Review: 'Ella' might earn singing legend new fans

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The lives of great performers do not always make for great drama.
For those who live most fully and vibrantly onstage, the times between performances are a dormant period they endure impatiently until the next gig.
Ella Fitzgerald was one of those performers."

Kennedy Center Enlists Art Groups for Education

Backstage: "The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is starting a new program that could reinvent arts education for schools struggling with budget cuts and fewer art teachers, organizers said Friday."

Scribe With A Router

Toolmonger: "To get a piece to fit an irregular wall, you can scribe the contour of the wall onto the work piece, make the cut with your jigsaw, touch it up with a belt sander, and check it against the wall — then repeat the process until you get it perfect or you give up and call it “good enough.” Rather than go through all that trouble, the QuickScribe lets you cut the piece with a router in one step."

They don't walk alone

Berkeley Rep Blog: "American Idiot is a high-energy show. The cast members act, they sing, they dance – as loud as they can, hard as they can, eight shows a week.
And, sometimes, they get hurt.
I’m not saying we’re carrying folks out on stretchers night after night...but this is a strenuous performance."

Slung Low shows how regional theatre can stay fresh

guardian.co.uk: "No sooner does Lyn Gardner ask, than she receives. Last week Lyn bemoaned the lack of experimentation in regional theatres. This week I went to Salford for Slung Low's latest show, Beyond the Frontline. How best to describe it? Well, it's a site-specific, promenade melange of new writing, installation, movement, a newly commissioned requiem and the biggest cast I've ever seen (134), running around in full British army fatigues amid big explosions and pyrotechnics. If this isn't risk-taking, and on a scale that makes the word hubristic seem a bit understated, then I don't know what is."

Broadway’s Next Finale - Talk-Backs at Shows Like ‘Oleanna’

NYTimes.com: "As it was last spring, Broadway is now virtually glutted with new productions: eight plays and three musicals opening over a 31-day period. And as they did last spring, producers are offering an increasingly common bonus — post-performance talk-backs between audiences and the actors — in hopes of standing out from the crowd and perhaps selling more tickets."

Conservatory Hour

Monday, Oct. 12

MARY ROGERS will be our guest.

This will certainly be an informative and exciting session so please join us.

4:30 in the Checco Studio A

Critique for The Grapes of Wrath will be the following Monday.

The Grapes of Wrath

Pittsburgh City Paper: "Consider the horror movie: A group of people ends up stranded. They aren't bad people, just naïve. They've made a deadly choice, but they're oblivious to the danger. One by one, they die off. They're knifed and strangled and electrocuted, and the audience guesses, with gritted teeth, which plucky hero will survive."

Before the Door

Carnegie Mellon University: "An actor, a producer and a finance director walk into a bar. It's no joke — it marked the start of a new venture for Carnegie Mellon alums and longtime pals Zachary Quinto (A'99), Neal Dodson (A'00) and Corey Moosa (A'00).
They've pooled their unique talents to create a media production company called Before the Door Pictures — a name that draws on one of the first acting exercises required of them in Carnegie Mellon University's drama program."

'Potter' star spells out 'Business' plan

Variety: "Daniel Radcliffe will head the cast of an upcoming New York reading of 1961 tuner 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,' marking the first musical turn for the 'Harry Potter' star.
Producers Broadway Across America, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are test driving the project for a potential Rialto revival."

Dutchman

Pittsburgh City Paper: "Amiri Baraka, formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is one of those playwrights suffering from 'August Strindberg Syndrome': His work is talked about a lot, but rarely produced."

Agnes of God

Pittsburgh City Paper: "You gotta love a theater company that has a vagina painted in the women's bathroom. It's a bit off the wall.
Just like Off the Wall Productions.
They're the new kid in town, though they're tucked away in the old VFW building in downtown Washington. But if Off the Wall Productions keeps its standards and production values as high and solid as in Agnes of God, the first play of its third season, it will become a major theatrical force."

Stage review: Acting, plot fail to lift clouds from 'Steady Rain'

Post Gazette: "Hugh Jackman is back on Broadway, which is good news, and Daniel Craig is making his Broadway debut, which is even better. But the conjunction of the Aussie and the Brit on a Broadway stage seems even more important than their specific vehicle, 'A Steady Rain,' a dark two-hander by Keith Huff."

Everything old is new again in CLO lineup

Post Gazette: "The whodunit musical 'Curtains' makes its Pittsburgh debut, joining 'The Producers' and 'Hairspray' as first-time Pittsburgh CLO productions for the 2010 summer season.
The splashy pop opera 'Miss Saigon' returns to the CLO spotlight, along with the season-opening 'Oliver!' June 1 and 'The Student Prince' to close the season in August."

Review: Joyfully daring acrobatic feats fill 'Alegria'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Ninety-three individuals representing at least 17 countries have taken over the Petersen Events Center in Oakland.
No, it's not the return of the G-20.
Cirque du Soleil, the imaginative and flamboyant Montreal-based entertainment troupe, is in residence through Sunday with its lavish, highly entertaining touring show 'Alegria.'"

Two Tony winners among Civic Light Opera lineup

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Three recent Broadway musicals and three well-loved classics are planned for the 2010 Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera season."

Conversation on the NEA

Theatre Ideas: "In response to Barry's question 'What would you like to see the Endowment accomplish? What policies should govern its actions? What should be its priorities? If you were to advise Rocco Landesman on what the agenda for the NEA should be --what would you tell him?'"

We lost a dreamer.

PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE: "On the last day of September, we lost a real Broadway gentleman.
Mr. Sonny Everett, one of the Producers of Avenue Q, Drowsy Chaperone, In the Heights and a whole bunch more, passed away, way too prematurely."

10 Tax Tips You Can Use Now To Avoid Pitfalls Later

FreelanceFolder: "One of the first encounters I had with freelancing involved a very talented co-worker who, sadly, was not very knowledgeable about income tax law. His lack of knowledge ultimately cost him his freelance business."

The Pomodoro Technique: A GTD Alternative?

Web Worker Daily: "Not a fan of Getting Things Done (GTD)? It might be hard to imagine for some, but it’s not everyone’s favorite productivity methodology. “The Pomodoro Technique” by Francesco Cirillo is another option might be a better fit for your needs. This technique works well for folks who feel anxiety when thinking about the “ticking clock” and deadlines."

Universal picks first British woman to run a Hollywood studio

guardian.co.uk: "Donna Langley, named this week as co-chair of Universal Pictures, has become the first British woman ever to run a Hollywood studio.
The last (and first) Brit to head a US major was David Puttnam, who was chairman of Columbia Pictures from 1986-87. Unlike Puttnam, however, Langley is a Hollywood insider who is barely known in her own country. Now 41, she comes from the Isle of Wight, but has worked in the US for her entire career."

Dangerous Theater

The Rob Kozlowski Chicago Theater and Vintage Film Medicine Show: "There's nothing wrong with the American theater that better plays (and better programming) can't cure. I honestly believe this. So why the problem?"

Scoring 100% in Time Management

Stepcase Lifehack: "“Most people who attempt to learn a new time management system fail.”
I can’t prove the above statement with hard facts, but I have a sense that it’s true, based on my personal experience and observations. If success is defined as 100% successful implementation, then that statistic is most certainly true."

Is actor absenteeism at Broadway shows affecting our audience's attitudes? A study tells all.

PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE: "I've been concerned about absenteeism for some time, mostly because of its macro effects on our audience. As theater tickets get more pricey, and the economy gets more dicey, audiences are bound to be disappointed if they aren't getting what they pay for, right?"

CeeVee: Resumes Done Right

Web Worker Daily: "If you’re looking for work, whether a full-time position or a series of gigs, sooner or later you’ll need to send in a copy of your resume. This simple request can be the cause of a surprising number of problems."

Inside Jeremy Piven’s Offstage Drama With ‘Speed-the-Plow’

NYTimes.com: "The main characters: A hot television star making his Broadway debut, only to fall ill. A respected director trying to create a Tony Award-worthy production, who put off his star’s complaints with the assurance that he was “killing it” on stage. A hard-driving producer looking to sell tickets and whose sarcastic e-mail messages testify to a relationship gone sour. And, in a supporting role, an arbitrator with the soul of a theater critic, whose 44-page ruling offers a rare look behind the curtain."

The Rep's new import throwing open the doors

JSOnline: "When it comes to theater in Milwaukee, Mark Clements, in his own words, is 'not just preaching to the converted.'
'I do believe in theater for all,' said the Milwaukee Repertory Theater's next artistic director."

The phantom of the opera returns to stalk Coney Island

Times Online: "The phantom of the opera is to change his tune. In a long-awaited sequel to the record-breaking musical, he will be haunting America’s famous fairground, at Coney Island.
Andrew Lloyd Webber unveiled a glimpse of the new work, Love Never Dies, yesterday in the same West End theatre where the original show began its relentless assault on the box-office record books 23 years ago today."

Pittsburgh Playworks

WDUQNews: "Jozef Spychala is a psychiatrist and playwright who has found a way to combine his two passions - he writes plays about people with mental illness."

Pittsburgh International Children's Theater kicks season off with a 'Moo'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "'Click, Clack, Moo' -- the inaugural production of Pittsburgh International Children's Theater's 2009-10 season -- brings to the stage a musical version of Doreen Cronin's popular children's book 'Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type.' The book, illustrated by Betsy Lewin, tells the story of three dissatisfied dairy cows who type a letter to their master, Farmer Brown, to demand blankets because it is cold at night."

Cirque du Soleil's 'Alegria' brings joyful shows to arenas

PostGazette: "The world might first have noticed Cirque du Soleil's original Big Top experience, 'Saltimbocca,' in 1992. But most followers of this circus phenomenon established their love affair with the Montreal group two years later during the debut of 'Alegria,' which comes here tonight as the longest-running of the Cirque productions."

Crew for short film "The Apartment"

Cariagslist: Crew call. I can feed you, give you a copy of the DVD and title credit."

Gilberto Zaldívar, 75, Co-Founder of Repertorio Español

NYTimes.com: "Gilberto Zaldívar, a co-founder of the Repertorio Español, New York City’s premiere Spanish-language theater company, died Tuesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 75."

Downstage Center - Daryl Roth

American Theatre Wing: "Producer Daryl Roth, talks about her current and upcoming projects, including the Off-Broadway plays Vigil, The Temperamentals and Love, Loss and What I Wore. She also discusses how she plunged into producing with Maltby and Shire's Closer Than Ever, after having been solely a member of the audience up to that point; her ongoing partnership with producer Elizabeth McCann on the plays of Edward Albee (Three Tall Women, The Goat, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?); her relationships with a number of not-for-profit theatre companies, notably the Manhattan Theatre Club; how she finds plays and what factors into her decisions on what to produce; what it's like to be both a theatre owner and an independent producer; how she varies her role from being lead producer to being 'part of the team' from project to project; the show she most wishes she'd been a part of; the impact of getting letters from members of the audience, and which show of hers generated the most mail; how Wit was prevented from playing on Broadway; the painful decisions that led to closing The Mambo Kings out-of-town; and how she feels about starting a theatrical dynasty now that her son Jordan is heading Jujamcyn Theatres."

1925: Dr. Glenn Frank Predicts the Future of the Arts

<100k Project: "We have allowed arts participation to be defined as buying a ticket, and artists have become hucksters, salesman trying to sell a product to these passive consumers who no longer think they have the right or the skill to tell a story, sing a song, dance a dance, do anything more than turn on an electronic device."

Tips from the Trenches: Fending Off Procrastination

WebWorkerDaily: "No matter how good you’re doing on your quest for supreme efficiency, some days you’ll run into the ugly wall of procrastination. For this “Tips from the Trenches” post, I asked some experts and fellow Twitter users to share their tips for battling procrastination and “not-in-the-mood-itis.”"

This Is a Photoshop and It Blew My Mind

Gizmodo: "PhotoSketch is an internet-based program that can take the rough, labeled sketch on the left and automagically turn it into the naff montage on the right."

Professors Claiming Copyright Over Their Lectures

Techdirt: "It's always struck me that the strongest supporters of copyright law run into a lot of problems when it comes to educational institutions. After all, the whole purpose of an educational institution is to share knowledge and information as much as possible and continue to impart those ideas to others."

George Lucas Imagines the Future of Cinema (On Cellphones)

Gizmodo: "Wow! That's what I've got to say after listening to George Lucas speak at the World Business Forum today. The legendary filmmaker discussed everything: innovation, his movies being made for phones.
In the 'Future of Cinema' discussion Lucas was asked questions (by Ben Mankiewicz of At the Movies) about his accomplishments, but also about his drive to innovate new film technology (if you don't know Lucas has started a handful of film companies). 'I had to invent what I didn't have,' Lucas said."

Prepare ye the way for the digital season brochure

Technology in the Arts: "The season brochure, that bastion of quadruple-proofed specialty paper that brings in a cache of new subscribers every year, has officially gone digital. And not just a PDF with an embedded link to the box office page. Oh no. With sound clips. And conductor interviews."

Anna Deveare Smith and Charlayne Woodward — Two One Woman Shows Playing in NY

Women & Hollywood: "It’s not too often that we see one African-American woman leading a show on Broadway or Off-Broadway and this fall, we have two. Awesome. Need to see both of them."

Bomb threat at Chicago 'Jersey Boys'

The Theater Loop: "The Bank of America Theatre in Chicago's Loop was evacuated around 9 p.m. Tuesday night after police found two suspicious boxes with notes in the alley outside the theater.
According to a report from the Tribune's William Lee, who was quoting a police source, one letter read 'this is not a bomb,' and the other note said 'this is not going to end good.'"

SDCF Masters of the Stage - Ming Cho Lee

American Theatre Wing: "World renowned designer for the stage Ming Cho Lee spoke to a crowd of early career directors and choreographers in April of 1999 at SDCF's annual Symposium."

Nora and Delia Ephron — Love, Loss and What I Wore

Women & Hollywood: "This week I spent some time in the world of the sisters Ephron — Nora and Delia. First, I saw their show – Love, Loss and What I Wore (which is breaking box office records at the West Side Theatre and it has been extended into 2010), and then I saw them at the More Magazine Reinvention Convention."

Lloyd Webber unveils Phantom of the Opera sequel

Reuters: "British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber Thursday unveiled his latest musical 'Love Never Dies,' a sequel to hit show 'The Phantom of the Opera' which has played to more than 100 million people around the world."

America's Favorite Theatre Cities

Travel + Leisure: Poll results

Building the Virtual Audition Room

Backstage: "If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? If you invent a brilliant new technology but no one uses it, how can it make people's lives easier?"

Japanese Actors to Face Drug Testing

Backstage: "Industry backlash against a recent spate of drug scandals in the entertainment world has begun as talent agency Stardust Promotions announced its intentions to administer 'voluntary' drug tests to its talent."

Nonprofits Paying Price for Gamble on Finances

NYTimes.com: "Homeowners and businesses were not alone in taking on piles of debt over the last decade. Nonprofits of all sizes did the same, and now they, too, are paying the price."

Curtain falls on Rockland Opera Society after 23 years

The Journal News: "The Rockland Opera Society announced Monday that it would cease production and disband because of diminishing resources."

ESTA Makes Revised Fog Effects Standard Available for Public Review

Stage Directions: "BSR E1.23 - 200x, Entertainment Technology - Design and Execution of Theatrical Fog Effects, is available for public review at http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php through 9 November 2009. The BSR E1.23 project is a revision of the existing ANSI E1.23 - 2006 standard, which offers advice on the planning and execution of theatrical fog effects using glycol, glycerin, or white mineral oil fogs or mists in theatres, arenas, and other places of entertainment or public assembly. The revision project is (1) to change the list of fog chemicals in the scope to better match those chemicals normally used in theatrical fog effects, and (2) to better define the qualifications of those in charge of designing and executing the effects."

Electronic Technicians (Lighting and Sound)

Backstage Employment Network: "Knowledge and passion in electronics, sound equipment and lighting"

Inside Sales/Customer Service

Backstage Employment Network: "City Theatrical, Inc., a manufacturer of Unique Lighting Accessories for the Entertainment Lighting Industry in Carlstadt, NJ, just outside of Manhattan, is seeking an individual for an Inside Sales/Customer Service Representative to join our sales team."

Production Manager Wanted

Backstage Employment Network: "• Advance technical and other aspects of production with event production company.
• Responsible for the supervision of on-site backstage catering needs and requirements."

Sales Executive - New Lighting Product

Backstage Employment Network: "Firmly established as the world’s leading manufacturer in the field of truss and temporary structures, Total Structures’ products have received seven major awards for technical innovation in as many years, an achievement that is reflected in the service we offer our clients."

MASS. MARKET: Lawmakers re-examine tax credits for Hollywood flicks

The Enterprise: "Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz stop the traffic on the South Boston waterfront at the set of their latest action-comedy flick. Across town, Ben Affleck pulls double-duty by directing and acting in a bank heist movie.
A science-fiction thriller shot in the Boston area debuts as the nation’s No. 2 movie at the box office. And the developers of a film studio campus in Plymouth announce that they’ve lined up a $550 million construction loan for the massive project."

Inaugural "IT" Award Nominees for Lighting, Video and Staging

PLSN: "The new Indispensable Technology “IT” award categories on the Parnelli Awards ballot include lighting, video and staging products. Here is a closer look at the products that were nominated in each of those categories. And if you haven't yet cast your vote, don't miss out — go to www.parnelliawards.com/vote and vote today!"

ESTA and PLASA Announce Intention to Merge

PLSN: "ESTA and PLASA have signed a letter of intent to merge. The organizations said that by uniting as one body the merged entity will be able to offer a stronger voice for members, enhance existing initiatives, and expand their range of services."

First Night Riders Get Ready to Roll

PLSN: "Inspired by the Long Reach Long Riders, a group of theatrically-inclined bikers has formed in the U.K. to raise money for The Theatrical Guild, which offers support to those working backstage and in front of house."

*NEA chairman answers GOP concerns that his agency has a partisan agenda

Los Angeles Times: "Striking a polite, conciliatory note while asserting that there's nothing rotten in the state of the agency he's led for less than two months, National Endowment for the Arts chairman Rocco Landesman responded today to Senate Republicans' request for information about a controversial Aug.10 teleconference that led to the demotion, then resignation, of Yosi Sergant, the NEA's rookie director of communications."

CFA Time Management Workshop

Ever wonder where your time goes?

Or find yourself . . .

Putting off work for non-major classes?

Writing papers at the last minute?

Pulling all-nighters in studio?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, then you would benefit from the CFA Time Management Workshop on

Thursday, October 8

4:30-6:00pm

Margaret Morrison Room 227

Register online at http://www.cmu.edu/acadev/

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

Here are the top five comment generating posts from the past week...

Willy Wonka may star in stage musical

Yahoo! News: "Willy Wonka could soon be kicking up his heels.
Warner Bros. is developing a stage musical based on 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,' the children's classic that it bought to the big screen four years ago."

Posted by David at 10/02/2009 02:23:00 PM <-- Comments Here!

“SEND”: Improve the Quality of Your Email

Web Worker Daily: "All but the youngest of web workers grew up learning not about email but about paper correspondence, as dictated by the likes of Emily Post. I personally learned to type on an electric typewriter in high school, and can write a perfectly polite thank you notecard thanks to the schooling of my mother."

Posted by David at 10/04/2009 02:04:00 PM <-- Comments Here!

The intellectual property racket

Student Life: "The Disney Movie Appreciation Club, an organization that was set up with the goal of providing an outlet to relieve overly stressed students, had to be closed down recently due to potential license infringement. The length of a Studlife column is too short to give a comprehensive argument against intellectual property rights. Nevertheless, the recent closing of the club stands out as a perfect example of how, contrary to their original intent, intellectual property rights only limit the availability of information and expression."

Posted by David at 10/03/2009 05:20:00 PM <-- Comments Here!

Weird Romance

Pittsburgh City Paper: "The show must go on!
Even with my well-exercised antipathy toward some of theater's more fabled customs, I do believe that, no matter what, you never stop the show.
So a big basket of flowers to local actor Matt Lamb, who proved during the opening night of Weird Romance, at The Theatre Factory, that theatrical fortitude is not dying out ... at least not on his watch.
You see, he dislocated his shoulder -- and kept on going!"

Posted by David at 10/02/2009 02:28:00 PM <-- Comments Here!

'Laramie' Sequel Gives Voice to Killer

Backstage: "A decade after 'The Laramie Project' became a theatrical phenomenon, its creators are back with an epilogue highlighted by a riveting prison interview with the killer of gay college student Matthew Shepard — depicting him as candid but not remorseful over the murder."

Posted by David at 9/30/2009 10:23:00 PM <-- Comments Here!

Cultural groups prepare for RAD cuts

Post Gazette: "Doing more with less is likely to be the best tack for the region's cultural groups, which are facing cuts of 2.5 percent to 10 percent in a $79.4 million preliminary budget announced last week by the Allegheny Regional Asset District."

Pittsburgh Public Theater musical looks at the life of Ella Fitzgerald

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Whether you know her as the singer of sultry ballads, the queen of scat or the creator of 'A-Tisket, A-Tasket,' almost everyone recognizes the voice and music of singer Ella Fitzgerald.
But few of us know much about the woman who performed the music.
That's where Rob Ruggiero comes in."

Anna Deavere Smith Takes On Health Care in One-Woman Show

NYTimes.com: "In a bare, fluorescent-lit dressing room at the Second Stage Theater in Manhattan one afternoon in August, the actress Anna Deavere Smith was running lines. For any actor, learning lines requires considerable focus, but for Smith, who delivers every word of “Let Me Down Easy,” her one-woman show about health care and the body, it’s like a mental martial art."

Seeking Students / Interns for Independent Film Production

Craigslist: "Locally-based production company is looking for students who are eager to learn various aspects of film production while working on a live set, on location in and around Pittsburgh. We are looking for people to serve as grips, camera assistants, set dressers, wardrobe and make-up artists."

A Theater Years in the Making, Inspired by Hepburn

NYTimes.com: "IT’S not as if they were serving cocktails and caviar — just lemonade — as some 1,500 people came on Sept. 6 to view the new Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center. The opening drew visitors from New York, Massachusetts and all over Connecticut to the elegantly restored building, which dates to 1911, when it was home to the Old Saybrook Musical and Dramatic Club."

The Royal We of ‘Royal Family’ Has Crossed Lines for Generations

NYTimes.com: "ROSEMARY HARRIS has been watching a significant chunk of her life flash before her eyes, and it’s played by Jan Maxwell. Ms. Harris, 82, has the role of Fanny Cavendish, the spicy matriarch, in a new production of George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber’s “Royal Family.” Ms. Maxwell, 30 years her junior, is Julie Cavendish, Fanny’s daughter — the role Ms. Harris very much made her own the last time the sharp-eyed comedy, about a grand theater dynasty and the histrionics it thrives on, played Broadway, in 1975-76. The 1927 original was intended to satirize the Barrymores. This one, now in previews at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, opens on Thursday."

John Douglas Thompson’s Tragic Heroes, From Shakespeare’s Othello to Eugene O’Neill’s ‘Emperor Jones’

NYTimes.com: "JOHN DOUGLAS THOMPSON was making a comfortable living as a marketing representative for a software company in Wallingford, Conn., when he invited a date to Yale Rep’s production of August Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” She ended up changing his life, but not in a way that he expected."

A Few Strings Attached

Jezebel: "Two giant marionettes, who had been walked by performers from the French street theatre company Royal de Luxe to each other from east and west Berlin, are united at the Brandenburg Gate at the conclusion of their performance on October 3, 2009 in Berlin, Germany."

“SEND”: Improve the Quality of Your Email

Web Worker Daily: "All but the youngest of web workers grew up learning not about email but about paper correspondence, as dictated by the likes of Emily Post. I personally learned to type on an electric typewriter in high school, and can write a perfectly polite thank you notecard thanks to the schooling of my mother."

Ancient theatre is uncovered in Rome

The Independent: "British archaeologists have unearthed a Roman amphitheatre the size of the Pantheon at the site of a port which once supplied Rome and its legions.
In the 2nd century, Portus was a gateway to the Mediterranean. Twice the size of Southampton, it now lies two miles inland, close to the runway at Fiumicino airport."

The intellectual property racket

Student Life: "The Disney Movie Appreciation Club, an organization that was set up with the goal of providing an outlet to relieve overly stressed students, had to be closed down recently due to potential license infringement. The length of a Studlife column is too short to give a comprehensive argument against intellectual property rights. Nevertheless, the recent closing of the club stands out as a perfect example of how, contrary to their original intent, intellectual property rights only limit the availability of information and expression."

Review: Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s “Richard III”

Chicago Theater Blog: "Richard III is among Shakespeare’s earliest and most enduring successes and Richard, Duke of Gloucester and later King of England, perhaps his most thoroughly evil character. Despite the ingratiating manner he can turn off and on at will, Richard’s heart is as ugly and twisted as his body is deformed. Trusting no one, and thinking of nothing but his own gain, he is by turns vicious, conniving, dishonest – and utterly fascinating to audiences since Shakespeare’s colleague Richard Burbage first stepped onto the stage to declaim, 'Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this son of York.'"

A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, Second Edition

iSquint | Entertainment Lighting News & Review: "We received a message from Steve Shelly, the author of A Practical Guide To Stage Lighting, that the second edition of the book is getting ready to hit the shelves. The Second edition is 480 pages with over sixty new topics, twenty new forms and fifteen new drafting presentations not previously found in the first edition."

With just under 2 hours to go…

Backstage at BackstageJobs.com | Life behind the scenes…: "In a bit less than 2 hours, Chicago finds out if it will be getting five rings, or just the finger. [UPDATE: We got the finger. No Olympics.] But last night in the pouring rain, preparations were being made for the live feed of the final presentations, as well as voting. As was done earlier in the week, the CBS2 jumbotron next to Daley Plaza was set to solid white. Perfect for worklight, or broadcast keylight."

SAG & AFTRA Reach Tentative Pact With Some Video Game Companies

Deadline.com: "Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) today announced they have reached tentative agreements with video game companies on new contracts. The agreements -- which become effective upon ratification and remain in full force until March 30, 2011 – achieve parity between the AFTRA and Screen Actors Guild contracts and include contemporaneous expiration dates of March 30, 2011."

McCormack, McDonnell, Rae, Lawrence Will Appear in CA Laramie Project Sequel

Playbill News: "The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA), The Broad Stage and Speak Theater Arts will present a starry reading of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later on Oct. 12, the day when scores of international theatres will concurrently present the epilogue play."

The ups and downs of the Los Angeles theater season

Variety: "To call Los Angeles a nontheater town is wrong. Rather, it’s an audience-unfriendly town.
At the height of the Gotham theater season in late April, I took in 10 shows in one week, and my biggest hassle had to do with keeping straight my dinner reservations
L.A. is different. Seeing 10 shows in one month involves well over 200 miles of car travel (often in rush hour traffic) from my Hollywood home base, and the major decision isn’t where to eat but whom to invite."

Arthouse faves being nurtured for the stage

Variety: "More and more often, indie pics are going legit.
A recent announcement by the Sundance Institute Theater Lab noted that two musicals being developed there -- 'Little Miss Sunshine' and 'Like Water for Chocolate' -- are based on alums of Sundance’s film fest."

The Music Lesson

Pittsburgh City Paper: "Bring extra hankies for South Park Theatre's production of The Music Lesson. It's a testament to local playwright Tammy Ryan that her 1999 drama still packs a wallop even with the occasional rough patches to be expected in community theater. And I'll tip my omnipresent hat to director Liam Macik for tackling the challenge of an intimate drama that demands so much from its players, especially the youngest ones."

Weird Romance

Pittsburgh City Paper: "The show must go on!
Even with my well-exercised antipathy toward some of theater's more fabled customs, I do believe that, no matter what, you never stop the show.
So a big basket of flowers to local actor Matt Lamb, who proved during the opening night of Weird Romance, at The Theatre Factory, that theatrical fortitude is not dying out ... at least not on his watch.
You see, he dislocated his shoulder -- and kept on going!"

Douglas Watt, Critic for Daily News and New Yorker, Dies at 95

NYTimes.com: "Douglas Watt, whose well-informed theater reporting and stylish criticism for The Daily News in New York were fixtures in an era when theater was king and critics were legion, died Tuesday in Southampton, N.Y. He was 95 and lived in Southampton and Manhattan."

Build A Quick, Easy & Beautiful Website

iWeb: "Having recently discovered a way to get my own (unlimited) domain names and several good places where I could host them for free, I can’t help but falling into the mood of web building."

5 Game-Changing Project Management Tools

FreelanceFolder: "Project management tools and applications are incredibly valuable to web-workers. Tracking time, tasks, people, and everything else is difficult, and the right project management tool can make all of the difference."

Letts’s ‘Donuts’ Is Splendid; Ephrons Cast Spell: N.Y. Theater

Bloomberg.com: "For the second time this week comes to Broadway a play from Chicago and again with cops, though not in principal parts."

Orlando Theatre Project call it quits after 23 years

OrlandoSentinel.com: "Orlando Theatre Project, the area's longest-lived professional theater company, is calling it quits after 23 years.
The reason? The economy, of course, but also the hardships of an arts group so small it had no professional staff."

Turning Junk into Giants: Massive Puppets to Help Fete German Reunification

SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International: "Berlin will hold its annual unification celebration this week. But coming almost 20 years after the Wall fell, this year's festival will be even grander than usual. To highlight the importance of these anniversaries, the city is enlisting the aid of a French street theater troupe that turns junk into massive puppets."

A pair of Mamet comedies good value for money

Yahoo! News: "David Mamet meets 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' in 'Keep Your Pantheon,' the longer of two one-acts being presented by Atlantic Theater Company at New York's Linda Gross Theater through November 1."

Fabrique Is 'Ella' in Pittsburgh

Yahoo! News: "Pittsburgh Public Theater's production of Ella, the regionally hot bio-musical about jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, stars Tina Fabrique, who has played it to acclaim around the country. Performances play PPT's O'Reilly Theater Oct. 1-Nov. 1."

Willy Wonka may star in stage musical

Yahoo! News: "Willy Wonka could soon be kicking up his heels.
Warner Bros. is developing a stage musical based on 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,' the children's classic that it bought to the big screen four years ago."

Steven Bochco

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Steven Ronald Bochco is an American television producer and writer. He has developed a number of popular television hits including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue."

Paula Wagner

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Paula Wagner is an American film producer and film executive."

John Wells (TV producer)

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "John Marcum Wells is a theater and television producer, writer and director. He is best known for his role as executive producer and show runner of the television series ER, Third Watch, and The West Wing. His company, John Wells Productions, is currently based at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California. He was elected president of the Writers Guild of America, west in 2009, after serving a prior term in that office from 1999-2001."

City Theatre's Young playwrights delve into math, mystery, intrigue

Post Gazette: "Theatergoers planning to attend City Theatre's 10th annual Young Playwrights Festival this week are in for a real treat.
The six winning plays in City Theatre's 2009 Young Playwrights Contest will be featured in the festival."

Zombies, Wilson bookend Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre's season

Post Gazette: "Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre's seventh season bookends a zombie-themed story by North Hills native Scott T. Barsotti with August Wilson's 'Jitney,' part of the company's mission to produce plays in Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle in the order in which they appeared on Broadway."

Kidd Pivot explores ephemeral nature of dance in 'Action'

Post Gazette: "What happens to a dance when it's over?
Does it vanish, never to exist again?
What if, like a painting, a dance could live on forever?
These are questions raised in 'Lost Action,' a piece by Vancouver-based dance troupe Kidd Pivot, which makes its Pittsburgh premiere Saturday at the Byham Theater, Downtown, opening the Pittsburgh Dance Council's season."

The Next Hot Youth-Magnet Cities

WSJ.com: "If you were a recent college graduate in a recovering economy launching a career, looking for a mate or both, where would you choose to live?
Predicting cities that will emerge as post-recession meccas for the young is easy to argue about, but impossible to forecast empirically. Whether you prefer hip, casual Austin, Texas, over the cosmopolitan allure of New York City is partly a matter of personal taste. Still, we asked six experts which 10 cities will emerge as the hottest, hippest destinations for highly mobile, educated workers in their 20s when the U.S. economy gets moving again."

Light Plot Deconstructed Contest

iSquint | Entertainment Lighting News & Review: "During the month of October, iSquint.net and JimOnLight.com will be running a very special contest together. Rather then butting heads trying to out do each other with this contest, we decided to work together and give you, the value reader more chances to win."

Where is the Industry Heading: An Interview with Cat West

iSquint | Entertainment Lighting News & Review: "In our continuing column, Where is the Industry Heading we sat down with Cat West. Cat toughs herself more of a console programmer rather then a designer but from time to time finds her herself designing lights in the fly. Cat has worked in the entertainment industry for over 10 years working as a wholehog specialist for High End Systems for 4 years."