Microsoft Outlook: Detect Forgotten Attachments Before You Send That Email

Lifehacker: "New VB scripter Troy modified a script for Outlook that lets him know when he's forgotten an attachment on an email"

How to Live Artfully

Stepcase Lifehack: "I met someone recently who knows how to live.
You know the type: self-possessed, confident, the kind of person who energizes a room. The kind of person who is alive to everything around them, who makes everyone they focus their attention on feel they could do more, they could be more. A natural-born leader who brings out the best in everyone without any apparent effort. Apparently fearless, they inspire by example, making our deepest concerns seem petty in the face of sheer living."

McCullough on Women Playwrights

Chicago Theater Blog: "Mia McCullough, a playwright for Chicago Dramatists, has written a provocative piece on the website for Chicago Artists Resource, entitled “On Women in Playwriting” about sexism in theatre, and how this shapes the works and output of women playwrights. It’s really worth a read."

McCullough on Women Playwrights

Chicago Theater Blog: "Mia McCullough, a playwright for Chicago Dramatists, has written a provocative piece on the website for Chicago Artists Resource, entitled “On Women in Playwriting” about sexism in theatre, and how this shapes the works and output of women playwrights. It’s really worth a read."

Bubbling with Joy

Carnegie Mellon University: "A group of senior drama students waited with anticipation as Stephen Schwartz, the musical theater legend and Carnegie Mellon alum, prepared to offer feedback."

I don't have interns.

PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE: "And every three months we hire a new group to assist us in all of our pursuits, from our Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, to our websites like BroadwaySpace.com and BestOfOffBroadway.com, and to things we haven't even thought of yet."

Live Nation to lose $19 million in U2 stock deal: paper

Reuters: "Live Nation Inc will lose about $19 million as Irish rock band U2 moved to sell its shares in the company, the Wall Street Journal said, citing regulatory filings and people familiar with the matter."

Shrek, The Musical's Official Web Site Lets You Make Your Own Widget

Broadway World: "Shrek, the Musical's official web site continues to lead the way in online innovations, now offering the ability to make your own widget."

Report Find TV Networks Lagging in Diversity

Backstage: "Nearly a decade after the NAACP condemned a 'virtual whiteout' in broadcast TV, the civil rights group said major networks have stalled in their efforts to further ethnic diversity on-screen and off."

Heart of the Beast skips a beat

Star Tribune: "In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre (HOBT) is the second midsized arts organization this week to announce cutbacks for economic reasons."

Broadway Memo - ‘Pal Joey’ - Bewitched, Bothered and Opening

NYTimes.com: "Several people involved with the Roundabout Theater Company’s production at Studio 54, members of the creative and financial teams as well as actors, said in interviews that this “Pal Joey” seemed destined to enter theater lore as one of the more artistically troubled experiences of Broadway in recent years."

'Shrek the Musical': Tough times for ogres

chicagotribune.com: "After the costly cannons have exploded with confetti, the smelly green ogres have discovered that true beauty lies within and the desperate-to-please-its-multiple-constituencies 'Shrek the Musical' has drawn to its exhausting close, the Broadway Theatre suddenly feels like Times Square with a hangover, on the morning of a worrisome New Year's Day. Even five minutes after the show, that excessive party with all those colorful favors feels like it was actually over sometime last year."

Shakespeare Santa Cruz: To be or not to be?

San Jose Mercury News: "Shakespeare Santa Cruz, the acclaimed theater company that has served as the most prominent cultural bridge between UC Santa Cruz and the larger Santa Cruz community, is now itself facing a dilemma worthy of Shakespeare.
After 27 years it has come to this: Either the SSC board raises $300,000 by Monday, Dec. 22, or the 2009 summer season will be shelved. And if that happens, the company will likely face 'the most unkindest cut of all,' to quote Marc Antony in 'Julius Caesar': extinction."

NEA Reports Nonprofit Theaters Holding On, but Economic Downturn May Affect Revenue

washingtonpost.com: "Nonprofit theaters experienced robust growth and 'general financial stability' from 1990 to 2005, even as audiences for nonmusical productions were declining, according to a report from the National Endowment for the Arts. However, the study, which is being released today, does not reflect the current economic downturn, which has resulted in staff cuts and closed doors for some theater companies."

Bail-out for the Fringe 'may top £500,000'

Scotsman.com News: "THE financial bail-out for the Edinburgh Fringe in the wake of last year's box-office disaster is likely to be more than £500,000, The Scotsman has learned.
Sources say the £250,000 rescue package revealed last week will almost certainly have to be doubled to stave off meltdown over the next few months."

Bernstein’s Zippy ‘On the Town’ Charms in Paris Staging

Bloomberg.com: Arts and Culture: "After “Candide” and “West Side Story” in the past two seasons, Paris’s Theatre du Chatelet is staging Leonard Bernstein’s first musical, “On the Town.”"

Shrek a family musical with gay-pride element

Reuters: "The trend of adapting animated movies to the stage continues with this first attempt by DreamWorks to cut in on the bounty that Disney has enjoyed on Broadway."

Shrek pits Dreamworks against Disney on Broadway

Reuters: "Hollywood studio DreamWorks received warm reviews on Monday for its Broadway debut 'Shrek the Musical,' which pits it against rival Walt Disney Co. on the Great White Way as theaters ride out the financial crisis."

Audience for Straight Plays Is Declining, an N.E.A. Study Finds

NYTimes.com: "The scattered empty seats these days at some of Broadway’s best-reviewed plays — including “August: Osage County,” “Boeing-Boeing” and “Equus” — are part of an overall nationwide decline in audiences for nonmusical theater, a new study says."

Citing Economy, ‘Gypsy’ to Close Earlier

NYTimes.com: "Add “Gypsy” to the growing list of Broadway shows that will shutter in January as a result of the faltering economy. The production, which led to Tony awards for its stars Patti LuPone, Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti, will play its final performance at the St. James Theater on Jan. 11"

Broadway’s Scarce Commodities

NYTimes.com: "These are difficult days for Elizabeth I. McCann, the longtime theater producer, who has been able to raise only $3 million so far for the $6.5 million transfer of “Hair,” the ’60s musical that is scheduled to start rehearsals on Broadway next month. Even her most dependable investors, Ms. McCann said, are sitting on their money."

Critique of Giles' theater critic gets personal

Post Gazette: "Of all the fringe occupations in our urban civilization of the past century, that of theater critic is among the most mythologized. It's widely assumed to be a great gig, to be paid to go to the theater and issue ex cathedra opinions. But it can also be execrated as a license for personal grudge-settling, the refuge of idiots at best and charlatans at worst."

Nonprofit theater audience down

Variety: "That's the good news/bad news from a report from the National Endowment for the Arts on the growth and finances of U.S. nonprofit theaters since 1990. Titled 'All America's a Stage,' the study chronicles a recent increase in professional nonprofit legit orgs, especially in geographic areas where theaters traditionally haven't thrived."

Mirage Volcano Updated

- John Huntington's Entertainment Technology Blog - : "Known the world over for its iconic Strip-front feature, The Mirage has joined forces with legendary Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, Indian tabla sensation Zakir Hussain and Fountains of Bellagio design firm WET, to create an all-new audio/visual spectacle. The top-to-bottom overhaul is the final step in the property's ongoing transformation and is scheduled for completion late 2008."

Robots to perform ‘Phantom of the Opera’

The China Post: "A Taiwan university announced yesterday the creation of what could be the world’s first robot theater, which will make its debut on Dec. 27 by performing the musical “The Phantom of the Opera.”"

Swedish artist uses “unethical” cash to fund cultural scholarships

The Art Newspaper: "The Swedish performance artist and filmmaker Pål Hollender, who in 2003 invested SKr100,000 (around €11,000) in “unethical” companies, has distributed SKr32,500 (€3,235) in “scholarships” derived from the returns. The grants were awarded to visitors last month to “The Pål Hollender Foundation for Ethically or Aesthetically Offended Consumers of Culture” at Malmö Art Museum in southern Sweden."

Cirque du Soleil Wintuk

- John Huntington's Entertainment Technology Blog -: "Wintuk, Cirque du Soleil's holiday show here in NYC, opened last year, although word was it was just 'a kid's show'. So, I didn't see it, although I did set up a backstage tour for my students. But this year, in typical Cirque fashion, they re-worked the show, and I went to see it yesterday and it was a lot of fun!"

An "Animated" James and the Giant Peach Opens Dec. 13 in Philly

Playbill News: "Five projectors are used to project images to screens onstage. 'The animations are being used to enhance the storytelling onstage and bring to life the many locations and creatures James and the bugs encounter — the ocean, the sky, London, New York, a rhino, an octopus, seagulls' and more, according to production notes."

AMPTP, N.Y. actors branch put heat on SAG

Hollywood Reporter: "As AMPTP president Nick Counter sent a letter Friday to elected officials in several states making the case for its June 30 final offer, SAG's New York board was pushing back hard against the leadership's recent announcement of the authorization vote set for next month"

Make-Up artist Needed!!!!

Craigslist: "Looking for a Make-up artist for shoot in Wheeling, WV"

Fringe receives financial support

BBC NEWS: "Edinburgh's festival fringe is to be given a £250,000 funding package to tackle cash-flow problems.
It follows problems at the box office this summer which affected tickets for hundreds of shows."

Lucas’s New ‘Prayer’ Blurs Lines Between Love, War

Bloomberg.com: Arts and Culture: "Craig Lucas, an interesting but uneven playwright, is back with “Prayer for My Enemy,” with a mostly decent cast headed by Victoria Clark and Jonathan Groff at Playwrights Horizons in midtown Manhattan. The staging is by the much-lauded Bartlett Sher (“South Pacific”)."

Sutton Foster, Shrek’s Green Princess Bride, Dances With Rats

Bloomberg.com: Arts and Culture: "Some Broadway stars decorate their dressing rooms with talismans for luck and telegrams of congratulation. Sutton Foster, who plays the tap-dancing, semi- ogre love interest Fiona in the new musical version of “Shrek,” has a quieter aesthetic."

Actors' strike threat casts shadow over Oscars

Reuters: "Even as Oscar organizers on Friday unveiled Hugh Jackman as the host of their gala film awards, the prospect of a U.S. actors strike was casting a long shadow over whether Hollywood's big show would go on as usual."

An "artistic Intervention In Google Street View"

NOTCOT.ORG: "An 'artistic intervention in Google Street View' brought to you by Pittsburgh. Staged street view scenes range from a marching band to a medieval sword fight."

A Real Crowd-Pleaser

Carnegie Mellon University: "It's an event so popular at Carnegie Mellon that this year students created an interactive game for the people waiting in line hours before the doors opened."

Get D.U.M.B.! The Value of Unattainable Goals

Stepcase Lifehack: "There’s nothing wrong and almost everything right with S.M.A.R.T. goals. You should set a bunch of reasonable goals for yourself and throw yourself into them with all your might. Absolutely.
But…
I think there’s a place in our life for D.U.M.B. goals, too. Dangerously Unattainable, Monstrously Big goals."

Harry Potter Museum: Why Is Harry Potter In The Science Museum?

I09: "Is magic becoming science? Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry is opening a Harry Potter Exhibit, where children can come and press their faces up against the tri-wizard cup and ogle Hagrid's unmentionables."

The Week in Tools: Toolmonger Top 5

Toolmonger: "It’s been a busy week here at Toolmonger. If you’ve been spending time in the shop — you should! — and you haven’t had a chance to keep up with Toolmonger this week, we suggest you start with these posts, which our readers helped to select"

On a tough road, less is more

Variety: "With recession-ravaged roadshows madly cutting midseason costs, the smaller shows that make up the backbone of the legit touring biz are desperately trying to figure out how to turn a crippling downturn into an opportunity."

Ticket brokers try to catch a break

Variety: "With legiters closely watching the box office for fallout of the economic downturn, what's to be gleaned from the performance of the secondary ticket market?"

In the Wings: no, Into the wings

Post Gazette: "That's my way of saying that this is my final week as full-time Post-Gazette theater editor and critic. The paper has offered its veterans a generous buyout, and I've decided to take it, although with deeply conflicted feelings."

Lower than Scrooge: Meyers is powerful as ne'er-do-well in 'Dublin Carol'

Post Gazette: "If the relentless cheer and glitter of Christmas are already getting to you, or if you want to lay in an advance supply of bleak reality for when they do, the skillfully staged 'Dublin Carol' might be just the antidote you need. You might discover a glimmer of redemptive hope, as well."

'Pirate Queen' a tale of emotional healing

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Playwright Tammy Ryan acknowledges there's something a little strange about having a pirate at the center of a story for children.
'It does bring up a dilemma about pirates and writing a play for kids,' says Ryan, who lives in Shadyside. 'Pirates kill people. They're not nice. And yet we romanticize them.'"

'Nutcracker' comes alive

Post Gazette: "It was the week before Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's presentation of 'The Nutcracker,' and the fifth-graders at Francis McClure Intermediate School were seeing visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads."

Non-tenured instructors rise as college rolls increase

Post Gazette: "'More students are going to college than ever before, but their experience may be very different from that of students just one generation ago,' said Rosemary Feal, language association executive director.
This doesn't mean students have bad teachers; nor does it mean the organization wants to get rid of all non-tenured faculty.
But the group said the change in balance does have significant effects on students and teachers."

Shake-out at the opera as economy stalls

Yahoo! News: "Before each performance of Puccini's 'La Boheme' at the San Francisco Opera house this fall, company director David Gockley stepped through the curtain and delivered a grim message to the audience.
Gockley told them he wanted to 'address all of your concerns about how the San Francisco Opera is affected by the tumultuous state of the economy.' Opera fans could expect 'fewer and less elaborate productions,' he announced."

Actor slits his own throat as knife switch turns fiction into reality

The Guardian: "Daniel Hoevels, 30, slumped over with blood pouring from his neck while the audience broke into applause at the 'special effect'. Police are investigating whether the knife was a mistake or a murder plot. They are questioning the rest of the cast, and backstage hands with access to props; they will also carry out DNA tests."

Strike Authorization and You

Backstage: "The Screen Actors Guild will soon send ballots to eligible members, requesting strike authorization. To help actors make this crucial decision, Back Stage presents SAG's major arguments for strike authorization, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers' arguments against, and commentary by three legal experts: Alan Brunswick, Jonathan Moonves, and Abel Lezcano."

Actor Hurt After Fake Knife Turned Out to Be Real

Backstage: "An actor's suicide scene became a little too real for comfort when he accidentally stabbed himself in the neck during a performance at an Austrian theater."

Kinky Witch Stirs Mischief, Novice Hamlet Frets: London Stage

Bloomberg.com: Arts and Culture: "Anja Silja once electrified audiences as a slinky Salome and blazing Brunnhilde. Now she sports a walker and a shapeless cardigan. The amazing thing is that she’s as electrifying as ever."

Mid Between 2 Points OSNAP

The CAD Geek Blog: "In addition to presenting my own class (Power to the Parcel), I also had the opportunity to assist 2 sessions of a titleblock lab, and another on dynamic blocks. During the titleblock lab I helped out with one user asked how the presenter centered his text inside his titleblock field so quickly and easily. The solution rested solely with the Mid Between 2 Points OSNAP."

The Show Won't Go On: Rent Canceled at Texas High School

Playbill News: "According to the Dallas Morning News, following weeks of community debate, including a packed school board meeting where community members aired their worries, the Rowlett High School theatre director canceled the run.
'I need to think of my students first and foremost,' director Brandon Tijerina wrote in a statement. 'They are dealing with pressures that they don't need at their age. The best thing for my students is for me to cancel the show, not because of all of the controversy, but because I honestly truly care for my students.'"

99 and Under (WIT #370)

ATW: "Our guests — Jonathan Bank, Artistic Director of The Mint Theater, Sarah Benson, Artistic Director of Soho Rep., Susan Bernfield, Artistic Director of New Georges and David Van Asselt, Artistic Director of Rattlestick Playwrights Theater — all share the distinction of running theatres that are quite different from Broadway…venues with 99 seats or under. They discuss their mission statements and how each of their companies got started; making sure they are able to balance new voices in playwriting with more established writers when choosing and presenting plays; how, instead of competing with one another, their companies serve as resources for each other; the wealth of material, and talent, available to them; who their base audiences are and marketing strategies for broadening that base; funding challenges, particularly in difficult financial times; the pros and cons of subscriptions for their companies; how pricing structure for their smaller theatres affects the bottom line; and their goals for expansion beyond their current theatre size."

Books of The Times - Marjorie Garber’s ‘Shakespeare and Modern Culture’ - Playwright Defines the World and Vice Versa

NYTimes.com: "These and many other such nuggets have been strung together by Marjorie Garber, an esteemed and apparently unstoppable scholar, in “Shakespeare and Modern Culture,” the latest of her many Shakespeare-centric academic treatises. She has already written “Shakespeare After All,” not to mention “Profiling Shakespeare,” “Dream in Shakespeare,” “Coming of Age in Shakespeare,” “Shakespeare’s Ghost Writers: Literature as Uncanny Causality” and at least one essay about Shakespeare and dogs that manages to mention two St. Bernards featured in “Beethoven’s 2nd,” the movie about cute canines."

Holiday Gifts to Enchant the Starstruck

NYTimes.com: "Entering into conversation with those who speak Theater — a language shared by a small, passionate subspecies of humanity known as Regina Dramatica — requires more than peppering your conversation with “darlings” and hyperbole. Speaking Theater starts with a shared mind-set, a collective, aggrandizing and affectionately barbed myth of an institutional art form with its own rituals and gods."

How ‘Shrek’ Was Turned Into a Broadway Musical

NYTimes.com: "In previews the show has been clocking in at two and a half hours, a full hour more than the movie. The original children’s book by William Steig, published in 1990, is a lot shorter. A reader in a hurry can canter through it aloud in about 5 minutes 34 seconds. That would do scant justice to Steig’s pictures, which have layers of their own, though Steig never mentioned onions."

Joan Channick leaves Long Wharf

Variety: "Channick said there was no strife with the Long Wharf board but saw the new position as her 'ideal job.' James Bundy is the dean of the School of Drama and a.d. of the Yale Repertory Theater."

Andrew Lloyd Webber goes online

Variety: "Pairing of RUG and the online vid site reps the latest attempt by a legit company to expand its reach into the digital realm. RUG -- the theatrical, TV and film production org and owner of several West End venues -- is entirely owned by founder Lloyd Webber."

Message From Hilary Robinson

It is with great pleasure that I can announce the appointment of Dr Peter Cooke to be the next head of School of Drama, effective January. A full press release to the wider community will be published tomorrow, but I wanted to write to all of you in the School of Drama directly and immediately.

Peter gained his Bachelor of Dramatic Art [Design] from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, Australia, and his PhD from the University of New South Wales, also in Sydney. He was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1990, and this year was given the Order of Australia Medal (OAM). Amongst his professional work he was the Design Consultant for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and for Atlanta's 1996 Olympic Games.

Peter is joining us from Sydney, where he was the Deputy Director and the Head of Design at NIDA. I know that you will all join me in giving him a warm welcome when you see him on campus for the rest of this week and when he formally starts working with us in January. I look forward very much to working with him in the years to come, as he leads the School forward maintaining and strengthening its programs and its reputation.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of the search committee for their tireless work through last academic year, through the summer, and into this year. The process has been long and exacting, but your dedication and focus has been inspiring to me: thank you for helping the School and the College at this crucial time.

Last, but far from least, a huge debt of thanks is due to Dick for his role as interim head. I don't know how we would have coped without him and the way in which he stepped up to serve the School. It has been wonderful, and Dick will continue to play a crucial role in the School as Peter arrives and get to know us all, and in the years to come also. Thank you Dick: the acknowledgment on the Fence yesterday was well earned and well deserved!

So welcome, Peter! We are all excited to have you join us, and hopeful of a bright future with you as part of the Carnegie Mellon family!

Hilary.

Elizabeth Bradley Is Stratford Festival's New Senior Artistic Associate

Playbill News: "Bradley, a well-known Canadian arts administrator, 'will focus on international creative development from her base in New York, where she has recently assumed the chair of drama of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University,' the company announced Dec. 8. 'She will assist the Festival in establishing relationships that will enable it to export productions, provide details of opportunities for collaborations, and suggest new markets of interest. She will also recommend international and emerging creative talent to artistic director Des McAnuff.'"

Stratford festival names New York ambassador

TheStar.com: "Bradley, who was born in Toronto, has served in the past as the director of communications at Stratford, as CEO of the then-Hummingbird Centre and as head of the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University. She is currently in her first year as the head of drama at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University."

Karen Fricker: Should we be buying British at the theatre?

guardian.co.uk: "Michael Billington's post about the present 'deluge' of American plays on subsidised London stages created quite a stir last week. Billington gave the Royal Court a bit of a slapping for currently being dominated by American drama. The theatre's artistic director, Dominic Cooke, has defended his programming in a letter to the Guardian today."

Matt Wolf: Why the Holocaust musical was right to close

guardian.co.uk: "So Imagine This has announced that it will close at the New London Theatre on December 20, the latest musical casualty in a West End year rife with them. In this case, the wonder truly is that the production, set in the Warsaw ghetto among a Jewish community apparently willing to put on bad Vegas-style floor shows on their way to extermination, lasted as long as it did."

WHEN 'EX' MARKS THE PLOT

New York Post: "CRITICS didn't have much use for the re vival of David Mamet's 'American Buf falo,' which closed Nov. 23 after just a week of performances.
But they weren't alone in their indiffer ence. To hear backstage sources tell it, Mamet himself could barely be bothered with the play, which is generally considered one of his best."

Silicon Valley Theater Collapses, Blames ‘Tarzan’ Co-Producer

Bloomberg.com: Arts and Culture: "Silicon Valley’s largest performing- arts organization is preparing to file for bankruptcy this week and blames a theater in Atlanta, 2,442 miles east, for its collapse."

Baltimore Opera Rallies for Funds After Bankruptcy

Bloomberg.com: Arts and Culture: "The Baltimore Opera Co. filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, as Chairman Allan Jensen seeks to raise “several hundred thousand” dollars to revive the 58- year-old company."

Hollywood actors union seeks authority to strike

Reuters: "Escalating Hollywood labor jitters, the Screen Actors Guild said on Wednesday it would hold a long-threatened strike authorization vote next month in a final bid to squeeze a better contract from major studios."

Following Pitt's lead, Carnegie Mellon freezes salaries

Post Gazette: "The week after the University of Pittsburgh froze the salaries of its top executives for this school year, Carnegie Mellon University has announced it will freeze the pay of all employees next school year, 2009-10."

Scrooge gets another day in Flatwoods' 'Trial'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "In the traditions of the holiday season, one of the most popular is the retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel about the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and how he discovers the real spirit of Christmas."

In a Bad Economy, Broadway Markets Theater as Comfort

NYTimes.com: "Although Broadway, like pretty much every other industry, is taking its lumps this season, some theater veterans are hoping that as portfolios go down, the appetite for entertainment will go up."

Make-up artist Needed

Craigslist: "We are a production company out of San Diego, We are doing a Commercial Shoot for Wheeling Island Casino and we are looking for a make up artist"

Production Asst. Needed

Craigslist: "We are a production company out of San Diego and we are looking for a prod. asst. to help us with a shoot we are doing in Wheeling,WV"

'Christmas Carol' eases into yearly ritual

Post Gazette: "The essence of ritual is repetition and faith, and no theatrical ritual is more dependable hereabouts than Pittsburgh CLO's 'A Musical Christmas Carol,' now in its 17th year. It must have its faithful heart in the right place, too, because I felt warm tears of pleasure at miser Scrooge's Christmas morning redemption."

Holmes, Scott Thomas Help ‘All My Sons,’ ‘Seagull’ Recoup Costs

Bloomberg.com: Arts and Culture: "Confirming the selling power of well- known actors in classic drama, the producers of Broadway’s “All My Sons” and “The Seagull” announced today that they made their investors whole."

Troupe holding its own wake

JSOnline: "The end came so suddenly for Milwaukee Shakespeare, we didn't get closure. So the company is throwing a wake for itself next Sunday in its empty rehearsal hall in Suite 800, Building 28 at 3073 S. Chase Ave."

Did Slava Have Critics Thinking There's No Business Like Snow Business?

Steve On Broadway (SOB): "Did Slava Have Critics Thinking There's No Business Like Snow Business?"

Tech Trees: 8 High-Tech Christmas Trees

Gizmodo: "Regular Christmas trees have a string of lights. High-tech trees have 30,000 LEDs, 43 LCD televisions and lasers. Get the picture? Good—because the following trees definitely fall into the latter category."

How to Ace Essay Questions Using the Three Minute Rule

Study Hacks: "As we tumble toward final exams, I’d be remiss if I didn’t address one of the most dreaded denizens of the season: the blue book essay exam. Nothing strikes more fear into the heart of a liberal arts student than seeing that big blue book, full of empty, lined pages, just waiting to be filled with paragraphs pregnant with novel insight."

Live from New York

Carnegie Mellon University: "Talk about living your dream. Alex Andrews (HS '09) has spent the fall semester interning for the organization at the center of so much presidential buzz — Saturday Night Live."

Sugar-plum sentiments are absent in 'Dublin Carol'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "If your family circumstances and relationships fail to measure up to those depicted in most holiday tales -- and whose doesn't -- 'Dublin Carol' might offer comfort."

'Dirty Little Secrets' features two works

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Dance Alloy Theater dishes in its new show, 'Dirty Little Secrets,' but its revelations go beyond the gossipy realm the title implies. It is a touching and troubling show, performed with compelling artistry."

Billy Elliot Tops Time Magazine's Best "10 Plays and Musicals" List

Playbill News: "Time Magazine has unveiled its 'The Top 10 Everything of 2008,' rating news, entertainment, pop culture and more. Included is the magazine's top picks for 'Top 10 Plays and Musicals.'"

Local Film Seeks Crew Help

Craigslist: "We have an immediate need for crew members for a local film project, scripted and directed by fellow Pittsburgh-er, Joshua D. Maley."

Dance Alloy leaps from tragic Dumas to angular 'Schakt'

Post Gazette: "One of the greatest pleasures in life can be found in the aura surrounding promise, whether of a new life, a career, or a new piece of art. Promise permeated the Dance Alloy's latest venture at the New Hazlett Theater, 'Dirty Little Secrets,' but in markedly different ways."

Private Sector: New business jazzes up cultural scene

Post Gazette: "Two relatively smallbusiness developments -- the closing of an old establishment and the opening of a new one -- loom large in the big revitalization picture of Downtown Pittsburgh."

'The Goat' tugs at head and heart

Post Gazette: "'Getting someone's goat' takes on new meanings, figurative and literal, in Edward Albee's comi-tragic 'The Goat' (2002), now in its final week at Playhouse Rep. It describes what happens, twice, in this improbable story of a successful middle-aged architect who experiences an unusual passion for a goat. Albee takes it to a dark, primal level in his tragedy of sexual transgression and vengeance."

Star-driven shows recoup their costs

Variety: "Despite persistent fears of recession fallout, a couple of legit offerings have proved it's possible to recoup on Broadway this season -- at least for star-driven play revivals."

'Priscilla' set for Toronto debut

Variety: "The tuner version of 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' is riding into Toronto next fall, making its North American preem in a run that seems a likely precursor to a go at Broadway."

Seen the lights go out on Broadway Musicals

NY Daily News: "Broadway offerings will get a lot less broad in early 2009.
The list of shows facing their final curtains in January has hit the double digits."

Met Opera Board Rolls Out Recession-Busting $25 Discount Seats

Bloomberg.com: Arts and Culture: "New York’s Metropolitan Opera, with ticket sales lagging and the economy in recession, said it will offer some of its priciest seats for weekend evening performances at $25 each for the rest of the season."

'HELL'S KITCHEN THE MUSICAL OPENS 2/11/09

BroadwayWorld: "Hell's Kitchen is the musical story of an era in New York City history that will never come again. It takes place in the early 1960's in a neighborhood both feared and respected by those who stepped within it's borders. It follows the life of Danny Vincente and his friends and family through the warmth and the heartbreak of their lives."

East Liberty Waffle Shop merges food, reality video

Post Gazette: "In the wee small hours on the weekend, sometimes nothing hits the spot like hot waffles. That alone would make the recently opened waffle shop in East Liberty a welcome addition to the East End landscape, especially for young people in search of urban nightlife."

IATSE/AMPTP: Controversial Health Plan Eligibility Rollback Causing Complaints

Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily: "Interestingly, Poster admits that 'this 100-hour increase will be difficult for some of our members'. But what he doesn't mention is the very heated Western Regional Council meeting held the day before to finally discuss details of the IATSE-AMPTP tentative agreement announced back on November 19th."

Clarizen Manages Projects Inside AutoCAD

CAD Insider: "Though MS Project is the leading project management software, I've found it to take considerable time and effort to learn, not worth it for the little I needed to do. Clarizen promises to be less of an effort without comprising on core functionality."

Tutus: The stuff of dreams

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Tutus can be the stuff of dreams.
And it's usually at performances of the fantasy ballet 'The Nutcracker' that tutus first cast their spell upon young people.
Ava Chatterson was 4 when she first saw a tutu, the elegant ballet dress that defines 'ballerina.'"

Chekhov Is a Hit: Broadway's The Seagull Recoups Investment

Playbill News: "The Royal Court Theatre's critically acclaimed production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull has fully recouped its capitalization costs for the current Broadway production, the producers announced Dec. 8."

The Disciples of Windley

The Disciples of Windley
TUESDAY DECEMBER 9TH: 1-4pm on the Chosky.

Come see the Juniors explore their voices in a working session of the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Working this semester on understanding and working towards vocal virtuosity, the Junior Actor and MT's want to invite you to stop in for however long you wish, and hear them explore a world where breath, flesh, spirit, and mind collide in a dynamic supernova of language. The session will be very fluid and informal with students working with each other on their texts rather than presenting a finished product to an audience. We hope to see you there, stop in whenever! It might just tickle you in a way you have never been tickled before!

Met to offer discount tickets

Variety: "Beginning today, the Metropolitan Opera is making about 16,000 ducats available for $25 each. Seats, located in the orchestra or the grand tier and usually priced between $140 and $295, will be available for Friday or Saturday night perfs beginning Friday and extending through the end of the Met season in May."

Tweak tax breaks for movie biz

WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL: "The study of Depp's 'Public Enemies' shows that the movie crew spent about $5 million on food, lodging, wardrobe and salaries for state residents while shooting in Madison, Columbus, Beaver Dam and a half dozen other Wisconsin locations from March through June.
In addition, the state expects to collect an estimated $270,000 in sales and income taxes related to the film being shot here.
But to lure the movie crew to Wisconsin in the first place, the state offered a 25 percent tax rebate for film expenses. That means the state will have to give the film company about $4.6 million -- far more than state coffers will receive in revenue from the movie's production."