World Theatre Day 2019: On (Dis)Connection

The Theatre Times: World Theatre Day was instituted in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute (ITI) and is celebrated annually on March 27 across the globe. The day has at its core the vision of theatre as an actant of peace. Each year, the ITI invites a prominent figure in the broad domain of theatre to reflect on the theme. Cuban director, playwright and theatre educator Carlos Celdrán’s message for World Theatre Day 2019 centers on theatre as a mode of human connection.

Any One Thing's "Recollection": Breaking The Threshold Of Immersive Theatre

The Theatre Times: Sarah needs your help. She has been stripped away from her most valuable and fundamental possession: her identity. And, somehow, somewhere, you are involved in her story. With this almost cinematic premise, the new theatre company Any One Thing presents their first work: Recollection. Framed as a “highly personalized immersive experience […] in a secret location,” Recollection takes up to six participants in a thrilling journey about the importance of memories and personal data.

Colleen Atwood on Dumbo and Joining the Disney Legacy

Collider | Collider: While at the film’s Los Angeles press day, Academy Award-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood spoke 1-on-1 to Collider for this interview about why her profession is still exciting after all of these years, what most intimidated her about working on Dumbo, what it takes to get so many hundreds of people dressed in one day, what would surprise people about being a costume designer, why she feels lucky to work with a filmmaker like Tim Burton, and how she approached the design for Eva Green’s aerialist character.

“with a shadow of...” And Euphoric Submersion into Unknowning

Pittsburgh in the Round: Beth Corning knows precisely what she’s doing. Even when breaching the borderless, lawless, and seemingly indiscernible realm of the unknown, the unconscious/subconscious, and the liminal, Beth Corning (and her fellow artists) strikingly knows precisely what she’s doing.

Introducing AutoCAD 2020: See What’s New

AutoCAD Blog | Autodesk: We’re thrilled to bring you AutoCAD 2020, packed with new features and enhancements to help you design, draft, and bring visions to life. With a subscription to AutoCAD including specialized toolsets, you’ll gain access to industry-specific specialized toolsets, flexibility with AutoCAD web and mobile apps, and the latest innovative features of AutoCAD 2020.

All This Town’s a Stage

The New Yorker: It’s 7:45 p.m. in Stratford, Ontario when the city’s restaurants clear out. It’s a departure so sudden and sweeping one might assume this small city was rolling up its sidewalks for the night. In reality, these dinner guests are on their way to the 8:00 p.m. show at one of four performance spaces that make up the Stratford Festival, a repertory theatre and annual series that sells half a million tickets to shows in a town of little more than 30,000.

The LRLR Raise Funds for Behind the Scenes at USITT Raffle

PLSN: The Long Reach Long Riders (LRLR) celebrated their upcoming ride with a raffle and live auction to benefit Behind the Scenes during the USITT Stage Expo last week in Louisville, KY. A myriad of activities including sales of raffle tickets, a live and silent auction, challenge grants, swag sales, and sales of Neal Preston’s books, posters and prints raised over $18,000 for the charity.

For the first time, a trans performer will play all 35 roles in Out Front Theatre's production of I Am My Own Wife

Atlanta Magazine: Out Front Theatre's latest production, I Am My Own Wife, marks the first time the Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning show has been staged with a transgender performer, Peter Smith, playing all 35 roles.

Waynesboro BOE decides high school plays must be reviewed before presentation

Instant | heraldmailmedia.com: The next time students at Waynesboro Area Senior High School put on a production or play for the public, the superintendent has the authority to review and decide if it is appropriate for audiences.

How the WGA-ATA Battle Foreshadows Studio Talks Next Year

Variety: The 95%-vote majority in the WGA’s referendum on imposing a tough new code of conduct for talent agents sends a clear signal to the industry. The WGA is gearing up for tough negotiations in the coming year with the major studios on the master film and TV contract that expires May 1, 2020.

Writers Guild Members Vote to Tighten Talent Agency Rules

Variety: Members of the Writers Guild of America have voted overwhelmingly to support tightened restrictions on their agents — setting up a potentially chaotic scenario a week from now.

The vote was 7,882 in favor of creating a new “Code of Conduct” for agents representing WGA with 392 voting against — that’s more than 95% supporting. The new rules require elimination of agencies receiving packaging fees and having ownership interest in affiliate production companies — demands that the agencies have said are not feasible.

Very talented cast is wasted with more 'Nunsense' nonsense at Pittsburgh Musical Theater

Pittsburgh Current: I’d like to send a message out into the world in hope it reaches writer and composer Dan Googins: “Honey, you gotta get a new job.”

Googins, at some early point in his life, was a seminarian who ended up performing in musical theater. (And I’m going to let those jokes lay there.) He started marketing his own line of greeting cards featuring nuns making off-color, religiously perfumed remarks.

"Mumburger" At Off The WALL Productions (Carnegie, PA) And "The Double Threat Trio" At Pittsburgh CLO

The Theatre Times: The tagline in the publicity for Sarah Kosar’s new play Mumburger reads “a surreal play about grief, parenting, and alternative meat.” You’d be forgiven for hoping–as I’ll confess I was–that the play’s title is a feint and that it has some bait-and-switch up its sleeve that doesn’t involve cannibalism. The title, however, doesn’t lie: ground “mom” meat is indeed on the menu.

Fatal ‘Motherless Brooklyn’ Fire Offers Hard Lessons For Film Productions

Deadline: A year after a fire burned a Harlem brownstone used for production of the Edward Norton-directed Motherless Brooklyn, the New York City Fire Department has issued a detailed report that breaks down the cause of events. It points to some shocking lapses that contributed to the death of firefighter Michael Davidson.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

Why You Procrastinate (It Has Nothing to Do With Self-Control)

The New York Times: If you’ve ever put off an important task by, say, alphabetizing your spice drawer, you know it wouldn’t be fair to describe yourself as lazy.

After all, alphabetizing requires focus and effort — and hey, maybe you even went the extra mile to wipe down each bottle before putting it back. And it’s not like you’re hanging out with friends or watching Netflix. You’re cleaning — something your parents would be proud of! This isn’t laziness or bad time management. This is procrastination.

Posted by David at 3/27/2019 04:54:00 PM

Environmentalism Behind the Scenes on Broadway and Beyond

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Sustainability and Broadway are two words that, on the surface, might not go together. Sustainability is a complex concept that seeks to ensure the natural environment is able to meet current and future needs, while Broadway is a cultural hub where theatregoers can escape and immerse themselves in the worlds of plays and musicals. But sustainability and Broadway are much more interconnected than you might think.

Posted by David at 3/29/2019 10:33:00 AM

For Parents Working In Theater, Raising A Family Is No Child’s Play

WAMU: Being a parent and a professional in theater can feel like a dramatic performance with no intermission, no last act and certainly no curtain call.

When Marni Penning landed a part in Studio Theatre’s “Admissions,” she took solace in the fact that the schedule of rehearsals would allow her to drop off and pick her six-and-half-year-old son at his school in Falls Church.

But once the performances began, there was a tradeoff.

Posted by David at 3/26/2019 10:55:00 AM

'Jungle' scenic designer Miriam Buether disrupts tradition with site-specific concepts

Datebook: When audiences enter the Curran to see “The Jungle,” they’ll no doubt be surprised by the extent of the Geary Street theater’s transformation from a plush proscenium stage to a makeshift migrant camp built out of a patchwork of found materials. But this kind of radical reinvention – turning traditional theaters into immersive, site-specific fantasies – is the hallmark of acclaimed German scenic designer Miriam Buether’s work. She once called the most successful designs “those that don’t look like designs at all,” and isn’t averse to disrupting the actual architecture of a performance space to bring her unconventional visions to life.

Posted by David at 3/29/2019 01:18:00 PM

White Actors Suing 'Hamilton' for Discrimination? Supreme Court Hears Warning

Hollywood Reporter: Is Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda at risk for being sued by only casting African-Americans in the role of George Washington in his award-winning musical? According to a new petition before the Supreme Court, he very well might be. Charter Communications, one of the biggest cable operators in the nation, is now telling the Supreme Court that if a recent Ninth Circuit ruling is left in place, white actors could attack Miranda's magnum opus with viable discrimination suits.

Posted by David at 3/25/2019 01:11:00 PM

'Jungle' scenic designer Miriam Buether disrupts tradition with site-specific concepts

Datebook: When audiences enter the Curran to see “The Jungle,” they’ll no doubt be surprised by the extent of the Geary Street theater’s transformation from a plush proscenium stage to a makeshift migrant camp built out of a patchwork of found materials. But this kind of radical reinvention – turning traditional theaters into immersive, site-specific fantasies – is the hallmark of acclaimed German scenic designer Miriam Buether’s work. She once called the most successful designs “those that don’t look like designs at all,” and isn’t averse to disrupting the actual architecture of a performance space to bring her unconventional visions to life.

Peter Boal on What Ballet Could Learn About Race from Art

Dance Magazine: January travels also offer the opportunity to visit the country's museums. Museums have been my go-to places since I was a boy. I love the opportunity for quiet reflection.
This year, in ballet studios and art-filled galleries across America, race was on my mind. I'll venture to say ballet would benefit from paying attention to what's happening in the art world today.

Environmentalism Behind the Scenes on Broadway and Beyond

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Sustainability and Broadway are two words that, on the surface, might not go together. Sustainability is a complex concept that seeks to ensure the natural environment is able to meet current and future needs, while Broadway is a cultural hub where theatregoers can escape and immerse themselves in the worlds of plays and musicals. But sustainability and Broadway are much more interconnected than you might think.

Just Who is Seeing Shows on the Road? Broadway National Tour Demographics REVEALED!

The Producer's Perspective: Here is a quick, two-step process to grow a business . . . any business . . . and save money.

Find out who your current customers are.
Increase your advertising and marketing initiatives on that demographic and decrease the time and money you’re spending on other groups.

Those two steps alone will have an instant positive effect on whatever you’re trying to build, whether that’s an audience, a social media following, or even an online suitcase selling-store.

Escaping the Imaginary of Engaged Arts

HowlRound Theatre Commons: “Who would miss you, and why, if you would cease to exist tomorrow?” In years of doing field research with cultural managers, producers, and artists, this is one of my favorite interview questions—it lets me peek into how an organization sees and sets its relations with the social reality that surrounds it. Reactions differ, but the general rule of thumb is that the organizations and individuals who have close relationships with their audiences and who work hard to produce sensitive and relevant work have their answers ready. Others are at pains.

At the Intersection of Technology and Live Entertainment

www.cirquefascination.com: Cirque du Soleil represents the evolution of entertainment and technology.

Do you remember seeing your first live circus performance? Or maybe it wasn’t even a circus —it could have been a concert, comedy show or stage play. Nothing can replace the immersive experience of attending a live show in person.

Over the past 20 years, technology has transformed entertainment and changed our expectations of what live shows can offer. This evolving fusion of streaming technology and live performance is the future of entertainment.

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: USITT Expo 2019

Drypigment.net: When you visit USITT, it is almost as if you are attending two conferences. There are the expected educational sessions and displays, but there is also the EXPO. You can solely visit the EXPO floor without ever attending the rest of the conference, for a fee. Cutting the ribbon to open the EXPO is a big event and students rush into the space, going from one exhibit booth to another, collecting swag.

USITT Announces New Fund-Raising Campaign - Setting the Next Stage

Stage Directions: At the Annual Meeting of the USITT membership on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, a major fund-raising initiative was announced that will culminate with the Institute’s 60th anniversary in 2020. The campaign, Setting the Next Stage, was announced by Immediate Past President Mark Shanda.

Setting the Next Stage seeks to raise a minimum of $600,000 to meet the goals of improved financial liquidity, security and stability for the Institute, through increasing the values of four well-established USITT funds.

The Beautiful Lies of Sound Design with Tasos Fratzolas

Stage Directions: From gunshots in a canyon to underwater submarine engines, this audio-rich talk explores the role of sound design in modern storytelling. Soundsnap.com founder Tasos Frantzolas looks at a variety of multimedia examples to show the ways that sound designers ‘lie’ in creating the sonic palette of film, television and interactive media.

The Women in Theatre Leadership: Agency, Challenges, and Changes

HowlRound Theatre Commons: The panelists will share the arcs of their lives and work in theatre from their origin stories to breaking into the business and artistic leadership; talk about opportunities they’ve grasped or created for themselves, and obstacles and challenges they’ve faced; discuss concerns of the present moment in the American Theatre, from equity and inclusion initiatives to the #metoo movement; and they’ll offer thoughts on strategies for transformative change and leadership in the twenty-first century, as well as reflect on their artistic goals and legacies.

LD Jason Kantrowitz Lights The Scarlet Pimpernel for MCP

Stage Directions: On February 18, Manhattan Concert Productions presented a gala concert production of Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton's musical comedy The Scarlet Pimpernel at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall directed by Gabriel Barre. The performance featured over 200 choral singers from high schools across the nation for a lifetime opportunity to perform together with celebrated Broadway stars and musicians. Renowned Lighting Designer Jason Kantrowitz from Luminous Ventures Ltd selected 4Wall Entertainment as the lighting supplier for this one-night-only event.

For 30 years, puppeteer Blair Thomas has been creating visual spectacle on and off Chicago’s stages

Chicago Reader: If anybody knows puppets—like really knows puppets—it's Blair Thomas, founder and artistic director of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival and codirector of the Chicago Puppet Studio. And yet, if you ask him about the artists who are most attracted to the form, his answer is entertainingly vague.

Hamilton Education Program on Broadway

The Theatre Times: Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre is not only home to musical theatre sensation Hamilton but also host to the Hamilton Education Program (HEP). HEP is an educational initiative partnership between the show, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the New York City Department of Education. Their most recent event held on Wednesday, March 20, saw 1,300 New York City high school students and teachers participate in a daylong program, culminating in a matinee performance of Hamilton.

On the Arts: If you're talking black theater, don't leave out Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “A comprehensive listing of all Black-run theatre and performing arts institutions in the U.S.,” the press release exclaimed. The March issue of American Theatre magazine focused on “The State of Black Theatre in the U.S.” and was offering up “Black Theatre Coast to Coast.” I immediately followed the link to see which Pittsburgh theaters had made the list.

There were none.

USITT Funds Second Round of Innovation Grants

Stage Directions: The USITT Board of Directors awarded three Innovation Grants totaling nearly $80,000 at its March 19 meeting. This is the second round of funding in this program, designed to foster new technologies for use in the theatre and performing arts.

Why 'Julius Caesar' Feels More Urgent Than Ever

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: Pieces of the set literally fall apart during Theatre for a New Audience's kinetic production of Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. The startling destruction happens during the storm that precedes the assassination of the titular general by his frenemies in the Roman senate. "The supernatural aspects of this play -- the way in which nature is unhinged and is reflecting the diseased psyche of the nation -- really appealed to me," says director Shana Cooper, who makes her Off-Broadway debut with the show.

USITT Sets Records at Louisville Conference and Stage Expo

Stage Directions: USITT, the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, the association for performing arts and entertainment professionals, broke its all-time attendance records last week during the 59th Annual Conference & Stage Expo held in the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, KY. More than 6,000 attendees were verified through the conference registration system.

Climate Change Theatre is LIT.

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Like many of us, I’ve spent a lot of time feeling disturbed, depressed, and defeated as the climate crisis grows. I’ve done a lot of soul searching to understand how I can transform my despair into something meaningful. Having long been fascinated and compelled by the power of art to command attention and inspire people to care about things, I wanted to study how this power could be wielded to encourage people to care about and act upon climate change. As a graduate student, I attempted to do just that. Ironically, the most significant thing I learned is that the true power of art isn’t something that one “wields” at all.

MSC Cruises Expands Partnership with Cirque du Soleil

www.cirquefascination.com: This past weekend MSC Cruises marked a major milestone as part of its partnership with Cirque du Soleil. Both companies celebrated the 1,000th performance of the exclusive Cirque du Soleil at Sea shows on board MSC Meraviglia, which first launched in June 2017.

The 2019 Message for World Theatre Day

Stage Directions: Here is the 2019 message for World Theatre Day from Carlos CELDRÁN, a Cuban stage director, playwright, theatre educator, professor. This translation from Spanish is by Luis Llerena Diaz. We hope that everyone celebrates World Theatre Day today, and every day!

Bricolage Production Company kicks off its 11th year of its Midnight Radio series with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: It’s Friday night in Downtown Pittsburgh, and Bricolage artistic director/founder Jeffrey Carpenter is directing a rehearsal of the company’s upcoming production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The cast and crew are trying to figure out how to create the sound of the Tin Woodsman’s body being torn in two using scrappy, unconventional tools; after several experiments, Carpenter and assistant director Connor McCanlus think they finally have it figured out.

In Wiesenthal, the story of an architecture student who survived the Holocaust and dedicated the rest of his life to hunting Nazis

Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Tom Dugan's play Wiesenthal (Nazi Hunter) lives up to the concise, straightforward premise of its title, but it goes far beyond that. There's unexpected humor, expected modern-day resonance, and lessons beyond politics or history. It's a true story about Simon Wiesenthal who, after surviving four years in a concentration camp, dedicates the rest of his life to tracking down Nazi war criminals who eluded capture.

Ain't Too Proud Broadway Reviews - Critics Ratings

www.broadwayworld.com: Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of The Temptations opens tonight, March 21, at Broadway's legendary Imperial Theatre (249 West 45th Street). Ain't Too Proud is the new musical that follows The Temptations' extraordinary journey from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. With their signature dance moves and unmistakable harmonies, they rose to the top of the charts creating an amazing 42 Top Ten Hits with 14 reaching number one.

Denver Set To Open First Cannabis-Friendly Concert Venue In April

www.ticketnews.com: In less than a month, alt-rock band Ween’s guitarist Dean Ween will open the world’s first cannabis-friendly concert venue in Denver, allowing guests to consume both music and marijuana.

The venue, dubbed Dean Ween’s Honeypot Lounge, is set to open on Denver’s “Green Mile,” a stretch in the southern part of the city filled with dispensaries.

"Dynamic Barcode" System Set to Roll Out Despite Consumer Concerns

www.ticketnews.com: A new “dynamic barcode” mobile-only ticketing system is raising questions of consumer freedom and discrimination as it is prepped for a trial in at least three venues using Ticketmaster as their ticketing provider.

Op-Ed: It's Time to Stop Dancing to Michael Jackson

Dance Magazine: I was on my favorite treadmill when it happened. My best running buddy was on my left. To my right, a total stranger with whom I'd suddenly become competitive. As the 15-person group headed into a two-minute push, the instructor got hyped, and the remix blasting Rihanna's "We Found Love" transitioned to "Smooth Criminal." At the first familiar beat, I felt sick. I waited for the instructor to stop circling the room and to hustle back to the iPhone dock to advance the playlist. Surely she wasn't going to let us keep running to the beat of Michael Jackson, right?

“Proof” at Pittsburgh Classic Players

The Pittsburgh Tatler: I don’t know if I would classify David Auburn’s play Proof – which had its first production in 2000, and won a Pulitzer Prize in 2001 – a “classic”: it’s a bit young to have earned that distinction. But it is a very well-written drama about family, loyalty, trust, love, and mental fragility (all staples of classic drama), so I suppose it makes sense that a company that calls itself Pittsburgh Classic Players would be drawn to produce it.

Why You Procrastinate (It Has Nothing to Do With Self-Control)

The New York Times: If you’ve ever put off an important task by, say, alphabetizing your spice drawer, you know it wouldn’t be fair to describe yourself as lazy.

After all, alphabetizing requires focus and effort — and hey, maybe you even went the extra mile to wipe down each bottle before putting it back. And it’s not like you’re hanging out with friends or watching Netflix. You’re cleaning — something your parents would be proud of! This isn’t laziness or bad time management. This is procrastination.

Cirque, MGM Resorts Downsize; Shuffle Staff

www.cirquefascination.com: Cirque du Soleil is performing some acrobatics away from the theater.

The days are over when Cirque shows have been operated as insular productions, independent of one another. The company is reorganizing — and downsizing — its management operations for its five residency productions on the Las Vegas Strip that are in partnership with MGM Resorts International (“Mystere” at Treasure Island being the exception). Cirque also has a show coming into Luxor to be announced this spring.

Towards a Sustainable Aesthetic Theory

HowlRound Theatre Commons: If theatre is going to fundamentally change the way we think about climate change—and the way we relate to our planet and other species on it—we must change the way we make theatre so that it embodies new ways of sustainable thinking. Aesthetic theories reflect and shape ways of thinking, being, and interacting. Aesthetic theories are not, then, politically neutral; they require particular dramaturgical structures that are in turn political. In order to make theatre that embodies a politics of sustainability, I suggest we replace the aesthetic theory of catharsis—and all it implies and entails—with the Sanskrit aesthetic theory of rasa.

The TEA Thea Awards cycle, process and history, from inside the awards committee

TEA - Themed Entertainment Association: Curious about the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) Thea Awards? As the date approaches (April 13, 2019) for the 25th Annual TEA Thea Awards Gala, part of TEA's big weekend of events that also includes the TEA Summit (April 11-12) at Disneyland Resort, here are some insider insights into the nature of the awards, their history and how the committee does its work