USITT Resources

Technical Direction Tidbits: "I wanted to plug a few resources available through USITT. If you don't visit the commission pages through USITT you are missing alot of good archived information. I do wish that they were a little more 'equal' - Like the Technical Production sight has links to past conference session notes, which many of the others don't - and it is a great resource."

Geoffrey Rush’s Title Role in ‘Enter the King’ Resonates From Childhood

NYTimes.com: "When the actor Geoffrey Rush was 11 and growing up in Brisbane, Australia, some children on a playground told him one morning that the world was going to end by lunchtime. It was 1962, and they were referring to the Cuban missile crisis’s possibly setting off a nuclear war. The geopolitical particulars did not interest Mr. Rush, though."

Drabinsky, Gottlieb found guilty

Variety: "Former Broadway producers Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb, founders of the once-great theater company Livent, were both found guilty of two counts of fraud and one count of forgery in a Toronto courtroom on Wednesday."

Shakespeare contest crowns a happy few

Post Gazette: "All the world's a stage, says Shakespeare's Jaques. But at the Pittsburgh Public Theater last night, the stage became all the world, as 40 talented students from 22 Western Pennsylvania schools performed excerpts of Shakespearean comedy, tragedy, history and farce in the finals of the 15th annual Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest."

Point Park dancers to follow in Graham's footsteps

Post Gazette: "There was a serious dance rebellion afoot by the time Martha Graham's company first took the stage in 1926. Despite worthy pioneers like Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis, Graham still succeeded in turning the dance world upside down by creating a truly American form of dance."

Kelly Critic Review: 'The Wedding Singer' at Chartiers Valley High School, March 11-14

Post Gazette: "The connection and eventual love shared between Robby Hart (Kian McCollum) and Julia Sullivan (Jaime Bruno) could be felt throughout the packed theater. It was Friday, March 13th, but the spectacular students involved in the Chartiers Valley production of 'The Wedding Singer' showed no signs of bad luck. An audience of mixed ages sat in the beautiful theater, watching one of the most exciting high school musicals of the season."

Funding losses squeeze mid-size arts groups

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Of the mid-size arts organizations that answered the last month's survey, 64 percent of those with budgets between $250,000 and $499,999, and 100 percent of those with budgets between $500,000 and $999,999 said they expect their year-end results will be worse than original expectations."

CMU president positive about school's future despite financial woes

Post Gazette: "Carnegie Mellon University President Jared Cohon says he's 'bullish' on the school's outlook, despite budget cuts, a slowdown in major new gifts and other effects of the recession."

Theatreland's premium seats swizz

guardian.co.uk: "The West End has found a new way of flogging tickets – charging even more for the best views in the house. Are these elite seats worth it?"

FocusTrack 2.0 Software Announced at USITT & Review

iSquint: "FocusTrack, the Production Lighting Documentation software is set to announce the release of version 2.0 of FocusTrack at USITT today. FocusTrack is a database system designed for keeping track of how lights are used within a show."

ETC iRFR iPhone App - Update & Review

iSquint: "We wrote yesterday about ETC demonstrating one of their latest products on the show floor of the USITT Stge Expo, the iPhone iRFR app."

AutoCAD 2010 and new Exchange Site Launched

The CAD Geek Blog: "Among Shaan’s posts was one talking about an all new AutoCAD community site named the AutoCAD Exchange. The site already has a lot of content, and will naturally grow with time. In fact one of the things we (bloggers) did in San Francisco was record a number of videos for the new AutoCAD Exchange. If you’re so inclined, go visit and play a game of “Where’s The CAD Geek” to find the videos of yours truly on the new AutoCAD Exchange :-)"

Ringling Brothers Circus Flies O’er Troubles With Greatest of Ease

NYTimes.com: "Five minutes into each performance of “Zing Zang Zoom,” the new magical menagerie from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, an 8,500-pound elephant named Asia seems to vanish abruptly in a grand illusion. Is it possible this disappearing act presages the future of the circus itself?"

Review: 'I Nipoti'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Mark Southers' latest play, 'I Nipoti,' has a lot going for it.
This third installment of his Culture Clash series at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, Downtown, has an interesting and original premise, dead-on realistic dialogue and opportunities for some August Wilson-style riffs."

How Things Work: 3-D movies

The Tartan Online: "Watching a movie where a sword comes right out of the screen at you can be a thrilling experience. Filmmakers make this possible by using 3-D technology that makes the audience feel as if it is part of the action. As stated in an article on www.guardian.co.uk, the first 3-D film, The Power of Love, was released in 1922. Since then, the technology has been used by filmmakers far and wide."

Ax Murderer Overacts in New Staging of ‘Crime and Punishment’

Bloomberg.com: "Maybe you need a sharp implement to get inside the head of Raskolnikov, the ax murderer at the center of a new theatrical version of Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre."

Wilmette Theatre: A Treasure on the North Shore

Chicago Stage Review: "As is sadly the case for so many Chicagoland landmarks, the Wilmette Theatre was slated for a redevelopment project. It had hosted live entertainment as well as films for almost 100 years. Carole Dibo and Sam Samuelson spearheaded an effort to save the theater and as the current owners they are not only preserving but also enhancing this North Shore treasure, creating an alternative entertainment destination in the process."

Online Laser Cutting

Props: "Some props shops may be lucky to have them, or have access to them through another department. Others may have worked with local businesses for laser-cutting services. Luckily, with the internet, you can still take advantage of laser cutting if neither of these are available."

"How many movies recoup their investment?"

PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE: "You hear me and others quote the Broadway recoupment stats all the time: 4 out of 5 shows never make their money back (it sounds like a Trident commercial, doesn't it? '4 out of 5 dentists surveyed . . . ')"

At Soho Rep, Obsessed by ‘First Blood’ - No War Can Stop Him

NYTimes.com: "One man’s pulp is another man’s perfection. If you follow Zachary Oberzan down the rabbit hole of his character’s lapel-grabbing enthusiasm in “Rambo Solo,” you may emerge starry-eyed and wondering at the achievement of the relatively obscure novelist David Morrell. The highly impressionable might even be ready to rank his book “First Blood,” on which the series-spawning Sylvester Stallone action movie was based, among the supreme works of narrative fiction."

Mabou Mines DollHouse Released on DVD

Playbill News: "The production featured a score by Eve Beglarian and choreography by Eamonn Farrell and Erik Liberman. Completing the design team were Narelle Sissons (set design), Mary Louise Geiger (lighting design), Meganne George (costume design), Jane Catherine Shaw (puppetry) and Edward Costa (sound design)."

Shakespeare finalists chosen

Post Gazette: "At the Pittsburgh Public Theater, spring comes in with storms, not of March showers or basketballs, but of passion and pratfall, ridicule and rant. This theatrical tumult arises from the young thespians who storm the O'Reilly Theater stage in the preliminary round of the annual Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest."

Dance Review: Ballet puts pop into a bold show

Post Gazette: "There was a time when lyrics were off-limits for serious dance accompaniment. They were considered to be too 'Broadway' or, much worse, 'rock 'n' roll.' Then the modern dance upstart Twyla Tharp hit the Joffrey Ballet stage with 'Deuce Coupe' in 1973."

Pittsburgh Opera looks at life, love in 'La Boheme'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The freshness of 'La Boheme' makes conductor Antony Walker love coming back to Giacomo Puccini's most popular opera.
'There is such levity throughout the beginning of the first act, but from the moment Mimi walks in you realize something extraordinary will happen,' he says. 'You've been laughing all the way. Then your breath is taken away.'
Love will do that."

Highcroft amphitheater could make comeback

Post Gazette: "Highcroft Learning and Performance Center for the Arts representatives spoke Monday at the supervisors' meeting about the possibility of hosting seven or eight concerts at the Caroline Steinman Nunan Amphitheater, on a sloping, wooded hillside that forms a natural amphitheater along Mount Pleasant Road."

Mike Daisey calls America's theater establishment on the carpet

The Denver Post: "Mike Daisey is an acclaimed and brazenly outspoken storyteller who mightily stirred the National Performing Arts Convention's pot last summer when he delivered his blunt monologue 'How Theater Failed America' here in Denver.
He's returning to perform 'Monopoly!' for Colorado Springs' TheatreWorks from Wednesday through March 29. Here's our Q&A"

‘West Side Story’ Is Tight, Tough, Not to Be Missed

Bloomberg.com: "“West Side Story” is back! The Laurents-Bernstein-Sondheim-Robbins landmark musical returns in an important production to Broadway’s Palace Theatre, tweaked and directed by its indomitable 91-year-old librettist, Arthur Laurents. Whether you’ve seen several mountings of it or none, you will want to catch this one."

Revamped West Side Story a disappointment

Reuters: "The idea that a musical as brilliant as 'West Side Story' would require reinventing seems a bit dubious, and the doubts are confirmed by the new Broadway revival. Reconceived and staged by its original book writer, Arthur Laurents, to achieve a new level of grittiness, this production features a lot of tweaks -- most notably the use of Spanish for two of the songs and some of the dialogue -- that don't add appreciably to its impact."

It's that time again: we're looking for a few good assistants.

PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE: "As you know, I don't have interns, I have assistants, and we're looking for our next class!"

MPTF Or USC School Of Cinema: Guess Which Fast-Tracked H’wood Fundraising?

Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily: "Interesting how the same Hollywood moguls who say the necessary millions can't be raised for the expansion and modernization of the Motion Picture & Television Fund's acute care hospital and longterm care nursing home are instead meeting lofty fundraising goals for the expansion and modernization of the USC School Of Cinematic Arts. But then we know the reason for that: one institution is producing tomorrow's talent whom the studios and networks can then exploit for years to come. And the other simply houses yesteryear's old and sick and used-up workers."

How to Stay Motivated and On-Track When You’re Struggling

Stepcase Lifehack: "Maybe you’ve been trying to kick-start your business and it just hasn’t worked yet. Maybe you’ve just started but you’re already frustrated. Or maybe you’ve wanted to hit that next level for years and haven’t been able to get there. Regardless of your situation, getting motivated and on-track isn’t difficult. It’s staying that way that’s the trick. And when you’re struggling to “make it,” sometimes it’s even harder. You find yourself wandering, letting yourself get distracted, and wondering if you’ll ever really make your mark. Want to end the cycle of struggle? Master these tips and you’ll be virtually unstoppable."

USITT Cover the Walls

Technical Direction Tidbits: "This is my Cover the Walls exhibit this year. While the exhibit is marketed towards designers,but I figure technical design counts. Actually, despite the terms on the exhibit form, they welcome the TD's into the fold, and I would like to encourage more of you to show your work in upcoming years."

Making a Firework Star Pattern Shell

Confessions of a Fireworks Man: "A firework shell which bursts with a ring pattern, a smiley-face, or a star pattern can be a unique and creative addition to a fireworks display. Suddenly, after a procession of fairly typical full, spherical shell bursts, a simple ring of stars, or a display of four or five of them fired simultaneously, changes the focus of attention of the audience. 'Hey, here's something different,' they'll think to themselves."

Dealing With Distractions

Web Worker Daily: "As I sit here working on blog posts, I can hear my next door neighbor, aka @crazyneighbor, carry on loudly through the wall of my home office. He seems to be alternating between mowing the lawn, making very loud whooping noises, and fixing his car. Needless to say, it can be pretty distracting."

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"

The Notebook Method: How Pen and Paper Can Transform You Into a Star Student

Study Hacks: "Unlike many hacks you read here, the strategy I want to describe today is not designed to reduce your study time (though I don’t think it will add much to your schedule either). Instead, its purpose is to help you transform from a good student into an exceptional student."

Souda

Carnegie Mellon University: "The moment you step off the elevator, you're in another world. Dim lights, touch-screen consoles in front of you, robots to your right — welcome to Carnegie Mellon's groundbreaking Entertainment Technology Center (ETC)."

Performer injured in Islands of Adventure's Sindbad show

Themepark Insider: "A stunt performer fell from a rope and was injured during an afternoon performance of The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad show at Universal's Islands of Adventure on Friday."

Natasha Richardson and the Redgrave Dynasty

NYTimes.com: "The sudden death of a famous artist in his or her prime is always sad and unsettling, a reminder that life is an easily breakable possession even for those who abide in the waiting room of immortality, which is to say celebrity. But the death of Natasha Richardson last week, after a skiing accident in Canada, struck many with particular force because Ms. Richardson was not merely a well-known actress but also a member of a great British theatrical dynasty."

At Paper Mill, Trying to Pull Out the Diva in Maria Callas

NYTimes.com: "Divas are fascinating creatures, if only because their aura of entitlement usually masks an insecure and tortured soul. It’s this soul that Terence McNally is seeking to expose in his 1995 play, “Master Class,” revolving around the opera singer Maria Callas, which is currently receiving a highly respectable production at Paper Mill Playhouse."

Lynn Nottage’s ‘Ruined’ and Wajdi Mouawad’s ‘Scorched’ Bear Witness to War

NYTimes.com: "HOW do you fit a civil war onstage? With its carnage and moral confusions war is a subject whose scope is difficult to encompass even by journalists on the ground writing daily dispatches. A country torn apart by strife offers so many stories of suffering that the idea of distilling such a cataclysm into a couple of hours’ traffic at the theater can seem a futile enterprise. Perhaps it’s no wonder few contemporary playwrights take up the cause, even if they are faulted for ignoring the large-scale horrors of the world to offer instead intimate dramas of marital woe or fanciful trips through history books."

Jeff Daniels and James Gandolfini, the Alpha Males of ‘God of Carnage’

NYTimes.com: "IT is not surprising that what James Gandolfini craves now, as he takes to the Broadway stage after eight years of playing a sensitive but brutish mob boss in a television series that grew increasingly dark, is a little lightness of being."

UC Berkeley tops ATAS' college TV awards

Hollywood Reporter: "UC Berkeley led the field of winners at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation's 30th College Television Awards with four. Also nabbing multiple wins at the event Saturday night were UCLA (three) and Brigham Young University, Northwestern University and AFI (two each) The ceremony, hosted by 'Dancing With the Stars' host Tom Bergeron, was held at the Culver Studios."

'Mary's Wedding' lifts veil on love story

Post Gazette: "'The lunatic, the lover and the poet,' says Shakespeare's Theseus, 'are of imagination all compact.' Two of the three (I can't speak for the lunatic), plus imagination, are at work in 'Mary's Wedding,' the emotionally simple, complexly theatrical play now at City Theatre."

Review: Emotionally rich 'Mary's Wedding' often hard to follow

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Beginning on the night before Mary's wedding in 1920, the play moves forward and backward in real-time and dream-time and travels between Western Canada and the World War I battlefields of Europe as it recounts the relationship of young, romantic Charlie and Mary."

Children's Theatre Company to cut budget, salaries

Star Tribune: "Children's Theatre Company expects to reduce its fiscal 2010 budget by about 14 percent, largely in reaction to difficult economic conditions. The cuts would include salary reductions of up to 10 percent for artistic director Peter Brosius and managing director Gabriella Calicchio, a continued wage freeze for nonunion staff, leaving some vacancies unfilled, using fewer guest artists and reducing several full-time jobs to part time."

‘West Side Story’ Is Tight, Tough, Not to Be Missed (Update1)

Bloomberg.com: "“West Side Story” is back! The Laurents-Bernstein-Sondheim-Robbins landmark musical returns in an important production to Broadway’s Palace Theatre, tweaked and directed by its indomitable 91-year-old librettist, Arthur Laurents. Whether you’ve seen several mountings of it or none, you will want to catch this one."

Broadway thriving despite recession

Reuters: "There was much gnashing of teeth in January when a record number of productions closed and left the rialto looking barren indeed. But since then, some strange things have happened even as the economy continues to struggle to find a foothold."

Broadway dims lights for Natasha Richardson

Hollywood Reporter: "Liam Neeson and Vanessa Redgrave were among family members who went to Broadway as theaters dimmed their lights in tribute to Natasha Richardson, the Tony-winning actress who died from bleeding in the skull caused by the fall she took on a ski slope."

For Bricolage, bus rides inspire play-in-a-day

Post Gazette: "The production company Bricolage likes to say that its artists 'risk their creative necks.' Considering the breakneck speed of this weekend's project, the tagline seems apt."

Contemporary group revisits watershed year and Beatles classic in '1969'

Post Gazette: "It's not just that the experimental track from the 'White Album' isn't in high demand by audiences -- certainly when compared to 'Let It Be' or 'Hey Jude.' It's the daunting question of how one would even 'perform' a work cromprising tape loops, sound effects and samples. It is more of a sound collage than a song."

High school musical/South: Barnum at Keystone Oaks

Post Gazette: "A high school musical is already something of a circus, with its carnival atmosphere, heroes and clowns, infectious music and audience of all ages."

Review: Emotionally rich 'Mary's Wedding' often hard to follow

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Beginning on the night before Mary's wedding in 1920, the play moves forward and backward in real-time and dream-time and travels between Western Canada and the World War I battlefields of Europe as it recounts the relationship of young, romantic Charlie and Mary."

Judi Dench Shocked by Manacles at Party: London Stage Reviews

Bloomberg.com: "In Yukio Mishima’s 1965 play “Madame de Sade,” Judi Dench has a long monologue describing a Yuletide party. It involves whips, a manacled daughter, and a servant who licks up blood. A gripping speech it is too, though I couldn’t help wondering what they did with the leftover turkey and paper hats."

Academic 'discovers' six works by William Shakespeare

Telegraph: "Dr Casson spent three years studying writings thought to be connected to Shakespeare and poring over the life and letters of aristocrat Sir Henry Neville, considered by some academics to be the latest candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare's plays."

ACLU sues Corona del Mar High School for cultivating 'homophobic' environment

Los Angeles Times: "More than a month after controversy erupted over Corona del Mar High School's reported cancellation -- then rescheduling -- of a production of 'Rent,' the American Civil Liberties Union sued school officials Wednesday for fostering a 'sexist' and 'homophobic' atmosphere."

ACLU sues Corona del Mar High School for cultivating 'homophobic' environment

Los Angeles Times: "More than a month after controversy erupted over Corona del Mar High School's reported cancellation -- then rescheduling -- of a production of 'Rent,' the American Civil Liberties Union sued school officials Wednesday for fostering a 'sexist' and 'homophobic' atmosphere."

Shakespeare & Co. trims staff, salaries

Berkshire Eagle Online: "Shakespeare & Company is laying off seven employees, reducing two others to part-time, and instituting a 10 percent pay cut for the remaining 41 year-round staff as part of a restructuring plan to save $900,000."

Broadway Thriving Despite Recession

Backstage: "If this is how a recession affects Broadway, well then, bring it on!
There was much gnashing of teeth in January when a record number of productions closed and left the Rialto looking barren indeed. But since then, some strange things have happened even as the economy continues to struggle to find a foothold."

With Radio Golf, Israel Hicks Directs Entire Wilson Cycle Under Denver Center Roof

Playbill News: "The Tony Award-winning Denver Center Theatre Company completes an unprecedented theatrical event starting March 20: With the launch of August Wilson's Radio Golf, one director — Israel Hicks — will have directed all ten plays of Wilson's cycle for one theatre company."

Schwartz to oversee playwright union

Variety: "Schwartz heads an entirely new slate of officers made up of fellow union members Peter Parnell ('The Cider House Rules') as VP, Doug Wright ('I Am My Own Wife') as secretary and Theresa Rebeck ('Mauritius') as treasurer."

Choreographer Rhoden combines dance with doo-wop for PBT's 'American Rhythms'

Post Gazette: "Choreographer Dwight Rhoden likes to create world premieres for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre for two reasons: He admires the company's artistry and commitment, and artistic director Terrence Orr keeps inviting him back."

In Commercial Talks, Unions Mention 'Strike'

Backstage: "For actors, there's bad news, good news, and bad news. The bad news is that their unions are planning to ask them for a strike authorization to give the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists leverage in ongoing talks with the advertising industry. The good news is that the potential conflict is unlikely to resemble the freeway pileup SAG's attempts to wrangle a new TV-and-film contract from producers have become. The bad news is that when the performers' unions are involved, you can't figure on anything."

Boozing in the stalls is bad news for actors

guardian.co.uk: "The news that the Broadway musical Rock of Ages will be offering in-seat alcohol during performances will send actors diving for the drinks cabinet. Can you imagine the potential for mayhem such an innovation will cause?"

China to bring Das Kapital to life on Beijing stage

guardian.co.uk: "You've read the book, attended the seminars and pondered the accumulation of surplus value – now see the musical.
Chinese producers are attempting to transform Das Kapital from a hefty treatise on political economy into a popular stage show, complete with catchy tunes and nifty footwork."

Strike looms as actors negotiate commercials pact

Reuters: "As if actors needed more bad news about labor talks, there's this: Leaders of the two main Hollywood performers' unions are considering sending out strike-authorization ballots unless negotiations with advertisers on a new commercials contract improve quickly."

Coraline Musical: Magnetic Fields Compose The Tunes For Coraline Musical

I09: "Neil Gaiman's Coraline is getting a musical adaptation composed by the sharp witted, velvety voiced Stephin Merritt, whom some of you may know from Magnetic Fields. I couldn't have imagined a better indie dream team."

Do College Students Need Laptops in the Age of Netbooks?

Study Hacks: "In the current issue of Wired magazine, Clive Thompson gushes over the rapid rise of the netbook: inexpensive, low-powered, small laptops optimized for simple tasks like web surfing. Clive compares the existing PC industry to “a car company selling SUVs,” noting that they have been pushing “absurdly powerful machines” even though most consumers just need something that gets them to the grocery store."

12 Points to Include in Your Design Contract

FreelanceSwitch - The Freelance Blog: "If you’re in the process of drafting a client contract, or if you are considering revising one that already exists, I would recommend including the following list of items"

Abroad - A Call Silenced in Cairo Is Warmly Received in a Berlin Theater

NYTimes.com: "On several recent evenings four muezzins from Cairo took to a carpeted stage at Hau Zwei, a Berlin theater, and talked about their lives and jobs. In their stocking feet, as if in a mosque, they showed family snapshots and pictures of their neighborhoods, and explained to the audience how to wash and pray according to Muslim ritual. “Radio Muezzin,” conceived by Stefan Kaegi, a Swiss director, is a one-act play, a documentary, really (performed in Arabic with subtitles), the concept for which arose after a decision in 2004 by the Egyptian minister of religious endowments, Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq."

Basic PTM - Assorted

David,

Do we still need to make comments this week for the News Week Quiz? I realize we do not have class this week, but are the comments still needed?

No quiz this week. Comments from last week and this week will roll over into next week.

David-

Are we expected to create a 3D "arts and crafts" type object for the second chart, or can we use different line styles to distinguish between hire/fire and "can't do my job without"?

You should do whatever you think you need to do to properly represent the process. If you can do it on paper that's fine, if you need more dimensions that's fine too.

Hi,

I just wanted to clarify due dates for our next two assignments. Are both the organizational charts and the new assignment we got today on forms due on April 2? They both have the same date, so I was just checking that they are in fact both due that day.

People, this is the kind of crap that happens when you don't do a schedule. Lets extend the paperwork deadline to April 9.

City Theatre lists titles for 3 of 6 plays

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "City Theatre has set three of the six plays for 2009-10 subscription season, as well as two special presentations."

‘Good Negro’ Turns Adultery, Racism Into Powerful Drama

Bloomberg.com: "Political drama is a rather rare phenomenon in U.S. theater. All the more praise to Tracey Scott Wilson’s “The Good Negro,” at New York’s Public Theater, for bringing to vibrant life the black movement in 1962 Birmingham, Alabama, as it takes a giant step toward desegregation."

L.A. Drama Critics Circle names its (many, many) winners

Culture Monster | Los Angeles Times: "It's here. The moment so many have been waiting for: The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle has announced its award winners for 2008. The big ceremony took place tonight at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood."

Tackling 'Seven Jewish Children,' a Short Play That's Long on Debate

washingtonpost.com: "The four-day run of a 10-minute play later this month in Washington has raised a very large philosophical question: Where does the art stop and the politics begin?"

BBC rejects play on Israel's history for impartiality reasons

guardian.co.uk: "The BBC has declined to broadcast a radio version of Caryl Churchill's controversial new stage play about Israeli history, claiming it needed to remain impartial ‑ the same reason given for declining to air the Gaza emergency appeal."

'Louis & Keely' Leads L.A. Drama Critics Circle's Awards

Backstage: "Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara, which returns in a retooled version this week at the Geffen Playhouse's Audrey Skirball Kenis Theatre, continued its stellar showing in the L.A. theatre awards arena. The hit bio-musical by writer-performers Jake Broder and Vanessa Claire Smith earned four wins at the 40th anniversary Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, held March 16 at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood."

'Louis & Keely' Leads L.A. Drama Critics Circle's Awards

Backstage: "Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara, which returns in a retooled version this week at the Geffen Playhouse's Audrey Skirball Kenis Theatre, continued its stellar showing in the L.A. theatre awards arena. The hit bio-musical by writer-performers Jake Broder and Vanessa Claire Smith earned four wins at the 40th anniversary Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, held March 16 at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood."

Director Mendes brings Shakespeare Tale to Asia

Reuters: "Acclaimed director Sam Mendes is bringing an all-star cast to Asia for the first time to stage Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale' in Singapore, as the global economic crisis makes untraditional venues attractive."

'Louis' tops L.A. Drama Crix awards

Variety: "The Sacred Fools Theater Company staging of the bio tuner 'Louis and Keely Live at the Sahara' led the kudos at the 40th annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle (LADCC) Awards, garnering four nods, including outstanding production."

'Clockmaker' to kick off City Theatre season

Post Gazette: "City Theatre will have two premieres in 2009-10, the South Side company said last week in announcing the first three plays of its regular season."

'Shrek' won't disappoint children

Post Gazette: "'Cartoonish' is usually a mark of condescension. But sometimes a cartoon is just what you want, and I was in cartoon bliss with much of 'Shrek the Musical,' the Broadway version of William Steig's inspired little book and the DreamWorks movies, which is cleverly written in unexpected ways."

Review: Ballet Boyz

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The audience met the Ballet Boyz first on film at Saturday night's Dance Council presentation at the Byham Theater, Downtown. Part biography and part travelogue, the film introduced the captivating personalities of company co-founders Michael Nunn and William Trevitt."

Review: '12 Angry Men'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The '12 Angry Men' story played out entirely in a jury room setting, with a panel of 12 male jurors known only as 'Juror No. 1,' and so on. At the beginning of the play, the jurors walk into the room after hearing testimony about a teenage boy on trial for the murder of his father. All but one of the jurors are convinced that the youth is guilty, but the bold Juror No. 8 insists that the jury at least talk about and debate the evidence: the accused, after all, is facing an electric chair."

Ballet goes pop for inspiration

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Ballet often moves to classical music, but this weekend, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre turns once again to American pop music for its inspiration.
Choreographer Dwight Rhoden, whose new ballet 'Step Touch' is based on a dozen doo-wop songs, says, 'You forget until you get involved with them that these songs have been part of your whole life. And the influence of doo-wop is where hip-hop is going.'"

Jane Fonda makes return to Broadway

Post Gazette: "To meet Jane Fonda these days means first getting past her 8-pound fluffy gatekeeper.
Tulea, a white Bichon-like dog, is never very far from her 71-year-old mistress -- part confidante, part wiggly joy, part security blanket."

Cirque on the Palm by 2012

business24-7.ae: "Nakheel's plans for a permanent Cirque du Soleil show on Dubai's Palm Jumeirah will go ahead despite the current global economic crisis, the group confirmed yesterday. Although initially set for the first quarter of 2010, the Montreal-based entertainment organisation is now scheduled to reside in Dubai in 2012."

Ashland's season of darkness and light

Sacramento Bee: "With an annual budget of more than $24 million, the venerable Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore., seemed recession-proof.
'I used to think the festival was immune to a recession. I no longer think that,' executive director Paul Nicholson said."

Playwrights are more important than politicians. So why do powerful people mesmerise me?

The Guardian: "There's something mesmerising about meeting powerful people. I mean really powerful people, the kind who decide whether we invade Iraq or bail out the banks. They even mesmerise each other. I've twice been a guest on Radio 4's Start the Week. Each time, while waiting for the programme to start, I was struck by the collegiate atmosphere in the green room."

SAG Plays Politics with Peace

Backstage: "With SAG's TV/theatrical contract negotiations stuck in neutral, there is growing concern that the guild's leadership is preparing to coast until its next election cycle, which would keep the industry in a state of permanent uncertainty throughout the summer. Or, worse, fears are surfacing that a resolution could be years away."

Steve Martin Helps Oregon HS Troupe with Show

Backstage: "Steve Martin has offered to pay for an off-campus production of his play 'Picasso at the Lapin Agile,' which was banned from a high school because parents objected to what they called adult content."

Kurt Weill Comedy Presents Homeless City Opera Players

Bloomberg.com: "A forgotten Broadway flop by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin offered fun and food for thought at Manhattan’s beautifully renovated Alice Tully Hall."

Ticketmaster Collaborates With Artists And Promoters To Shove Scalpers Aside

Techdirt: "Ticketmaster is the sort of company that lots of people love to hate. It's long been dogged by complaints that it is anti-competitive -- complaints which have gathered pace with its recent move to merge with Live Nation. The company has done plenty of things to try to drive scalpers out of business before, in hopes of sucking up their profit margins, and its latest move will further endear itself to fans."

Pyrotechnics Explained

Geeksaresexy.net: "I’ve found a blog that can easily suck up a pyrotechnic geek’s (or anyone’s) day. Sure, it’s attached to a commercial company, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting. Confessions of a Fireworks Man has stories from the business, fireworks history, and loads of instructions for projects that you should not try at home."

‘Thirst’ at Here Arts Center - Coleridge on a Budget

NYTimes.com: "THE scenes that call for a dog would easily be the most complicated element of “Thirst: A Spell for Christabel.” If it weren’t for the moment that a giant ship slides through on a river of sap. Or the one in which the trees leak water."

A Changed ‘West Side Story’ Returns to a Changed New York

NYTimes.com: "WHEN Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents created “West Side Story” in the mid-’50s, they lived within walking distance of the concrete alleys and playgrounds that were the backdrop for their updated version of “Romeo and Juliet,” the crowded tenements where new Puerto Rican immigrants rubbed up against the Irish, Poles and Italians who had preceded them."

Readings and Talks for Caryl Churchill’s ‘Seven Jewish Children’

NYTimes.com: "The New York Theater Workshop and two theaters in Washington will hold staged readings this month of Caryl Churchill’s provocative new play, “Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza,” along with talk-back sessions with audiences about the piece’s controversial portrayal of some Israelis, leaders of the theaters said Sunday."

Review: 'The World Goes 'Round'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "It takes a pretty good songwriting team to create a love song to commercial pastries.
So, I'm predisposed to like any show that features the music of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb."

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"

What’s the difference between a project manager and technical director?

Technical Direction Tidbits: "It depends. A few years ago, before choosing to go back to school to get my MFA I saw, or felt that there were two types of TDs, or at least one type on one end, another on the other end, and a lot that combine everything in the middle, but I felt the differences between the two types was diverging not getting closer."