process if they are found to have used an AI tool during job interviews.

California Film and TV Tax Credit Program Taps Record 51 Titles

www.hollywoodreporter.com: A record 51 films will receive tax credits to shoot in California amid a historic downturn in production in the state fueled by an increasingly tit-for-tat incentives race to host Hollywood.

Mydera Taliah Robinson Named Theatre Horizon Exec Director

AMERICAN THEATRE: Theatre Horizon’s board of directors has announced that Mydera Taliah Robinson has been appointed executive director. The prior artistic director, Nell Bang-Jensen, left Theatre Horizon in fall 2024 to serve as the CEO of the Philly Fringe Festival. In her new role, Robinson will develop initiatives that elevate local artists, expand access to arts education, and deepen community engagement through self-expression, storytelling, and performance.

18th Century Pinks - 1700 to the 1730s

The Dreamstress: My posts on 18th century clothing in shades of purple, and the direction of stripes on 18th century sleeves, have been so popular that I thought you might enjoy a whole series on patterns and colours. You can learn so much by just looking at a bunch of images of clothes from any given era with one unifying detail. For my first theme I picked pink.

10 Broadway Shows About Real-Life Women

Playbill: Happy Women’s History Month! Women’s stories are not just in books. Real-life women have inspired some of the most beloved shows in Broadway history, where they lead the narratives and clearly tell their own stories. Whether their lives are being told on Broadway now, like Gypsy Rose Lee, or in past seasons, like the suffragists—these real-life trailblazers and history-makers remind audiences that women’s voices deserve to be heard and celebrated.

Queer theatre in the 19th century was a place of codes, cross-dressing and blackmail

theconversation.com: In today’s theatre industry, you don’t have to look far to find queer representation. Although the theatre has long been seen as an accepting place for LGBTQ+ people, in the 19th century, examples of queer lives from the stage profession are difficult to find. I’m a theatre historian at the University of Warwick, and for queer history month in February, I worked on retrieving histories of LGBTQ+ men.

School of Theatre professor helps bring the magic to Disney Treasure cruise ship

Penn State University: When passengers aboard Disney’s Treasure cruise ship take time to enjoy the new theatrical production of the musical “Disney: The Tale of Moana” inspired by the hit film, they will be treated to a stunning stage set designed by Milagros Ponce de León, head of the bachelor of fine arts in theatre design and technology program in the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture.

The 20 Women Playwrights Who Have Won Pulitzer Prizes

New York Theater: In honor of Women’s History Month, here are the 20 women playwrights who have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, an annual award given for “a distinguished play by an American author…dealing with American life” that began in 1917, and will be awarded next on May 5, 2025.

Atlantic Theater Company Will Resume 2024–2025 Season

Playbill: Off-Broadway's Atlantic Theater Company is resuming its 2024-2025 season after settling a contract dispute with IATSE and ending a strike of its backstage workers earlier this month. The strike had closed the company's world premiere productions of Grief Camp and I'm Assuming You Know David Greenspan, both of which were in previews. Both will now return.

Tiny wrench multitool gets reborn in a bigger, better and torquier form

newatlas.com: Although there are now a number of multitools that sport tiny adjustable wrenches, the TiSpanner was the first to do so. It's now available in a larger and beefier third-generation incarnation, aptly named the TiSpanner 3.0.

Performing Stories of Chinese Women’s Body Image in When I Look at Myself

HowlRound Theatre Commons: I lay on the floor, following the instructions of Star Yuexing Sun, the director of the workshop. My breath catches as I search for the sensation in my toe. I used to be convinced that I could feel every part of my body, but right now I have a flicker of uncertainty and start to realize that I can only feel my toe when moving it. I question if I had never felt it before and never truly acknowledged that.

‘The Hunger Games’ New Stage Production Couldn’t Come At A Better Time

www.thedailybeast.com: May the odds be ever in your favor… when trying to get a ticket to the premiere of The Hunger Games: On Stage. On Oct. 20, the dystopian world of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy will leap from the page onto the stage, making its long-awaited theatrical debut at the Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre in London.

Worker Wins: A Long, Hard-Fought Victory

AFL-CIO: SAG-AFTRA Reaffirms Commitment to DEI and Accessibility: In the wake of studios rolling back equity pledges under the Trump administration, SAG-AFTRA’s national board passed a resolution this weekend acknowledging the vital role that diversity and accessibility plays in the entertainment industry and reaffirmed the union’s commitment to these principles.

Paper Art Installation by Carlos Amorales Is a ‘Black Cloud'

mymodernmet.com: Artist Carlos Amorales’ installation Black Cloud is his way of saying goodbye. The Mexico City-based artist has described the massive artwork as a farewell to his grandmother. He’s done so through 25,000 black paper moths and butterflies depicting 30 species that cover multiple walls and ceilings, reaching great heights.

At Theatre Calgary, Corrine Koslo returns to the role of Madame Arcati after 20 years away

Intermission Magazine: If Corrine Koslo’s 2025 take on Madame Arcati were to meet the Madame Arcati she played 20 years ago at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, what would she tell her? The thought of this impossible interaction causes a grin to spread across the veteran Canadian actor’s face. “I think I would have to say to her, ‘You know, you really don’t have to do so much jumping about. You can get away with perhaps less.’”

How COVID Changed TV Production Forever

variety.com: Five years ago this week, the television industry rose to the challenge of keeping news, daytime and late-night talk shows and other topical series on the air during the harsh early months of the COVID pandemic.

Entertainment Workers Find Work in Homeless Services; Keanu Reeves Helps

variety.com: The past few years have seen many entertainment workers questioning whether it’s sustainable to stay in the business in L.A. And despite pushes for more incentives and #StayinLA efforts, there’s no clear turnaround in sight.

TDF To Celebrate 50 Years of the Costume Collection At April Benefit

www.broadwayworld.com: TDF will celebrate 50 years of its exceptional Costume Collection with a glamorous party, Costumes & Cocktails, on Monday, April 7 at Tao Downtown (92 Ninth Avenue). The evening will also include the presentation of the 2025 TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards, celebrating the accomplishments of the theatrical design community.

“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre

The Pittsburgh Tatler: I need to start this post by getting something out of the way. Having read Edward Albee’s play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – likely more than once in the three decades I’ve been teaching drama – and having seen some (if not all) of the 1966 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (memory’s a bit hazy on that front), I did not feel my life was missing something for never having seen a staged production.

Repulsing the Monkey’ Comes Home to the South Side; Pittsburgh Fringe Finale Spotlights Josephine Baker

onStage Pittsburgh: The play with the memorable name, about the fate of a family-owned tavern on the Slopes, had its first staged reading at the University of Pittsburgh 10 years ago. Michael Eichler‘s Repulsing the Monkey has since been seen on both coasts, at site-specific bars in New York City, San Diego, and Portland Oregon, on its way to its Pittsburgh premiere.

Clooney's 'Good Night and Good Luck' Sets New Record for Broadway Play

www.hollywoodreporter.com: Good Night and Good Luck, starring George Clooney, broke the record for highest weekly gross for a play last week, with an eye-popping $3.3 million.