Sienna's slam on Pittsburgh provokes strong response

Post Gazette: "The public weighs in on actress' remarks"

Stage Reviews: New Works fest ends run on high note

Post Gazette: "The monthlong festival culminates with two raucous comedies and a racy drama about married lovers. Although all three have flaws, they showcase the confident voices of their playwrights. These plays may start with familiar material -- a vain actor, infidelity in marriage, the conventions of TV sitcoms -- but they demonstrate that good drama often lies in a fresh twist on old themes."

Public Theater Finds 65 Theatre Companies for 365 Plays

Playbill News: "The Public Theater, which has committed to producing Suzan-Lori Parks' ambitious project 365 Days/365 Plays, has recruited the helping hands of 65 theatre companies to help."

Equity Dons Brave Face

Backstage: "The death last month of Patrick Quinn, the former president of Actors' Equity Association who would have become its executive director this week, comes at a critical time for the union and for entertainment labor as a whole. Nonunion tours are an issue again; and, more broadly, with the burgeoning array of entertainment options available, artists could face flat or falling wages as audiences for certain media shrink and splinter off."

‘Peer Gynt’

New York Times: "Beautiful images of Norwegian fields and fjords scrolled across a video screen. Lovely music squeezed out of inferior speakers at the sides of the stage. Actors in costume performed snippets of texts. Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt” has a complicated and diverse geography, but the abridgement of it that came to the Delacorte Theater in Central Park on Thursday was like a package tour, down to the pretty landscape photos in the accompanying guidebook, sorry, program."

New job: Child Wrangler

Child Wrangler
------------
San Jose Repertory Theatre is looking for a Child Wrangler for the rehearsals and run of A Christmas Story. The starting date is October 30th (first day of rehearsal) and ends on closing day, December 30th. We will not be pulling the kids from school, so for the first few weeks of rehearsal they will be called 4-7pm on weekdays and 11am-5pm on weekends. Once we have opened, the child wrangler and the children will only have show calls. The Child Wrangler needs to have backstage experience, know how to communicate properly with stage management, know how to take blocking and to be comfortable backstage and dealing with props and costumes. There are 7 kids in the show ranging from 10 to 14 years old. If interested call Laxmi Kumaran, Production Stage Manager at 408-367-7283

Dates: Oct 30, 2006-Dec 30, 2006
Pay: $400/week

Production Planning - Clarifications

CLARIFICATION NUMBER ONE

You may have noticed a discrepancy between the schedule on the syllabus and the due date listed on your last assignment sheet. The syllabus says the calendar/QTO assignment is due 10/9. Since we fell behind the assignment sheet shows the due date as 10/16.

The due date for Assignment #6 – Calendar/Quantity Take Off is Monday 10/16.

CLARIFICATION NUMBER TWO

The News From the Real World web page is required reading for this class. Earlier I quickly explained that the enforcement mechanism for this requirement will be test questions on the Mid-Term and on the Final. Each of those exams will have 10 questions regarding News Page content and you will have to answer at least 5. You may answer additional questions for extra credit on the exam.

You can also buy your way out of the questions with comments posted to the page. Each set of three substantive comments will be a pass on one News Page question on the next exam. So, 15 comments would mean you don’t have to answer any of the questions for that exam. For me to track your comments, you must put your name, initials, or userid in your post – or you can make my life easy and create a blogger account to post from. You cannot buy out of more than 5 questions per exam. The freebie count resets at mid semester. You can still answer questions for credit on the exam even if you have commented your way out of them. In that event, incorrect answers will be replaced with freebie credit. Should your combined freebie and correct answer total be more than the value of 5 questions, the additional value will be awarded as extra credit on the exam.

University Lectures

Monday, October 9^th

4:30pm Gregg Hall, 100 Porter Hall

Current Immigration Issues in the United States

HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH LECTURE

Sergio Arau and Yareli Arizmendi

Co-creators and Stars of the Film, “A Day without a Mexican”

Immigration from Mexico into the United States, one of the hottest topics in the country, will be the subject of this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month keynote lecture by the husband and wife team of Sergio Arau and Yareli Arizmendi. Arau and Arizmendi will address immigration issues and also discuss their critically acclaimed film, “A Day without a Mexican,” which they’ll screen at 4:00pm on Sunday, October 8^th in the Cooper Auditorium in the Tepper School. Arau, an MTV award-winning director, visual artist, musician and political cartoonist, and Arizmendi, an actress and writer, say their film “highlights the growing cultural presence and power of Latinos in the U.S. …and dissects what it means to be Latino in post 9/11 America.”

Arau received his master’s degree in film studies at the National School of Film in his native Mexico City. In 2001, he won the Coral de Plata Award at the Havana Film Festival for his animated short “El Muro/The Wall.” In 1983, Arau formed the musical group, Botellita de Jerez, which combines humor and Mexican traditional music with the contemporary sounds of rock ‘n’ roll. In 1998, he and his group won the MTV award for the song “Café Tacuba’s Alarmal.”

Arizmendi is a renowned actress and writer committed to social change. She has worked with Luis Valdez and Teatro Campesino and developed the “Watcha! Stage Café”, a social satire cabaret at the Centro Cultural de La Raza in San Diego. She earned her master’s degree in 1992 and became a professor at Cal State San Marcos after completing her thesis, “Whatever Happened to the Sleepy Mexican: Four Ways to be a Contemporary Mexican Artist.” She was a founding member of the theater arts component of the school’s interdisciplinary arts program.

Title: Crossing a Minefield: Current Problems with Internet Technology and Policy

Presenter: David Farber, Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon.

Date: Thursday, October 12, 2006

Time: noon-1 p.m.

Place: Connan Room, University Center, Carnegie Mellon

ABSTRACT

There has been a raging argument in the U.S. over how Internet access should be priced and controlled. The players have often used emotional words to describe the issues. Rarely does debate focus on understanding the implications of proposed directions on future technologies and services that might be offered.

Recently the issues were debated in a event sponsored by the Center for American Progress, "The Great Debate: What Is Net Neutrality?" Speakers were Vinton G. Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google; and Dave Farber, Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University.

This talk, based on the results of the debate, will address the following issues:

* Impact that networking has had on the world from both a technical and societal view

* Current chaos on the Internet e.g. spam and other nasty pests and what can be done

* Trade-offs across interconnections, privacy, government security and individual freedom

* Current wars over Net Neutrality

More

About the Digital Library Colloquium series:

http://www.sis.pitt.edu/updates/colloquia/DL.html

Thursday, October 12^th

4:30pm Adamson Wing, 136A Baker Hall

What’s Right with Electronic Voting?

Michael I. Shamos, Ph.D., J.D.

Distinguished Career Professor, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon & Electronic Voting Examiner, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

After the Florida election disaster in 2000, Congress voted over $3 billion to upgrade voting systems across the country. All states were required to implement electronic systems by 2006. Therefore, in the upcoming election vast numbers of people will be voting with new equipment. For example, in November 53 out of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties will vote on touchscreens. In many cases it will be the first time for voters to encounter such technology in a general election.

Electronic voting has been denounced by activist groups as a threat to democracy and by computer scientists as a security risk incapable of remedy even with voter-verified paper trails. However, when real elections have been held using electronic equipment over the past 20 years, no intrusions have been detected and voters are overwhelmingly satisfied that their votes have been recorded and counted faithfully. Where is the truth? Are the activists and computer scientists wrong, or has the public simply been fooled into accepting fatally deficient voting machines?

This talk will start with a quick review of the history of voting in the United States and why voting machines were introduced in the first place. We will look at how winners of elections are officially determined and then focus on the benefits and deficiencies of electronic voting, touching on user interface issues, foreign language ballots, assistive technology for voters with disabilities, paper trails, privacy and voting system security.

The speaker has been statutory examiner of computerized voting systems for Pennsylvania from 1980-2000 and 2004 to the present. He has done election work for the governments of Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia and conducted more than 115 voting system examinations. He testified before three Congressional committees on electronic voting in 2004 and has been an expert witness in four electronic voting cases, including Taylor v. Onorato, in which a federal judge in Pittsburgh earlier this year found that the ES&S iVotronic system used in Allegheny County conforms to both state and federal law.

Thursday, October 19^th

4:30pm Adamson Wing, 136A Baker Hall

The War in Lebanon: Win, Lose, or Draw – A Reporter’s Perspective

Elli Wohlgelernter

Television reporter for the Israel Broadcasting Authority

Co-sponsored by the Edward and Rose Berman Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh

Veteran journalist Elli Wohlgelernter, television reporter for IBA (Israel Broadcasting Authority) English News in Jerusalem, will be conducting a lecture tour in the United States from October 11^th through October 30^th. His topic is: “The War in Lebanon: Win, Lose, or Draw,” a reporter's inside look at the war he covered, and where the political process goes from here. An extended question-and-answer session will follow the lecture.

In addition to his work with the IBA, Elli Wohlgelernter is Sports Editor of the forthcoming second edition of the Encyclopedia Judaica. He has previously worked as an editor at Haaretz and was Diaspora Affairs Editor and Jerusalem reporter for The Jerusalem Post. Prior to moving to Israel in 1991, Wohlgelernter was Managing Editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a reporter for the New York Post, and wrote and reported the news for the Fox and ABC-TV stations in New York and Seattle as well as radio stations in New York and Connecticut. Mr. Wohlgelernter, 52, has two daughters and lives in Jerusalem.

Monday, October 30^th

4:30pm Adamson Wing, 136A Baker Hall

The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors

Ann Gibbons

Correspondent, Science Magazine

“The First Human…this dynamic chronicle of the race to find the “missing links” between humans and apes transports readers into the highly-competitive world of fossil hunting and into the lives of the ambitous scientists intent on pinpinting the dawn of humankind. The quest to find where and when the earliest human ancestors first appeared is one of the most exciting and challenging of all scientific pursuits. The First Human is the story of four international teams obsessed with solving the mystery of human evolution and of the intense rivalries that propel them.”

Ann Gibbons has been a correspondent for more than a decade for Science magazine, where she has specialized in writing about evolution. With a name like Gibbons, it was perhaps inevitable that she would write about primate evolution, including the evolution of humans. Her research has included many hours observing highly evolved scientists in their familiar habitats, whether upright in the lab sequencing DNA or prone on the ground excavating fossils from ancient graves.

She has taught science writing in the English Department at Carnegie Mellon and has written articles for the New York Times, Discover, Insight travel guies, and other publications.

Action films laced with smarts

baltimoresun.com: "Davis started his film career as a cinematographer; in the mid-'70s, he was a key figure in attempts to open up the industry and its unions to young talent, eventually lending his name to a class action lawsuit (Davis et al. vs. IATSE et al.) that did just that."

Are TV shows worth their price tags?

Marketplace: "The cost of producing one season of a TV show is now on par with the price of making a movie. Given the slim chances of a show succeeding, is it money well spent?"

Backstage Drama Before Carnegie Opener

Backstage: "The call came a few hours before Carnegie Hall's season-opening gala concert -- Thomas Quasthoff, one of the stars of the night, had an inflamed vocal cord and couldn't sing."

Actress Sienna Miller slights Pittsburgh

Yahoo! News: "Sienna Miller doesn't think much of Pittsburgh. In town shooting the screen adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel 'The Mysteries of Pittsburgh,' the 24-year-old British actress called the city a name that sounds like Pittsburgh, but contains an expletive. Her comments appear in the latest edition of Rolling Stone, which hit newsstands Friday."

10 reasons people make stupid decisions

lifehack.org: "The blog Bad Analysis shares their count down on why would people insist to make bad decision even they are clearly wrong. It is good read to understand them and avoid them "

NEED PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Craigslist: "We are shooting a short film in the Pittsburgh area and need 1-2 enthusiastic production assistants to help our production run smoothly. "

N.Korea gulag play draws standing ovation

Reuters.com: "A wrenching musical play about North Korea's prison camps drew a standing ovation from a high-powered Washington audience -- a reaction activists said hoped would focus attention on human rights even as the world grapples with Pyongyang's threat of a nuclear test."

Moral Philosophy: The Musical passes an unexpected milestone

Guardian Unlimited Arts: "When it opened some critics hated it. An all-singing version of Victor Hugo's sprawling, multi-plotted novel set in post-Napoleonic France which combines themes of social commentary, moral philosophy and the nature of love. How daft was that?"

Theatres to offer terror insurance

Guardian Unlimited Arts: "One-off policies against 'unfortunate occurrences' will be available for between five and 200 roubles (£1-£4) when booking seats. It is a delayed response to the Moscow hostage crisis in 2002, when 129 audience members were killed after Chechen militants seized a theatre."

The MacArthur Geniuses

Slate Magazine: "Since 1981, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has awarded 588 'fellowships' worth nearly $200 million to Americans 'who show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work.'"

Race for Rare, Old Wood

eBuild: "The self-described good ol' boy from Kentucky will wade through boggy hollows in the quest for the perfect abandoned old bZuilding, buddy up to demolition teams to recover weathered wood that others plan to junk, and sweet-talk sawmill owners to cut the lumber just the right way -- all while scrambling to stay one step ahead of rivals racing for that rare aged chestnut, that richly grained oak, that sun-mellowed longleaf pine."

Race Rebel

Independent Online Edition: "Tony Kushner is one of the most radical playwrights America has produced. His new work, a musical about civil rights, will cement his reputation for controversy, he tells Paul Taylor"

Dylan, Picasso Top New York's Cultural Season

VOA News: "Every October New York renews its cultural life after the sleepy days of summer. This season an exceptionally varied mix of classical and contemporary works will be on stage, in concert halls and on museum walls. Two twentieth century legends, songwriter Bob Dylan and artist Pablo Picasso, seem omnipresent as the season kicks off."

Honorary Degree Nominations

8 1/2x11 News: "By clicking on the 'submit' button below, this form will be forwarded to University Professor Emeritus Guy Berry, head of the Honorary Degree Selection Committee, at gcberry@andrew.cmu.edu. Nominations are due no later than Oct. 31 of each year."

Did Critics Toast Conor McPherson's The Seafarer at the National?

Theatre.com: "Conor McPherson’s latest play The Seafarer that centers on a group of Dublin drunks playing a game of cards on Christmas Eve, has opened at the National’s Cottesloe Theatre. The cast that includes Ron Cook, Conleth Hill, Karl Johnson and Jim Norton under the author’s own direction. Did critics raise a toast to the play?"

Did Critics Praise the Latest Revival of Martin Sherman's Bent?

Theatre.com: "Martin Sherman’s 1979 play Bent, set in 1930s Berlin and Dachau concentration camp and revolving around two prisoners, Max and Horst, who fall in love there, has returned to the West End. The new production, directed by Daniel Kramer at the Trafalgar Studios, features Alan Cumming as Max and newcomer Chris New as Horst. Did critics welcome it back to London? "

Fit to be tidy

Time Out New York: "Many playwrights aspire to geniusdom, but few have it thrust upon them at the ripe age of 32. Sarah Ruhl, however, can now tack the brainiac credit to her résumé without being accused of egotism. Last month, the author of The Clean House received a $500,000 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, informally called the “genius” grant."

CHORUS OF WORRY

New York Post Online Edition: "The fall theater season has kicked into high gear, but so far there isn't a single musical throwing off real sparks."

Meet the President

CFA Announcements

Homecoming _____________________________________________________

Center for the Arts in Society

The recent installation of new public art on the campus has been a catalyst for some spirited debates. Join Prof. Doug Cooper (ARCH ¹70) and members of Carnegie Mellon¹s Center for the Arts in Society for a tour of public art on campus, followed by an informal discussion of the role of arts on campus and in our daily lives. Refreshments will be served at the discussion.

Friday October 13, 1 p.m. ­ 3 p.m.
Free and open to the public
E-mail kcampbell@cmu.edu or call 412-268-5279

____________________

The Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama¹s Class of 1966 presents ³Love Letters² by A.R. Gurney for a one night only performance Saturday, October 14, 2006 at 5 p.m. in the Philip Chosky Theater on Carnegie Mellon¹s campus. The production is free and open to the public.

For this touching, humorous and revealing story, School of Drama alumni Peter Jason of HBO¹s ³Deadwood² and ³Beverly Hills 90210² and Caroline McWilliams who starred on the television show ³SOAP² and ³Benson,² will play the characters of Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and Melissa Gardiner. The performance begins with the characters first correspondence in second grade, from a birthday thank you card. What transpires is a lifetime of sharing, confiding and compassion through what is said and what is implied.

Alumna Iris Rainer Dart author of the novel and popular film ³Beaches,² will produce ³Love Letters.² A reception will follow the performance.

For more information visit www.cmu.edu/cfa/drama/loveletters . For free tickets please contact the School of Drama box office at 412-268-2407, Monday-Friday, noon to 5 p.m. For more information on the School of Drama or the College of Fine Arts contact Eric Sloss at 412-268-5765, or by email at ecs@andrew.cmu.edu or visit www.cmu.edu/cfa .

N.Y. Theater Calendar Busy -- On B'way and Off

Backstage: "Tonight 'Grey Gardens,' the musical version of the 1975 Maysles Brothers documentary about the eccentric aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, begins a month of prevues at the Walter Kerr Theatre, with the same two stars (naturally) -- Christine Ebersole and Mary-Louise Wilson -- who drew such raves when the show premiered off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in March. Its official on-Broadway launch is Nov. 2.... "

For Actors in 'Shortbus,' There's Just No Faking It

Backstage: "When a longtime married couple bounces all over the bed in every imaginable position in 'Shortbus,' or when a particularly limber character bends into a yoga pose that proves he, um, never has to leave the house, that's all real sex, not simulated. But writer-director John Cameron Mitchell says his intention is to educate, not titillate."

Holocaust survivor faces his yesterday in the world today

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Playwright Amy Hartman didn't personally witness the atrocities of the Holocaust, but she has experienced them through the eyes of Jack Sittsamer, 87, of Squirrel Hill, a Holocaust survivor and the inspiration for her new play, 'Mazel.'"

Ensler still working on 'Body' issues

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Eve Ensler used to hate her stomach.
That hatred didn't lead her to diet, exercise or have a tummy tuck.
It inspired her to write her one-woman dramatic work 'The Good Body,' that explores the culture of beauty, food and desire through the eyes of women around the world."

Stage Review: Quantum takes Jean Rhys, the madwoman in the library, to Braddock

Post Gazette: "'Once it is written down, it doesn't hurt so much.' And so Jean Rhys becomes fascinated with the character of the first Mrs. Rochester, Bertha, 'the madwoman in the attic' in 'Jane Eyre.'"

New Works shines spotlight on CAPA students

Post Gazette: "The proliferation of opportunities for young people to write plays and see them staged is cause for cheer. The local major leagues in this regard is City Theatre's Young Playwrights Festival (three one-act plays by middle school students and three by high school, staged by professional casts), the seventh edition of which is right around the corner, Oct. 14-29."

What V-Day stands for

Post Gazette: "Eve Ensler doesn't just write words about defending women and girls against violence; she has founded a global movement called V-Day, with events and programs around the world. Its Web site, www.vday.org, functions as a kind of clearinghouse for news, calls to action and inspiration for women who want to do something to combat abuse and discrimination."

City Theatre staging ground for Eve Ensler's latest work

Post Gazette: "Eve Ensler is an event, a cause, an electric current and an inspiration. It's an education to catch up with her, but it isn't easy."

Kennedy Center to stage Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle

Post Gazette: "The Kennedy Center announced this week that it will stage all 10 plays in August Wilson's epic Pittsburgh Cycle, set mostly in the Hill District and exploring the African-American experience through the decades of the 20th century."

Halloween happenings: Scary things await in the month of October

Post Gazette: "The doors are creaking open for the annual haunted attraction industry. Here in Western Pennsylvania, we grow them extra-creepy, in part because of our homegrown talent in the scare business."

Berlin opera may stage "Idomeneo" in December

Reuters.com: "The director of Deutsche Oper, Kirsten Harms, said during a public debate that she had asked the police for a new evaluation of the security situation."

Despite colorblind casting policies, minority Valley actors in pivotal roles are still scarce

GetOutAZ.com: "When it comes to live theater, at least in the Valley, race is a sticky, tricky issue. Theater companies that regularly practice what’s called “colorblind casting” — casting Hispanics, blacks and other minorities in traditionally white roles — do so without calling any attention to the matter."

Stratford's 2007 season a Monette tribute

globeandmail.com: "For 14 of those years -- 15, if you count his year as artistic director designate -- Monette has been at the helm, the longest-serving of any festival AD. He leaves in 13 months, a long-announced departure that will pass the leadership reins over to a team of directorial talents, under his long-time deputy, Antoni Cimolino, who will be general director."

Penumbra savors 3rd year in the black

Star Tribune: "Black is not just about culture at Penumbra Theatre, the St. Paul company rooted in African-American work. It's also about the bottom line."

Opera funds cast of 60 with 'sponsor a character' scheme

Independent Online Edition: "When it comes to staging a classic comic opera, the costs can be far from funny. But one company has managed to put on the performance of a lifetime by getting the audience to sponsor individual characters."

Sick days for all

Marketplace: "Voters in San Francisco are expected to make their city the first in the country to require paid sick leave for all workers. Could it spark a trend on the national level? "

LDI Expands Production Audio Training

Projection, Lights and Staging News: "LDI 2006 has announced an expanded roster of audio training, demonstration and education programs for entertainment technology professionals. LDI 2006 will take place October 16-22, 2006 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. "

My awakening

Guardian Unlimited Arts: "He tackled Aids, Reagan and the 80s with Angels in America. Now Tony Kushner has written a musical about race and the civil rights struggle. He recalls the events from his Mississippi childhood that inspired him "

Bitten! A Zombie Rock Odyssey

The Austin Chronicle Arts: "Several days after seeing Bitten!, an original rock musical written by the Unbearables (a band) and produced in conjunction with Loaded Gun Theory (a theatre company), I am still singing the songs."

Blue men rock, they don’t conform

The Tartan Online: "The Blue Man Group’s Megastar Tour is a high-energy feast of rhythm, dance, and life lessons"

The woman who made orgasms awkward

The Tartan Online: "Nora Ephron may be 65, but she still has the chutzpah to work a crowd. She demonstrated this while speaking about her writing career this past Wednesday at Heinz Hall in the Cultural District as part of the Pittsburgh Speakers Series. "

Convert files with Media-Convert

Lifehacker: "Media-Convert is a free online service that will convert audio, video, and text files for you, from and to virtually any kind of format."

Carnegie Mellon celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month...

A Day Without A Mexican

Film Showing
Sunday, October 8, 2006 at 4pm
Cooper Auditorium, Tepper School of Business
Hosted by the Latin American Business Club

Lecture by Sergio Arau & Yareli Arizmendi, Co-Writers, Director and Star of the Film
Monday, October 9, 2006 at 4:30pm
Current Immigration Issues in the United States
Gregg Hall, Porter Hall 100
Sponsored by the Heinz School, Department of Modern Languages, CAUSE, Department of History, Vice Provost for Education, AB Political Speakers, AB Lectures and Student Affairs


“How do you make the invisible, visible? You take it away.” One morning California wakes up to find that one third of its population has disappeared. As the day goes by we discover that the characteristic that links the 14 million disappeared is their Hispanic background. This is the premise of the film A Day Without A Mexican, released in 2004.

As filmmakers Arau and Arizmendi felt, beginning in 1994 with California’s Prop 187, that the half-truths constantly repeated in immigration discussions needed to be clarified. Using their artistic voice they intended to give form to a strong sentiment of discomfort they perceived in the Latino immigrant community but which up to now had had no clear shape, no loud voice. They believe that immigration reform is the civil rights struggle of our time. It is a struggle that affects all of us with its impact on the economic, social and cultural fabric of our society. In the spring of 2006, reality has imitated art. Immigration issues have exploded onto the national stage and currently there is a call for a National Boycott on May 1st -- No work, no school, no buying, no selling -- in support of immigration reform in the United States…all artists dream of changing the world. Their goal is to create work that is relevant to our times. If their work has encouraged social change, that is the ultimate satisfaction. In making this film, their objective was to open the dialogue on the issue of immigration by including factual information and alternative views that would change the terms of the discussion. This was in the hope of having the Latino community take its rightful place as an important contributor and player in the history and future of the United States. The film was meant as a fable, a warning to be heeded. Today, the fable has come to life. As they see reality and their imagination become one, they want to encourage people to participate in the struggle as they are able. They will be documenting the process and the outcome in hopes of furthering the discussion of the contribution made to our society and economy by not just the Latino immigrants but all immigrants. Their hope is that these contributions increase productivity and raise the standard of living for all of us.

For more information contact ehalf@andrew.cmu.edu or 412.268.2075.

Emily Half
Coordinator of Student Development
Housefellow for Boss and McGill

Stage Directions Magazine Article featuring CMU Dramaturgy Program

Please enjoy the excellent coverage attached of our newly launched option in Dramaturgy.

Please spread the word among interested parties. Given how many students end up in that School of Drama because they are a) related to current or previous students or b) friends or former school mates of current students, I know you're a wonderful network.

Hollywood Unions Tell It to the FCC

Backstage: "Leaders of the Hollywood unions decried media consolidation before all five FCC Commissioners and hundreds of L.A. citizens at the Commission's first public hearing at the University of Southern California yesterday afternoon, which continued with an evening session at El Segundo High School. The FCC held the hearings in order to amass public opinion before revisiting - and possibly canceling - federal restrictions on how many media outlets may be owned by a single company. "

Rock Is Here to Stay

Backstage: "'It's almost revolutionary for a Broadway singer,' Katie Agresta is saying. The vocal coach, whose promotional slogan runs, 'We have your art down to a science,' is talking about rock singing in musicals."

Sister aims for a 'Bingo' with audiences

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Sister Rita Mary is the lead character in the interactive comedy show 'Sister Rita Mary's Bingo Extravaganza.' This is the fourth installment of the 'Late Nite Catechism' franchise by Maripat Donovan. More than a decade ago, Donovan decided to revisit her Catholic childhood and entertain audiences with a bold nun who isn't afraid to scold or use a 14-inch ruler. The show, which requires extensive audience participation, was so popular that 'Late Nite Catechism 2' and 'Sister's Christmas Catechism -- The Mystery of the Magi's Gold' were created."

Tributes for Lloyd Richards, Theater Pioneer

New York Times: "Lloyd Richards may not be as well known as some in the theater business, Ruby Dee said yesterday at a memorial service at the Bernard B. Jacobs theater on Broadway. But, she said, he was “like the flour in the bread; you couldn’t have it without him.”"

Gaultier, Westwood jostle fashion world in Paris

Reuters.com: "In a world where appearance often takes precedence on content, Gaultier played with fashion diktats, sending on the catwalk a Botero-esque woman, a wink at the recent controversy about underweight models, another in her 50s or men with long hair and heavy make-up paired with flappers-like women."

Concert promoters sell fewer tickets but earn bigger profits

Post Gazette: "Old conventional wisdom: The concert industry is in a slump, the executives in charge don't know how to fix it, and fans are stuck with mediocre concerts.

New conventional wisdom: The concert industry has changed -- welcome to the new reality."

Kennedy Center to Present Ten-Play August Wilson Cycle, August Wilson's 20th Century

Playbill News: "Following its presentations of the works of Stephen Sondheim and Tennessee Williams, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has announced that it will offer a month-long festival of August Wilson works in spring 2008."

LOTS A-CHANGIN'

New York Post Online Edition: Seven: "With three weeks to go before the Oct. 26 opening night, Tharp continues to make substantial changes. She's been adjusting the choreography every night and is trying to clarify a plot that's baffling preview audiences."

Kennedy Center to Stage Entire Cycle By August Wilson

washingtonpost.com: "Presenting a boldly comprehensive showcase of the work of one of America's most important playwrights, the Kennedy Center announced yesterday that it will stage all 10 plays in August Wilson's epic cycle exploring the African American experience through the decades of the 20th century."

Dinosaur or phoenix?

The Artful Manager: "While outlining dramatic demographic and economic shifts, the report is particularly bleak about the ability of traditional nonprofit cultural organizations to react and respond. "

OCPAC hall grows pricier

LA Times: "Design changes down the home stretch, and overtime labor costs incurred during a dash to finish in time for its Sept. 15 opening, have boosted the price of the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall by $25 million to $27 million, leaders of the Orange County Performing Arts Center said Tuesday — a markup of about 13% above the $200-million price tag long attached to the project."

'Musical' proves that Jester is no joke

Orlando Sentinel : Theater: "Nobody knew, when tiny Jester Theater Company decided to stage a musical revue last winter, that the show would turn out to be Jester's lucky break.

Now the company's production of The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) -- a loving spoof of musical theater from Oklahoma! to Sweeney Todd -- is taking the self-described mom-and-pop theater group to Europe."

King Me

Pittsburgh City Paper: "Five years ago, the Pittsburgh Public Theater had a hit with Medea. Premiering just after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Euripides’ revenge tragedy struck a chord with audiences. Company artistic director Ted Pappas says he fielded requests for more works from the Greek canon — audience demand that dovetailed with his desire to supply it."

Love Letters / The O’Connor Girls / Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil

Pittsburgh City Paper: "This week I’m going to lump all the reviews together (which will drive my editor crazy!) because there’s a problem which I’ve shied away from mentioning. But, really, I think we’ve reached a crisis.

Where have all the actors gone?"

Mark Zimmerman Elected President Of Actors' Equity Association

actorsequity.org: "The Council of Actors' Equity Association has announced the election of Mark Zimmerman to the position of President. Mr. Zimmerman was voted into office by acclamation in a Council meeting held Tuesday, September 26. He will serve in the position until the conclusion of elections next spring."

The exciting, important

Philadelphia Inquirer: "Since most sane people don't go to the theater nearly every day the way theater critics do, I offer you a chronological list of shows to look forward to in the coming season; of course, there are many unknowns, but these seem likely to be exciting and important:"

Broadway Revival of 'Inherit the Wind'

AOL News: "Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy will star in a Broadway revival of 'Inherit the Wind,' a fictionalized retelling by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee about the 1920s Scopes monkey trial."

Alumni Association Faculty Service Award

Please join me offering our warmest congratulations to Cindy, who has been selected as the winner of this year's Alumni Association Faculty Service Award.

The dedication letter acknowledges Cindy as "an outstanding teacher, lighting designer and enthusiast for the University". She was nominated by many former students and alumni.

Cindy will receive the award at a ceremony held on Friday, October 13th, 7:30 to 9 PM in the Rangos Ballroom, University Center. Incidentally a Drama alumna Iris Rainer Dart will also be receiving an alumni service award for her accomplishments as screen writer, so we are well represented by these talented professionals this year.

Please help us celebrate these accomplishments by attending the 2006 Alumni Awards Ceremony if your schedules will allow.

L


Elizabeth Bradley

SAG Tangled Up in Loose Thread

Backstage: "On Sept. 15 the Los Angeles Times called them 'some of the more dramatic lines actor Alan Rosenberg has ever delivered.' Also on that day, Hollywood gossip blog Defamer.com wrote that Rosenberg, the Screen Actors Guild's national president, 'has learned the hard way of the disseminative powers of the Internets.' Ouch."

Catcalls Punctuate Mozart Opera Debate

Backstage: "Interrupted by occasional heckles, police and culture officials on Tuesday debated an opera company's decision to cancel performances of a Mozart opera out of fear one of its scenes could provoke Islamic violence."

In Living Color

Backstage: "Some might consider dividing people by race or ethnicity on a television show distasteful, but such an act fits assumptions made about race by many people, not just in Hollywood. How much of what people accept about race is fact -- and how much is fiction? "

Carnegie Museum of Art names advisory panel

Post Gazette: "Carnegie Museum of Art yesterday announced the members of the 2008 Carnegie International advisory committee. They will serve as consultants and critical reviewers for International curator Douglas Fogle, and will also jury the Carnegie Prize."

Off Broadway’s Frontier Outpost Runs on Dreams

New York Times: "37 Arts — the new $23 million Off Broadway complex on 37th Street near 10th Avenue — organized a gala last December to show off its advantages to producers and other insiders: state-of-the-art technology, free street parking, easy access from the Lincoln and Midtown Tunnels. There were truffles, fruit and champagne, and for entertainment each of the three theaters had a showcase: a pianist, a dance performance or a D.J. spinning tunes. What was missing, it turned out, were the guests. At times there was only one person listening to a presentation."

GTD: Priorities don’t exist in a vacuum

43 Folders: "If you’re a fan of Getting Things Done, you’re familiar with the Four Criteria Model for choosing tasks. It’s where the rubber meets the road in GTD, because it’s the way you decide, in the moment, how any one of those wonderful tasks you’ve been tracking in your big system actually gets done."

Lloyd Webber lands £150m to refurbish theatres and expand

The Stage: "Lloyd Webber commented: “I am very happy that we decided to invest further in the company last year rather than sell it. We now have total ownership of all our companies in the Really Useful Group and Bank of Scotland has provided us with the ideal financing for the business. It is very much a family concern and because we now own 100% of it privately we can be quicker on our feet while taking a longer-term view."

Little Angel to plough Lottery cash into puppetry training

The Stage: "The venue, one of the few in the country to regularly stage marionette shows, has warned that the artform is in danger of dying out unless a younger generation comes forward to replace the current pool of puppeteers."

Tech Expo 2007

USITT Sightlines: "Have you ever had that thought? Or maybe 'This is so cool I just want to show everybody!' Don't just think about how cool you are."

Showcase Benefit

"House of Blue Leaves" dress rehearsal on Wednesday, October 4 has been opened as a Showcase benefit.

Tickets to the invited dress are $5.00 and will be available at the Box Office beginning at NOON on Wednesday, October 4.

The run-through begins at 8 pm. House opens at 7:30.

Seating is limited.

Stage Preview: A complex Oedipus -- Public Theater's season opens with Greek classic

Post Gazette: "Ted Pappas is bursting with excitement. Granted, that's his usual mode in the job he loves as producing artistic director of the Pittsburgh Public Theater. But now, to open his seventh season, he's directing not just a classic but a Greek classic. And as he says, 'It's nice to direct a play that is really better than its reputation as a masterpiece -- it's a really good show.'"

Production crew

Craigslist: "Improvise media is Pittsburgh based and Seeking very energetic production assistants and crew help to assist director in short to feature film work"

Join Us! Cult Film Evil Dead Comes Back to Life as Off-Broadway Musical

Playbill News: "'Blood will fly, limbs will be lost, demons will tell bad jokes. All of this, and singing and dancing!' boasts Evil Dead: The Musical, a new musical comedy based on the Sam Raimi cult film classics, which hits the Off-Broadway stage Oct. 2."

Chilling molestation thriller "Doubt" in L.A

Reuters.com: "John Patrick Shanley spins a pretty decent yarn in 'Doubt,' his Pulitzer Prize-winning play about, in the words of one character: What do you do when you're not sure?"

Opera -- in its original form -- has nothing offensive in it

SF Gate: "Still, 'Idomeneo' is a peculiar flashpoint for this kind of controversy, because it requires an interventionist stage director before it can give offense. The irony is that there are a handful of familiar operas, including two that are performed regularly as part of the standard repertoire, that have anti-Muslim sentiment -- or at least comedic disrespect -- built into their very DNA."

As Germans cancel Mozart opera, arts world shudders

SF Gate: "This week's suspension of a controversial production of Mozart's opera 'Idomeneo' by a Berlin opera company rides a global tide of unsettling questions about free expression, censorship, religion, ethnic sensibilities, multicultural ideals and public safety."

Why you should snap up 'Pirate Queen' tickets ASAP

Chicago Tribune: "More than half the available tickets to the pre-Broadway tryout of the new musical 'The Pirate Queen' at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago already are sold--not bad for a show about which people know little or nothing, and that has yet to have any kind of public performance."

Tomato? Tomahto? Let's just fight

Chicago Tribune: "Kinkley and nine others threw more than 3,000 pounds of stewed tomatoes at each other for an art performance coordinated by Chicago artist Jeanne Dunning. The fighters tossed the red fruit and frolicked on a makeshift white stage for an audience on a grassy field near UIC."

Neil Simon: 'It's my life and I just keep doing it'

Star Tribune: "It isn't about money or awards with Neil Simon. Other 79-year-olds might hit the golf course or visit the local coffee shop for a morning kibitz. Simon pulls out his pens and notebooks and starts to noodle the newest idea in his amazing mind."

Richard II; The Persians by Michael Feingold

village voice: "Plays about defeat have a reputation for discomfiting audiences; they tend not to get produced all that much except when, as now, a regime shows signs of cracking under the weight of its own arrogance and overextended powers. "

Local theaters to offer free tickets Sunday

AccessAtlanta: "Ordinarily, two tickets to see a play in Atlanta would cost you anywhere from $20 to $90. But if you're willing to stand in line Sunday at the AtlanTix booths at Lenox Square Mall or Underground Atlanta, you could get in free."

Steppenwolf at Gotham's door

Variety.com: "Absent since 2001, when its production of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' nabbed a Tony for best revival, the venerable Chicago ensemble is attempting to reinvigorate its faded Gotham profile with four productions this calendar year."

Modern Greek

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Pittsburgh Public Theater artistic director Ted Pappas wants his audiences to look at 'Oedipus the King' as fresh and new as the day it had its world premiere."

Broadway Overtures

New York Times: "Thanks in part to “A Chorus Line,” the Broadway orchestra and the Broadway overture would rarely emerge from that obscurity again. The “Chorus Line” revival’s 17-piece ensemble is not even in the pit this time; it’s in a room backstage, hooked up to the sound system. And traditional overtures — several minutes long, made up of melodies heard later in the show and played by an orchestra before the curtain goes up — are similarly disappearing."

Stage Preview: 'Off the Record VI' is a safe bet to be a hilarious evening

Post Gazette: "So what's not a gamble? 'Off the Record VI,' for one thing. At the Byham Theater for one night only, Thursday, this sixth edition of the annual musical satire of all things Pittsburgh is a pretty safe bet. And this year, with all the hullabaloo over slots, gambling is the theme that runs throughout 'OTR VI,' which is slyly subtitled 'Place Your Bets!'"

‘Chorus Line’ Returns, as Do Regrets Over Life Stories Signed Away

New York Times: "The dancers who told their stories that night sold them to Mr. Bennett for $1 each. And though Mr. Bennett later arranged for them to receive royalties from the show — at times up to $10,000 a year — they have always questioned whether they have been fairly compensated and acknowledged."

BC/EFA Looks Down on TKTS Construction 1

(BroadwayWorld.com): "TKTS, featuring discount tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, has been a New York institution for over three decades. This shot was taken from the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS office. Located only a block away from the previous TKTS Booth in Duffy Square, the TKTS building is expected to be completed by December."

Arts complex could reshape city's identity

MiamiHerald.com: "Surely it's a major coup for a city viewed for much of its existence as a capital of sun and fun, a lost paradise, or both. And here stands the center in all its gray, granite glory, with the 2,200-seat John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall, 2,400-seat Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House and 200-seat Studio Theater."

Assembly warned 'don't interfer with arts'

icWales: "Former Westminster Culture Secretary Chris Smith has warned the Assembly Government that if it directly funds Wales' 'big six' arts organisations it must not interfere with their creativity."

Cuts reduce our role abroad

globeandmail.com: "American culture is ubiquitous. Yet since 2001, driven by the global war for hearts and minds, Washington tripled its investment in cultural diplomacy programs. This week, the U.S. State Department announced a Global Cultural Initiative, involving the highbrow National Endowment for the Arts, to promote U.S. culture abroad. First lady Laura Bush unveiled the plan at a White House ceremony featuring performances by young Azeri and Canadian musicians."