How to Get Noticed – and Get Hired!

Freelanceswitch.com: "If you want to get hired, you have to position yourself. When you clearly communicate what makes you different, you make it easier to get noticed by your prospects."

The Not-Do List: 9 Things You Need To Stop Doing

Lifehack.org: "We’ve all familiar with creating a to-do list to increase our productivity. Another list which can jumpstart our productivity is the not-do list – things we shouldn’t do. By being conscious of what to avoid, it’ll automatically channel our energy into things that we want to do. Doing both hand in hand will maximize our performance."

Blank-Firing Guns

Props.eric-hart.com: "On October 2, 2010, David Birrell was appearing in Stephen Sondheim’s Passion at the Donmar Warehouse in London. During a performance, one of the blank-firing guns used apparently had a problem, and Birell sustained an injury to his right eye. He may lose his sight in it."

Model Builder

Americantheatrewing.org: "Model Builder Steven Kemp explains how a model is the main communication tool in visualizing and building a show’s set. Kemp works with scenic designer David Gallo in turning his design sketches into perfectly scaled models. Kemp highlights the advantages of a physical three-dimensional model as well as a digital model easily viewed by computer."

Full Cast Announced For 'Every Tongue Confess'

Backstage.com: "The full cast has been unveiled for the world premiere of Marcus Gardley's "every tongue confess," in an announcement from Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater."

Nominees Announced for 2010 Ovation Awards

Backstage.com: "The 2010 L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Award nominees were announced last night at The Autry National Center for the American West in Griffith Park. Several winners of last year's Ovation Awards, including Jake Broder and Vanessa Claire Smith, presented the 2010 nominations."

Les Misérables in Concert – The 25th Anniversary Event to Be Screened In U.S. Cinemas

Playbill.com: "The 25th anniversary concert of Les Miserables, which was presented at London's O2 Arena Oct. 3, will be screened on movie theatres around the United States Nov. 17. Presented by NCM Fathom, Omniverse Vision and Cameron Mackintosh, in association with The Broadway League and Nederlander/First, Les Misérables in Concert – The 25th Anniversary Event will be broadcast to nearly 500 select U.S. theatres.

Homeless Tonys in Search of Space for Awards Show

Backstage.com: "NEW YORK – We know where next year's Grammy Awards will be held — at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Academy Awards? They'll be at their permanent home in the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. And the Golden Globes are telecast every year at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. What about the Tonys? To be determined — they're currently homeless.

Labyrinth and Elephant team up

Variety.com: "New York-based Labyrinth Theater Company, the troupe co-founded by Philip Seymour Hoffman, has struck up a cross-country partnership with L.A.'s Elephant Theater Company, kicking off with two productions that will play in repertory in L.A. later this fall.

Dance Review: Ulbricht, NYC Ballet thrilling at Byham

Post-Gazette.com: "A bit of Lincoln Center came to Byham Theater when a handful of New York City Ballet dancers staged a sampling of balletic works in "Daniel Ulbricht & Friends: A Dance Spectacular."

Little Lake brings back 'Secret Garden'

Pittsburghlive.com: "Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden" blooms again at Little Lake Theatre. The musical of this much-loved children's classic is playing through Oct. 31 as part of the theater company's fall family matinee series.

Pinocchio The Italian Musical Makes Manhattan Debut Oct. 19

Playbill.com: "Compagnia della Rancia in collaboration with Productions LLC and Laura Rossi present the American premiere of Pinocchio The Italian Musical beginning Oct. 19 at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College.

To Hear Shakespeare, Perchance to Dream of Him

NYTimes.com: "No dagger in sight, the spare, streamlined “Radio Macbeth” begins with a golden spotlight on a bald man in suspenders who sounds like the famous murderer but isn’t him, exactly. Stephen Duff Webber plays an actor performing Macbeth in a radio drama from the 1930s.

Blackface and Bigotry, Finely Tuned

NYTimes.com: "Has there ever been a new Broadway musical facing a more daunting checklist of challenges than “The Scottsboro Boys,” which dares to set an infamous 1930s Alabama rape trial to music?

'Billy Elliot' is closing early in Chicago

Chicagotribune.com: "The premature exit is a blow to Broadway in Chicago's long-running campaign to establish Chicago as a city that can support extended runs.

The Good vs. Best Project Managers: What Differentiates the Two

PM Hut: "Good project managers are good because they stay within the boundary, encircling the borders of the project to ensure everything is done properly and on time, and they never break the contract – instead, they follow it exactly as promised. But the best project managers don’t care about the constraints of the boundary.

Stage Review: The Rep's 'La Ronde' proves a bit too tame

Post Gazette: "Some plays can be more interesting for their shocking past than their diminished present.
Such is 'La Ronde,' a darkly comic dramatization of erotic serial encounters in 1900 Vienna by Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931). It's a daisy chain of seduction in which a Prostitute sleeps with a Soldier, who then sleeps with a Housemaid, who sleeps with a Young Gentleman, and so on, until in the 10th scene a dissolute Count completes the circle with the Prostitute.

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre stages 'Three Musketeers'

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Artists may sometimes start with a blank sheet of paper, but often past experiences become seeds that latter blossom on stage.
When Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's artistic director Terrence S. Orr saw Andre Prokovsky's ballet 'The Three Musketeers,' he enjoyed it without ever thinking that someday he would be doing it.

VIDEO: Behind-the-Scenes With 'Secretariat's' Costume Designer

The Hollywood Reporter: "Costume designer Julie Weiss sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss how she made Diane Lane look equine-chic in Disney's 'Secretariat.'

MAC Announces Winners of Wallowitch and Burman Songwriting Awards

Playbill.com: "Composer-lyricist Joe Iconis, lyricist Kenneth Jones and composer Gerald Stockstill were honored with 2010 songwriting awards from MAC, the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs.

Lisa Kron’s Inspiration for ‘In the Wake’

NYTimes.com: "UNLIKE most playwrights, who get to hide in the back of the theater on opening night — if not in a bar around the corner — Lisa Kron has spent most of her career performing in her own plays, which have frequently been autobiographical, including “2.5 Minute Ride,” about her father, and “Well,” about her perpetually unwell but nonetheless redoubtable mother, which had a Broadway run in 2006.

Kander and Ebb’s ‘Scottsboro Boys’ on Broadway

NYTimes.com: "NO star actors. (Check.) A complex cast of characters. (Check.) A plot based on a low moment in American history. (Check.) Songs that satirize racism, anti-Semitism, and execution by electric chair. (Check.) And all told by resurrecting one of theater’s most controversial storytelling devices, the minstrel show. (Check.)

Keep your focus focused.

Backstage at BackstageJobs.com: "Proper planning and running of a focus can mean the difference between a long day or a short day; a happy designer or an annoyed designer; coming in under or over budget; and a happy or pissed off crew. Focus can set the tone (of the lighting crew and designer) for the entire tech process.

AutoCAD for Mac UI Reference

Between the Lines: "With AutoCAD for Mac just launched for the Mac one thing people ask is what are the parts of the UI (User Interface) named. I created a quick graphic so everyone can refer to the proper terms.

'The Hobbit' movies ready to go, pending labor resolution

Los Angeles Times: "Following a multitude of delays, Warner Bros. and co-financing partner Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. have agreed to start production in February on the two films that serve as a prequel to the blockbuster 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, people familiar with the situation said.

New Web Series Teaches the Business of Acting

Backstage: "To succeed as an actor, you need to run your career as a business, and a new website, YourActorMBA.com, aims to teach actors how—through an 11-week Web series.

Equity Names New Executive Director

Backstage: "Mary McColl has been named the new executive director of Actors' Equity Association. McColl comes to the stage actors' union from the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts in Minneapolis, where she was executive director.

It Doesn't Get Much Gnarlier Than a Bullet-Time Surfing Video Shot With 52 Cameras

Gizmodo: "After ten years of bullet-time, you'd think the effect would be completely played out. But you haven't seen crazy surfing shot in bullet-time with 52 Canon Rebel T2is.

Shubert Foundation Awards 18M+ in Grants in 2010

Broadway World: "At a time when good news for performing arts organizations in search of funding has become all too rare, The Shubert Foundation announces a record $18,215,000 in grants to support operations of a record 450 nonprofit organizations throughout the U.S. in 2010. In conjunction with the announcement, The Foundation has just published the annual report that details its gifts for the year.

Granholm: Goal of film tax credit is jobs, not more revenue

Detroit Free Press: "Michigan’s generous tax credit for filmmakers was not intended to increase state revenue, but rather to build a film “ecosystem” to create jobs, keep young people and promote the state’s image, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said today.

Ethical Questions Raised Over Book Given To Council Members

Madison News Story - WISC Madison: "As a rule, council members can't receive anything of value. But the local stagehands union that purchased the books for the entire council and members of the Overture ad hoc committee said the books aren't a gift, but a loan. They said the books are to be returned to the union. They will then be donated to the Madison libraries or other libraries if there is no need for so many copies.

Earth Tones: Ethereal Meets Pop For Rihanna’s Last Girl On Earth Tour

Live Design: "While 2009 was perhaps a year not-to-be fondly remembered for pop star Rihanna—having pressed charges against then boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, for (allegedly) abusing her—2010 saw her set out on her Last Girl On Earth tour in support of Rated R and under the watchful creative eye of show director and choreographer Jamie King.

Performer Responsibility, H&S, Liability & Insurance

Ministry Of Burlesque: "In the past few weeks, it has greatly concerned me to hear of injuries sustained by performers/stage hands during events produced under the 'burlesque' banner. I feel it's pretty important (whilst probably patronising) to point out that burlesque shows, regardless of fee, venue, level of experience and sincerity should ALL be safe places to work in. That they do have a responsibility under H&S legislation as places of work and are entering very murky legal ground if they don't uphold this.

What a Play!

Carnegie Mellon University: "Steeler Nation has a new way to keep in touch with every nailbiting drive, every stat, in real-time. Pittsburgh Steelers fans around the world can get drive-by-drive stats, box scores, standings, player statistics, Steelers news, Steelers video-on-demand content, Steelers-related tweets — straight to their iPhones, Android devices and Blackberry devices. In addition, fans in the club seats and suites can download the Steelers Gameday PLUS app to their WiFi-enabled smartphones and use it to watch the plays from unique camera angles across the stadium.

Pittsburgh Tri-Union Talent Fair Scheduled For January 22, 2011

Actors Equity.org: "The combined performers unions in the Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia region are happy to announce that they will be sponsoring an All Day Talent Fair in Pittsburgh for members of AEA, AFTRA and SAG.

The date is Saturday, January 22, 2011, from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM at the Steelworkers Building, Stanwix Street and Boulevard of the Allies, just off Route 376.

There will be workshops on:

• Auditioning

• On camera acting

• Marketing yourself on the internet

• Informational session for EMCs and new Equity members

• Know Your Contracts" session for the AEA, SAG and AFTRA contracts used most often locally

Our special guest will be AEA Secretary-Treasurer Sandra Karas, who will do a workshop on taxes and record keeping for members of performing unions - you've read her tax column in Equity News !

Humor revitalizes 'Barber of Seville'

TribLive.com: "The hilarious new production of "The Barber of Seville" that Pittsburgh Opera unfurled Saturday night brings fresh life to one of opera's longest-standing hits..."

Link:

‘Show Boat’ Delights Parisians With Lovers, Gamblers, Tunes

Bloomberg.com: "After more than 80 years, “Show Boat,” the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein masterpiece, has finally docked in Paris. It was worth the wait. Actually, the musical was produced in 1929, two years after the Broadway premiere, at the very same Theatre du Chatelet in French under the title “Mississipi” -- with one P only. This is the first Paris production in English. That it comes from South Africa makes it doubly interesting. Racial discrimination, an issue tackled head-on by the musical, was very much on the minds of the first-nighters at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York. And so it was at the Cape Town Opera, where it was first performed in 2005."

La Ronde

Pittsburgh City Paper: "Heidi Klum excepted, Germans aren't known for their sex appeal. Austrians, even less. And Austrians in 1900? Perish the thought. What proper Viennese would risk scandal and social ostracism for a little heavy petting?

Seymour Heller Award Winners Announced

Backstage.com: "The Talent Managers Association held its ninth annual Seymour Heller Awards on Oct. 5 at the Sheraton Hotel in Universal City, Calif. The awards recognize individuals who have demonstrated excellence in talent management.
The Seymour Heller Award was created in 2002 and is named for one of the founders of the National Conference of Personal Managers, the first coast-to-coast personal management firm, which represented performers such as Liberace and Glenn Miller."

CMU Receives Andy Warhol Foundation Grant To Research Contemporary Artists Working at the Intersection of Art, Science and Technology

CMU.edu: "PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's STUDIO for Creative Inquiry and the Miller Gallery at CMU have received a grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to support a curatorial fellowship for Andrea Grover, who will research contemporary artists working at the intersection of art, science and technology.

Grover, founder and former director of Aurora Picture Show in Houston, Texas, has long been interested in artists who work across disciplines. She curated "29 Chains to the Moon: Artists' Schemes for a Fantastic Future," an exhibition at CMU's Miller Gallery that highlighted the visions of artists, scientists and designers imagining life in our present and future world."

'Great Gatsby' Onstage, With A White-Collar Twist

NPR.org: "Since its publication in 1925, F. Scott's Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby has captured the American imagination. The flamboyant story has been adapted for film, stage, television and even opera. But one ambitious New York theater company has decided to put every word of the novel onstage in a 6 1/2-hour adaptation that's been getting rave reviews.

The Public Theater's Gatz opens with a man in a blue shirt walking out onto a set that doesn't even vaguely evoke F. Scott Fitzgerald’s jazz age. It's the drabbest office imaginable: gray walls, beat-up furniture, a manual typewriter, an ancient computer.

The man tries several times to boot up that computer, all unsuccessful. Then, with a shrug, he pulls out a paperback copy of The Great Gatsby, and starts reading — aloud.

And for the next 6 1/2 hours — plus two intermissions and a dinner break — the audience is transported into the world of The Great Gatsby as the workers of this mysterious onstage office bring the novel to vivid life and, somehow, that guy in the blue shirt becomes Nick Carraway, Fitzgerald’s narrator, and the friend and confidant to self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby."

Artistic risk in a down economy ... Why bother?

DenverPost.com: "Safety sells. It's true in a down economy, and ... it's true in an up economy, too.

New plays, on the other hand, are the toughest to traffic of all. They're expensive. It costs the Denver Center Theatre Company about one-third more to produce a new play than an existing one. And audiences often just don't take to them. Last year, when The Denver Post asked readers to rank the company's 10-play season, the three original works on the list ranked last. And yet, staging new works steadfastly remains the company's core mission."

Dear Mr. New Mayor, whoever you are ... An open letter about theater and the arts in Chicago

Chicago Tribune.com: "First, Mr. New Mayor, do no harm. Mayor Richard M. Daley took the heat for the creation of the downtown theater district, which now hums with life. Along with Millennium Park, it is one of Daley’s signature achievements and a crucial part of the Loop’s renewal. Aside from reinvigorating downtown, Daley also ensured that theater is a part of the Michigan Avenue mix. And with only a few exceptions, he was an indefatigable support of theater in the neighborhoods. But all of that will require maintenance from his successor. Of two distinct kinds."

Too bad: Kydd’s back onstage

The Star.com: "he average vanity production consists of a performer footing the bill so that we can get a chance to share his or her talents, however imaginary they might prove to be. In SoulSeek, which opened Thursday night at the Walmer Theatre Centre, Zorana Kydd goes even further: she puts on an incredibly elaborate production to share not only her dubious talent but her tawdry life."

150 Years Of Afghan History In One Theater Marathon

NPR.org: "A tiny London theater company has taken on an enormous project – to tell the story of Western involvement in Afghanistan over the last 150 years in an all-day marathon of 12 one-act plays. The Great Game: Afghanistan was a hit in Britain and has just opened a U.S. tour at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C."

He Who Gets Slapped

Pittsburgh City Paper: "There's really nothing cheerful about Leonid Andreyev's He Who Gets Slapped, but the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama production is so much fun to watch and listen to. Director Tony McKay (associate professor of acting) blends the sordid with spectacle in this 1915 Russian tragedy set in a "threadbare circus," a perfect arena for the unusual skills fostered in CMU dramats.

Getting and Keeping Health Insurance

Actors Equity.org: "The Health Insurance Resource Center at The Actors Fund of America hosts a weekly workshop on "Getting and Keeping Health Insurance." The program is held every Thursday from 12:30 - 1:30 pm at The Actors Fund, 729 Seventh Avenue, New York. Led by Jim Brown, Director of Health Services, and Renata Marinaro, Manager of Health Education and Outreach, the workshop features information on obtaining and keeping health insurance as well as finding free and income-based health care for those who are uninsured. The workshops are open to all members of the performing arts and entertainment community."

6th Annual Onyx Awards

The Pittsburgh Courier.com: "The African American Council of the Arts 6th Annual Onyx Awards is a multi-faceted, educational arts organization dedicated to promoting the arts as a tool of enlightenment, personal development and tolerance for minorities and the disadvantaged through education, training, literature research, dissemination of information, job opportunities, the Onyx Awards and incentives. "

Romantic ‘Puss in Boots’ Lets Puppet Bunnies Live: John Simon

Bloomberg.com: "That desperate fairytale feline who uses trickery and persuasion to get rich and marry off his poor master to a princess, is the hero of “El gato con botas,” now at New York’s New Victory Theater. Composed by Xavier Montsalvatge, an undeservedly little- known Catalan, it’s been given an exquisite production involving the combined efforts of Gotham Chamber Opera,Tectonic Theater Project and Britain’s Blind Summit Theatre."

National Theatre productions can be seen on Western Washington screens

SeattleTimes.com: "For Seattle drama buffs longing to see high-definition, internationally aired broadcasts from London's esteemed National Theatre this season, there is jolly good news. No Seattle venue screened last season's series. But this time, bravo to the Seattle International Film Festival for stepping up, and showing us the work of some of the finest stage actors and directors in the English-speaking world."

Remaking the 'Merry Wives' for the Broad

ArtsJournal.com: "For many people who go to see productions of William Shakespeare's plays at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, the play on view is often of less consequence than the experience of being at the venue itself.

The structure was conceived as a replica of the Globe Theatre on London's South Bank where the Bard's own troupe of players performed in the early 1600s. Located only a few hundred feet from the site of the original Globe, the nest-like circular auditorium with its thatched roof open to the sky, pillar-supported musicians' gallery and standing area for groundlings surrounded by enclosed seating balconies for the more deep-pocketed patrons provides a unique way of experiencing the works of Shakespeare."

Second Stages Take Center Stage

Variety.com: "

Pick one of Gotham's major nonprofit theaters and you'll likely find a second-stage program devoted to presenting smaller-scale productions by emerging artists. None of these make any money...

The Problem With Shakespeare's Globe Productions on Tour

ArtsJournal.com: "Remounting productions conceived for the Globe on other stages - especially the outsize auditoriums that it has often played in the United States - presents significant challenges for both artists and presenters." Making the actors audible is one problem; another is that "the particularities of the Globe's stage design don't easily translate to other venue."

Video podcast: Oskar Eustis speaks in Colorado Springs

DenverPost.com: "John Moore takes you to TheatreWorks in Colorado Springs, where Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theatre in New York, spoke on the state of the American theater today. Among the topics: The making of "Angels in America," the state of criticism, Eustis' goal of making all theater free, and the crisis of black leadership in the American theater."

City Theatre's challenging '39 Steps' production takes teamwork and precision

Pittsburgh Tribune Review: "Actors Sam Redford and Rebecca Harris were already virtually attached in a real life relationship when City Theatre artistic director Tracy Brigden cast them in "The 39 Steps." They now find themselves physically linked -- handcuffed together -- in their onstage roles as Richard Hannay and Pamela in this comedic, fast-paced thriller that opens City Theatre's 2010-11 season."

Today in Theatre History: OCTOBER 10

Playbill.com: "1730 Birthday of Oliver Goldsmith, British author of She Stoops to Conquer. 1900 One of the most famous of all stage performers, Helen Hayes, is born (as Helen Hayes Brown) today. She will make her stage debut at age five and star in such Broadway hits as To The Ladies, Victoria Regina and Mary of Scotland. Click here to read more history."

A Horse Overhead

The New York Times.com: "The Broadway musical “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” blends a rock score with a mini-history lesson about America’s seventh president. During a tour of the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, where the show opens this week, three members of the show’s creative team — Donyale Werle, set designer; Kenneth Grady Barker, lead sculptor; and Justin Townsend, lighting designer — narrated a look at some details of the set."

Can Salle Wilfrid Pelletier make a post-MSO comeback?

ArtsJournal.com: "This is not a bad day to discuss the concert facility on everybody's mind: Salle Wilfrid Pelletier. Oops. Make that the last concert facility on anybody's mind. The new MSO hall, which in less than a year renders SWP virtually extinct as a vessel for classical music, is obviously the room with the zoom. This week, Kent Nagano and the MSO unveiled their first season in the new hall, about six months before the usual timing of such announcements. It is easy to forget that all those MSO dates create parallel periods of darkness in the place the MSO has called home since 1963."

WGAE Responds to FCC Request

Backstage.com: "The Writers Guild of America East responded today to the Federal Communications Commission's request for comment on the "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Matter of Preserving the Open Internet."On Sep. 2, the FCC placed an open call for statements on how it should apply the Internet openness guidelines towards specialized services and mobile broadband."

GK Films nabs film rights to 'Jersey Boys'

Variety.com: "Graham King and Tim Headingtons' GK Films is mounting a bigscreen adaptation of hit Broadway musical "Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Vallie & The Four Seasons." Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, who wrote the book for the musical, will pen the screenplay."

Disney Theatrical shutters West Coast office

Variety.com: "Disney Theatrical Group has shuttered its Glendale office, with 11 jobs eliminated of the 14 that were based in the West Coast outpost, according to Disney."

Penguins drop puck on new era of hockey in new arena

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.com: "Talk about a christening. When the lights came on for the official grand opening of hockey at the new home of the Penguins, Mario Lemieux appeared at center ice with a ceremonial bottle filled with melted ice from the Mellon Arena."

Barber of Seville' kicks off Pittsburgh Opera season
Pittsburgh Live.com: "Opera director Scott Parry says he doesn't actually do anything. It's hyperbole, of course, even though he won't be seen or heard by the audiences at Pittsburgh Opera's upcoming production of "The Barber of Seville" until after the show is over, at final curtain bows."

Theatre Talkback: From Seat to Stage
NYTimes.com: "To be sure,” begins a frantically comforting passage in a press release for“Hotel Savoy,” the new show from P.S. 122 at the Goethe-Institut, “this is not a performance predicated on traditional audience participation. There is no pressure for visitors to perform, there is no stage to be thrust upon.”

Stage Technologies Provides Control and Engineering System for Dragone's The House of Dancing Water

Lightingandsoundamerica.com: "Sharks puppeteered by scuba divers, heart-stopping high dives, motorcycle stunts symbolizing time travel, pagodas and boats that emerge from submarine theatre "wings" and 77 performance artists from 18 countries around the world;

MCC Theater Plots Revenge for ‘Carrie’

ArtsJournal.com: "Hide the pigs, cancel the prom and dust off your anecdotes about one of Broadway’s most notorious flops. The musical “Carrie” is looking for sweet revenge on the New York stage.

WTC Arts Center Gets Funding Boost

ArtsJournal.com: "The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is poised to allocate at least $100 million in Federal funds to a future performing arts center at the World Trade Center site. On Wednesday, a committee of the LMDC recommended that the new arts venue receive a portion of

Will Paramount Be Liable for a 'Transformers 3' Stunt Gone Bad?

Backstage.com: "The "Transformers 3" extra who suffered brain damage in a botched stunt on location in Indiana has now sued Paramount Pictures for negligence. Is the studio responsible for what was clearly a terrible accident?

AFTRA Member Accused of Running SAGWatch
Backstage.com: "SAGWatch is in the crosshairs.The anonymously run website, which has long been an aggregator of news about SAG, AFTRA and other Hollywood unions, has also long come under fire by some members of SAG's MembershipFirst faction, who criticize the site for its pro-merger and anti-MembershipFirst stance.

Denise Summerford, Tommar Wilson and More Are In Transit, Opening Oct. 5 Off-Broadway

Playbill.com: "The Primary Stages production of the new a cappella musical In Transit, in which seven actors play a multitude of roles, officially opens Oct. 5 following previews that began Sept. 21 at 59E59 Theaters.

Presidential seal falls off lectern during Obama speech

Washington Post: "The presidential seal falls off President Obama's lectern and clatters to the stage as Obama delivers a speech to a women's conference. 'All of you know who I am,' the president quipped.

Manager Greg Quinlan to leave City Theatre

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "After five years as managing director at City Theatre, Greg Quinlan will be leave the position later this month.
Mark Power, a marketing consultant who served as managing director at Pittsburgh Public Theater from March 2006 until July 2007, will succeed Quinlan on an interim basis while City Theatre undertakes a formal search to fill the position.

Connection with audiences surprised 'Always' actors

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Mountain Playhouse will close its season with the songs and stories of Patsy Cline in 'Always ... Patsy Cline,' the theater's most popular show in the last 20 years.
The show centers around the true story of Houston housewife Louise Seger, who was a huge fan of Cline's. When Seger met the famous performer on one of Cline's tours in 1961, the two became pen pals and ultimately, very close friends.

Sister Act The Musical Will Open at the Broadway Theatre in April 2011

Playbill.com: "Based on the 1992 film of the same title, Sister Act The Musical will begin previews March 24, 2011. The musical is currently in its second year at London's Palladium Theatre, where it will conclude Oct. 30. Whoopi Goldberg and Stage Entertainment produce the musical.

Apollo 13: Mission Control, an interactive theatrical event

Boing Boing: "The Imaginary Foundation blog points us to Apollo 13: Mission Control, an interactive performance where an entire theater is transformed into NASA's mission control room during the historic, nail-biting 1970 flight that the space agency deemed 'a successful failure.' If you're in Nelson, New Zealand, you can catch the performance later this month during the Nelson Arts Festival.

Debit cards replacing credit cards on college campuses

Washington Post: "This is not a credit card offer. Instead, it is a new type of plastic that allows students to easily access money from their college loans everywhere from the bookstore to the bar with the swipe of a card. These cards, however, are not subject to the sweeping reforms that took effect this year and sought to curtail similar relationships between colleges and credit card issuers. Meanwhile, students complain that the loan cards are riddled with high fees, and they have organized protests at several campuses.

Aristotle didn't know anything about theatre

guardian.co.uk: "I have a problem with Aristotle. Not the Aristotle who pondered being, politics, or ethics, but the Aristotle who, in the wake of Greek tragedy, tried to nail what made those great plays so great. His Poetics is a fragment of preserved lecture notes, part of a wider riposte to Plato's attack on the poets (perhaps it should be pinged over to Jeremy Hunt pretty damn quick). But it's less the real-life Greek I'm bothered about; it's what we continue to make of him.

Enter theatre women: stages left, right and centre

The Australian: "A year after theatre-makers complained about the dearth of opportunities for female directors in the nation's major theatre companies, the trend has been thoroughly reversed.
Actors turned directors Robyn Nevin, Pamela Rabe, Jennifer Flowers and Rachael Maza Long will direct on Sydney and Melbourne stages next year. And more than half a dozen others will make their mainstage debuts.

Barrymore Award Winners Announced

Backstage: "The 16th annual Barrymore Awards, which recognize excellence in Philadelphia-area theater, were presented Monday at the city's Walnut Street Theatre by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia.

Drama students take us to the circus

The Tartan Online: "This past weekend, the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama staged its opening production of Leonid Andreyev’s He Who Gets Slapped, a Russian screenplay that was published in English in 1922 and made into a film directed by Victor Sjöström in 1924.

Stage preview: Public's 'Family' pokes fun at celebrity

Post Gazette: "Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman were old Broadway hands when their collaboration, 'The Royal Family,' opened in New York Dec. 28, 1927.
The previous night Ferber watched the musical version of her novel, 'Show Boat,' open to great acclaim while Kaufman managed to be both the drama editor of The New York Times and the co-author of a handful of plays written previously with fellow Western Pennsylvanian, Marc Connelly.

Pittsburgh Public Theater kicks off season with Kaufman classic 'Royal Family

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "For producing artistic director Ted Pappas, beginning his second decade as head of the Pittsburgh Public Theater is a cause for celebration.
To do that, he's launching the company's 36th season with a production of George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's comedy 'The Royal Family,' that began Thursday and continues through Oct. 31 at the O'Reilly Theater, Downtown.

New Olde Bank Theatre sets a trap for its audience

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Freeport native Sean O'Donnell is well aware that his New Olde Bank Theatre has a reputation for presenting 'left of center' productions.
The 21 plays the community theater has staged since opening in 2008 in Verona reflect that label, says the artistic director and co-founder. 'We are proudly less conventional than most local theaters, often staging plays many theaters would not even consider producing,' he says.

Review: Pascal Rioult's choreography blends with classics

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Pascal Rioult's choreography deftly blends music with movement in a way that strengthens understanding of both genres. Friday's program at the Byham Theater, Downtown, offered three pieces set to three of classical music's biggies -- Bach, Stravinsky and Ravel.

Why is there no Tony Award for Props?

Props: "Imagine The Phantom of the Opera without the chandelier, the organ, the boats, or the mirror. Imagine Les Misérables without guns or the breakaway chair. Imagine other shows without the props. These are all shows that have won Tony Awards for their Set Designs. But what would they be without the props?

LilyPad microcontroller's success in welcoming women to electronics

Boing Boing: "MIT's Leah Buechley and Benjamin Mako Hill recently published a paper called LilyPad in the Wild: How Hardwareʼs Long Tail is Supporting New Engineering and Design Communities, about the success of the LilyPad microcontroller in attracting women to electronics projects. LilyPad is derived from the Arduino open processor, but was 'specifically designed to be more useful than other microcontroller platforms (like normal Arduino) in the context of crafting practices like textiles or painting.'

Artistic risk in a down economy ... Why bother?

The Denver Post: "Safety sells. It's true in a down economy, and ... it's true in an up economy, too.
New plays, on the other hand, are the toughest to traffic of all. They're expensive. It costs the Denver Center Theatre Company about one-third more to produce a new play than an existing one. And audiences often just don't take to them. Last year, when The Denver Post asked readers to rank the company's 10-play season, the three original works on the list ranked last. And yet, staging new works steadfastly remains the company's core mission.

Alley Theatre celebrates another season in the black

Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "The Alley Theatre finished its 2009-10 season in the black, with an operating surplus of about $300,000 from its budget of $13.5 million.
It's the fourth consecutive year without a deficit for Houston's largest resident theater company. That's good news at a time when many arts organizations across the nation are suffering negative effects of the sluggish economy.

"He Who Gets Slapped" Opens October 1st in the Chosky Theater - CMU Drama School Blog

CMU Drama School Blog - post-gazette.com: "Associate Professor of Acting, Tony McKay, directs 'He Who Gets Slapped' by Russian revolutionary writer Leonid Andreyev. 'He Who Gets Slapped' will play in the Philip Chosky Theater September 30 - October 9. The play focuses on the betrayals and defeats of Paul Beaumont, a radical scientist, who, from years of embarrassment and deceit, becomes a clown whose act consists of him getting slapped every evening by other clowns.

Disney lab relocates at CMU

Post Gazette: "The Walt Disney Co. will fill office space on Carnegie Mellon's campus that has been vacant since Google announced plans to expand to Bakery Square in Larimer.
The 20,000-square-feet of basement space at CMU's Collaborative Innovation Center places the Burbank, Calif.-based film and animation company in a building already home to Apple's Pittsburgh office and an Intel Research Lab.

'Yo Gabba Gabba Live!' Muno and crew jammed

Post Gazette: "Late Thursday afternoon, while the Downtown crowd was rushing home from work, a surreal scene was taking place inside the Benedum Center.
Rapper Biz Markie, emo band Saves the Day and a giant one-eyed pickle-like creature were playing a show for a bunch of jumpy preschool kids and parents who actually wanted to be there.

Works by three North Hills students are among productions being done by City Theatre

Post Gazette: "When the lights come up at City Theatre after performances this weekend, the playwrights may look a little young. That's because they are.
Six young people from Western Pennsylvania were the winners in the 2010 Young Playwrights Contest for students in middle and high school. Three of them are from schools in the North Hills. Their plays, and those of the other winners, will be performed in the 11th annual Young Playwrights Festival at City Theatre's Lester Hamburg Studio Stage.

Review: 'Triple Espresso' invigorates with shot of genial comedy

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Things are perking up at the CLO Cabaret, where 'Triple Espresso' is playing through Jan. 9.
Coyly subtitled 'a highly caffeinated comedy,' it's the tale of three misguided and moderately talented guys who refuse to allow a lack of success to stop them from pursuing show-business careers.

'Independence' examines life in a dysfunctional family

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "A challenging play that digs deep into the emotions of a dysfunctional family is the season-opening production for Seton Hill University Theatre. 'Independence' by Lee Blessing focuses on the struggles of three sisters to deal with their mother's mental illness while facing their own personal problems.

Moisés Kaufman Directs ‘Puss in Boots’ Opera

NYTimes.com: "Moisés Kaufman has wrestled with the trials of Oscar Wilde and the murder of Matthew Shepard. He’s grappled with Beethoven and Jane Fonda, both in the same play (“33 Variations”).
Now this 46-year-old playwright and director is playing with puppets: fish, fowl, an ogre, rabbits, a cat. And they’re singing.

In The Wings - Production Manager - October, 2010

American Theatre Wing: "Production Manager Ruth Sternberg is the primary facilitator in executing a stage production within its given financial parameters. She discusses with the director and designers what they want to achieve and provides staffing and resources for each play. After 10 years at Trinity Rep with Oskar Eustis, they both moved to the Public Theater where they work on 6 stages, Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater, and off-site productions such as Passing Strange, Hair, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and The Merchant of Venice on Broadway. Sternberg loves that her job always brings a new challenge, such as the one seen here for Kicking a Dead Horse.

AutoCAD WS Launch was BIG and a Special Message from Autodesk SVP Amar Hanspal

Between the Lines: "Yesterday September 30, 2010 Autodesk made an announcement and the formal launch of new products AutoCAD WS and AutoCAD WS Mobile for free. AutoCAD WS is the browser based CAD product in the cloud which offers many features such as DWG viewing, limited editing, file management, viewing, markup including the ability to work on the same drawing with multiple people at the same time.

WME dragged into Live Nation antitrust case

Hollywood Reporter: "Does the William Morris Endeavor talent agency hold the key to proving that Live Nation is guilty of an antitrust conspiracy?
One company thinks so.
My Ampitheater Inc., is asking a California judge to compel WME to turn over documents that it says may prove crucial to showing that Live Nation has been coercing musicians towards playing only certain concert venues.

New-Media Awards for Writers Announced

Backstage: "Two awards, for outstanding achievement in writing original new media and outstanding achievement in writing derivative new media, will be presented at the 2011 Writers Guild Awards on Feb. 5 in New York and Los Angeles.

Early curtains become more common

Variety: "Think curtain time is 8 p.m.? Better double-check your ticket, just to be sure.
A slew of Broadway shows are upping the number of evening perfs that begin at 7 or 7:30 p.m., rather than the traditional 8 -- and it's not just the family fare.