Roundtable: Working Conditions and Pay in Theatre Design

Exeunt Magazine: The recent debate on no pay, low pay, and the merits of boycotting work by unpaid creatives has largely revolved around actors. However, discussions on how other theatre creatives are undervalued are gathering speed. From Tom Scutt on Twitter demanding credit for designers in press photos, to the Society of British Theatre Designers (SBTD) consistently reporting below minimum wage Arts Jobs listings to Arts Council England, designers are speaking out. Ahead of open meeting ‘The Value of Design’ (more info below), we spoke to eight SBTD member designers to get a snapshot of the industry and some of the issues they face at all levels of the profession.

The 5 Stages of 3D Printing Adoption

www.makerbot.com: After nearly a decade of building 3D printers and teaching the world how to use them, we’ve noticed some trends in how people experience the technology—from a user’s first exposure to their most recent challenges and successes.

Mean Girls the musical, reviewed.

slate.com: If you believe that children are the future—and in 2018, no one will blame you for desperately clinging to this optimistic vision—then the Broadway incarnation of Mean Girls, which marked its official opening on Sunday, just might be the show for you. The basic premise of the 2004 film on which it’s based, in which teenager Cady Heron returns to the states with her parents after being homeschooled in Africa most of her life, remains. The students are still mean—especially the Plastics, a trio of popular girls led by “Queen Bee” Regina George—and still divided into clearly defined cliques. (Though this time their categories have been slightly updated for modern sensibilities to include “woke seniors” concerned with “intersectional veganism.”)

Joan of Arc, Superstar? Not to the Woman Playing Her

The New York Times: The historical Joan of Arc was a peasant, a soldier, a mystic and a martyr. A shepherdess who heard the voices of saints in the sound of church bells, she led the French army toward decisive victories in the Hundred Years’ War before being tried for heresy, witchcraft and cross-dressing. In 1431, she was burned at the stake, and then she was burned again.

Sandra Oh on ‘Killing Eve’

www.vulture.com: Where has Sandra Oh been? For a decade, she was a fixture on primetime television as Dr. Cristina Yang, the comically humorless, fiercely ambitious surgeon on Shonda Rhimes’s first ABC hit Grey’s Anatomy. Cristina’s relationship with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) would serve as the emotional anchor through all the plot twists, bomb threats, sudden deaths, and McDreamys. Oh left that role on her own accord four years ago, and since then, she’s done smaller, more modest projects (most notably Catfight with Anne Heche) for an actor who earned five Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe for her work.

Why Respirators and Dust Masks Matter

Pro Construction Guide: Hunter Weekes knows the risks. After nearly 20 years in the construction industry, there isn’t much he hasn’t seen or done in the field, logging time as a superintendent and project manager on numerous projects of all scopes.

Weekes, a LEED AP, and VP at the Greenville, S.C.-based Weekes Construction, says his focus today is on working safely as much as it is the daily deadlines and demands of the job. That’s why he paid close attention when Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) passed its newest silica standards, which went into effect on Sept. 23.

Molly Ringwald Revisits “The Breakfast Club” in the Age of #MeToo

The New Yorker: Earlier this year, the Criterion Collection, which is “dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world,” released a restored version of “The Breakfast Club,” a film written and directed by John Hughes that I acted in, more than three decades ago. For this edition, I participated in an interview about the movie, as did other people close to the production.

'The Simpsons' To 'The Problem With Apu': Drop Dead

Monkey See : NPR: Comedian Hari Kondabolu made a documentary in 2017 called The Problem With Apu. It's not very long — less than an hour. In it, he interrogates the legacy of Apu, the convenience store owner on The Simpsons voiced by Hank Azaria. Kondabolu talked to other actors and comics who longed for more South Asian representation, only to find that at the time, Apu was just about all there was. And Apu was not only voiced by a white actor, but he was doing what Azaria has acknowledged is a take on Peter Sellers doing an Indian accent in the movie The Party. In other words, he based his caricature of an accent on someone else's caricature of an accent. Or, as Kondabolu said on W. Kamau Bell's show Totally Biased, "a white guy doing an impression of a white guy making fun of my father."

Goldenvoice Partners For Safe Space ‘Nap Lounges’ At Concerts

Pollstar: Nap Girls, a collaborative organization that aims to connect women and nonbinary people, has partnered with Goldenvoice to provide places to chill out during concerts and resources to prevent and address sexual harassment and other issues.

These Nine Email Mistakes Could Cost You The Job

www.fastcompany.com: When you’re job hunting, you’re on high alert for every mistake you can possibly make: you run your resume by every friend you have, carefully craft a cover letter, scrutinize every detail you put into the job application and spend hours preparing for your interview.

But did you ever stop to think that you could make it all the way to a final interview only to lose the job offer due to something as small as an email?

Michael Stiller Lights 'Rocktopia' on Broadway

Stage Directions: Rocktopia is a theatrical concert that weaves rock and classical music together and eschews traditional notions about plot and characters as it examines the phases of life. Providing richly textured visuals to support this ambitious narrative, and punctuate its musical mix, was a lighting design from LD Michael Stiller.

Recoil

communityvoices.post-gazette.com: “It’s an exploration of the history of America’s fascination with guns,” said Cynthia Croot, Associate Professor and Head of Performance at the University of Pittsburgh Theatre Department in describing “Recoil,” the student-developed theater piece. “I think of it definitely in relation to the mechanics of a gun.

TEDxBroadway Organizers Release 2018 Talks Online

Breaking Character: The organizers of TEDxBroadway announced the release of the talks from the sold-out event held February 27, 2018 at New World Stages. The one-day event exclusively dedicated to asking, “What’s the Best Broadway Can Be?” showcased a wide variety of experts from an even wider variety of backgrounds, industries and perspectives.

I Will Never Leave You: Top 10 Plays & Musicals About Siblings

Breaking Character: On this year’s National Siblings Day, we must reflect on the valuable relationships we share with our siblings. They impact our lives in more ways than one, and learning from their triumphs and mistakes is something that we sometimes don’t remember to take the time to appreciate. We watch them grow as children and come into their own as adults, and seeing their development (as they see ours) is so important. It may be more often than not that we fight with our siblings (sometimes they can be more foes than friends), but no matter what, they are stuck with us forever.

Westworld’s S2 spoiler tease turns into Reddit-trolling Rickroll

Ars Technica: Westworld executive producers and co-creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy continued beating the hype drum for the TV series' second season with a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) thread on Monday. Ahead of the season's April 22 premiere on HBO, however, Nolan isn't just dropping hints of what to expect. He's suggesting that HBO is fully prepared to spoil the season before a minute of Westworld airs.

Themed entertainment designers from Disney, Knott's, Efteling and more preach the importance of play over technology

www.latimes.com: The Disneyland Resort played host to the usual tuneful pirates and hitchhiking ghosts this past weekend, but what visitors may not have noticed among all those carelessly pushed strollers were the 800 or so artists gathered for one of the most respected awards ceremonies of the themed entertainment industry.

Simpsons Apu Ep Is What Happens When You’re on Air Too Long

www.vulture.com: In “No Good Read Goes Unpunished,” the 633rd episode of The Simpsons, the longest-running scripted series in TV history finally acknowledged that there is something problematic about the way it has portrayed Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, owner of the Kwik-E-Mart, for the past three decades. Yet at the same time, the show managed to continue taking no responsibility for its tone-deafness on the matter. If the episode didn’t quite do what Bart Simpson would have done in season five, episode 12 — i.e. say “I didn’t do it” — it certainly implied that nothing can be done to make Apu less of a stereotype now.

Kiss Me, My Fair Carousel Woman: Now Is the Season of Our Discontent

AMERICAN THEATRE: Is this really the right time for a spate of male-authored, male-directed musicals about subservient women to come to Broadway?

David Yazbek, Michael Riedel, and More Deliver 2018 TEDxBroadway Talks! Video

www.broadwayworld.com: Today Broadway fans can binge watch this year's batch of TEDxBroadway talks The one-day event held at New World Stages in February was exclusively dedicated to asking, "What's the Best Broadway Can Be?" showcased a wide variety of experts from an even wider variety of backgrounds, industries and perspectives.

Alley Theatre’s acting director says changes are coming

Houston Chronicle: James Black is silent, using a pregnant pause to consider the response to the question. He knows he’ll have to answer carefully.

The interim artistic director at the Alley Theatre is weighing the best response to the query of, “What will be Gregory Boyd’s legacy?” Boyd, who left in January, helped grow the company’s reputation as artistic director over nearly three decades but was also accused of harassing several women on his staff and creating an abusive work environment.

It Sounded Like Shakespeare Hypnotized Children of Heaven in My Dreams

Pittsburgh in the Round: I spent my first day at the Pittsburgh Fringe 2018 at St. Mary’s Lyceum. It was a mixed experience for both the shows and the location.

As far as the space is concerned: audiences beware! St. Mary’s Lyceum is an ashtray! You have to walk the gauntlet through a bar full of smoking men to make it to the upstairs performance space. I felt like I was on the wrong end of a “Law and Order” episode when I entered the building, and I left needing to wash my hair with bleach to remove the cigarette smell. But, seriously, if you have asthma or any sensitivities to cigarette smoke, this is not the location for you, at least during the hours the bar is open, so take care.

OHIO study shows high number of concussion-related symptoms in performing arts

www.ohio.edu: A recent study released by the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine shows a stunning number of participants not only experienced concussion-related symptoms and head impacts but also continued performing either without reporting the incident or without receiving the recommended care. These participants were not taking part in any sporting contest at the time, however. They are theater personnel.

Puppets, Proletarians, Things That Go Pop, and Police Violence

Pittsburgh in the Round: Welcome back to Fringe Festival Weekend, Pittsburghers! Time for another round of bouncing around between a ton of independent performances throughout the North Side. While I eased into my first Fringe experience with only two shows on day 1 last year, this time – as a grizzled old veteran – I jumped in with a Four Show Friday. And man, did we cover some emotional range.

Putting on Eyre's – a review of “Jane Eyre”

'Burgh Vivant: A young woman endures a series of misfortunes as she searches for meaning and true love in Alan Stanford’s adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel “Jane Eyre.”

There are three Janes in this bildungsroman. First, we are introduced to childhood Jane (Caroline Lucas). We follow her through to the bloom of her womanhood (Karen Baum). An older Jane narrates the story from a fixed point in the young woman’s future (Cary Anne Spear).

First Friday of Fringe!

Pittsburgh in the Round: The New Vintage Ensemble presents #VANLIFE, written, directed and performed by Kimmie Leff and Casey Thomas. Kimmie and Casey, two friends whose lives are less than perfect are becoming unhinged under the pressure of society’s expectations of them, or more concisely, their perceptions of society’s expectations.

Arrays: Exploring the Features and Benefits of AutoCAD

AutoCAD Blog | Autodesk: When designing, there are many times when you need to draft common patterns that contain geometry that is duplicated. You can use the different Array commands in AutoCAD to copy objects in a repeatable pattern. There are three types of arrays: rectangular, circular, and path.

Tina Fey brings her "Mean Girls" to Broadway

CBS News: Tina Fey won plenty of laughs by playing Sarah Palin next to Amy Poehler's Hillary Clinton on "Saturday Night Live" back in 2008. Now, Tina Fey is the off-stage force behind the new musical "Mean Girls," opening tonight on Broadway. How she brought her original hit movie to the Great White Way is the story she recently shared with Jane Pauley

Is social anxiety holding you back? Here’s how to overcome it

Big Think: Have you ever called someone by the wrong name and they called you out on it, publically? Such an incident can be mortifying. Most of us get over it fairly quickly. But some people have such a fear of embarrassment that it stops them in their tracks. It's called katagelophobia, and it's more common than you might think.

Representation Matters: The Monologue Project

HowlRound Theatre Commons: In my work as a theatre writer, director, and teacher, I am often approached by young women of the African Diaspora asking if I can either recommend audition monologues, or, more frequently, write one for them. I’ve written for some of my students and friends, but I haven’t been able to fulfill all of the requests, nor did I think I was necessarily the best person to write these monologues.

NFTRW Weekly Yop Five

Here are the top five comment generating posts of the past week:

Al Gurdon Lights Jesus Christ Superstar

Live Design: Winning acclaim from critics and audiences, NBC's live broadcast of the Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber 70s rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, on Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018, proved that these kinds of productions can be visually engaging and entertaining. With John Legend in the title role, the show attracted 9.4 million viewers, and was directed by David Leveaux and Alex Rudzinski. The design team includes production designer Jason Ardizzone-West, costume designer Paul Tazewell, and lighting designer Al Gurdon.

Posted by David at Comments Here

#RigSafe on Arbor Day

sightlines.usitt.org: Arbor Day is April 27. This is the sixth year that USITT has celebrated Arbor Day as a day of Rigging Safety Awareness.

Rigging Safety is something that we must be concerned with every day. Whether you are an ETCP certified rigger or walking on a stage for the first time, the safety of the world around you, and in particular rigging, is something that we must all think of.

Posted by David at Comments Here

Landlord: 'There Are Black People in the Future' billboard can go back up

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A billboard reading “There Are Black People in the Future” - removed from a building in East Liberty because the landlord said it violated a lease agreement prohibiting “distasteful, offensive, erotic, political…” content - may go back up, according to a statement from the landlord Friday morning.

Posted by David at Comments Here

Black Panther to become first film shown in Saudi Arabian cinemas in 35 years

World news | The Guardian: Black Panther is to become the first film shown in Saudi Arabian cinemas in 35 years when the Gulf state reverses a ban on theatres next month.

According to reports, the Marvel blockbuster will receive a gala premiere in Riyadh on 18 April as part of a deal done by US theatre chain AMC that will see 40 cinemas open in Saudi cities over the next five years.

Posted by David at Comments Here

Why Practical Skills Will Matter More Than Your Degree In The New Econ

www.fastcompany.com: When Giancarlo Martinez applied a few years ago to be a web developer at Genome, a digital marketing firm in New York, he was confident that he had the ability. But he couldn’t help but wonder whether company recruiters would be able to recognize his chops—and even if they did, he worried that they still might not give him a chance.

Posted by David at Comments Here

Landlord: 'There Are Black People in the Future' billboard can go back up

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A billboard reading “There Are Black People in the Future” - removed from a building in East Liberty because the landlord said it violated a lease agreement prohibiting “distasteful, offensive, erotic, political…” content - may go back up, according to a statement from the landlord Friday morning.

Al Gurdon Lights Jesus Christ Superstar

Live Design: Winning acclaim from critics and audiences, NBC's live broadcast of the Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber 70s rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, on Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018, proved that these kinds of productions can be visually engaging and entertaining. With John Legend in the title role, the show attracted 9.4 million viewers, and was directed by David Leveaux and Alex Rudzinski. The design team includes production designer Jason Ardizzone-West, costume designer Paul Tazewell, and lighting designer Al Gurdon.

Landlord: 'There Are Black People in the Future' billboard violated lease agreement

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A billboard reading “There Are Black People in the Future” was removed from a building in East Liberty because it violated a lease agreement prohibiting “distasteful, offensive, erotic, political…” content, said the building’s landlord, also noting that the tenant did not secure approval for the sign prior to posting it as required by the lease.

Video Content Design | CES 2018 Opening Keynote Presentation

Live Design: The CES 2018 opening night keynote presentation was all about data, from its importance in our lives to its power to transform the world. Held at the Park Theatre at Monte Carlo in Las Vegas on January 8, the keynote immersed attendees in the future of data-driven technology, with help from live event experts, including executive technical producer John Halloran John Halloran and Associates, executive producer and creative director Bill Welter of Clarity Creative, production designer Todd Ivins, and executive art director Gregg Stokes of Clarity Creative.

Stage preview: There's no shame in laughter when it comes to 'The White Chip'

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Park anything resembling shame at the door, and don’t feel awkward about laughing, even though the subject is alcoholism.

Sean Daniels recounts his road from a Mormon upbringing with a rebellious mother to the toast of regional theater, then losing it all and finding his way back in “The White Chip,” a world premiere at City Theatre.

Church Sound: Respect The Rule, Follow The Rule

ProSoundWeb: You’ve probably had this happen. Rehearsal and run through went smoothly, all systems appear to be go.

Then, just before the service starts, something appears wonky. You see signal present LEDs lighting up on channels that shouldn’t be. There isn’t signal where the should be.

Black Panther to become first film shown in Saudi Arabian cinemas in 35 years

World news | The Guardian: Black Panther is to become the first film shown in Saudi Arabian cinemas in 35 years when the Gulf state reverses a ban on theatres next month.

According to reports, the Marvel blockbuster will receive a gala premiere in Riyadh on 18 April as part of a deal done by US theatre chain AMC that will see 40 cinemas open in Saudi cities over the next five years.

Victory Gardens to host ‘Town Hall: #NeverAgainChicago’ to end gun violence, April 15

www.chicagolandmusicaltheatre.com: Victory Gardens Theater, in association with Natural Shocks National Project and HowlRound Theatre Commons, presents Town Hall: #NeverAgainChicago to discuss the call to action taking place across the nation by students and allies to end gun violence. #NeverAgainChicago, which also features a reading of an excerpt from Lauren Gunderson’s new play Natural Shocks, will be held in the Začek McVay Theater at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue on Sunday, April 15 at 6pm.

"There Are Black People In The Future" text removed from East Liberty public-art project at behest of landlord

Blogh: The Last Billboard, created by Carnegie Mellon professor Jon Rubin, has been posting messages by local artists to a billboard on top of a building in East Liberty since 2013, but last week marks the first time the building's landlord intervened. "There Are Black People In The Future" was posted to the billboard on March 3 and removed several weeks later.

9 Communal Art Programs That Pay Artists to Create Experimental Work

www.artsy.net: There are limited funding opportunities for performance artists like Pittsburgh-based Mark C. Thompson, who specializes in miming. But, fortunately for Thompson, community-supported art initiatives such as CSA PGH exist. The program paid him to stage an unusual performance with imaginary can openers in 2015 for a small audience of local art patrons.

Justice Dept. Looking Into Live Nation/Ticketmaster Practices

NY Times: The United States Department of Justice is looking into the operating practices of Ticketmaster and parent Live Nation related to its behavior in the marketplace since the live entertainment giants merged in 2010, according to a New York Times report published on Sunday.

Opinion: Did We Really Learn Anything From The Ticketmaster article in the NY Times?

www.ticketnews.com: In the world of tickets, a lot of stuff has been floating around the last few days.

Everyone has a take one way or the other, but the question I think we have to ask is “what did we really learn from the piece that ran in The New York Times on Sunday?”

What I Learned From Committing Cultural Appropriation

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: Last summer I was at a dinner party recounting one of my tried-and-true tales. It's about a home movie I made at age 11 in which I portrayed Queen Liliuokalani, the last reigning monarch of Hawaii. The story isn't so much about the film but how, as a teen, I sent it to PBS when I heard the channel was airing a documentary about Liliuokalani. Spoiler alert: PBS didn't use my submission. But as I watched that program, I realized that I hadn't quite grasped the nuances around the history of the Queen. In fact, I'd gotten some parts of her story pretty wrong -- hilariously and heartbreakingly so.

Pittsburgh Fringe Festival goes out on the cultural edge

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Pittsburgh Fringe Festival returns for a fifth year of presenting “adventurous and exploratory performing artists,” with 30 international, national and local performers in six North Side venues.

Among the attractions will be God finally talking with that famous Judy Blume character, Margaret; Karl Marx returning to defend his position; a StorySlam; and a look back at the Falklands War.

Audio Engineering From A Musical Perspective

ProSoundWeb: Musical instruments are the product of engineering, each one an expression of the level of technological sophistication achieved by the era and culture in which they were conceived. Many are also works of craftsmanship, of artistry, even works of art in their own right. Over time the musical instrument can become a visible representation of the technique and physical interaction provided by the musician, as wear patterns emerge from playing.

Bosch CORE18V Battery Review

Pro Tool Reviews: Bosch Power Tools unveiled its Bosch CORE18V battery at the 2017 World of Concrete. Ten high-density Bosch CORE18V cells are welded and rail-connected to deliver what Bosch claims is 80% more power, longer runtime, and better heat transfer with updated CoolPack technology over previous generation Bosch batteries. The Bosch CORE18V battery is 100 percent compatible with all 18-volt Bosch Lithium-ion tools and chargers.