Who Won the Writers Strike?

New York Times: "When the Writers Guild of America held its annual awards ceremony Saturday night in Manhattan, it felt more like a victory celebration. So after a long and bitter strike, the writers won, right?"

Play Celebrates Untold Stories of Black Inventors

NPR: "Museum exhibits are coming to life this month at the Smithsonian's Discovery Theater in Washington, D.C., as students receive an interactive education about African Americans who built and shaped the United States."

Mike Daisey's "How Theater Failed America"

Seattle Times Newspaper: "In the program notes for 'How Theater Failed America,' monologuist Mike Daisey quotes maverick journalist H.L. Mencken: 'Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.'"

Sitcoms for Homework?

Broadway News: Show Business Weekly: "New York’s first high school of film and television is nearly set to open, according to The New York Post."

Theater producers cooperate to survive

News: Show Business Weekly: "Most of us learn the benefits of sharing when we’re still in diapers, and now that same lesson is proving itself useful in the world of off-Broadway theater."

Creative Pilobolus company dances with graceful strength

The Dallas Morning News: "Pilobolus Dance Theatre is named for a fungus. The company calls it 'a feisty thing – only ¼ inch tall – that can throw its spores nearly eight feet. Right over a cow.'"

'Cabaret Unkempt' examines body image

The Dallas Morning News: "That's the startling beginning of Cabaret Unkempt, the final offering of the 13th International Theatre Festival, sponsored by Teatro Dallas and South Dallas Cultural Center. It opened a two-night stand at the center on Thursday.
Since Cabaret Unkempt is advertised as a show about the problems persons 'of size' encounter in a prejudiced society, Elizabeth Doud's slender build is almost as startling as her silence – which extends through the whole performance."

The Broadway bayou

The Tartan Online: "In the wake of Mardi Gras, students in the Conservatory Theatre Company at Point Park University performed the musical Thou Shalt Not last weekend, with the show’s final performance on Sunday, Feb. 10."

The Big Bang

The Tartan Online: "The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Association (CLO) are running the two-man musical The Big Bang at the CLO Cabaret downtown."

College of Fine Arts produces podcasts

The Tartan Online: "Appealing to hordes of iPod-toting students, the College of Fine Arts has created a podcast program. Called Lab A6, the program produces podcasts showing the ways that art impacts life. Eric Sloss, director of media relations for the College of Fine Arts, has served as producer of the podcasts since they first began airing in March 2007."

Stage Crew Members

Craigslist: "We need help with the fly system, 23 set changes and special effects."

Sound and Light operators

Craigslist: "Looking for sound and light operators for America's Passion Play now in it's 89th consecutive year at Veronica Veil Players on Pius Street on Pittsburgh historic South Side."

Bogart, Carmello, Gunn, Horne and Lee to Star in Carnegie Hall Show Boat Concert

Playbill News: "Initial casting has been announced for the upcoming concert staging of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's Show Boat at Carnegie Hall."

Arena Stage gets modern upgrade

Variety: "Arena Stage has broken ground for a $125 million renovation project that will transform its aging complex on the D.C. waterfront into a sleek, functional modern facility. Scheduled for completion in late 2010, Arena's new Mead Center for American Theater will house three performance spaces and supporting features under a single roof."

'Transformers' tops VES nods

Hollywood Reporter: "'Transformers' on Sunday won four Visual Effects Society Awards, including the top prize for outstanding visual effects in a visual effects-driven film."

Strike takes $2 billion toll

Hollywood Reporter: "The writers strike that began Nov. 5 wrung $2 billion from the local economy, as much as four times more than the 1988 strike that lasted six weeks longer."

Writers could return Wednesday

Hollywood Reporter: "Hollywood scribes have written a multipart denouement for the industry's epic labor saga.
Industryites could get back to work soon, but the WGA is insisting on first holding a membership vote before ending the writers strike that has lasted more than three months. After membership votes set for both coasts Tuesday night, screenwriters and TV scribes could return to work Wednesday, if the quickie referendum on lifting the strike passes as expected."

Growing with a Bang

Ohio.com: "They're urban pioneers who live for the theater, and they're gaining the kind of momentum that Hillary or Barack would love.
At first, word of the free beer and wine given out at performances might have enticed audiences to check out the unprepossessing (OK, makeshift) theater upstairs in the Summit Artspace building in downtown Akron. But people keep coming back for more of the raw, unpredictable drama that co-founders Sean Derry and Sean McConaha began producing at Akron's Bang and the Clatter Theatre Company in October 2005."

Dance and Politics? How the 2008 Presidential Election May Affect YOU!

Dancer Universe Blog: "As CNN put it, the issues are not the issue for many voters this year, especially the young ones. While leadership qualities such as charisma and likeability are definitely important, I believe it is in our best interests as a people to read up on where each candidate stands in regards to the issues that will affect our lives. I doubt many dancers, performers, choreographers, and company owners know that political elections are of paramount importance to their careers and livelihoods as artists."

A Tight Grip Can Choke Creativity

New York Times: "On Friday, a lawyer named Anthony Falzone filed his side’s first big brief in the case of Warner Bros. Entertainment and J. K. Rowling v. RDR Books. Mr. Falzone is employed by Stanford Law School, where he heads up the Fair Use Project, which was founded several years ago by Lawrence Lessig, perhaps the law school’s best-known professor. Mr. Falzone and the other lawyers at the Fair Use Project are siding with the defendant, RDR Books, a small book publisher based in Muskegon, Mich. As you can see from the titans who have brought the suit, RDR Books needs all the legal firepower it can muster."

Hollywood Writers May End Strike; Union Approves Deal (Update1)

Bloomberg.com: Muse Arts: "Hollywood writers may end a three- month strike this week after their union approved a tentative labor contract with film and television studios."

WGA Suspends Strike, Announced Deal In Contract Dispute

InformationWeek: "The Writers Guild of America appears close to settling a strike that has put re-runs on the television sets and computer screens of millions of Americans for nearly four months."

'Show runners' itching for episodes

Marketplace: "The months-long writers' strike appears to be at an end, and some 'show runners' are already planning for more episodes -- and fast. Mike Speier of Variety says that in Hollywood, the bottom line is always money."

This writer's heart is where his home is

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: "Home is at the heart of playwright Horton Foote's dramatic imagination. And while he has lived in many places during the course of his long and fruitful career writing for the stage and screen (he turns 92 on March 14), it's his childhood home in Wharton, Texas (a town he calls Harrison in his plays), that has been the abiding influence."

Passing the rock musical torch

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Stage: "For Chicago fans of the rock musical 'Rent,' there really is 'no day but today.' The Broadway production of the late Jonathan Larson's hit musical will close at the end of June. It's also likely that it's the end of the road for the national tour of the show as well (producers: prove me wrong)."

'Aftermath' tells soldiers' Iraq stories - via blogs, interviews

San Francisco Chronicle: "'It's a funny thing about getting sniped,' one of the three soldiers taking cover behind a tank chokes out as the men dissolve in giddy laughter. 'For some reason, any time you come real close to death, and survive - that's absurdly funny.'"

Jose Rivera's Che Guevara play: 'School of the Americas'`

San Francisco Chronicle: "There is no question that Che Guevara changed José Rivera's life.
But don't expect the Puerto Rican playwright and screenwriter to be caught wearing one of those cliche Che T-shirts. You won't see a Che poster anywhere on his wall at home or find any 'revolutionary' beard stubble on Rivera's clean-shaven face."

Soulpepper 10 years on

TheStar.com: "How is Albert Schultz feeling as his phenomenonally successful Soulpepper Theatre Company prepares to open its 10th season on Thursday with a production of David French's Salt Water Moon?"

Goodman cancels 'Coming Home'

chicagotribune.com: "Citing 'irreconcilable artistic points of view' among the key collaborators, the Goodman Theatre has canceled its upcoming summer production of the musical 'The Boys Are Coming Home.'"

Writers strike settlement would save Oscars, May sweeps

Cleveland.com: "A Hollywood screenwriter couldn't have concocted a more dramatic conclusion to the three-month-old writers strike. A tentative settlement was reached two weeks before the 80th annual Academy Awards, just in time to save the Oscar bash. If all stick to the script, and they should, striking writers could be back at work Monday morning. Plans go forward for the Oscars. Hollywood types start doing lunch again. Happy ending, all around."

Foundry gets literal with 'Open House'

Variety: "All the world may be a stage, but do you want your living room to be one?
For some people, the answer is obviously yes, since two dozen New Yorkers are letting the Foundry Theater turn their apartments into the venue for a new play."

SAG Foundation Funds Becoming Depleted

Backstage: "When Brenda Ricci went to the bank to deposit a dollar into her account so her grocery purchase at Trader Joe's wouldn't bounce, she was a little embarrassed. After admitting her feelings to the bank teller, she realized she wasn't alone. He told her lots of people have been making minuscule deposits lately."

Writers Signal Support for Studio Offer

Backstage: "Hollywood writers were optimistic they could end a three-month strike that has crippled the entertainment industry after reviewing a proposed deal from studios that increases their payments for online use of TV shows and movies."

Fuerzabruta - The Masque of the Red Death - Offending the Audience

New York Times: "I RECENTLY made my New York acting debut, but I doubt you heard about it. It took place at a coffee shop in the East Village in a production called “Etiquette.” Presented as part of the Under the Radar festival, “Etiquette” required patrons to perform the play themselves, two at a time. Dialogue and stage directions were fed through headphones."

Will Disney Keep Us Amused?

New York Times: "Now, Disney is embarking on a $1.1 billion, five-year effort to get California Adventure on track. The blueprints call for ripping out ho-hum rides and adding elaborate new ones, rebuilding the park’s entrance — a hodgepodge of turnstiles, a miniature Golden Gate Bridge and pastel tile murals — to shift the focus to Disney iconography."

All write, strikers may OK deal

NY Daily News: "The heads of the striking Writers Guild of America urged members to end their crippling three-month strike yesterday after reaching a tentative deal with the Hollywood studios."

B.C. film, TV union donates $18,000 to Actors Fund

The Vancouver Sun: "Despite a downturn in employment for its members, the British Columbia-based International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 891 has donated $18,000 to the Actors' Fund of Canada, which is facing a record number of emergency payouts to people who work in the entertainment industry."

Silk Road Theatre Project Recipient of 2008 Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theater Award

Stage-directions: "The League of Chicago Theatres has announced Silk Road Theatre Project as the recipient of the 2008 Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theater Award. This is the second year of the award, which provides $5,000 and a marketing support package that includes a full-page ad in the Friday and Sunday Tribune, to an emerging theater company in the Chicagoland area. This is the second year of a five-year support pledge for this program from Broadway In Chicago."

'Phantom' Costumes Get Special Care

KETV Omaha: "'Phantom of the Opera' is nothing without the intricate costuming, but how does the traveling production now playing at Omaha's Orpheum Theater keep the costumes clean?"

Upcoming USA 829 Meeting For Projection Designers

Live Design: "United Scenic Artists (USA) 829 has officially been given jurisdiction to represent Projection Design by the IATSE."

Student Design Challenge

Autodesk Education: "You sketch all over napkins and paper scraps. You think about how you could have designed the latest gadget just a little bit better. You can't wait to design your ultimate, green, dream home. Join the Autodesk® Student Design Challenge, it's the perfect way to share those masterpieces with the rest of the world. It's also a chance to get your work in front of an international panel of industry and Autodesk experts. And, of course, there are fantastic prizes for the selected winners. For bragging rights and the chance to win great prizes, go build something!"

Conserrvatory Hour

Next Monday, Feb. 11

Critiques of Stranger

And New Works:

Tightrope

Past Perfect, Future Tense

In the Checco Studio A 5:00-6:30pm

New dimensions in LED lighting

Sign Builder: Sometimes a changing technology can literally change an industry - a development quite familiar within the sign industry. Light Emitting Diodes (LED) came into being as a highly reliable, long-life, low-maintenance, and energy-saving alternative to traditional forms of sign lighting. But LED is now moving into architectural, accent, mood, and even general lighting applications.

Kings of the Dimensional Jungle

Sign Builder: The jungle-themed, family-friendly Rainforest Cafe boasts a colorful menu, a colorful decor, and a colorful array of signage at locations across the country and around the world.

Delivering Props

Sign Builder: When a company has a sales team made up of an Epiphany Consultant and an Expectations Manager, you know creative fireworks are bound to happed.

Big Ball of LED fun dropped for New Year's Eve in New York

Sign Builder: This Past New Years Eve celebrated more than "out with the old" and "in with the new." The recent party in the Big Apple also celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the crystal ball that slid down the pole of the roof of the original New York Times building...

Gershwin

Jazz Vocal Ensemble and Friends*
sings the music of
GEORGE GERSHWIN

Sunday, February 10
6:00 pm
Alumni Concert Hall

*Friends from the Jr. and Sr. MT and Voice Class
in the School of Drama and the School of Music
Jennifer Cherest
Ashley Batten
Laura Mixon
Zak Resnick
Ryah Nixon
Hunter Herdlicka
Jon Michael Reece
Nic Cory

Lysistrata - Chemers Style

Hi DB,

You were asking about ordering information about the Lysistrata. I'd be obliged if you put this info on your blog (below).

Thanks!

-M


---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Re: Lysistrata
Date: Thu, February 7, 2008 9:34 pm
To: "Michael Mark Chemers"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael,

The book will be on Amazon soon. Right now it can be ordered online at
orderbook@cupserv.org

SURG/SURF

SURG/SURF Competitions: DEADLINE March 17th

$3500 SUMMER Fellowships $500/$1000 SURG Special Guidelines for Arts and Creative Humanities Proposals

$3500 Summer Fellowships NOTE: New 2008 APPLICATION requirements. See web for more information www.cmu.edu/uro/

Summer Research Fellowships Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) are open to ALL undergraduates interested in any form of research. Awards are available of $3500 for ten weeks of full-time summer research on campus in any field of study. Summer Research Fellowships are very competitive. Students may work alone or in a group, but must apply for the Fellowship as an individual - no group awards are available. NEW 2008 APPLICATION Requirements

Summer SURG/Fall SURG Small Undergraduate Research Grants (SURG) are open to* ALL *undergraduates in any discipline, freshmen-seniors. Grants are available of up to $500 for single entries and up to $1,000 for group entries to cover such things as the costs of supplies and materials, time on laboratory equipment, or travel to another city for data.

The deadline for Fall/Summer 2008 SURG and Summer 2008 Fellowship proposals is March 17th, 2008 at 5 PM.

Apply online at www.cmu.edu/uro/. We strongly recommend that you review a draft of your proposal with the URO Director,Stephanie Wallach, prior to the deadline. To make an appointment e-mail Stephanie Wallach (sw4s@andrew.cmu.edu) or Jen Weidenhof(jweidenh@andrew.cmu.edu).

Make a contribution. Work with a mentor. Follow a passion. Develop an idea. Solve a problem. Create, build, perform. APPLY for SURG/SURF

USITT

There are just a few days left to save money when registering for USITT's Annual Conference & Stage Expo to be held this year in Houston, Texas.

Sign up by February 14 to take advantage of the savings on Early registration. Click here to go directly to the Registration page for members, or browse sessions and activities here. Enjoy the hundreds of different activities from morning to late at night in Houston.

Want to find a product, service, or educational opportunity? Click here to see the list of exhibitors at Stage Expo, USITT's biggest ever exhibition.

Don't forget that ETCP will offer an opportunity to take the paper and pencil version of Certification testing at the Conference. Find out more here, and don't miss the February 15 signup deadline.

Looking for a new position, or need a new staff member? Check out the USITT Conference Employment Service here.

USITT has picked another winning city and stellar lineup of events, so make the decision now to attend!

If you have already registered, please urge a colleague to attend as well.

See you in Houston!

Helmsley Internship

Final Call for Hemsley Internship Applications: Feb. 15 Deadline

The Hemsley Lighting Programs announces the final call for Hemsley Internship applications are due February 15, 2008.

Applications for the 25th annual Internship Program with the New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, and the Lincoln Center Festival are being accepted through the February 15, 2008 deadline. Interviews for finalists will be held in New York on March 29, 2008 in conjunction with the Hemsley Lighting Portfolio Review on March 30. Candidates should submit a resume, a one-page statement of personal goals and anticipated benefits from the internship, and three letters of recommendation. The selected intern will begin in June 2008 and continue until the end of February 2009. The program provides the opportunity to work in a professional repertory situation with resident and guest designers. Additional opportunities may include touring and media events. A monthly stipend is provided in addition to travel expenses.

To submit an application or for further information, please contact:

Mr. Mark Stanley
Resident Lighting Designer
New York City Ballet
20 Lincoln Center
New York, NY 10023

212-870-4205

E-mail: mstanley@nycballet.com
www.hemsleylightingprograms.com

From Americans for the Arts

President Bush today sent his FY 2009 budget request to Congress, beginning the yearly appropriations process for, among many things, the nation's cultural agencies and programs, including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Office of Museum Services (OMS), Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and the Department of Education's Arts in Education programs. Because drastic cuts are being proposed for some key arts programs, we urge you to write your Members of Congress and tell them to reject the President's budget cuts. http://capwiz.com/artsusa/utr/1/FSSKIBGDHA/FKXAIBGDJY/1717907801

On the heels of signing the largest Congressionally-initiated funding increase for the arts in 28 years, President Bush has proposed a senseless $16.3 million cut for FY 2009 for the NEA-from $144.7 million to $128.4 million. After three years of minimal, but incremental, funding growth, we are surprised to see an attempt to erase this progress.

For the eighth consecutive year, the President's budget has eliminated funding for the Department of Education's Arts in Education programs, which include funding for model arts programs and collaborations with schools, teacher professional development, and arts programs for at-risk youth. Arts literacy is as central to an educated citizenry as are reading, math, and science. The Administration needs to understand the role of arts education in developing an innovative and creative society.

Also, the FY 2009 budget request calls for a rescission of $200 million in already-approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). As a trusted community resource, CPB uses the power of noncommercial television and radio to enrich the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services.

The President also asked for a slight cut to the NEH, from $144.7 to $144.3 million. Finally, and on a positive note, the President requested a funding boost of over $8 million for the Office of Museum Services, bringing the amount of funding available for grants to almost $40 million. A breakdown of the President's budget request is as follows: Next Steps As you know, the President's budget is the first step in the appropriations process. While it serves as an important framework, Congress has the power to set its own priorities and change these funding levels. That's where you come in.

Arts advocates can make their voices heard by writing their Members of Congress and urging them to increase funding for arts and culture and restore funding for arts in education programs. We have provided you with a customizable letter to send to your Members of Congress, http://capwiz.com/artsusa/utr/1/FSSKIBGDHA/MQTIIBGDJZ/1717907801 well as several talking points to help you craft your message. We recommend you add your own thoughts and stories about why the arts are important to you and your community. We also encourage you to join us in Washington, DC for Arts Advocacy Day 2008, http://capwiz.com/artsusa/utr/1/FSSKIBGDHA/MRTCIBGDKA/1717907801 March 31 - April 1, 2008. You'll have the opportunity to visit your Members of Congress face-to-face and urge them to support the arts.Thank you for your continued support of the arts!

CFA Announcements

Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama presents "The Piano Lesson," an enthralling struggle between two siblings set in Depression-era Pittsburgh. "The Piano Lesson" will run Feb. 21-March 1, 2008, at Carnegie Mellon's Philip Chosky Theater. Elizabeth Van Dyke, renowned New York based director, actress and Wilson interpreter, is the director of this production.

Tickets are $22-$25. Discounts are available for students and seniors. For additional information about the upcoming season or ticket purchases, contact the School of Drama box office at 412-268-2407 between noon and 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. Tickets can be purchased online at www.drama.cmu.edu . _________________

Don't forget about Pay It Forward 2: A Special Event Fundraiser!

Future Tenant's second annual fundraiser is coming! Keep your eyes open for more information from Future Tenant about this exciting event of food, drink, and festivities. SAVE THE DATE: February 29, 2008 __________________

The Carnegie Mellon School of Drama 2008 Winter New Play Festival continues Feb. 9 and Feb. 10 - Feb. 23

New Works Schedule:

PAST PERFECT/FUTURE TENSE By John-Paul Nickel Directed by Allegra Libonati Jan. 30, 8 PM Feb. 6, 8 PM Feb. 1 4 PM Feb. 8, 8 PM Feb. 2 8 PM Feb. 9, 2 PM

TIGHTROPE By Rob Smith Directed by Max Montel Jan. 31, 8 PM Feb. 7, 8 PM Feb. 1, 8 PM Feb. 8, 4 PM Feb. 2, 2 PM Feb. 9, 8 PM

GRAE MATTERS By Carol J. Godart Directed by Kate Pines Feb. 13, 8 PM Feb. 20, 8 PM Feb. 15, 4 PM Feb. 22, 8 PM Feb. 16, 8 PM Feb. 23, 2 PM

FATI'S LAST DANCE By France-Luce Benson Directed by Dana Friedman Feb. 14, 8 PM Feb. 21, 8 PM Feb. 15 8 PM Feb. 22, 4 PM Feb. 16 2 PM Feb. 23, 8 PM

Admission is FREE. Seating is limited. Tickets are available at the door 1 hour before performance. John Wells Studio Theatre. Purnell Center for the Arts. For more information contact Rob Smith at resmith@andrew.cmu.edu.

PGH Events _________________________________________________________________

Bedazzled: Stars, Pagans and the Cosmos: videos by Suzie Silver and collaborators

Opening reception: February 8, 5:30 - 8:00 pm

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts http://www.pittsburgharts.org/index.php This exhibit will feature most of the videos Suzie Silver has made (solo and collaboratively) over the past 15 years including:

A Spy: Hester Reeve Does The Doors Freebird The Look of Love: A Gothic Romance The Happiest Day Tri-Stan Robot Love (World Premiere!) _________________

Carnegie Museum of Art invites public documentation of the Charles "Teenie" Harris photographic collection as part of Citiparks "Telling our Stories" exhibit Tonight!

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...Carnegie Museum of Art joins Citiparks in celebrating Black History Month with an information table and display of images by African American photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris on Tuesday, February 5, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. The display is part of the opening reception for "Telling our Stories," a month-long exhibit on view in the lobby of the City-County Building that features photographs, historical posters, costumes, set pieces, and props from Kuntu Repertory Theatre, the oldest and largest continuing African-American performing arts organization in Pittsburgh.

For more information about the Teenie Harris display, call Cecile Shellman at 412.622.5590 or email shellmanc@carnegiemuseums.org. For more information about Citiparks' Black History Month activities, call 412.255.2493 or visit www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/parks . ________________

The Music Hall of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall will take on a decidedly international air when the Cuarteto Latinoamericano and Tapage collaborate in DANSAQ on February 28th.

Free for Carnegie Mellon faculty, staff and students.

DANSAQ (dance in the Quechua language of the Incas) is an astonishing evening of strings and tap highlighting Tapage's choreographic approach to the Latin American repertoire that the Cuarteto Latinoamericano has showcased internationally for over two decades. DANSAQ is sponsored by Fidelity Bank.

The Cuarteto Latinoamericano has been performing together since 1982 and is known worldwide as the leading proponent of Latin American music for string quartet. This award-winning ensemble from Mexico consists of the three Bitrn brothers, violinists Sal and Arn and cellist Alvaro, as well as violist Javier Montiel.

The Cuarteto is in residence at Carnegie Mellon University and at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. They maintain a rigorous international performance schedule.

The Cuarteto Latinoamericano has a special affection for Carnegie's Music Hall. It first recorded in Carnegie in 1989. That recording Ginastera-Revueltas-Villa-Lobos: String Quartets (Elan) was honored as one of the best recordings of 1990 by The New York Times. The ensemble went on to record three more albums in the Music Hall. Tango Sensations, the Cuarteto's fifth recording in Carnegie, will be released in late spring 2008.

The Carnegie performance will be the American premier of the two ensembles performing together.

Tickets to Dansaq are $20, $17 for seniors and students. They may be purchased by calling 412/276-3456, x. 6. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m.

The Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall is in the midst of an ambitious $8.6 million capital campaign to restore its beautiful historic landmark facility. DANSAQ is the first program in the Library & Music Hall's "Meet the Challenge" performance series. The campaign has received a conditional $500,000 challenge grant. The Carnegie Carnegie must raise $1 million in matching funds by December 2008 to secure the challenge grant. _____________________

Come "do lunch" with Steeltown Executive Producer Carl Kurlander on Wednesday as he talks about what the organization is doing to help build an entertainment industry in the region. Carl will also show clips from his upcoming movie "A Tale of Two Cities", about the city that built America with its steel, cured polio, and invented everything from aluminum to the Big Mac, which is now, like many American cities, being challenged to reinvent itself and his own journey from Hollywood back home to Pittsburgh. For further information, go to www.thepittsburghmovie.com and steeltown.org

Call for Artists ___________________________________________________________

T-shirt Design Contest Benefiting Tickets for Kids Charities Create the design for the signature T-shirt for the Macy's-WHIRL fashion/art/culture fashion show March 27 at Macy's Ross Park Mall. ? We're looking for the most original, creative design encapsulating fashion, art, and culture that will be the event's signature T-shirt. Designs will be printed on the front of a white T-shirt and may be full color. ? DEADLINE FOR ENTRY IS FEBRUARY 22, 2008. ? Finalists will be chosen for a public vote online. The winning T-shirt design will be sold at the March 27 event and online at whirlmagazine.com, with proceeds benefiting Tickets for Kids Charities. ? The winner's T-shirt will be featured in the fashion show, and the winner will receive a special gift, photo coverage in WHIRL, a WHIRL subscription, and their T-shirt. ? Entries can be submitted by e-mail, contest@whirlmagazine.com, and by CD to WHIRL Magazine, Attn: T-Shirt Contest, 1501 Reedsdale St., suite 202, Pittsburgh, PA 15233. ? All entries must include name, address, and phone number. Entries must be received by February 22, 2008. Entries will not be returned. publishing.

For additional information contact: Leslie Hoffman at lhoffman@whirlmagazine.com. __________________

Call for Artists, Steel Valley Arts Council - Artspace 105 (Homestead) The Steel Valley Arts Council is looking for artist for to display/perform/present in their new gallery space Artspace 105. Artspace is located on the corner of the Homestead Grays Bridge and 8th Avenue. The gallery is 20 feet x 14 feet and hosts white walls and track lighting. The space is fairly raw for any event or production. If you are an artist and are looking for space contact the Steel Valley Arts Council's Artistic Director Brian Britza at bbritza@comcast.net or 412-476-0755. Space is moving fast at this new gallery so please inquiry as soon as possible to find your space to display. For more information about the Steel Valley Arts Council now in it's 15 year of programming art in the Steel Valley visit www.steelvalleyarts.com

Since 1993, Steel Valley Arts Council (SVAC) is dedicated to encouraging the arts throughout the Steel Valley communities of Homestead, West Homestead and Munhall. SVAC believes in the power of the arts to foster community development and enrich the quality of life. SVAC works to ensure that all Steel Valley residents have the opportunity to appreciate, value, and participate in all forms of the arts. While many people and organizations aim to preserve the history of these former steel-making towns SVAC aims to provide a contemporary voice to ever changing and dynamic communities with moments of salute to our steel-making past.

OnQ - Randy Pausch

I'm proud to invite you to watch a recent half-hour special that I did for "OnQ" called "Lasting Lessons: Dr. Randy Pausch & The Last Lecture." Many of you may have heard of Dr. Pausch. It's the inspirational story of a professor, husband and father dying of cancer who gave a talk that is simply remarkable and a wonderful reality-check for everyone.

http://www.wqed.org/ondemand/onq.php?cat=&id=222

For those of you in Pittsburgh, it will also re-air on the 27th at 7:30pm, 12am midnight, and on the 28th at 12:30pm on both our broadcast and HD channels.

Please pass this along to friends and colleagues that might find it worthwhile.

The Voice of Radio Revolution

Radio Ink: "February 4, 2008: In an move that the union said 'set the stage for AFTRA to move forward on its own in negotiating new collective bargaining agreements for members,' the American Federation of Television and Radio Artist's national board has approved a resolution to end AFTRA's joint bargaining agreement with the Screen Actors Guild."

AFTRA offers early talks

Variety: "Taking the offensive in its brutal divorce battle with the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists aims to beat SAG to the negotiating table: It'll launch talks with the majors for primetime TV work by early March."

AFTRA granted AFL-CIO charter

Hollywood Reporter: "AFTRA has been granted a direct charter with the AFL-CIO.
That's the simple part. But as is often the case with Hollywood labor stories, the backstory is far more complex."

Give my regards to ... Osseo

Star Tribune: "When Jessica and Jason Peterson imagined where they'd open their own theater, they didn't think New York, or Chicago, or even Minneapolis.
They thought Osseo.
'People are always like, 'Osseo? What's in Osseo?'' Jessica said."

Super Bowl is showtime for Christine Pirot

The Pocono Record: "But, shhh! No talking during halftime. That's when Mike and Joan Pirot of Pocono Pines will focus on the complicated platform under Tom Petty's feet.
Daughter Christine Pirot, 23, is a stagehand in the biggest show of the year. She won't actually be on television, but her handy work will be everywhere."

Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center Wins

Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) is the 2008 recipient of the Carnegie Science Center’s Information Technology Award. The award recognizes the ETC for enhancing the Western Pennsylvania economy through innovations in technology. Recipients will be recognized at a ceremony at Carnegie Music Hall on May 9, 2008.

Every year since 1997, the Carnegie Science Center has given more than a dozen awards annually in categories including “catalyst,” “corporate innovation,” “entrepreneur” and “environmental” to individuals, educators, and companies in the western Pennsylvania region.

“Now, as we prepare for the New Year, the receipt of this recognition will spur us on ever more to continue our work of developing and implementing interactive technologies designed to entertain, educate, and give people of all ages memorable and hopefully transcendent experiences,” said Don Marinelli, executive producer of the ETC.

Students and faculty in the ETC have designed interactive games, software, robots and media for museums, companies, and organizations across the country. On Jan. 14, the ETC unveiled My StoryMaker, interactive software that allows children to create their own stories, at all 18 branches of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Descriptions of current projects can be found at http://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/currentprojects.php.

The ETC was established in 1998 as a joint program between the School of Computer Science and the College of Fine Arts. Among the ETC’s collaborators and sponsors are Walt Disney, Industrial Light & Magic, Intel, Electronic Arts, Kodak, Microsoft, MTV U, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. For more information on the ETC, visit www.etc.cmu.edu.

Pittsburgh International Children's Festival announces shows

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Pittsburgh International Children's Theater, founded in 1969 as Performing Arts for Children, presents and promotes professional theater experiences for children at affordable prices in convenient neighborhood locations."

As WGA Nears Deal, Is SAG Next?

Backstage: "The strike's impending resolution has heartened studios, specialty divisions and mini-majors that a host of development projects could suddenly be jump-started."

Right now it's all on spec

Hollywood Reporter: "With an entire industry eyeing a pair of WGA meetings Saturday, everybody and their (out of work) brother wants to know when the picket lines will come down and the more than three-month writers strike will end."

Too diverse a lineup for 29 days

chicagotribune.com: "'It just so happened that these two black shows were running in May and June. And some guy looked at me real crazy and said 'you're running two black shows? And you're not running them during Black History Month?' I said, 'We don't pay attention to that. This is how it fell in the schedule.' They thought it was amazing that we'd be doing two black shows in both of our spaces and it wasn't Black History Month,'"

Why is a nude actor a news item?

Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog: "In his excellent new book Flat Earth News, Nick Davies examines the way that newspapers have gradually been overrun with stories planted by PRs, reprinted by journalists with scarcely enough time to fact-check. Generally these take the form of 'news items' created largely to draw attention to the product that the PR in question is trying to flog."

Rescuers Script a Possible Ending for a Strike

New York Times: "With Hollywood writers on the brink of ending a three-month strike, they can thank this city’s time-honored way of getting things done: connections."

Linetype Scale

Daily Autocad: "In AutoCAD, sometimes even though you change the line type, linetype still looks to be still continuous. The reason is that, scale unit (not scale) that you are currently using ( by default ) is not small or large enough to be able to show the line that you are about to use."

Thriftier perspective on TV production

Marketplace: "With a possible end to the entertainment writers' strike on the horizon, movie and TV producers are hoping to make good economical choices. Stacey Vanek-Smith looks at where the industry might see a radical changeover."

ICA exhibit draws on theatrical traditions

The Boston Globe: "'The World as a Stage,' the muddy new exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, calls theater its inspiration. Art has taken many cues from theater in the last 50 or so years. Spectacle and performance have crossed over from stages to galleries. Installation art may incorporate lighting and props. Beyond the art world, as the exhibit's title, from Shakespeare's 'As You Like It,' suggests, we're all staging some kind of artifice, whether it's on YouTube or just in conversation."

ART search hits snag

The Boston Globe: "The American Repertory Theatre's search for its next artistic director has hit a roadblock, after weeks of anticipation that a new director would be named soon.
The Harvard University search committee has offered the position to a candidate, but that candidate has turned it down.
In a Wednesday e-mail obtained by the Globe, Harvard University provost Steven Hyman thanked ART colleagues and others for their participation in the search for a new ART artistic director."

Local 891 Donation to Actors Fund

Media Release - IATSE: The members of Motion Picture Technicians Local 891 of the I.A.T.S.E. have
shown their strong support for the Actors’ Fund of Canada with an $18,000 donation to the
national entertainment industry emergency fund.

Evil spirits, African politics and a highly anticipated role for local actor Don Marshall spark Quantum Theatre's Breakfast With Mugabe

Pittsburgh City Paper: "In a shuttered department store, Quantum Theatre's Karla Boos directs a rehearsal for the U.S. premiere of Fraser Grace's Breakfast With Mugabe. The scene is a tense one involving two uneasily matched citizens of President Robert Mugabe's suffering Zimbabwe: Dr. Peric, the liberal white African psychiatrist summoned to rid Mugabe of a supposed evil spirit, and Gabriel, the president's bodyguard."

The Mineola Twins

Pittsburgh City Paper - Pittsburgh: "Open Stage Theatre is a cerebral company. It likes plays with big themes, lots of scene changes, dozens of characters and wigs. It routinely tests the mental and physical stamina of its actors. Open Stage plays aren't about small talk in empty rooms; they tend toward broader canvases, like Puritan New England, Nazi Germany and the entire life of Richard Burton. Their characters are always kooky, their visions hallucinogenic. And thus, like clockwork, we have The Mineola Twins, by Paula Vogel."

Amadeus

Pittsburgh City Paper - Pittsburgh: "There's these two composers -- one the fashionable favorite, raking in plaudits, fame and money, the other working in comparative obscurity. Ironically, the first composer's work is utterly banal while the second is a genius who will alter the course of musical history."

The 13th of Paris

Pittsburgh City Paper - Pittsburgh: "In discreet preparation for Valentine's Day, City Theatre has unwrapped a modest but likable paean to love and romance, The 13th of Paris. Mat Smart's world premiere posits the obsessions and eccentricities of love for three separate but interrelated couples, shatters a few romantic preconceptions, and affirms the strength of true love wherever, whenever and however it is celebrated."

Thou Shalt Not

Pittsburgh City Paper - Pittsburgh: "When it comes to musicals, Point Park University's Performing Arts Conservatory students remain in a class by themselves."

Old Vic launches green community scheme

The Stage: "The Old Vic has launched an environmentally-focussed community project entitled Go For Green, which will culminate with a specially-commissioned play at the venue."

Harrah's bids for Gala Coral casinos

The Stage: "Gala Coral, whose chain of 30 casinos includes eight live entertainment sites, is reported to be the subject of a merger bid by Las Vegas-based Harrah’s Entertainment."

'Peer Gynt' loosely points way to its potential

Star Tribune: "It turns out that the magic-making powers of Mark Rylance, the Shakespearean actor who seems capable of generating his own pixie dust onstage, only go so far."

OnStage: Making a difference

Star Tribune: "In the spring of 2005, Samuel Roberson Jr. was about to graduate from Howard University in Washington, D.C. A theater major, he had no idea where he would go or what he would do next."

'Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death' comes on strong at Cabaret at Theater Square

Post Gazette: "Whores, pimps, the homeless, the hopeful, winos and other assorted street people are now at large in an unlikely spot, the Cabaret at Theater Square, Downtown, and the theatrical excitement they provide has an interesting whiff of yesterday about it."

West stage preview: American folk heroes come to life at Stage 62

Post Gazette: "Stage 62 director Judy Serra said the group's children's show, 'Bigger Than Life,' which opens tomorrow, educates young audiences by celebrating homegrown legends such as Pecos Bill and Annie Oakley with a bit of a Wild West flavor."

Stage preview/North: 'Plaza Suite' keeps focus on couples

Post Gazette: "Neil Simon's comedy 'Plaza Suite,' which opens tomorrow at Kean Theater, is a 'relationship play' focusing on couples, which makes it good entertainment for Valentine's Day or any day, says director Tom Madden."

Stage Review: Twins go separate ways in Vogel play

Post Gazette: "As much as any time in American history, there's a divide, seemingly insurmountable at times, between Democrats and Republicans, between liberals and conservatives. It's an election year, sure, but we seem to be polarized as much on cultural issues as political."

Stage Review: Dance numbers stand out in 'Thou Shalt Not'

Post Gazette: "'Thou Shalt Not' is not your usual Broadway musical. The big, ambitious Pittsburgh Playhouse version by director Tome Cousin and the Point Park students reveal this little-seen work to be a dance drama with song, a domestic tragedy with comic highlights and a mix of fetid dream and festive celebration."

Stage Review: A comedic race through world history

Post Gazette: "'The Big Bang' is supposedly a grandiose musical history of the world that its creators claim would take 12 hours, a cast of 318 wearing 1,400 wigs and $83.5 million to produce. It's so daffy that the ludicrously hopeful team of Boyd and Jed do us a favor and give us instead an intimate musical comedy in which they frantically enact a CliffsNotes version in a borrowed Manhattan apartment."

Stage Preview: Quantum play sits down with Zimbabwe dictator Mugabe

Post Gazette: "Fraser Grace's 'Breakfast With Mugabe' is fully consistent with Quantum Theatre's practice of presenting edgy, contemporary theater that does not shy away from controversial topics. It previews tonight and opens Friday in another unorthodox space, smack in the middle of Downtown in the central rotunda of the once luxurious Lazarus store, now being refurbished as Piatt Place but still hinting of ghosts."

Interactive play puts children in driver's seat

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "A bird wants to take the controls of a bus on stages throughout the Pittsburgh area, and it's up to the kids in the audience to stop it."

Stage Right serves up 'Forever Plaid'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "A new partnership between Stage Right Theater Company and Greensburg Country Club brings a dinner theater production to the community in time for the Valentine's Day weekend."

Seeking skilled makeup artists for original fantasy show...VILLAINS!

Craigslist: "The Rage of the Stage Players, Pittsburgh’s offbeat, dark, and alternative theatre company, now in our 7th year, who has produced such works as the gritty, urban, Alice’s Adventures in “Wonderland,” Little Red Riding Hood, and most recently, Dracula: Dragon Prince, is looking for talented new hands to assist with a new, makeup-heavy show."

Actors set for August Wilson tribute

Variety: "Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Anthony Mackie and Tamara Tunie are among the thesps lined up to appear in the Kennedy Center's August Wilson fest, 'August Wilson's 20th Century.'"

SAG, AFTRA to Divorce?

Backstage: "After coming within a whisker five years ago of merging, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild are all but severing their ties, a move that could escalate competition between the unions and possibly force some 44,000 dual cardholders to choose between the two."

New map to pilot season

Hollywood Reporter: "With the writers strike nearing an end, it looks as if there will be a pilot season this year after all -- but it won't be the pilot season we've all grown to love and hate."

Biz revving up amid peace talk

Hollywood Reporter: "With optimism spreading about an imminent resolution of the writers strike, film agents, producers and development execs are bracing for a barrage of dealmaking."

What Profits an Off Broadway Show?

New York Times: "For three years “Altar Boyz,” the little musical about a Christian boy band, playing at New World Stages, has been a classic example of commercial Off Broadway’s struggles."

Striking writers to debate labor deal on Saturday

Reuters: "The Writers Guild of America plans to brief its members this weekend on a deal taking shape to end their 3-month-old strike, using the meetings to gauge rank-and-file support for the labor plan, union leaders said on Tuesday."

"Hairspray" smashes UK theater nominations record

Yahoo! News: "The flamboyant retro musical 'Hairspray' on Thursday won a record 11 nominations for the Laurence Olivier Awards, Britain's top theater prizes."

First Latino Theatre Symposium Hosted by Western EEO Committee

actorsequity.org | News #038; Media: "'Somos Todos Familia'- 'we are all family.' And on December 3, 2007, actors and theatrical artists from all ethnicities- Latino, Asian, African American and Caucasian- gathered together to honor the Latino Theatre Community of Los Angeles."

UNION BANS, FINES QUAID

NY Post: "All 26 members of the 'Lone Star Love' cast brought Randy up on charges with Actors' Equity Association, claiming he physically and verbally abused his fellow performers and that his oddball behavior onstage and off forced the show to close, thus depriving them of their jobs."

Costume designer will receive award

STLtoday: "Robert Fletcher, a longtime costume designer at the Muny, the open-air theater in Forest Park, will receive the 2008 TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award."