Field Guide To Estonian Theatre Audiences

The Theatre Times: Estonians are among the least religious people in Europe, however, one can assert without a shadow of a doubt that we are of theatre faith. The average Estonian attends the theatre more often than the church. In 2016, the total audience numbers at professional theatres topped 1.2 million. Considering the relatively small size of our population, with a bit of rough-handed rounding it nearly adds up to one attendance per every inhabitant. Not bad, is it? In reality, not everyone goes to the theatre. The share of the population that has attended a theatre performance in the last year is a “mere” 45 percent. Who are these people and what brings them to the theatre?

6 Great Channel Strip Plugins for Mixing Vocals (+ Mix Tips)

Pro Audio Files: Channel strips offer a lot of flexibility when processing vocals. Here are my favorite channel strips I use for mixing vocals, with some tips on how I may use them.

Record $68.5M spent bringing Harry Potter play to Broadway. Will big bet pay off?

The Seattle Times: The Harry Potter economy is filled with jaw-dropping numbers, including 500 million books sold and $7.7 billion in worldwide film grosses.

Here’s another one: “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” a two-part drama now in previews and opening April 22, cost about $68.5 million to bring to Broadway, including $35.5 million to capitalize the show — more than for any other nonmusical play in history — and $33 million more to clear out and redo the theater.

Of Art and Church Basements: Fringe 2018

Pittsburgh in the Round: The thing with attending the Fringe Festival is that you can’t really know what to expect. I’m keenly aware of this as I enter St. Mary’s Lyceum; as I enter, the only evidence a festival is occurring appears to be the laminated press pass hung around my neck. A single sign denoting the Fringe Festival’s presence is placed outside, and the bar patrons inside give me sidelong glances as I enter. A festival staff member lets me know I’ll need to head to the basement to see my first show: How to Suffer Better by Amanda Erin Miller.

U.S., world premieres highlight upcoming Pittsburgh Dance Council season

TribLIVE: The 2018-19 Pittsburgh Dance Council season highlights the voices of female choreographers.

Although there is an abundance of female performers, women have historically been underrepresented in positions of artistic leadership. The namesake companies of Deborah Colker, Yabin Wang, Jessica Lang and Camille A. Brown; and Paul Taylor Dance Co. will combine an evening of Taylor masterworks with a commission by former company member Lila York.

Jane Eyre

Pittsburgh in the Round: I love going to the theatre on opening night when there’s a sell-out crowd and people are really engaging with the show. That’s why we all do live theatre, right? For the reaction and the vibrations the audience puts out. And, you know, the art of it all too. PICT Classic Theatre’s production of Jane Eyre had all of that for me- a tight cast who clearly loved performing, a full and interested audience, and even brand new seating (shout out to outgoing Company & Operations manager Dale Hess for his stellar choice in chairs)!

Pittsburgh Dance Council packs 2018-19 season with U.S. premieres, works by female choreographers

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: After just a couple of years at the helm of the Pittsburgh Dance Council, executive director Randal Miller already has a lot to be proud of.

For starters, this season the dance council had its highest paid attendance in the past decade. It also marked a seven-year high in subscriptions. All shows this season met or exceeded their sales goals, including performances by newcomers to Pittsburgh in the middle of the week, which would have been a death sentence for a show in the past. He’s even noticed an uptick in new and younger faces in the crowd.

New Dutch 'Singing Road' Removed After Villagers Label Noise 'Psychological Torture'

jalopnik.com: Despite the multiple embarrassingly failed attempts to get Honda’s Singing Road right, a village in the Netherlands tried to find a cultural solution to distracted driving by installing musical rumble strips along a roadway. It only took villagers a couple of days to demand the noise be stopped, labeling it “psychological torture.”

Five Fringe Shows, So Many Flights of Stairs

Pittsburgh in the Round: Day 3 of Fringe was my marathon day, in which I attempted a feat only dreamed of before. Five shows in one day! I did it, with the help of food trucks, coffee, $3 cocktails, and a brief nap in my car.

this maze of screams and whispers is as unsettling as it is arousing

www.designboom.com: rafael de cardenas, visionaire, and sahra motalebi believe mazes to be ‘a seductive species of architecture’ — an opinion that glistens and pounds in their latest collaboration, AMAZE. if architecture is sexy, then mazes — intimate, disorienting labyrinths — are definitely an acquired fetish. add sahra motalebi’s stimulating sounds to the already-hypnotizing space and you get a truly hair-raising experience, open from april 10 to june 10, at the gallery at cadillac house.

5 Strategies for Improving a Thin Sounding Mix

Pro Audio Files: There’s nothing more satisfying than a full and rich sonic landscape where the elements are so detailed it feels like the performers are standing right there between the speakers. By contrast, there’s nothing as disappointing as a thin and hollow representation of an otherwise great record.

Thinness has a number of causes and therefore a number of different solutions.

I Used This Simple Chart To Prioritize My Crazy Busy Work Life

www.fastcompany.com: I was a few weeks into my maternity leave when I heard that my company named a new CEO. Several of my colleagues emailed me saying, “You’d better get in here; she’s developing relationships with the key people, and you’re missing out.” Anxious and fearful of missing out on making a connection with the new CEO, I cut my maternity leave short and went back to work. Several months later, I found myself operating on “Transactional Mode.” I so badly wanted to feel accomplished by checking things off my to-do list that I spent all my time attacking small tasks and let the big ones slide.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

Robots build wood structures too complex for humans

Woodworking Network: In Spatial Timber Assembly (STA), robotic arms fabricate and assemble wooden parts into extremely complex geometric buildings and rooms - spaces that were previously impossible to build with timber. See the robots motion-cut, lift, translate, rotate, and move around below.

Posted by David at 4/13/2018 12:29:00 PM

How fake foods are made to look realistic for TV and movies

Business Insider: Movies and TV shows tend to use real food when they can, but there are a number of times when they need something fake. We spoke with two fake food artists who specialize in making custom, inedible treats for restaurants, trade shows, and Hollywood. Here's how fake food props are made to look so delicious. Following is a transcript of the video.

Posted by David at 4/13/2018 12:25:00 PM

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.

Posted by David at 4/10/2018 12:01:00 PM

Escape Room Brings New Dimension to ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’

Variety: If you truly love a movie, there are countless ways to extend your experience beyond the theater, ranging from merchandise to theme parks. And now, fans of the worldwide hit “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” can enjoy possibly the most immersive encounter imaginable: an escape room.

Posted by David at 4/13/2018 12:28:00 PM

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.

Posted by David at 4/11/2018 10:08:00 AM

Queer Women of DC TV: Power of Inclusive Stories at ClexaCon

The Mary Sue: “It’s all about stories,” said Chyler Leigh at the final panel of ClexaCon on Sunday, April 8th. If there’s one phrase that can sum up the impact of the myriad queer women and characters that were celebrated at the three-day con in Las Vegas, that’s it. ClexaCon was both a celebration of wonderful shows, creators, ships, and characters, and a reminder of the impact these stories have on their audiences.

Leslie Odom, Jr. Helps To Spread Good News to 2018 Tony Nominees

www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Leslie Odom, Jr. can check off another box on his accomplishments list. Odom Jr., who took home a 2016 Tony Award for best performance by an actor in a leading role for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in "Hamilton," will join CBS star Katharine McPhee to announce the 2018 Tony Award nominees. The Tony Awards announced his role today; the nominations will take place at Lincoln Center Tuesday, May 1, and will, in part, be broadcast on "CBS This Morning."

Robots build wood structures too complex for humans

Woodworking Network: In Spatial Timber Assembly (STA), robotic arms fabricate and assemble wooden parts into extremely complex geometric buildings and rooms - spaces that were previously impossible to build with timber. See the robots motion-cut, lift, translate, rotate, and move around below.

Escape Room Brings New Dimension to ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’

Variety: If you truly love a movie, there are countless ways to extend your experience beyond the theater, ranging from merchandise to theme parks. And now, fans of the worldwide hit “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” can enjoy possibly the most immersive encounter imaginable: an escape room.

The ever-busy Kenny Leon squeezes a new Broadway hit into his schedule

artsatl.com: Downtime has never really been part of Kenny Leon’s DNA. He finishes one project and darts off to start another, crisscrossing the country at will, effortlessly making the segue from theater to television.

His long-planned Broadway revival of the drama Children of a Lesser God — published by Mark Medoff back in 1979 and winner of the 1980 Tony Award for Best Play — officially opened this week at Studio 54 in New York City. The story of Sarah Norman, a deaf woman, and her relationship with her teacher James Leeds, has an open-ended run, after an acclaimed try-out by New England’s Berkshire Theater Group last year.

The Sessions Upstairs will go behind the curtain of The Pillow Projects

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Most people like to linger in their comfort zones, knowing the dimensions of their spatial blueprint and its corresponding boundaries.

Not so with Pearlann Porter and John Lambert, the relatively new core of The Ellipses Condition, the new arm that operates under the umbrella of The Pillow Projects. Actually the partnership, both in life and art, was born in a popular series known as Second Saturdays, which inhabited The Space Upstairs for 10 years.

CMU School of Drama's 2018-2019 Season Features Diverse Perspectives

www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama's 2018-2019 season features a diverse selection of plays from women and playwrights of color, including the school's first commissioned piece, "The Way Out West," by alumna Liza Birkenmeier.

Roland's feature-packed handheld recorder can be remote controlled with a smartwatch

newatlas.com: Though the ubiquitous smartphone can serve as a capable audio recorder, there are times when quality counts. Roland previewed a new high resolution handheld at CES in January, with multiple recording modes and the ability to control functionality using a smartphone or Apple Watch. Now the R-07 is on sale.

Professor Exposes Culture of Sexual Harassment with New Video Game

www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University School of Art Professor Angela Washko's latest project puts you in a scenario familiar to many women waiting for a friend at a bar. In Washko's "The Game: The Game," a video game in the format of a dating simulator, six men approach aiming to seduce you.

How fake foods are made to look realistic for TV and movies

Business Insider: Movies and TV shows tend to use real food when they can, but there are a number of times when they need something fake. We spoke with two fake food artists who specialize in making custom, inedible treats for restaurants, trade shows, and Hollywood. Here's how fake food props are made to look so delicious. Following is a transcript of the video.

A visitor describes how Dolly Parton’s Stampede ditched the Civil War theme.

slate.com: You may recall that last year, I reviewed Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede, a long-running, super kitschy dinner-theater show just up the road from the country legend’s beloved Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. You can read my full account of the surreal experience, but suffice it to say that its depiction of the Civil War as a “friendly” North–South “rivalry” to be reinterpreted over a heaping plate of gluttonous food came off as startlingly tone-deaf in 2017

New to Art? Here are 10 Basic Drawing Techniques You Need to Know

mymodernmet.com: Drawing is one of the most basic ways to exercise your creativity. Whether you’re using a pencil, pen, crayon, or even your fingers, the skills you gain from the activity translate to a bevy of different media. Learning the fundamentals is simple to do, but like all art, they require a lot of practice to master. But once you do, you’ll have the ability create images you’re truly proud of.

Capturing the Complex Tone of 'Carousel' Through Dance

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: Although Justin Peck has been a boldface name in the dance world for a number of years, the revival of Carousel at the Imperial Theatre marks his Broadway debut as choreographer. The 30-year-old joined New York City Ballet as a dancer in 2006 and was promoted to soloist seven years later. In the interim, he began creating his own work and in 2014 he was appointed NYCB's resident choreographer, providing the troupe with a steady stream of invigorating ballets of varying styles.

As Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre approaches 50 years, it completes $21.2 million capital campaign to bring dance to the masses

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: After nearly a decade, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has completed its campaign to raise $21.2 million, the company announced Wednesday.

Money raised has already supported the expansion of PBT’s Strip District headquarters in recent years and will continue to fund the development of scholarships and programming for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and new company productions.

New York Continues Tax Credit for Upstate Broadway Tours

Backstage: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has approved extending the Empire State Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit program for four more years, according to Forbes. The tax credit demonstrates that New York loves not only its Broadway shows but also its Broadway tours.

Attack Theatre brings VR technology to empty Office Depot for its new dance show

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Where others see an abandoned building, Attack Theatre sees an opportunity.

This time, it will transform a former Office Depot at The Waterfront in Homestead into “a theatrical multimedia playground” with a series of video environments produced by resident dancer Dane Toney. Its new evening-length show, “If | Maybe | Then,” opens Thursday for a 14-performance run through April 29.

Nondisclosure Agreements, Inclusion Riders + More U.K. Legal News

Backstage: After revelations about the use and abuse of nondisclosure agreements against staff at the now infamous Presidents Club fundraiser as well as their use in the silencing of allegations against Harvey Weinstein, there’s increased pressure on the government to look into the legality of NDAs and to better regulate or even ban their use. The Human Rights Commission, a U.K. rights body, released a major report and said that NDAs were being misused to sweep misconduct “under the carpet” instead of their original purpose: to protect the identity of victims.

‘Black Panther’ star Danai Gurira slays screen and stage; her latest play opens soon at Seattle

The Seattle Times: Long before her breakout role as the sword-wielding Michonne in “The Walking Dead” or her powerful portrayal of Okoye, the fierce protector of Wakanda, in the blockbuster “Black Panther,” actor Danai Gurira’s work as a playwright was celebrated for bringing nuanced, complex stories to the stage that had not been told before.

The EU's latest copyright proposal is so bad, it even outlaws Creative Commons licenses

Boing Boing: The EU is mooting a new copyright regime for the largest market in the world, and the Commissioners who are drafting the new rules are completely captured by the entertainment industry, to the extent that they have ignored their own experts and produced a farcical Big Content wishlist that includes the most extensive internet censorship regime the world has ever seen, perpetual monopolies for the biggest players, and a ban on European creators using Creative Commons licenses to share their works.

You Might Need a Permit to Work From Home

lifehacker.com: Last fall, I moved to a new city—and this spring, I learned that I needed a home occupation permit to freelance from my apartment.

Home occupation rules vary by city, and most freelancers are probably unaware that they even exist; I’ve moved more than once since I started working as a freelance writer, and I knew that I needed to look up business licenses and so on, but I never thought about getting the city’s permission to work from home. I mean, isn’t that what most of us are doing these days, whether we’re full-time freelancing or running a side hustle?

Scene maker brings together capabilities to set the stage

Woodworking Network: Chicago Scenic Studios Inc. sets the stage for theatrical and entertainment scenes, special displays and all kinds of unique interiors.

They bring together many capabilities, including woodworking, metalworking, sculpture, sewing, finishing, electrical work, interactive development and automation.

Bob Doepel, president and founder of Chicago Scenic Studios, said the company specializes in branded environments and that most projects are OTO – One Time Only.

Why Should You Try Inclusion Riders? Because They Work — For Everyone

Variety: When Frances McDormand introduced the wider world to the phrase “inclusion rider” during the 2018 Oscars, it had an effect almost immediately. Weeks later, the production companies of Michael B. Jordan, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and Paul Feig were among those jumping on board, saying they would adhere to the riders’ mandate to include certain percentages of employees from traditionally marginalized groups. Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel even wrote a memo supporting inclusion riders.

Equity Launches Campaign for Tony Awards Chorus + Ensemble Category

Backstage: Actors’ Equity, the nation’s union for live theater actors and stage managers, has launched a campaign petitioning the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League to offer a new category in the Tony Awards: best chorus and best ensemble in a musical or play.

The 42nd Humana Festival of New American Plays at the Actors Theatre of Louisville

The Pittsburgh Tatler: Two impulses ran perceptibly through the 42nd Humana Festival of New American Plays.

The first was a commitment to inclusivity and diversity that permeated the festival at nearly every level. Four of the five playwrights who received full productions at the festival were female; two of those were Asian-American. The writers invited to contribute to the multi-authored “apprentice play” were equally diverse, including a Latinx writer and a female writer of Indian descent.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘Carousel,’ After #MeToo

www.vulture.com: Billy Bigelow says he does not beat his wife. “I wouldn’t beat a little thing like that — I hit her,” he explains to the Starkeeper, head man in heaven’s waiting room. But I’ve gotten ahead of myself.

Bigelow is the protagonist in Carousel, the second work by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and one that’s come to be known as a problem musical, or “the wife-beater musical.” And the problem is not that Billy hits his wife, Julie, but that Julie, seemingly, makes an excuse for him, thereby teaching their daughter Louise that abuse is a form of love.

Tarana Burke on Hollywood, Time’s Up and Me Too Backlash

Variety: Tarana Burke is a lifelong activist who founded Me Too more than a decade ago — but the world didn’t know about the movement until Hollywood took notice. And Burke isn’t mad about it. Despite criticism on social media that Hollywood actresses have become the face of Me Too, glamorizing the movement at glitzy events like the Golden Globes where A-listers wore black as a symbol of solidarity on the red carpet, Burke says she isn’t surprised the power of celebrity catapulted her cause into the global conversation.

Big Gender Pay Parity Gap at U.S. Entertainment Companies in U.K.

Variety: Last week, all companies in the U.K. with more than 250 employees had to report their gender pay gaps — not by choice but under a new law backed by Prime Minister Theresa May. May has called the pay gap a “burning injustice” that she is determined to eliminate within a generation.

Sound Design: Mark Henry Phillips

Transom: Of course, every sonic choice you make is part of your design, but we're in a new age, abetted by remarkable digital tools, where the whole field of sound design is booming, for better and sometimes for worse. Transom is starting a new series commissioning features from some of the best sound designers in public radio and podcasting.

First up, Mark Henry Phillips (Homecoming, Serial, Radiolab and more) who says, "It's an interesting job: you work hard to layer sound atop sound and if you get it just right, all those layers become invisible. The listener thinks, 'That's just what it sounded like'--if they think about the sound at all. The majority of the work is about being unnoticed."

Joshua Jackson, Lauren Ridloff on Broadway’s ‘Children of a Lesser God’

Stagecraft Podcast – Variety: Lauren Ridloff is playing the lead role in the Broadway revival of “Children of a Lesser God.” Haven’t heard of her? That’s probably because this is her first acting gig.

The actress reveals the surprising turn of events that got to Broadway in the latest episode of Stagecraft, Variety‘s theater podcast. In a conversation with her co-star, Joshua Jackson, and with Variety‘s theater editor Gordon Cox, she also shared why “Children of a Lesser God” is so personally meaningful to her.

Recoil at University of Pittsburgh

Theater Reviews + Features | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Watching Recoil — a new play about gun violence from the University of Pittsburgh Theatre Arts Department — got me thinking about how artists have addressed that topic over the past few decades. Specifically, I remembered Elephant, Gus Van Sant’s hyper-realistic fictional retelling of the Columbine school shooting, and how uncomfortable it made me. The film was supposed to be disturbing, but it wasn’t only the violence. There’s just something gross about dramatizing a school shooting that left me desperate for a shower and wondering what exactly the film was trying to accomplish. Did Van Sant think the horror of Columbine eluded the general public? Does it really need underlining?

Speeding Up 3D Printing By a Lot

www.asme.org: Anyone who’s watched a 3D printer in action knows the whole experience is one of excruciating boredom. It can take hours for a standard a standard printer to create a simple figurine. Yawn.

Maxim Shusteff, a staff engineer in the materials engineering division of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and his colleagues, were just as bored with the process as the rest of us. So they found a way to speed things up…by a lot.

Attack Theatre’s If | Maybe | Then lets audiences choose their own adventure

Dance + Live Performance | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Imagine a dance performance where you choose what you will see. Now imagine your choices give you an experience that somehow colors your perceptions of the dance performance differently than many of your fellow audience members report experiencing. This intriguing scenario is at the center of If | Maybe | Then, the latest brainchild of outside-the-box-thinkers Attack Theatre.

How To Be an Artist in a World That Hates You

AMERICAN THEATRE: When Actors Theatre asked me to speak to you about your futures transitioning from school to the professional world, my first thought was, “Me? My transition to the professional world was a disaster! The career path for someone like me was non-existent when I finished school. So the path I walked was filled with frustration and even, sometimes, lots of sadness.”

But then they said I could see all the 2018 Humana Festival plays, so I was like, “Sign me up. I’ll figure it out!”