Olivia Munn ‘Chastised’ for Alerting Cast About Sex Offender

www.vulture.com: On Ellen this morning, Olivia Munn discussed how she has felt isolated after it became public that Fox cut a scene from The Predator that included a sex offender. The film’s director Shane Black originally shot a scene with his friend Steven Wilder Striegel and Munn, without telling her that Striegel had served six months in jail for sending provocative and flirtatious emails to a 14-year-old girl.

Women on TV scarcer this year than last year, SDSU study finds

www.usatoday.com: More bad news on the Hollywood gender diversity front: The latest study from San Diego State University found that women are scarcer on and in television this year than in previous years – meaning fewer women to celebrate at the Emmy Awards next week.

Various Stages of Dress

AMERICAN THEATRE: When a performer enters, audiences know something about the character before she says a word. Is she wealthy or poor? Conventional or unconventional? Is he our contemporary? Did he live in the distant past? Costumes help create characters and tell their stories.

Box Office: What Can Hollywood Learn From #AsianAugust?

Variety: August marked a month of firsts for the movie biz.

The traditionally slow period got an unprecedented box office boost when Warner Bros.’ “Crazy Rich Asians,” the first studio movie in a quarter of a century to feature an almost entirely Asian-American cast, delivered the best opening for a romantic comedy in years. To close out the month, Sony-Screen Gems unveiled “Searching,” led by Korean-American actor John Cho and Michelle La. In between, a little gem called “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” set the internet ablaze after Netflix dropped the YA rom-com starring Vietnamese-American actress Lana Condor.

Big 10: The 10 Most Represented Colleges on Broadway in the 2018-2019 Season

Playbill: As part of Playbill’s Back to School week (#BwayBacktoSchool), we have combined past Schools of the Stars features that track where members of the casts for each Broadway show went to college, along with a bit of added research, to present the ten colleges currently most represented on Broadway (plus a few honorable mentions). This list represents not only Broadway shows that are currently open, but a few shows that have announced casting for the 2018-2019 season. Check them out and see if your school (or the school you’re possibly considering) is on the list!

GUEST BLOG: So, What Does a General Manager Do Anyway?: Part One by Peter Bogyo

The Producer's Perspective: As a general manager of Broadway and Off Broadway shows for over 15 years, I have continually been dismayed by my close friends’ inability to remember what I do (“he’s a stage manager”; NOT) or what it entails. How could they? My job title is completely opaque. What is that mysterious thing that I manage, generally? Finally, out of frustration and self-defense, I wrote a book and cleverly called it ‘Broadway General Manager”, to clue them in. Then, in sympathy for their confusion, I subtitled it “Demystifying the Most Important and Least Understood Role in Show Business” to give them hope.

Sennheiser launches new in-ear series

LightSoundJournal.com: Sennheiser is launching a new series of professional in-ears, beginning with the IE 40 PRO entry model which will be available towards the end of this month. The IE 40 PRO ensures “impeccable audio reproduction with warmth, great detail and natural clarity”, thus improving the artist’s focus and performance control even in difficult stage situations.

THE AЯTS: The beautiful, bold and Constitutional case for public funding

New York Theater: The Culture Wars in America began on May 18, 1989, according to a new show entitled “THE AЯTS” that launches the new season at La MaMa, when Senator Al D’Amato of New York ripped up an art gallery catalogue on the floor of the Senate, and Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina called artists jerks.

Olivia Munn Faces Backlash For 'Predator' Controversy

The Mary Sue: In the wake of Shane Black casting a sexual offender in The Predator, and Olivia Munn speaking out about the issue, the majority of The Predator‘s male cast has been avoiding interacting and doing interviews with Munn. Black has not contacted her, and today most of the cast skipped out on a group interview with her at TIFF.

5 Keys to Creating Rewarding Jobs in Theatre

blog.propared.com: In the theatre, we often hear that we work in this field because we "love it." But why is that exactly? What is it about our jobs make it so rewarding? There's an answer!

In a study, Richard Hackman, Greg Oldham, and their colleagues proposed that there are 5 identifiable features of intrinsically motivating jobs. In other words, there are some specific, elements to a job that make it something someone will actually enjoy doing.

Let's Talk Sex, Violence, And The Movies

The Mary Sue: Last Friday, we rang in the weekend with a discussion of Chris Pine baring it all in his newest film Outlaw King. Naturally, it was all anyone wanted to talk about during interviews, which Pine spoke about at a press conference at the film. “We all have certain body parts,” the actor said, “yet there’s so much disemboweling and beheading in this film, it nearly makes your mind spin. That, somehow, to a human modern audience is not nearly as interesting or revelatory or exclamatory as someone showing A) a sex scene, or B) their penis.”

Latina Speaking Characters on TV Reach High — of 7 Percent

Hollywood Reporter: The percentages of women on screen and behind the scenes in television dipped slightly in 2017-18, according to the 21st annual Boxed In report from San Diego State's Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film.

Working Like a Mother

HowlRound Theatre Commons: On a very cold night at the end of January, I attended an event called Moms + Moods: Opening the Conversation on Post-Partum Rage. And I wasn’t sure why I was there. Only that someone I knew and liked a lot had organized it and moments after reading her email invitation I immediately bought a ticket before checking if my husband was working that night. I didn't think of myself as someone full of rage. But then I rarely thought of myself in the fifteen months since our son was born.

What Leslie Moonves’ Exit Says About Time’s Up, #MeToo

Variety: Leslie Moonves was brought down by the very people he never thought could do it.

Two months after the first accusations against the former CBS CEO broke, another half-dozen women told their stories to The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow on the record, detailing horrific incidents of sexual coercion and assault spanning decades. Moonves insisted he had “never before heard of such disturbing accusations” — which may well be true.

'Radio Golf' was never considered August Wilson's best — then it came to Court Theatre

Chicago Tribune: I often wish August Wilson would come back to life to help us all make sense of our riven America.

I walked into the Court Theatre on Saturday night just hours after watching the Serena Williams debacle at the U.S. Open. In Hyde Park, I found a play that had nothing to do with tennis, yet delivered most everything you needed to know about what had just taken place in New York. You just had to know where to look. Rooted in history, Wilson’s beyond-the-grave understanding was far more profound that the instant-reaction commentariat you likely now are following on Twitter. It hit me with the power of one of Williams’ own serves.

US military uses 'world’s largest' 3D printer to build concrete barracks

www.designboom.com: the US marine corps systems command (MCSC) has constructed a prototype concrete barracks in under two days with what it calls the world’s largest 3D printer. the 3D printer was used to build a basic barracks hut measuring 500 sq ft (46 sq m) in just 40 hours.

Select This, Select That

Tuesday Tips With Seth | AutoCAD Blog | Autodesk: A lot of commands in AutoCAD require you to make a selection set. The good news is that whether you need to manipulate an individual object or many objects, AutoCAD provides plenty of easy ways to do this. In this Tuesday Tip, we’ll look at the many ways AutoCAD aids you in selecting objects. I call these tools “Selection Assist Commands.”

Demo shows workings of Mesmer animatronics in action

newatlas.com: A system combining robotics and animation software to create lifelike humanoid characters has been demonstrated in a new video by Engineered Arts. Dubbed Mesmer, the technology promises the entertainment industry cheaper results by pulling disparate technologies into a single package designed to work seamlessly together.

Foreign Actors On Mexico's Theater Stage Stir Resentment Behind The Scenes

NPR: At the Metropolitan Theatrical Awards in Mexico City, actresses in sequined floor length gowns and actors in tuxedos ranging from the debonair to the eccentric, walk the red carpet striking poses for photographers on a recent Tuesday evening at the historic Teatro de la Ciudad.

It is an unusual place for tensions over immigration and cultural identity.

Statera Conference Will Include Historic SWAN Gathering

WomenArts: WomenArts is pleased to announce that the women of the Statera Foundation have raised $25,000 to match their WomenArts Challenge Grant. Congratulations to Executive Director, Melinda Pfundstein and the entire Statera team – and thanks so much to all of you who helped them reach their goal!

Holocaust? What Holocaust? It's a Hoax! It's a Hoaxocaust!

www.clydefitchreport.com: In 2014, Barry Levey’s solo play about Holocaust denialism, Hoaxacaust!, ran in the New York International Fringe Festival, where it won an Overall Excellence Award. Previously, it was under development through such companies as The New Group, The Cell and Prospect Theater Company. Hoaxacaust!, as directed by Jeremy Gold Kronenberg, seemed so right for the moment, with its provocative title and topic as those Tea Party Republicans and anti-Semitic idiot-fringe Americans running around. But how innocent, how halcyon, how quaint it all seems. 2014. I mean, those people could never enter the political mainstream, right?

‘Oklahoma!,’ Still Okay?

AMERICAN THEATRE: “Country’s a-changin’, got to change with it!”

So Oklahoma!’s Curly tells her true love Laurey moments after she accepts her adorably flustered proposal. Wait, did I just write “her” for Curly? If you’re in Ashland, Ore., yes, ma’am—that’s the correct pronoun. Bill Rauch’s current staging of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic has found a new way to make the heart beat faster and the eye tear up: Curly and Laurey’s romance now blazes brightly in a nation torn between LGBTQ rights and bigoted backlash. Their pure love is echoed in the comical affair between roper Will Parker and his randy sweetheart, Ado Andy (originally Annie), now “just a boy who cain’t say no.”

How Katherine Dunham Embodied Activism (and What It Means Now)

www.clydefitchreport.com: Those familiar with the legacy of Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) know that her choreography not only exposed her audiences to cultural material that had yet to reach the US during her time, but also ruffled the feathers of dignitaries in government and politics across the globe. Her bold and unapologetic approach to addressing political injustices through performance was considered as shocking as it was provocative, inspiring former company members, students and Dunham enthusiasts to follow her example into current times.

Rock Lititz Cultivates the Future of Live-Event Production With a Hub for Collaborators

www.avixa.org: Lititz is legendary. Those seeking the roots of the experience design business quickly learn that this South Central Pennsylvania town is where the biggest, most famous, most legendary productions begin. It’s where the Clair Brothers first started renting out PA systems more than 50 years ago. It’s where TAIT Towers radically changed lighting and staging systems beginning in 1972.

When Damage Is Done

AMERICAN THEATRE: Since October 2017, when the #MeToo movement broke as a national story and the subsequent Time’s Up movement against sexual harassment and predation has only grown in moral force, one thing was clear: Theatre would not be spared. Since last fall a number of theatre artists have been accused of sexual harassment, and in some cases lost jobs over it, including playwright Israel Horovitz and Lee Trull, former director of new play development manager of Dallas Theater Center. Others were accused but still retained their jobs while their companies conducted investigations, such as Michael Halberstam, artistic director of Writers’ Theatre in Glencoe, Ill., and currently Thomas Schumacher, the head of Disney Theatrical Group.

Opening Cirque du Soleil show in Redmond canceled after audience sprayed with liquid

The Seattle Times: The opening show for Cirque du Soleil’s VOLTA show at Redmond’s Marymoor Park was abruptly canceled Friday night after liquid from below the stage sprayed the audience.

The Female Stunt Coordinator for Infinity War Talks Her Job

io9.gizmodo.com: Monique Ganderton has had an impressive career. The stunt double for Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde, a stunt coordinator on Avengers: Infinity War, and a stunt performer in a long list of films, she’s a seasoned and respected voice in the stunt side of film.

How Sharp Objects Built Amma’s Creepy Dollhouse

www.vulture.com: Spoilers ahead for the Sharp Objects finale.

As if Amma’s eerie fascination with her dollhouse wasn’t enough to make Sharp Objects viewers cringe, now we know evil was buried in the floors all along, hiding Wind Gap’s darkest secrets inside the magnificent replica of her family’s Victorian mansion.

Munn's The Predator Co-Stars Silent After Scandal Breaks

The Mary Sue: The fallout from Shane Black’s decision to hire his sex offender buddy for a cameo role in The Predator has fallen squarely on the shoulders of Olivia Munn. As it always does, the blowback from a scandal like this has targeted Munn herself, who was the only one to speak up and demand that Fox cut the scene from the film.

Olivia Munn shunned by 'Predator' cast after flagging sex offender

www.usatoday.com: Olivia Munn says she's getting the cold shoulder from "The Predator" cast after flagging 20th Century Fox that an actor in the reboot of the franchise is a registered sex offender.

The news resulted in Fox cutting a scene from the film with actor Steven Wilder Striegel, who pleaded guilty in 2010 for trying to entice a 14-year-old girl into a sexual relationship on the Internet. (Striegel is a longtime friend of "The Predator" director Shane Black)

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

Two Things That Can Help Keep Your Projects on Schedule

Remodeling | Operations, Planning: Projects that get behind schedule eat into your company's profit and upset clients. To avoid these pains and help keep projects on schedule, remodelers can use Gantt charts and pre-job conferences, consultant Michael Stone advises.

Posted by David at 9/07/2018 12:53:00 PM

Drake uses a drone show to light up his live performance

The Verge: On a sticky late-August night in New York, Drake has chosen to share the stage with a non-human entity. As he bounces around the stage during “Elevate,” a cloud of drones illuminates the dark space above him.

Posted by David at 9/06/2018 12:13:00 PM

Details Emerge Over Three Dancer's Suspensions From NY City Ballet Over Shared Nude Photos

www.broadwayworld.com: As BroadwayWorld previously reported, just three weeks before its new season, following the departure of former leader Peter Martins - three male principal dancers were suspended from performing with the New York City Ballet this season.

Posted by David at 9/07/2018 12:51:00 PM

5 ways to deal with impostor syndrome at work

www.fastcompany.com: Impostor syndrome is a well-known concept. It’s when you feel like a fraud despite having outward evidence of success. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, actress Natalie Portman, and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz have all talked about their experiences with it. It affects approximately 70% of people, but according to Valerie Young, impostor syndrome expert and author of The Secrets Of Successful Women, it is especially prevalent among those who are the first, the only, or the few–especially individuals who belong to a “group for whom there are stereotypes about competence.”

Posted by David at 9/05/2018 12:04:00 PM

Saudi Government Outlaws Satire; Violators To Face Five-Year Prison Sentences

Techdirt: Lately, real life pretty much anywhere in the world has threatened to kill off satire. The surrealism of day-to-day politics, combined with the increasing embrace of extreme viewpoints by world leaders, has made satire all but impossible.

Posted by David at 9/07/2018 12:52:00 PM

Playwright Interview: Gracie Gardner

Breaking Character: On September 5, Gracie Gardner’s Athena returned to JACK for a limited engagement this September. The new drama, about the rivalry and friendship of two adolescent fencers, will return for a limited run in September. The return run is once again presented by The Hearth, whose mission is to hire, support, and tell the stories of women and non-binary artists. Below, check out an interview between Gracie and director Emma Miller.

How actors fake fight in movies

Business Insider: Fight scenes in movies and TV shows are more realistic than ever. The art of fight choreography has evolved significantly since the era of Bruce Lee. Today, movies like "John Wick" and "Jason Bourne" incorporate high-impact martial arts like Judo and Jiujitsu to create intense staged combat that thrills audiences with every punch and kick.

How Heathers: High School Edition is helping difficult discourse on teen issues in Johnson County, Kansas (and how it can help you, too).

Breaking Character: The importance of having discussions about mental health, violence, and bullying in our community and communities around the United States became clear when three students in Johnson County, Kansas took their own lives in January of 2018. In the previous year, eight Johnson County teens did the same. This is a subject that is very difficult to discuss between local students and adults alike.

What Is Building Information Modeling - BIM

(Between the Lines): I get asked this quite often and I simply explain it is the evolution of lines arcs and circles to objects as components in a 3D architectural design model encompassing the entirety of the the building from design to meta data on performance and materials.Its all about the data..

Playwright Interview: Jaki McCarrick

Breaking Character: With her latest play receiving its world premiere in New York this month, we caught up with the award-winning writer Jaki McCarrick to hear about her creative process. Her play, Leopoldville, won the 2010 Papatango Prize for New Writing, and her most recent play, Belfast Girls, developed at the National Theatre Studio, London, was shortlisted for the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the 2014 BBC Tony Doyle Award. It recently premiered in Chicago to much critical acclaim. Belfast Girls has been touring in the US and Australia. In this interview, Jaki shares the inspiration behind Belfast Girls, offers an insight into her writing routine, and gives some advice for aspiring playwrights.

How to Care for Your Queer Playwright: Development, Community, and Fresh Air

HowlRound Theatre Commons: When the Lambda Emerging LGBTQ Voices Retreat was born in 2007, it was the first program of its kind for queer writers. Since then, annual week-long workshops have been led by queer faculty from a range of genres, organized by queer administration, for groups of around twelve queer writers of tomorrow.

Two Things That Can Help Keep Your Projects on Schedule

Remodeling | Operations, Planning: Projects that get behind schedule eat into your company's profit and upset clients. To avoid these pains and help keep projects on schedule, remodelers can use Gantt charts and pre-job conferences, consultant Michael Stone advises.

Saudi Government Outlaws Satire; Violators To Face Five-Year Prison Sentences

Techdirt: Lately, real life pretty much anywhere in the world has threatened to kill off satire. The surrealism of day-to-day politics, combined with the increasing embrace of extreme viewpoints by world leaders, has made satire all but impossible.

Details Emerge Over Three Dancer's Suspensions From NY City Ballet Over Shared Nude Photos

www.broadwayworld.com: As BroadwayWorld previously reported, just three weeks before its new season, following the departure of former leader Peter Martins - three male principal dancers were suspended from performing with the New York City Ballet this season.

Television's Best: CMU Alumni Nominated for 14 Emmys

Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama: Sixteen Carnegie Mellon University alumni will be lighting up the small screen this year as nominees in 14 categories at the 70th Emmy Awards at 8 p.m. ET, Sept. 17 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Colin Jost and Michael Che, Weekend Update anchors on “Saturday Night Live,” will serve as co-hosts.

Michael Kahn's successor named: London visionary director Simon Godwin

DC Theatre Scene: The Shakespeare Theatre Company has ended its nearly year-long hunt for Artistic Director Michael Kahn’s successor with the appointment of London’s National Theatre Associate Director Simon Godwin, the company announced yesterday.

“The Waiting Room” at CorningWorks

The Pittsburgh Tatler: There’s a sequence near the end of Beth Corning’s new dance piece The Waiting Room that struck a deep nerve with me. Performer Jacob Goodman begins to spin a simple pine coffin around a circle, like the hand of a clock, spinning it faster and faster as other dancers rush in, bearing the kinds of mundane objects that consume our days – a bowl of soup, a newspaper, an outfit – and scrambling to keep up with the spinning coffin.

Carnegie Mellon rated No. 1 among programs offering BFAs in musical theater

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Noting that Carnegie Mellon University is "the Grandaddy of them all" — in other words, the longest-running degree-granting school of drama in the United States — OnStage Blog declared the school No. 1 in its list of “The Top 25 BFA Musical Theatre Programs for 2018-19.”

ASTC at 35

theatreconsultants.org: This year, ASTC celebrates 35 years since its founding in 1983. What was created as a small group of twelve men following a meeting in New York has grown into an organization with over 70 members. Here, we reflect on where we began and who we are today in conversation with a few members who’ve been active for more than a quarter century.

Historical SM Calling Technology: Telephone Switchboards

Stage Directions: Over the course of 75 years, as cueing technology was continuously updated, it drastically altered how a show was called and how the audience perceived the performance. As noted in my article on bells and whistles, the prompter performed an aural role in the production, one that was noticed and acknowledged by audience members.