'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' review roundup

www.goldderby.com: Jellicle cats come out tonight, because you're definitely shining bright. The reviews are in for the Broadway version of the 2024 off-Broadway smash Cats: The Jelliclle Ball, and this new take on Andrew Lloyd Webber's vintage '80s musical is getting all the raves that the notorious Taylor Swift-enhanced feature film from a few years back definitely didn't.

PADDINGTON THE MUSICAL Eyes 2027 Broadway Transfer

www.broadwayworld.com: Paddington the Musical is eyeing a 2027 bow on Broadway, Deadline reports. The production's lead producer, Sonia Friedman, revealed following the show's seven wins at the Olivier Awards, that she is hoping to bring the show to New York next year.

InfoComm 2026 Women's Breakfast Puts Authentic Leadership at the Center of the AI Conversation

Lighting&Sound America Online - News: InfoComm 2026 will host its annual Women's Breakfast on June 18 featuring keynote speaker Mariana Atencio, an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and one of the most sought-after voices on authenticity and leadership today.

How digital twins and synchronized data affect motion control

Control Design: Advancements in inverter technology, such as field oriented control and PID feedback loops, allow induction motors to achieve the high precision and efficiency traditionally reserved for servo motors.

Expose, Encourage & Empower: Inspiring The Next Generation To A Career In Live Production

ProSoundWeb: There’s an expression: “If I can’t see it, I can’t be it.” If you have no idea that something exists, you can’t engage with it. That was certainly my experience when I went to my first gig at age 12 – up until then I loved music and was exploring different bands, but I had no idea of what went on behind the album cover, no idea of the army of people who make live shows happen.

‘Innocence’ at the Met Opera Transforms With Backstage Magic

The New York Times: At the Metropolitan Opera, the set of “Innocence” goes on a journey. In the beginning, a rotating midcentury building contains a two-story restaurant. As the set revolves, various spaces are revealed: downstairs and upstairs dining rooms, a kitchen, a closet, a reception area, a patio.

How to Embrace the Dramaturgy of Creative Caption Design

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Captions play an important role in the accessibility of theatrical productions for all audience members, particularly those who are d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHOH), neurodivergent, and/or living with sensory processing disorders. Secondary to their use as an accessibility tool, captions are an important visual element of a theatrical production and should be approached with the same thought, artistry, and attention as design elements like lighting and projections. This is where the concept of creative captions come in.

Disney Starlight finally delivers the moment fans have been waiting for

Attractions Magazine: When the ‘Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away’ debuted at Magic Kingdom in July 2025, it quickly became a fan favorite for its glowing visuals and special character moments. But for many fans, one detail stood out. Peter Pan and Wendy weren’t flying.

Bad Bunny and Latinx Theatre Commons Start Storytelling From the Beginning

AMERICAN THEATRE: “In any performance we create, we’re calling into existence things that existed already.” Raquel Torre invokes numerous references as we speak about the theatricality of February’s “Benito Bowl,” when Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (Bad Bunny) dramaturged Boricua resilience and the history of Latine migrant music through his 13-minute Super Bowl halftime performance at Santa Clara, California’s Levi’s Stadium. For those 13 minutes, Latin American folks and allies around the world gathered in parties, on street corners, and in green rooms to experience the moving moment.

Passing the Baton | HowlRound Theatre Commons

howlround.com: 2025 marked my tenth and final year curating the Theatre in the Age of Climate Change series for HowlRound. Like many things in my life, it began as a one-off project, with eight essays published in April 2015. Then, it quickly grew into a recurring series, published twice a year for the first several years, and once a year in the last few, with a break during the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Vintage Theatre Company’s Non-Traditional Thespian Troupe Receives Honors at West Virginia Thespian Festival

Connect Bridgeport News: The Vintage Theatre Company is proud to announce a historic showing by its Non-Traditional Thespian Troupe at the annual West Virginia Thespian Festival.

Understanding Grain Direction in Sheet Metal

www.protocase.com: Engineers and designers often choose a powder coat finish for their custom enclosures and parts because it provides a bright, vibrant and professional look. But what if you don’t need to have your enclosures or parts painted but still need them to be aesthetically pleasing?

Len Auerbach, FASTC Honored with USITT Distinguished Achievement Award in Architecture

ASTC: Founding member and Fellow of ASTC, S. Leonard Auerbach was honored with the 2026 Distinguished Achievement Award in Architecture by the United States Institute of Technology’s (USITT) Architecture Commission.

The Beauty of Exploring Pittsburgh Theatre, Opera, Ballet, and Symphony

Table Magazine: Being present for a live performance is a form of rebellion against the domination of pixels and algorithms. It frees you to turn to the humanity of actors, musicians, dancers, comedians, singers, and other talented performers.

Pittsburgh Playwright Theatre Premiere Unites Local Artists in 'Paradox of Education'

onstagepittsburgh.com: Few works on Pittsburgh stages have deeper roots within the city limits than Ty Greenwood’s Paradox of Education, directed by Maurice Redwood, and having its premiere this month at Pittsburgh Playwright Theatre Company.

Coachella horror as massive light fixture rains down on fans mid-concert: ‘Blood all over’

nypost.com: A night of high-energy beats at Coachella took a frightening turn when a heavy lighting fixture plunged down on the audience — striking at least one concert-goer in the head and leaving her bloodied. leaving at least one attendee bloodied.

Broadway Falls for 'Maybe Happy Ending'... $120 Million at the Box Office

MK: "I was even more moved the second time I saw it. My wife and I couldn’t stop crying throughout the show." This is a review left by an audience member who saw "Maybe Happy Ending" on the Broadway-focused online community BroadwayWorld.

The director as trail guide: Finding our way ‘Into the Woods’

The Durango Herald: Throughout my career as a theater director, I’ve often had people ask me, “What exactly is it that you do?” Some people assume that everything you see onstage – the scenic design, acting choices, props – “comes with” the script. Others suggest that I watch a movie version repeatedly and teach the actors to copy it. Actually, the job is both a lot more fun and a lot more work than that.

Walt Disney World just gave this iconic ride a makeover—and the new look is rainbow-themed

Fast Company: In the 55 years since Walt Disney World first opened its gates, the theme park has undergone plenty of changes—and in many ways, it’s stayed the same. Some attractions from the park’s opening day in 1971 and the decade that followed have cemented themselves as indisputable classics, such as the Jungle Cruise and the Haunted Mansion (both iconic enough to have warranted their own film adaptations).

A Three-Story Set, a 65-Foot Fly Rig: The Lost Boys Promises a True Broadway Spectacle

Playbill: After each winning a Tony Award for their work on the currently running Maybe Happy Ending, the pair’s latest project, The Lost Boys, has descended upon Broadway at the Palace Theatre to mysterious fanfare. Based on Joel Schumacher's 1987 cult classic of the same name, the musical is honing in on the emotional vulnerability that underpins the disarmingly stylized vampire film.

Can Victory Gardens Bloom Again?

AMERICAN THEATRE: Chicago’s Biograph Theater, home of Victory Gardens Theater for the past two decades, has largely lain dormant since September 2022, when the remaining members of the company’s bare-bones staff were fired after years of high-profile disputes among the board of directors, the administration, and the ensemble. But things may be turning around at last.

Wireless Festival Cancelled After Ye Banned From Entering UK

www.ticketnews.com: Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — was set to headline London’s Wireless Festival this July, but the festival has now been called-off after the rapper was officially blocked from entering the UK. The government refused permission for Ye to enter the UK following backlash for his planned performances at the three-day festival, including multiple sponsors backing-out of the event due to his previous antisemitic comments.

Five Actors On the Perks (and Perils) of Making It in D.C.

Washington City Paper: As an acting student at Greensboro College in North Carolina, Justin Weaks was assigned to research a major American theater market and report on everything from the type of work its companies put on to the cost of renting an apartment. As fate would have it, Weaks’ professor assigned them Washington, D.C.

Preventive maintenance for dust collection, fume extraction

www.thefabricator.com: ecause they operate in the background, they often receive less attention than machines directly tied to production. But when airflow drops, filters load, belts slip, or a fan starts running out of alignment, the effects show up quickly on the floor. Capture weakens at the source. Dust appears where it should not. Smoke or haze lingers longer than usual. A system that was easy to ignore suddenly becomes a maintenance problem.

WBEZ’s Theater Club launches to see plays at Steppenwolf and more

Chicago Sun-Times: Let’s go to the theater — together! Just in time for spring culture season, WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times is launching a Theater Club on April 18 with a trip to see “White Rooster” at Lookingglass Theater. We’ll see the play, chat as a club with some members of the artistic team and socialize with each other over the arts.

Review: Powerful Drama 'Paradox of Education' Teaches Hard Lessons of Racism on Campus

onstagepittsburgh.com: Being made to feel “other” is no way to go through life, no less, to make it through four years of college. In Ty Greenwood’s powerful new drama, Paradox of Education, a group of Black students discover that scholarships to a PWI — predominantly white institutions — come with student debt, living up to academic expectations and piles of obligations, along with shouldering racially-charged, passive-aggressive encounters and outright hostility.

Why 'Becky Shaw' Sparks Laughs and Arguments

TDF: When talking about what audiences will think of Second Stage’s revival of her 2008 dark comedy Becky Shaw, Gina Gionfriddo sounds as apprehensive as someone prepping for a blind date. That’s appropriate since the Pulitzer finalist play is about a setup that goes hilariously, painfully wrong. “I certainly have some anxiety about how the play will be received all these years later in this particular cultural moment,” admits Gionfriddo. “All of my playwriting influences were writers like Nicky Silver and Christopher Durang who mined comedy from cruelty, which I don’t see very much in new plays. I do wonder whether people will feel comfortable laughing.”

Universal looks to blend reality and fantasy in new show system

www.themeparkinsider.com: Night time provides a great environment for stories. It's spooky and mysterious. The dark sky and low light of night time offers a handy environment for theme park designers when they want to create an indoor ride or attraction. It's just easier to make an environment look natural when you set it in night time instead of the bright, harsh, revealing light of day time.

Inside Chicago's innovative Steppenwolf Theatre Company as it marks 50 years

PBS News: Steppenwolf Theatre Company has long been one of the nation’s most influential ensemble companies. It's known for the actors it has launched and the groundbreaking work it has produced. It’s marking its 50th season at a moment of real uncertainty for theaters.

5 Cheaper Impact Drivers That Outperform Milwaukee

www.slashgear.com: There are two types of tool owners in the world: those who know how invaluable an impact driver can be, and those who think a cordless drill/driver is all they need. Of course, the specific driver you're using is also critical. Not only do many major and no-name brands offer an impact driver, but several have multiple models themselves, adding to the wide range of choices out there.

Al Gore to Keynote 2026 Hollywood Reporter Sustainability Event

www.hollywoodreporter.com: Three of the year’s most buzzed-about small-screen stories will receive big kudos at The Hollywood Reporter’s inaugural Sustainability in Entertainment Honors event taking place on April 23 in partnership with the Sustainable Entertainment Alliance.

Coachella stage closes after stage light falls on attendee

www.sfgate.com: Every year, electronic music heads at Coachella flock to Do LaB, a festival within a festival known for its curated lineup and surprise big-name acts; past guests have included Skrillex and Billie Eilish. DJ and producer John Summit was one of this year’s surprise sets, touching down a little after 8 p.m. Friday night. About halfway through this performance, onlookers report that a heavy light fixture fell from the stage, injuring at least one person in the audience.

No need for hard stares as Paddington: The Musical triumphs at Olivier awardsx

Olivier awards | The Guardian: It was a night of sweet victory for Michael Bond’s marmalade-loving bear as Paddington: The Musical dominated the Olivier awards on Sunday. Amid the tuxes and gowns of a glittering ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the duffle coat-wearing bear got his sticky paws all over seven prizes including best new musical.

Hendrick’s brings an immersive gin experience to NYC this April

www.timeout.com: If your ideal night out includes both a perfectly balanced cocktail and a slightly surreal fever dream, Hendrick’s has you covered. The famously eccentric booze brand is bringing a full-blown immersive theater experience to the West Village this month—and naturally, there will be gin. A lot of gin.

MET’s non-traditional take on 'The Crucible' has merit, but falters

DC Theater Arts: Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s production of The Crucible is one of those shows that is very … interesting. Director Julie Herber’s reimagining of the play, featuring near-constant ensemble movement, rapid-fire line readings, actors delivering lines straight out to the audience, and starkly dramatic lighting and sound, could not be further removed from the naturalism typically associated with Arthur Miller’s work.

Olivier Awards 2026: ‘Paddington’ Wins Big; Rachel Zegler and ‘Evita’ Also Triumph

The New York Times: “Paddington,” a new musical about the marmalade-loving bear that has been London’s hottest theater ticket since it opened last fall, was the big winner at this year’s Olivier Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Tonys.

‘Death star’ chandeliers and disco dancefloors: making this year’s most dazzling theatre shows

Olivier awards | The Guardian: What does it take to create a giant chandelier on stage, decked out with more than 100 perfectly balanced, flickering candles? What about a disco floor that dazzles the audience in a play’s final moments but is hidden from view until then? On the eve of the 50th Olivier awards, we meet the artists, apprentices, engineers and designers behind some of London’s most memorable theatrical moments this year.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

Water for Elephants: A Feast for the Senses

onstagepittsburgh.com: Water for Elephants is a no-doubt true showstopper, and I find it hard to select a single aspect to praise because there are so many stunners throughout the performance. First premiered in the Alliance Theatre (Atlanta) in 2023, then as a Broadway musical in 2024, it has been on its national tour since 2025 and is now performing in Pittsburgh as part of the Cultural Trust’s PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series.

The 16 Best Musical Theater Colleges in the U.S.

Backstage: For aspiring musical theater actors, college is often the first step. If you’re hoping to be cast in a Broadway show someday, it’s important that you pick an undergraduate program tailored to your career goals. Here’s our list of some of the best musical theater programs in the U.S.

The Fabulous Engineering and Design of Duct Tape

kottke.org: Controlling the stickiness of tape is of utmost importance. In fact, a key element of engineering tape is controlling its stickiness — and only by doing that can tape be wound into a useful roll. If the tape sticks too tightly to itself, we could not use it.

You Can’t Have It All: The Impossible Demands of the Modern Museum

Architect Magazine: Is a museum a place for a community to come together around art that both grounds and opens perceptions about the world around them? Is it a monument to our collective cultural achievements and aspirations? A storehouse for those treasures that amaze us?

AI Infiltration Into The Arts Has Fans Seeing Slop Everywhere

www.forbes.com: The rise of AI-generated imagery and videos has turned the commercial art and production industries upside down, but one of its most insidious effects has been to cast doubt on the provenance of any work, whether or not it was created by humans. Now one creator is offering a modest idea for humans to affirm their place in the creative process.

 

First Impressions: TrueFrame Joist

Journal of Light Construction: Sean Collinsgru of Premier Outdoor Living first encountered ProWood’s TrueFrame Joist pressure-treated framing lumber at the 2025 Deck Expo in Las Vegas. He was intrigued, so the southern New Jersey deck designer and builder decided to try it on a 600-square-foot deck that December.

▶️ Meyer Sound Celebrates 40-Year Partnership As Montreux Jazz Festival Turns 60

Live Design Online: When Claude Nobs met John and Helen Meyer in Switzerland in the 1970s, he was already a decade into building what would become one of the world’s great music festivals. John was directing the acoustics laboratory at the Institute for Advanced Musical Studies; Nobs had built Montreux Jazz around the conviction that sound was as central to the experience as the music itself.

Step Up This Season: Behind the Scenes Spring & Summer Mental Health Trainings

Live Design Online: This spring and beyond, the Behind the Scenes Mental Health Initiative is offering a fresh schedule of virtual trainings, giving industry professionals renewed opportunities to build skills that support safer, healthier workplaces. These virtual sessions equip participants to recognize and respond when colleagues are facing mental health or substance use challenges or experiencing bullying and harassment.

The Hand & The Eye: Opening Date, tickets and a look inside the $50M magic mansion

www.timeout.com: The Hand & The Eye, a 36,000-square-foot sanctuary for the all things magic, officially opens its doors on Saturday, April 18. Anchored inside the legendary McCormick Mansion at Ontario and Rush (100 E Ontario St), the venue sits just steps from the Magnificent Mile, transforming a Gilded Age icon into what is being hailed as the world’s most ambitious home for modern magic.

Custom Exhibit Fabrication Process: Sketch To Show Floor

exhibitstudios.com: Behind every successful exhibit is more than a great design. The custom exhibit fabrication process is where precise craftsmanship, structural engineering, and strategic production planning transform concepts into show-ready environments.

The Fabulous Engineering and Design of Duct Tape

kottke.org: Controlling the stickiness of tape is of utmost importance. In fact, a key element of engineering tape is controlling its stickiness — and only by doing that can tape be wound into a useful roll. If the tape sticks too tightly to itself, we could not use it.

AI Infiltration Into The Arts Has Fans Seeing Slop Everywhere

www.forbes.com: The rise of AI-generated imagery and videos has turned the commercial art and production industries upside down, but one of its most insidious effects has been to cast doubt on the provenance of any work, whether or not it was created by humans. Now one creator is offering a modest idea for humans to affirm their place in the creative process.

Live Nation Antitrust Case Narrows as Plaintiffs Drop Standalone Exclusive-Dealing Claim

TicketNews: The federal antitrust case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster narrowed again Tuesday, as the plaintiffs agreed to dismiss one of the claims that had survived Judge Arun Subramanian’s pretrial winnowing of the case, trimming the issues further as the trial moves toward its endgame.

Synchronicity Theatre to Seek New Home

AMERICAN THEATRE: Synchronicity Theatre has announced it will transition away from its current venue at Peachtree Pointe, a mixed-use office space in Midtown Atlanta. Synchronicity’s landlord has chosen not to renew the lease, prompting the organization to embark on a search for a new permanent home that reflects its artistic vision and its deep roots in the Atlanta community.

80th Annual Theatre World Awards Set For June

www.broadwayworld.com: The 80th Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony will take place on Tuesday afternoon, June 2, 2026 beginning at 2:00PM. The 2026 Honorees for the Theatre World Award for an Outstanding Debut Performance in a Broadway or Off-Broadway Production, the landmark 17th Annual Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater, the 13th Annual John Willis Award, and theatre venue, will be announced soon.

We're Off to See 'The Wizard of Oz' Costumes at Little Lake

onstagepittsburgh.com: At age 23, costume designer, wardrobe supervisor and entrepreneur Dylan A. Blussick’s resume reads like an accomplished retiree’s. The well-traveled Washington County native boasts extensive National Tour experience that will soon include the Tony Award-winning The Outsiders. But just now, he is proving the Ozian adage that there’s no place like home.

A sofa that deserves gawping at: The de Sede Terrazza sofa in film

Film and Furniture: Designed by Ubald Klug for De Sede in 1972, the DS-1025 Terrazza is less a sofa and more a landscape. Its stepped, modular form invites you to sit, recline, sprawl, or simply occupy it like a piece of terrain.

What is a stepper motor, and how is it used in industrial applications?

Control Design: Control systems use stepper motors in various applications, and controls engineers might have to replace a stepper motor in the field. Understanding how a stepper motor works and how it causes motion can be advantageous if the controls engineer needs to specify a motor for replacement or specify one for an application.

Chicago Theaters Cut Ties With Jeff Awards After Director Accused Of Abuse Honored

blockclubchicago.org: More than a dozen Chicago theaters are cutting ties with a prestigious group that has recognized local productions with recommendations and awards since the 1960s, after it honored an artistic director accused of emotionally abusing and harassing an actor during rehearsals years ago.

70 years ago, Anna Sokolow predicted our epidemic of loneliness

forward.com: When the dance begins, they are all onstage together. But they are each very much alone. In the opening vignette of Anna Sokolow’s “Rooms,” there are eight chairs scattered across the stage and eight performers who inhabit them — like city apartments squished so close together yet keeping their occupants apart.

Nikolas Weinstein Studios’ Glass Sculpture Enters Guinness Book of World Records with Autodesk Fusion

Fusion Blog: The jaw-dropping Mangrove glass sculpture is one for the books—quite literally. It was recently named the world’s largest glass tube installation by the definitive recordkeepers at the Guinness Book of World Records.

The 16 Best Musical Theater Colleges in the U.S.

Backstage: For aspiring musical theater actors, college is often the first step. If you’re hoping to be cast in a Broadway show someday, it’s important that you pick an undergraduate program tailored to your career goals. Here’s our list of some of the best musical theater programs in the U.S.

Jonathan Majors suffers fall on-set situation prompt crew to walk out

www.indulgexpress.com: American Jonathan Majors was shooting for an action movie when he suffered an accident onset. The actor, along with his co-star, JC Kilcoyne fell through a window on set while filming a stunt.

5 Things Home Builders Should Know About AI Agents

Builder Magazine: Home builders have spent the last year getting comfortable with artificial intelligence (AI) search and chat tools—systems that answer questions, summarize documents, or help draft emails. AI agents are the next step: software that can read, decide, and act across defined workflows. Over time, this can reshape builder operations, from options management to purchasing controls and back-office approvals.

From Cultural Diplomacy to Creative Cities: A History of International Theatre Festival

Arts Management and Technology Lab: Festivals have existed for more than 4,000 years and have been closely associated with theatrical events for over 3,500 years. In the post-World War II period, international theatre festivals emerged as a distinct category within an ever-expanding festival landscape, bringing together performances from multiple cultural contexts in a limited timeframe. As their names suggest, these international theatre festivals foreground cross-cultural collisions, connections, and collaborations more explicitly than other types of festivals and theatres do (Fleury, 2026).