Robert Brustein Doesn’t Understand Consent: The Dangers of the White Male “Genius”

Bitter Gertrude: As a very young woman, I haunted thrift stores, which, in those days, were chock full of amazing finds. Thrift store book sections filled my library, and I would buy anything related to theatre and devour it to supplement the reading I was doing in my theatre classes. Eventually, a slow, sinking realization started creeping in at the edges as I read book after book by theatrical “geniuses,” all white men. I remember paging through Robert Brustein’s Theatre of Revolt thinking, He does not consider women people.

Mark Wahlberg Donates His $1.5 Million Reshoot Pay To Time's Up

www.thegrindstone.com: It’s well documented that Mark Wahlberg is kind of an asshole, but he’s taken a lot of steps within the last two decades to at least publicly correct that.

There was a public uproar when it was revealed that Wahlberg made 1,000 times more money for re-shoots of All The Money In The World than co-star (and multiple Oscar nominee) Michelle Williams did. However, that doesn’t necessarily make Wahlberg the bad guy here: Re-shoots were written into Williams’ original contract, not Wahlberg’s, which is a big reason why he charged such a hefty fee for his.

Wahlberg, in light of the public backlash against the pay disparity, donated the entire $1.5 million sum to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.

Five Shows with The Management Trust's Jake Gold

Amplify: The Management Trust’s Jake Gold can remember the exact day his career in music took off. Over 35 years ago, Gold’s passion for music led him to have many friends who were musicians and one asked him to be the manager of his band.

Iro3d 3D Prints in Powdered Metal

Hackaday: Printing with plastic and even resin is getting fairly common. Metal printing, though, is still in the realm of the exotic. A company called Iro3D is aiming to change that with a steel printer that you can buy in beta for about $5000. That seems steep when you can get plastic printers for under $200, but it is sheer bargain basement for something that can print in real metal.

New study reveals why some people are more creative than others

theconversation.com: Creativity is often defined as the ability to come up with new and useful ideas. Like intelligence, it can be considered a trait that everyone – not just creative “geniuses” like Picasso and Steve Jobs – possesses in some capacity.

It’s time to seriously address harassment and abuse

Protocol: DURING A RECENT City Arts and Lectures program, Tom Hanks was asked by interviewer Dave Eggers to comment on the sexual harassment and abuse cases coming to light in Hollywood. He launched into a well thought out and poignant observation about the current rash of accusations in Hollywood and elsewhere.

He pointed out that, in the workplace, those in charge assume (incorrectly) a certain privilege because of their status that they believe allows them to make the rules and to demand and expect that their requests, demands, and desires be obeyed. He admitted that this was not a new phenomena, but, while it may actually stem from some primordial male trait, it is inexcusable, not only in the workplace, but in civilization.

I have yet to meet a woman who can tell me that she has not experienced at least harassment, if not worse, at work. They get it not only from their bosses and others in positions of power, but from men they work with and strangers on the street. It is pervasive.

In The Studio: What's The Bit Rate?

ProSoundWeb: Whenever we deal with uncompressed audio formats such as WAV, AIFF or Red Book Audio, we talk about sample rates and bit depths. But when we talk about compressed formats such as MP3, AAC, or FLAC its bit rates.

Hypervsn Wall is the hologram of your dreams

www.cnet.com: It's like something straight out of Star Wars. This holographic effect display is wowing crowds at CES 2018.

Women jazz musicians are using #metoo and taking a stand against sexism

theconversation.com: Every year since 1986, the Les Victoires du Jazz Awards selects France’s best jazz musicians. In 2017 all the nominees in all categories were men. Two decades ago this would not have been a story, but today it stands out and shows that there is something off and obsolete about this old boys’ club. It may have also been the case that, 20 years ago, female jazz musicians may have been reluctant to kick up a fuss. Fortunately, not anymore.

New York Theater and Diversity, Latest AAPAC Report

New York Theater: Thanks to such shows as Hamilton, The Color Purple, and Allegiance, the 2015-2016 New York theater season was the most diverse on record.

That is the conclusion of the latest annual report from the Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC), Ethnic Representation on New York City Stages 2015-2016, which has been conducting such studies for ten years. AAPAC found that 35 percent of all roles on Broadway and in the 16 largest non-profit theater companies in New York City went to actors of color and disabled actors.

Dear NBC: Straightwashing is Not OK

The Mary Sue: There are so many important, interesting, inspiring stories within the LGBTQIA community. If only the producers and television executives telling those stories actually acknowledged where they came from. In the case of the upcoming NBC drama Rise, its protagonist, based on a real person, will be missing a key element of his identity. The person is gay, but the character will be straight.

Spotlight on Education: Cobalt Studios

Guild of Scenic Artists: Located in White Lake, New York two hours northwest of NYC, Cobalt Studios is situated on 28 acres of fields and woods. Having opened their doors more than 25 years ago, Cobalt Studios was founded by Rachel Keebler and Howard Jones, with the intent of training future scenics in the mold of the guilds from the Renaissance. For example, their Artist in Resident Program combines classroom projects, lectures and demos with real world job experience as apprentices on professional projects.

Watch Gal Gadot's Critics' Choice Awards Acceptance Speech

The Mary Sue: The Critics’ Choice Awards were held last night, and the event was full of great moments. To start, James Franco wasn’t there. Despite being nominated for Best Actor, he skipped the night for obvious reasons.

The focus on the entertainment industry’s sexual harassment problem didn’t end at the Golden Globes. (Although I do wonder if the stars onstage know the degree to which harassment plagues the critical community as well.)

Republicans’ tax attack on actors

NY Daily News: You can call me a multitasker; I’m a working actress, an accountant and also a tax attorney. My resume may sound a little unusual, but when April 15 hits, I will fit in with tens of millions of working Americans who have been hurt by sweeping changes in the tax code.

Hollywood Theater in Dormont sold to Pittsburgh-based Theatre Historical Society

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Pittsburgh-based Theatre Historical Society of America, whose mission is to keep the legacy of historic movie theaters alive, has entered into an agreement to purchase the Hollywood Theater in Dormont.

Understanding EVITA from an Indigenous Perspective

OnStage Blog: Ah, yes. White-washing and EVITA, two roaches that never seem to die.

Last Fall, when North Shore Musical Theatre in Massachusetts announced their production of EVITA, “controversy” (one of my least favourite buzzwords, because it clouds the validity of legitimate concerns) erupted over its lack of Latinx actors cast in any of the leading roles. When North Shore issued its statement that “race is not part of the narrative” as a response, I was legitimately floored. Everything in Latin America has to do with race, because everything in Latin America it is a direct result of colonialism, slavery and genocide. (This isn’t exclusive to Latin America, obviously). Race is irrevocable from any narrative set in the Americas, especially in Latin American countries where race and racial identification are class distinctions.

Truth And Lies

HuffPost: esterday, Eliza Dushku published her account of having been molested during the shooting of the movie “True Lies,” in which I played her mother. She had shared that story with me privately a few years ago. I was shocked and saddened then and still am today.

We have all started to awaken to the fact that the terrible abuses now commonplace in daily news reports have been going on for a very long time. Unconscionably, those reports frequently come along with claims by the perpetrators that, as adults, those perpetrated against had some part in it.

Eliza’s story has now awakened us from our denial slumber to a new, horrific reality. The abuse of children.

Production Notes: Duplication

Nevada Film Office: Duplication is a post-production process that involves making a copy of the film so that the original can be preserved while any other post-production effects can be applied to the copies. From open / closed captioning to frame rate conversion, transcoding, and more, duplication is an important part of the post-production process to prevent unnecessary wear and tear on the original film.

The Public Domain Starts Growing Again Next Year, and It’s About Time

Electronic Frontier Foundation: Have you ever wondered how it’s possible for there to be two Jungle Book movies to be in development at the same time? Why everything seems to be based on a work by Shakespeare? Or why it always seems like someone is telling a version of The Wizard of Oz? The answer is that these works are in the public domain, meaning that copyright law no longer prevents other artists from adapting them to create new works.

Cirque du Soleil picks up speed with new ice show

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Cirque du Soleil is always looking for new worlds to conquer. So, it was only natural that the entertainment giant that has offered everything from a Beatles-themed Las Vegas show to an “Avatar”-inspired extravaganza should take to the ice.

Cirque’s arena-sized spectacle is “Crystal,” a version of what we’ve come to expect from the Canadian company. Bringing together the acrobatic and skating worlds has added elements of speed and danger, even for a company that incorporates high-flying aerialists and BMX riders into performances.

Women's Voices Theater Festival: 2 months to see 24 plays by women

DC Theatre Scene: Beginning this month, the second Women’s Voices Theater Festival will highlight 24 plays (13 world premieres and 11 American or regional premieres) produced in the greater Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas over a two month period. Two local playwrights will bookend the festival. Caleen Sinnette Jennings’ Queens Girl in Africa opened at Mosaic Theater January 4th. Nu Sass’s production of Hope Villanueva’s The Veils, at Anacostia Arts Center, closes March 4th.

Baldwin-Whitehall teen produces musicals to benefit Make-a-Wish

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Baldwin High School junior Mikayla Davic still has one year remaining in her five-year effort to raise $50,000 before she graduates for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

But the 17-year-old is just about there.

That’s because, despite the frigid weather last weekend, a new attendance record was set at the fourth musical the teen has written, produced, directed and acted in since 2014.

James Franco's alleged inappropriate behavior is subject of LA Times report

Business Insider: On Thursday, the Los Angeles Times published a report detailing five accusations of "inappropriate or sexually exploitative behavior" against actor James Franco.

After Franco won a Golden Globe award for his performance in "The Disaster Artist" on Sunday night, he was criticized on social media for showing solidarity with victims of sexual misconduct by wearing a Time's Up pin. Franco was also accused of sexual misconduct himself by several women on Twitter.

“These are not natural events”: Ariel’s Technodramaturgy in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s The Tempest

HowlRound: In one of the weirder annals of theatre history, the playwright and notorious Shakespeare iconoclast Sir George Bernard Shaw was solicited in 1949 by the Malvern Marionette Theatre to write a ten-minute comedy for two of the company’s most eminent puppets—Shakespeare and Shaw himself. The result is the profoundly silly Shakes Versus Shav, wherein the puppet Bard and Bardolator engage in a battle of wits (and fists) over their respective theatrical legacies. Rest assured—it’s not his most incisive work.

Study finds that the number of women directors hasn’t really changed in 20 years

Salon.com: A new study confirms why Time's Up — a movement born in Hollywood — doesn't just have to help end sexual misconduct in the workplace or close the gender pay gap. There's also a strong need to make sure women are represented equally in leadership and decision-making roles in the entertainment industry as well.

New Year Rings in New ESTA Rigging Standard: Its Impact on Inspections

Wenger | J.R. Clancy: The U.S. entertainment industry reached a milestone in April 2017. The Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA) released its first ANSI-accredited industry standard for inspecting theatrical rigging, both manual and automated.

Moira Donegan, Creator of the "Sh*tty Media Men" List

The Mary Sue: First, there was the “Sh*tty Media Men” list, a Google spreadsheet where women in media could anonymously warn other women about abusive men in their industry. Cut to the spreadsheet going viral, becoming both lionized and demonized. Then, an upcoming Harper’s story by Katie Roiphe (who seems to believe that rape on college campuses is “exaggerated.”). Roiphe was rumored to know who created the list, and the Internet quickly and strongly advised her not to reveal the name, with good reason. However, rather than wait to be outed, the creator of the “Sh*tty Media Men” list has come forward herself.

At long last, open video formats are triumphing

Boing Boing: Apple was the last major holdout on proprietary video codecs, the only major industry player that hadn't signed onto the Alliance for Open Media, home of the AV1 video format, a successor to On2's groundbreaking open formats of the early web years, which led to the company's acquisition by Google in 2010.

How Nicole Kidman Learned to Speak Californian

www.vulture.com: Like any good and dedicated teacher, Liz Himelstein keeps detailed notes of her pupils’ strengths and particular challenges. In Himelstein’s notebooks, however, the pages log the progress of students like Nicole Kidman, Gary Oldman, Naomi Watts, David Oyelowo, Emma Watson, Colin Firth, and Oprah.

How a Bunch of Americans Preserved a Dying Chinese Tradition

The Theatre Times: Traditional Chinese shadow puppetry is one of the country’s most spectacular folk arts. Behind a large screen, backlit so that it’s translucently illuminated, handmade donkey-hide puppets dance across the stage, acting out a wide range of stories from China’s formidable canon of classics.

Fort Lauderdale to Host USITT 2018 in March

InPark Magazine: USITT’s 58th Annual Conference & Stage Expo is coming to Fort Lauderdale March 14-17, 2018, and with it, over 5,500 members of the technical production industry and lots of action to the Broward County Convention Center.

USITT 2018 will be the organization’s biggest event of the year and its biggest year yet. It will showcase the world of live entertainment design and technology with exhibitors of the latest technology for creating live shows, plus over 250 presentations, demonstrations, and celebrations of work by top artists in the field.

Playhouse on the Square Executive Producer Steps Down for Sexual Misconduct Investigation

www.broadwayworld.com: After being accused of sexual misconduct last month, founding and executive producer of Playhouse on the Square, Jackie Nichols, has stepped down from his position, pending the results of an ongoing investigation.

Quick Look at the Shaper Origin Handheld CNC!

Tested: We have the new Shaper Origin CNC machine in our workshop! This is a handheld CNC that uses computer vision to align itself to the material you're routing, like plywood or MDF. We take it for a spin with a simple test project to show you the basics of how it works and the quirks of its operation.

Casio's $50,000 Printer Can Turn Paper Into Faux Leather, Wood, and Alligator Skin

gizmodo.com: As a rule, we rarely post news about printers here on Gizmodo because, as a rule, they’re mind-numbingly boring. But Casio’s new Mofrel system does something truly innovative: it can add 3D textures to your printouts, turning flat paper into faux leather, stone, wood, and even simulate embossed stitched fabrics.

World's First Official "Saw" Movie Escape Room to Open in Las Vegas

Theme Park University: No matter how many times I bring up escape rooms, I keep hearing the same thing. “You know what would be really cool? If they have a “Saw” Escape Room based on the movie and you had to escape Jigsaw’s traps!” Well, friends, it looks like your prayers have been answered.

Golden Globes Shows Gender Parity Fight Starts With the Greenlight

Variety: The #MeToo and time’s up movements have galvanized powerful women in the entertainment industry to work harder to effect social change and combat sexual
misconduct in the workplace. But on the heels of a historic night at the Golden Globe Awards, insiders are still questioning whether that progressive spirit will extend all the way up to the most supreme power in Hollywood: the greenlight.

Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, GREATEST SHOWMAN Among Nominees for 2018 Costume Designers Guild Awards

www.broadwayworld.com: Nominations were announced for The Costume Designers Guild's 20th annual CDG Awards, which recognize excellence in film, TV and shortform costume design. The winners will be announced at a ceremony held at The Beverly HIlton on February 2nd.

Obama Had Officials Pay for Their Own Makeup Before TV Appearances; Trump Has the Taxpayers Doing It

www.theroot.com: If you’ve ever wondered to yourself, “Who is the person who makes Kellyanne Conway look less like a corpse?” Or, “Who makes Sarah Huckabee Sanders look less like a goofy troll-like succubus?” Well, I have the answer: It’s the White House’s full-time hair and makeup artist, Katie Price.

The Dangerous Complicities in Community Theatre

OnStage Blog: Since starting this blog in May of 2014, from time to time we have reported and commented on various unethical behavior happening in community theatres all over the world. From copying set designs without permission to whitewashing shows to sexual harassment, if it's reported to us, we're likely going to comment on it.

Woman who started the ‘s****y media men’ list outs herself

ThinkProgress: A woman who says she started a spreadsheet compiling alleged male sexual harassers and harassers in American media outed herself online in an apparent attempt to preempt any doxxing from an upcoming Harper’s Magazine expose.

Cirque du Soleil tops itself again — this time on ice

TribLIVE: Cirque du Soleil currently has 21 different productions either in residence — with seven in Las Vegas alone — or touring in theaters all over the world.

Its latest offering adds a new dimension to the Montreal, Canada-based artistic company's repertoire. “Crystal: A Breakthrough Ice Experience,” is its first acrobatic show that is performed entirely on ice.

Hollywood Women Launch Initiative To Stop Sexual Harassment

Houston Public Media: Some of Hollywood’s most powerful women have teamed up to launch an initiative aimed at combating sexual harassment inside and outside their industry after an avalanche of allegations set in motion by the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

3 major arguments happening around the Hollywood pay gap, explained

www.usatoday.com: In the aftermath of the All the Money in the World pay gap controversy, infighting has broken out — on Twitter, on TV, over coffee and in Hollywood — on who is to blame for Michelle Williams being paid less than 1% of what Mark Wahlberg commissioned for the film's reshoots. Here's a look into the three most common arguments.

Teatro ZinZanni pulled up stakes in Seattle and moved to Redmond. How’s it doing in its new, temporary home?

The Seattle Times: Before you dig into the appetizer of roasted pumpkin and winter squash with fresh ricotta cheese, or sip your first cocktail, jugglers and clowns drift by your table, pausing now and then to engage in a little comic repartee with diners. And by the time you’ve tucked into your rich chocolate dessert, a swoon-worthy couple (Duo Madrona) has swung above you on the flying trapeze, Postmodern Jukebox chanteuse Ariana Savalas has serenaded you, and a nearly 7-foot-tall lady yodeler (Manuela Horn) has pranced around in dominatrix gear.

NBC Sets Advisors, Submission Process for Female Forward Directors Initiative

Variety: NBC has assembled an advisory council and submission process for its Female Forward director development program.

NBC Commits $500,000 to Support High School Theater Programs with Launch of R.I.S.E. AMERICA

www.broadwayworld.com: Inspired by the network's upcoming Jason Katims drama RISE, which premieres Tuesday, March 13 and follows the effects a high school theatre department has on its surrounding community, NBC is launching R.I.S.E. America, a program that grants a half-million dollars to high school theatre programs across the country.

Publisher Denies Radiohead Lawsuit Against Lana Del Rey

Pollstar: According to Radiohead publisher Warner/Chappell, Radiohead never planned to take Lana Del Rey to court over a copyright complaint, nor did it asked for 100 percent of her publishing.

The Hollywood Reporter Is the Latest Publication to Erase Women From the Weinstein Narrative

jezebel.com: On the cover of this week’s issue of The Hollywood Reporter you’ll see a glamorous photo of Ronan Farrow, lit like the lead detective in a forgotten noir film, above the headline “The Prince Who Torched the Castle.” The profile inside walks readers through Farrow’s life story, his reporting that helped take down Harvey Weinstein et al., and suggests a future in journalism and the media that is brighter than bright.

UK Ticketing Fraud Figures Increase

Pollstar: The UK’s Society of Ticket Agents & Retailers (STAR) has released new figures showing that the number of reported ticket fraud cases has increased, while the average value loss per victim decreased.

Film depicts birth of New York’s Lincoln Center

New Pittsburgh Courier: Resplendent in a plaid turban, green cowl-neck muffler, pearl necklace and silver-ridged earrings, an icon of opera sits in a straight-back chair and reminisces about her career.

Leontyne Price (who turned 90 after this interview was conducted) is astonishingly precise in her memory as she discusses opening the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in 1966 and making a historic debut at the old Met five years before that.

NBC's 'Rise' is a new kind of high-school musical

www.usatoday.com: Imagine if Glee met Friday Night Lights, and you'd have a TV show like Rise, NBC's latest attempt at musical drama.

Due March 13, the series stars Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother) as an earnest high-school drama coach who recruits a reluctant football player to appear in the controversial school musical, Spring Awakening. If that sounds like Glee, you may recall that the Fox series' star, Lea Michele, appeared in the original 2006 Broadway cast of Awakening.

CBS All Access mystery thriller '$1' to film in Pittsburgh area

TribLIVE: Add "$1" to the list of television thrillers filming in Pittsburgh.

CBS All Access, the CBS Television Network's digital subscription video on-demand and live streaming service, announced last summer the pickup of the new mystery thriller by that name that will tell the story of a one-dollar bill changing hands among a group of characters who wind up embroiled in multiple murders.

Adrienne Kennedy, Playwright: Still Quiet, Still Bold, Still Furious

The New York Times: The playwright Adrienne Kennedy never wanted to move to Virginia. She spent 30 years living on the fourth floor of a brownstone on West 89th Street — her “little Victorian palace,” she called it. But the rent went higher. Her breath on the stairs came shorter. Just before she turned 80, she traveled down to Williamsburg, Va., to visit her younger son, Adam Kennedy, and she stayed.

“Unfortunately, I’ve been here six years,” she said. “I hate it.”

Meow Wolf Announces Plans for Massive Permanent Exhibition in Denver

Westword: Meow Wolf is about to make a purrfect landing in Denver. In one of the worst-kept secrets in town, at 10 a.m. today, January 4, the ten-year-old Santa Fe arts collective and its new partners will announce where they'll build Meow Wolf's first permanent exhibition in a major market. And it's a major project, too: a $50 million, four-story (plus mezzanine), 90,000-square-foot building that will hold 60,000 square feet of exhibitions, three times the size of Meow Wolf's House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe, along with a restaurant, bar and retail and support spaces.

Vectorworks Sponsors Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival

LightSoundJournal.com: For the second year, global design software developer Vectorworks, Inc. will sponsor awards at the annual Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). The festival recognises the diverse work of young entertainment designers, and from January 9 to March 3, 2018, thousands of talented student artists, from eight regions across the United States, will have the opportunity to showcase their work.

Fox Won't Remove TJ Miller from "Deadpool 2"

The Mary Sue: Fox reportedly won’t remove T.J. Miller from Deadpool 2, after allegations surfaced that the actor sexually assaulted a woman while in college. Miller had played a character named Weasel in the first Deadpool, and he was brought back to reprise his role for the second. When asked whether the film would be replacing or editing out Miller in light of the allegations, 20th Century Fox producer Lauren Shuler Donner said to Rotten Tomatoes, “We’re in the final editing. I don’t think so.”

The Incomparable Differences between Whitewashing and Racebending

WE ARE GEEKS OF COLOR: Whitewashing is a concept that has been around for quite literally decades, especially from the early days of film. Simply put: whitewashing means to cast a white actor to play a role that is traditionally, historically, and/or written for a person of color, essentially erasing the poc perspective and experience from the role in favor of a white actor. Whitewashing is nothing new, and Hollywood is far from a stranger to it. From Laurence Olivier doning blackface to portray Shakespeare’s Othello in 1965 and Mickey Rooney doing yellowface to play Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, to the more recent instance of Scarlett Johansson portraying Major Motoko Kusanagi in Paramount Picture’s 2017 film Ghost in the Shell based on the popular Japanese Anime.

Pittsburgh theater: A look back at 2017, and a taste of what's in store this year

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh theater in 2017 gave us a lot to think about and to look forward to in 2018. As we announce the multitalented, multifaceted Monteze Freeland as the Post-Gazette’s 2017 Performer of the Year, the 37th in 34 years, we look back at other outstanding contributions and look ahead to a new day at several local companies. This adds to the retrospective we began on Dec. 21 when we chose the “10 Best Pittsburgh Theater Experiences” of 2017, plus 10 runners-up.

How Trump's Tax Bill Will Screw the (Starving) Artist

www.clydefitchreport.com: Less in the press, unfortunately, is how another area of both political and civic life — arts, culture and entertainment — will suffer the unforgiving brunt of this bill. From art collectors to starving, lowly actors, the bad-for-everyone bill has massive implications for the arts world. Well, except for the wealthiest among us.

New Year’s Strategies For Audio Engineers

www.livedesignonline.com:
Hey live sound professionals, looking for a little inspiration for your 2018 goals and strategies?

Confession: I’m not a big New Year’s resolution person. Personally, I’ve always had better results managing ongoing goals than following a calendar. But for many, the New Year is a time for reflection and evaluating choices, and it’s the perfect opportunity to start taking action on those life changes you’ve been thinking about.

Milwaukee Tool is Expanding US Manufacturing

Pro Tool Reviews: One of the most consistent nuggets of feedback we receive is about the amount of manufacturing that takes place in China. Businesses have to be profitable and prices have to be reasonable enough for Pros to buy. That combination leads to the global market and manufacturing where it makes the most sense. But today we’re talking about our friends from Wisconsin and the big news that Milwaukee Tool is expanding US manufacturing.

Players of the Moment: Theater Activists (Chicago Inclusion Project, Not In Our House and The Chicago Theater Accountability Coalition)

Newcity Stage: While some years have one defining “moment,” 2017 felt like a series of moments, many of which asked a great deal of our community, our city and our country. In response, this year we have widened the scope of our Players of the Moment, highlighting three organizations that reflect a growth of activism in our theater community. Their objectives include advocating for equitable representation (Chicago Inclusion Project), addressing harassment and abuse (Not In Our House) and challenging bigotry in theater criticism (The Chicago Theater Accountability Coalition). They are each uniquely situated within our city’s theater community to extend even further through this endeavor.

Designers Make It Work: Five Local Theater Designers Detail Their Dream Projects

Newcity Stage: Frequently overlooked (even, admittedly, within the pages of this publication), designers do not so much make the world of theater go round as they make the world, period. From storefront chic to Broadway bombast, every time you enter a theater you are bearing witness to a prismatic vision constructed by a network of collaborators at the behest of directors, playwrights and other fickle types. They are creators on command. So we thought it would be illuminating if we let a few designers tailor their own projects. We found the results edifying and we’re sure they will resonate with you as well.

Five Routes into the Scenic Art Industry

Guild of Scenic Artists: Painting scenery is one of those jobs people don’t think about. As a kid, I watched countless movies and plays without ever thinking about the scenery and how it got there. I also grew up drawing and painting and knew I wanted to earn a living as a painter in some way. I simply didn’t put the two things together. And I don’t think I’m alone. When you think about the Scenics that you know, most will have started off training to be theatre designers, fine artists or illustrators and very few, if any, will have always wanted to paint scenery for a living.

Nine #MeToo Moments That Defined The Golden Globes

www.fastcompany.com: Way before the first acceptance speech was awkwardly rushed through, it was clear that this year’s Golden Globes would not be typical award show fare. During a pre-show red carpet interview with E!, Debra Messing called out the network itself for posturing as “woke” while paying female correspondents far less than their male counterparts, and Meryl Streep walked the red carpet with Ai-Jen Poo, the executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

‘Book of Will’ Fails to Diversify The Bard

rescripted.org: “Casting should be diverse. Shakespeare is meant for everyone.”

This simple statement, written atop the casting breakdown of Lauren Gunderson’s new play, THE BOOK OF WILL at Northlight Theatre, filled me with so much hope.

I am a woman of color who regularly directs Shakespeare and regularly encounters pushback when trying to convince producers and audiences that the words people often assume were written primarily for white, cis, able-bodied men can be shared by, well, everyone.

Northlight Theatre’s Artistic Director Statement on ‘Book of Will’

rescripted.org: With regard to The Book of Will, our objective was to be inclusive in our casting. Our casting process extended invitations to actors of color. Indeed, we made offers to multiple actors of color. All of whom turned down the roles for a variety of reasons, with availability being chief among them. We extended the casting process, and searched on.

The beauty and fascination of London's theatres - in pictures

Stage | The Guardian: The New Wimbledon Theatre, the biggest touring venue in outer London, creates an Italian opera house effect with its mural and marble magnificence.

Tarana Burke, Other Activists Issue Statement on Their Golden Globes Appearance

Colorlines: Me Too campaign creator Tarana Burke, National Domestic Workers Alliance director Ai-Jen Poo and several other female activists of color made intersectional justice for sexual assault survivors a core part of last night’s (January 7) 75th Golden Globe Awards.

Nominees for the MUAHS Announced

Make-Up Artist Magazine: The Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild (MUAHS, IATSE Local 706) announced nominees today for their annual awards recognizing outstanding achievements in motion pictures, television, commercial and live theater. Winners will be announced at the gala on Saturday, February 24, at The Novo by Microsoft at L.A. Live, hosted by Comedienne Loni Love

Players 2018: The Fifty People Who Really Perform for Chicago

Newcity Stage: With great trials come both exultant successes and disorienting failures. This past year, we were witness to both: macro and micro, personal and political (if there is even a distinction between the two anymore), brilliant and brutal, often all at once. During a time when just checking the news can be a triggering experience, performance and craft require a commendable effort. It is a testament to the strength and resilience of the artists within these pages that all year, whether they wanted to or not, they made the art that helped things feel bearable or even, occasionally, bright. And while art, witnessing or making it, can be therapeutic, it is not therapy. The year to come will undoubtedly contain its share of tests and we must be prepared to engage with them as fully as we are able to. The stakes are great but the possibilities are paramount.

Golden Globes Red Carpet: A Night of (Literal) Fashion Statements

The Atlantic: Black clothing—particularly when that clothing is the high-end stuff of red-carpet couture—has a way of refining things, of clarifying things, of cutting to the chase: Stripped of bright color and its pretty distractions, the focus can become the details that allow fashion to double as art. The perfect tailoring. The artful seaming. The layering and beading and draping. The testing of craft—and of true skill and talent and artistry—that tends to come with constraint.

The Whispers Were Deafening at the Golden Globes

www.thecut.com: At last night’s Golden Globes, everybody looked the part. Men and women alike wore black eveningwear and “Time’s Up” pins to show their support for the feminist reckoning taking place in their industry and in the world at large. Various female luminaries (and Seth Meyers) sounded out notes of optimism. Oprah took us all to church: “I want all the girls watching right now to know that a new day is on the horizon, and when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women,” she proclaimed, as eyes watered throughout the room.

Podcast Episode 144 – Tony Award Winning Director, Pam MacKinnon

The Producer's Perspective: Here’s a statistical truth bomb for you: women direct only about 17% of the shows on Broadway.

How do I know that? Pam MacKinnon has been keeping track.

Pam is already one of the few female A-list directors that make up that unbalanced percentage, having directed as many shows on Broadway as any woman out there (only Stroman has her beat). But that doesn’t mean she’s not determined to help others get to where she is today.

30 Years of Introducing Teens to Theatre

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: Years ago, I took a group of English Language Learners (ELLs, formerly known as ESLs) to see the short-lived Broadway version of Carrie. I think TDF tickets were around 15 bucks each back then, and most of the kids could swing it. Some prop machine didn't work and someone had to come out, apologize, and explain they were fixing it. My students talked about that for the rest of the year.

Pollstar’s 2017 In Review: Festivals – Fyre, Pemberton, Route 91 Harvest & More

Pollstar: There are three music festivals from 2017 that will stick in almost everyone’s minds – two that never happened and one that ended in tragedy.

Fyre Festival, co-organized by Ju Rule and Fyre Media’s Billy McFarland, was to debut as a luxurious “once-in-a-lifetime” two-weekend event but was canceled at the last minute after festivalgoers had already started arriving in the Bahamas. Fyre became a nightmare for guests who were stuck on the island with bare-bones food and accommodations and now McFarland faces more than a dozen civil lawsuits in connection to the festival. Fyre Media was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July and the 25-year-old McFarland pleaded not guilty to wire fraud and making false statements in October.

The Theater People Podcast Welcomes Broadway's Aladdin, Telly Leung

www.broadwayworld.com: On Monday, January 8, Theater People podcast welcome's back Broadway favorite Telly Leung.

For the episode, Leung discusses recently winning the title role in Disney's Aladdin on Broadway. He also shares stories from his recent work on IN TRANSIT and ALLEGIANCE. Leung also shares his thoughts on being an openly gay leading man on Broadway and shares some insight on how he's achieved his successes.

Local presenter dropping Ben Vereen from awards program over reports of sexual misconduct in Florida

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Touring presenter Broadway/San Diego announced this morning that it is severing ties with the actor Ben Vereen, namesake of a local theater awards program that the company oversees, in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct during an unrelated Florida production Vereen directed in 2015.

“Effective immediately, Broadway San Diego is ending its association with Mr. Ben Vereen,” the statement reads.

How to Pay Off Student Loan Debt While Still Saving and Investing

twocents.lifehacker.com: How to prioritize paying off student debt while also trying to save & invest?

This is what individual experts have to say* generally about an issue that affects each person differently—if you want personalized advice you should see a financial planner.

Interview with Werewere Liking of the Theatre Company Village Ki-Yi Mbock

HowlRound: This past October, I had the opportunity to live in residence with the theatre company and students in training at the Village Ki-Yi Mbock, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Werewere Liking, a sixty-seven-year-old multidisciplinary artist of Cameroonian descent, founded the Village Ki-Yi Mbock (which means "ultimate universal knowledge" in Bassa, Liking’s mother tongue) in 1985, and has trained more than a thousand young artists there in the decades since.

Chez Stock: The Girl With The Audio Tattoo(s)

ProSoundWeb: I remember meeting Chez Stock for the first time. The first thing I noticed were the tattoos across her fingers spelling out “COMP” and “GATE.” I made a comment along the lines of “nice digital inserts” (I pun involuntarily) and, in spite of that, we had a nice conversation.

Toronto Theater Director Resigns Amid Sexual Misconduct Accusations

The New York Times: You could call it Canada’s Weinstein moment, take two.

One of the country’s most powerful theater directors, Albert Schultz, on Thursday resigned from his post as leader of the Soulpepper Theater Company after four actresses said this week that they had been sexually harassed, groped, touched and repeatedly propositioned by him over 13 years.

They filed a lawsuit against him and the company, a nonprofit he co-founded, for a combined $6.2 million, or $7.85 million Canadian dollars.

The Tonya Transformation

Make-Up Artist Magazine: For a brief time in the 1990s, before America became obsessed with the O.J. Simpson trial and the internet turned gossip into a cottage industry, Tonya Harding was the cause célèbre. The first female figure skater to successfully execute a triple axel in competition, she was in the running for Olympic gold at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer. But Harding’s dreams came crashing down harder than a missed landing on the ice after an assault on chief rival Nancy Kerrigan was linked back to her. The ensuing scandal ended her skating career.

Virtual Reality, Animatronics Stand Out at 2017 IAAPA Attractions Expo

InPark Magazine: I’ve lived in Orlando for 21 years and written about the destination’s travel highlights all that time. I’m at the media openings of new water parks, theme park rides and a bevy of other attractions. I spend my days seeking out high-tech, all-natural, educational, family friendly and otherwise-noteworthy guest experiences to share with my readers.

In other words, I’m a journalist who knows the themed entertainment industry from the travel and visitor side. Now, my work with InPark Magazine has opened a door into a new dimension of the business – I’ve been getting a crash course in how these attractions are conceived and created.

Made in Chicago: Chicago Scenic Studio

WCIU, The U: Chicago scenic studios has spent nearly 40 years mastering the complexities of dynamic environments, challenging interactive experiences, theatrical productions, and entertainment attractions of all types, and they make it all happen right here in Chicago.

Shonda Rhimes, Other Hollywood Women Unite Against Sexual Harassment

New Pittsburgh Courier: The time is now for pushing back against sexual harassment in Hollywood, several women in the entertainment industry have shouted loud and proud recently. One of those women, Shonda Rhimes, is leading the charge to combat the devastating issue with a new mobilization effort that was announced on Monday.

Lady Roadie: Touring life on the tech crew (when you don’t look like the other boys!)

RocknRoll Yogi: My name is Becky Pell and I am an anomaly. I’m a sound engineer, and I’m a woman. It’s an unusual combination, but I’m rarely conscious of it until someone points it out. Usually the conversation goes something like: ‘wow, a female engineer, you don’t see that very often’. Me: ‘No, there aren’t many of us’. Them: ‘Why is that?’ Well I have to confess ignorance; as I am one, I’m kind of the wrong person to ask! Why are we the unicorns of the touring world? And what’s life like as a woman on the road?

Ars Nova Finds a New Theater in Greenwich Village

The New York Times: Ars Nova, the daring Off Broadway company that has nurtured the career of Lin-Manuel Miranda and shows including “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” will move its home base from Hell’s Kitchen to Greenwich Village beginning in early 2019.

The company plans to keep its current home on 54th Street in Manhattan, but will use the Greenwich House Theater as its primary venue for performances. That space is currently the home of Barrow Street Theater, which was notified on Thursday that its lease would not be renewed.

Theatre Communications Group Releases Theatre Facts 2016 Research Report

Stage Directions: Not-for-profit theatres contributed more than $2.3 billion to the U.S. economy and attracted 31 million attendees, according to Theatre Facts 2016, released by Theatre Communications Group (TCG). Based on the annual TCG Fiscal Survey, Theatre Facts is the only in-depth report that examines the attendance, performance, and overall fiscal state of the U.S. professional not-for-profit theatre field.

CLO Cabaret veterans star in world premiere musical 'Up and Away'

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh CLO has announced the cast of its world premiere musical comedy "Up and Away," a CLO Cabaret show described as "an epic tale of the world’s FIRST superhero."

Introduced with a staged reading at this past spring's New Musicals Weekend, "Up and Awary" showcases five actors playing more than 50 characters.

Planning on Being an Predator in Hollywood? #TIMESUP

The Mary Sue: The end of 2017 was all about expressing solidarity and speaking truth to power in the realm of Hollywood sexism and abuse. 2018 is all about taking action. You thought there was a reckoning before? It’s only just started. For those who would abuse, prey on, or otherwise demean or diminish women in any industry: time’s up.

Addressing Environmental Topics in Theatre by Using Greenturgy

HowlRound: August 2017 saw Houston under water, Hurricane Irma headed toward Florida, and large swaths of the Pacific Northwest on fire. In response, the director of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt declared that now is not the time to talk about climate change.

In a way, he was right. The time to talk about climate change was decades ago. Now, the greenhouse effect has caused temperatures and sea levels to rise enough that coping with the seemingly endless succession of natural disasters made worse by climate change keeps us too busy to talk much about the underlying causes.

STAR WARS: A FORCE FOR INNOVATION

VFX Voice Magazine: When George Lucas formed Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in 1975, the director’s aim was for the company to deliver the ambitious visual effects for his space opera, Star Wars. Of course, ILM went on to revolutionize the way effects and story meet in that film, and across nine other Star Wars saga movies, plus scores of other releases.

Fashion Illustrations Playfully Combine Found Objects to Create Magnificent Evening Dresses

mymodernmet.com: Armenian illustrator Edgar Artis playfully combines his pencil-drawn fashion illustrations with real life, miscellaneous objects. His work to date includes food art masterpieces such as a magnificent spaghetti ball gown, and a kiwi cocktail dress. Other great examples include an elegant gown rendered from colored pencil shavings, and a puffy princess dress made from cotton wool balls. Artis’ most recent work continues to incorporate a wide range of found objects, which are cleverly positioned on hand-drawn, posing models to create three-dimensional ensembles worthy of the catwalk.

Sound Designer Ryan Hickey: Listening as an Art Form

NEA: While sound has always been an integral part of theater, sound design is relatively new as a distinct craft. And just to complicate things, sound designers often wear two hats. For “straight” plays, they work with the director to create the right sound for the play—which can mean content building, such as composing incidental music, creating sound effects and sound beds. For musical theater, on the other hand, the sound designer’s main job is to create sound systems that allow the music, the singing, and the dialogue to be heard uniformly and organically throughout the theater.

Tech Director’s Emergency Operations Plan (EOP)

Church Production Magazine: Sadly, it often takes a tragic event for emergency protocols to be established. In the wake of the Las Vegas and Ariana Grande shootings, as TDs, we should be keenly aware of the inherent dangers that exist for terror incidents at live venues. Even more so, because Christians are often a targeted and persecuted demographic, establishing an Emergency Operations Plan is vital.

Step-By-Step RF

ProSoundWeb: For many in pro audio, working with wireless systems is still thought to be a “nightmare” filled with peril, an accident waiting to happen, and so on. In actual fact, wireless systems are meant to work and in fact do work every day in thousands of concerts, theatrical productions, festivals, churches, broadcasts and the like, all around the world.

Pittsburgh powers through a frigid First Night

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Cold weather, Courtney Czarniak said, is actually the best weather for face-painting.

“It’s all water-based, it’s basically watercolor, so when everyone’s sweating in the summer, we hate it,” said Ms. Czarniak, head of Pittsburgh Princess who was responsible for face-painting at Sunday night’s Highmark First Night Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. “This is an ideal setup.”

Peter Martins will retire from New York City Ballet after a sexual harassment accusation

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: After a sexual harassment accusation, followed by allegations of physical and verbal abuse, Peter Martins, the powerful leader of New York City Ballet who shaped the company for more than three decades, will retire, the chairman of the ballet’s board said in a statement Monday night.

State Of The Union: The RF & Wireless System Picture Heading Into 2018

ProSoundWeb: One year ago, the U.S. pro audio industry was anxiously awaiting the impending outcome of the 600 MHz auction. We didn’t know much except that RF products operating in the 600 MHz band would likely be phased out over the next three years.

When the auction was completed in April 2017, the big winner was T-Mobile, which spent just under $8 billion for its share of radio spectrum across the country and immediately announced plans to start testing by year’s end.