For Apollo 11's 50th Anniversary, The Washington Monument Becomes A Rocket

The Picture Show : NPR: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with a life-size projection of the Saturn V rocket on the Washington Monument on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Need Some Inspo? Watch These 8 Great TED Talks Given by Dancers

Dance Magazine: It's no surprise that dancers make some of the best TED Talk presenters. Not only are they great performers, but they've got unique knowledge to share. And they can dance!

If you're in need of a midweek boost, look no further than these eight presentations from some incredibly inspiring dance artists.

Town of Vernon Denies Permit For Woodstock 50, Questions Arise

www.ticketnews.com: Woodstock 50, a festival commemorating the 1969 event, has faced numerous hardships over the past few months, and now, their proposal to hold the festival in the town of Vernon, New York has been denied.

The Curious Incident at The Ohio State University: Scenic Design

Live Design: A novel by Mark Haddon, an Olivier and Tony Award-winning play by Simon Stephens with a London production at the National Theatre, a hit on Broadway, and now an interesting college production with media design by Alex Oliszewski, lighting design by Mary Tarantino, scenic design by William Ledbetter, and costume design by Julianne Nogar. The professional designers of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which ran April 10-20, 2019, at The Ohio State University, comment on their work.

Ryobi Cordless Glue Gun P305 Review

Pro Tool Reviews: Like anyone else, you’ve likely got at least a few things around the shop that could use a healthy dose of hot glue to get them back to working order. We definitely do. Or, maybe you like to work on arts and crafts in your spare time. Who knows? We’re not judging. Helpful as they are, glue guns generally require you to plug them in, don’t have cord lengths that are particularly forgiving from a mobility perspective, and are usually tucked away in some forgotten nook of your closet or something. The Ryobi Cordless Glue Gun brings you the kind of mobility that only battery power provides.

How to choose an air compressor

Pro Construction Guide: Air compressors can power a huge variety of tools that will make just about any job quicker and easier. So you don’t overspend or under-specify, you need to know how to choose an air compressor. First, analyze the requirements of the air tools you will be using. Each tool has a minimum requirement for air compressor tank capacity, pumping power (cubic feet of air pumped per minute or CFM), and the maximum psi of storage pressure.

‘I am the blues’

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Interactive : August Wilson, poet, playwright and Pittsburgher, wrote in the language of the blues. He learned it in his hardscrabble youth spent in the Hill District, and he learned it from the recordings of artists such as Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, the Mother of the Blues.

NYC Centers for Live Entertainment Go Dark in July 13 Blackout

PLSN: In terms of sheer size and duration, the 2019 NYC Blackout was minuscule compared to the 1977 blackout that hit the whole city exactly 42 years earlier. It also struck on July 13, 42 years earlier, and continued to the next day, whereas in 2019, the lights came back on within five hours.

Stage Design & Video Design with Augmented Reality for Marco Borsato

Live Design: On June 5, Dutch singer Marco Borsato performed in front of a crowd of 250,000 at Stadion Feijenoord or De Kuip in Rotterdam, Netherlands, backed by an imposing display of lights and augmented reality video images on an 85m x 15m canvas.

Surviving Office Politics With ‘Focus Group, A Focus Group’ (Review)

noproscenium.com: I despise office surveys. They provide false hope that change can occur in the future based on employee recommendations but can also be weaponized as a tool for management to suss out troublemakers. So in preparing to see Nomad Art Collective’s debut immersive show Focus Group, A Focus Group, I found myself begrudgingly filling out the first survey I’ve taken in over a decade, filled with the kinds of corporate growth questions I hate, like rating from one to five on how good I think my boss is at their job. How are you supposed to not put down “five, being the best” on a named survey for such a question?

Favorite Tool Finds Under $10

Maker Project Lab: I’m Donald Bell for Cool Tools and in this video I’m going to reel off some of the most interesting tools I’ve come across this year that are under $10. Some of these relatively new to the market, and some were just off my radar. If anything catches your eye, I have Amazon links to all of these tools in the description, and if you pick something up it helps out my videos and the Cool Tools blog.

Without Payless, Where Will Low-Income Dance Students Buy Shoes?

Dance Magazine: Capezio, Bloch, So Dança, Gaynor Minden.

At the top of the line, dancers have plenty of quality footwear options to choose from, and in most metropolitan areas, stores to go try them on. But for many of North America's most economically disadvantaged dance students, there has often been just one option for purchasing footwear in person: Payless ShoeSource.

Nothing is an Answer, Everything is a Signal

HowlRound Theatre Commons: There is an area of New York City that I have had to visit only a handful of times in the few years I’ve lived here. Located between 30th and 36th Streets between 10th and 11th Avenues, this rail yard is basically as far west as you can go on the Manhattan Isle without leaving Midtown. It is in this area that the Megabus picks you up to take you out of the city. The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center sits quietly nearby awaiting the next hoard of [fill in the blank] superfans ready to geek out over the subset of culture they most love.

Review: Shi Yi Tool Sy365-8 Desoldering Iron, Second Cheapest You Can Find

Hackaday: Readers with long memories will recall there was a time when I amused myself by tacking inexpensive tools or electronic devices to my various orders from the Chinese electronic Aladdin’s Cave. Often these inexpensive purchases proved to be as disastrous or ineffective as you might expect, but sometimes they show unexpected promise, true diamonds in the rough. It’s been a while and life has intervened over the last year, but it’s time to resume this harmless diversion.

Putting on a Black Play Doesn't Break Down Barriers: How Trinity Rep Creates Community Dialogue

OF/BY/FOR ALL: “I grew up in a family that only saw art as a luxury item. When we had a bit of money, we went bowling or to a fast food restaurant. Art was for the "other." I always viewed my role as an art maker as a job that was expendable. I understood my place as an art maker from a place of commodity versus from a place of service,” said Joe Wilson Jr.

Want to be more creative? Playing Minecraft can help, new study finds

Ars Technica: Minecraft is one of the most popular computer games, having sold more than 100 million copies since its release in 2011. Claims that it boosts creativity have been circulating for several years, and now there's a bit of scientific evidence to back up that claim, according to the results of a new study published in Creativity Research Journal.

Why Trans Representation in the Theater Industry Lags Behind Film and TV

them.: The odds are against Samy Younes.

In November 2017, they stepped into the spotlight at New York’s oldest cabaret theater, The Duplex, and started to sing. The performance was for Trans Voices Cabaret, a show that seeks to feature top-tier trans musical theatre performers.

This is How Close-Minded Individuals Would Oppose Every High School Production of a Tony Winning Musical

OnStage Blog: It happens with every new school year. So much so, you could bet your life savings on it. Somewhere in America, school administrators and parents will try to censor or shut down a high school theatre production.

Have Dirt, Must Travel

Guild of Scenic Artists: The Arizona Theatre Company presents a delightful challenge to creative teams: With venues in Tucson and Phoenix, about 110 miles apart, each production coming through the Arizona Theatre Company needs to be planned, built, and executed as a touring production. While there are many facets to approaching a production in this way, I will focus on one particular scenic challenge – Making dirt travel.

A Guide to Broadway's Longest-Running Shows of All Time

www.broadwayworld.com: It takes more than just a Tony Award to guarantee a long run on Broadway. While some of the most critically loved shows in Broadway history are long gone, others have found commercial success an enjoyed decades entertaining the masses. Which Broadway shows are the longest running of all time? Which current Broadway productions have a chance of breaking the top ten? We've got the full list!

The Basics of Theatre Criticism

HowlRound Theatre Commons: As a field, theatre criticism finds itself at a pivotal juncture. With the continued trend of print media moving towards skeletal arts criticism, much of the field has migrated to online platforms: blogs of varying types (from organizational to personal), Facebook, Yelp, Google, even Twitter.

"You're Pretty Good at This for a Girl"

OnStage Blog: As a female carpenter in a predominately male environment, I have witnessed my fair share of misogyny. From comments on my strength, technique, all the way down to my physical characteristics, I have been a target for male co-workers to criticize.

A People's History: How Daisey does it

DC Theatre Scene: As much as I have been knocked out by Daisey’s hilarious and trenchant material—which is about America’s history and his own—I have been marveling at his command of it. Each 90-minute show is different and unscripted. He improvises from handwritten notes on the table in front of him that he scarcely glances at. Now and then he’ll pick up a page to read aloud from a historical source, quoting from Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States.

Meet the Motion Capture Star Who Brings Hollywood's Creatures to Life

Dance Magazine: When Hollywood needs to build a fantasy world populated with extraordinary creatures, they call Terry Notary.

The former gymnast and circus performer got his start in film in 2000 when Ron Howard asked him to teach the actors how to move like Whos for How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Notary has since served as a movement choreographer, stunt coordinator and performer via motion capture technology for everything from the Planet of the Apes series to The Hobbit trilogy, Avatar, Avengers: Endgame and this summer's The Lion King.

Translating Shakespeare

The Theatre Times: Translation of Shakespeare’s works is almost as old as Shakespeare himself; the first German adaptations date from the early 17th century. And within Shakespeare’s plays, moments of translation create comic relief and heighten the awareness that communication is not a given. Translation also served as a metaphor for physical transformation or transportation. Claudius speaks of Hamlet’s “transformation” and asks Gertrude to “translate” Hamlet’s behaviour in the previous scene so that Claudius can “understand … the profound heaves.” Gertrude not only relays what Hamlet has just done but also provides her interpretations, as a translator would, of her son’s actions.

The key to having a successful career today

www.fastcompany.com: To understand what it takes to have a thriving career in the fast-changing economy of the 21st century, go to the movies. Or, more precisely, give a little bit of thought to how the motion picture business has changed over the last century.

Backstage Video: The Cameras and Switchers for Network on Broadway

Stage Directions: Blackmagic Design announced that the hit Tony-winning Broadway play Network used its products to help create an immersive experience for audience members, putting them right in the middle of a live news broadcast. In this video from the National Theatre, Video Designer and Cinematographer, Tal Yarden explains the use of cameras in the London production

Podcast: CRM and Social Media Integration

AMT Lab @ CMU: In the latest episode of the AMT-Lab Podcast series, Chief Technology Manager Ashley Anderson Kowach interviews AMT-Lab contributor Megan Ma about her research on how a nonprofit organization can integrate social media data with an existing CRM system to better understand their constituents interests which could lead to better engagement between the organization and the audience.

Backstage Video: Peter Nigrini, Projection Designer

Stage Directions: Projection Designer Peter Nigrini, nominated for a 2019 Tony Award for his projection designs for Best Lighting Design of a Musical (with Kenneth Posner) for Beetlejuice and Best Scenic Design of a Musical (with Robert Brill) for Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, recalls his early childhood experiences of being different from everyone around him

Don't Be Late to the Theatre. But If You Are, Here's How to Act

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: It happened to me once. I had tickets to see Jane Fonda in 33 Variations on a weeknight and a work meeting ran late. (Granted, it had transferred to a Ninth Avenue bar, but it was still business.) I thought I gave myself enough time to make it to the theatre, but between getting my waiter's attention, settling the bill and dodging tourists, the curtain had already gone up by the time I reached the box office.

Super-silent projector emits just 19db in eco-mode

www.avinteractive.com: NEC Display Solutions Europe has announced the latest in its family of virtually-silent laser projectors, delivering the highest quality projection with no noise disturbance for the most productive meetings.

Why Do Employers Lowball Creatives? A New Study Has Answers

KQED Arts: Larissa Archer has been asked to perform for free so many times she's lost count.

Despite her years of training, impressive resume and credibility as the founder of San Francisco Bellydance Theater, she often finds herself turning down invitations to dance for a few wrinkled dollar bills.

Stage Left: Is Nashville Ready for a Progressive Theater Scene?

www.nashvillescene.com: Early on a recent Monday morning, a group of high school students is gathered at the Global Education Center on Charlotte Avenue. They lean over drawings and canvases with paintbrushes and pens in hand. Aaron Gardner, a junior at East Nashville Magnet High School, sits beside the painting he’s just completed. It depicts two African American youths shackled together by their necks. Black straps criss-cross their faces, bearing words like hopeless, suspect, broken, voiceless and guilty.

Outdoor Theater in NYC

New York Theater: The first commercial outdoor theater in the United States began performances in New York City in July, 1800. The Theatre at Mount Vernon Gardens is said to have existed two blocks north of City Hall on Leonard Street, which was then the countryside. Of course theater as we know it began outdoors, in amphitheaters such as the 2,500-year-old theater at Epidaurus, Greece, which was designed by the architect Polykleitos the Younger, and is still being used today.

NPR Interview: 'Pose' Choreographer Twiggy Pucci Garçon

NPR: The FX show Pose is back for a second season. It's about ball culture in New York City in the 1980s and early 90s — balls are spaces where trans women and gay men walk the runway, dance, and yes, pose, competing for trophies and bragging rights.

Baby Shark Live! Announces Fall 2019 Cross-Country Tour

www.ticketnews.com: “Baby Shark” has been stuck in the heads of kids and parents for months…and it’s not going away anytime soon. Baby Shark Live! tour dates have been revealed.

A Manifesto for Staging Gendered Violence

HowlRound Theatre Commons: The performance and staging of gendered violence is a political issue, and not a recent one. Gendered violence can be understood as a spectrum of acts, ranging from physical, sexual, and emotional abuses against marginalized women, to acts that nullify and demean women’s resistance to patriarchy. Women’s resistance takes on a variety of forms, such as anger, joy, care, self-preservation, and protest.

Co-Translating Hanoch Levin, The “Beckett of Israel”: A Conversation With Jessica Cohen & Evan Fallenberg

The Theatre Times: Although Hanoch Levin (1943–1999) is arguably Israel’s most important playwright, his work is almost unknown in the English-speaking world. Jessica Cohen and Evan Fallenberg, both acclaimed Hebrew-English translators, were recently commissioned by the Institute of Israeli Drama to undertake a translation of five of Levin’s plays (The Thin Soldier, Walkers in the Dark, Krum, The Child Dreams, and The Lamenters) into English. I met with them in Tel Aviv, Levin’s hometown, to speak about the joys and challenges of translating what are considered to be classic works of Modern Hebrew, their decision to co-translate, and the anticipation of making the plays accessible to English-speaking directors and audiences.

Yiddish 'Fiddler On The Roof' Is A 'Dream Come True' For Lead Actor

NPR: A new, Yiddish language production of the musical is currently running off-Broadway. Steven Skybell, who plays Tevye, and Joel Grey, who directs the show, explain why the play still resonates.

‘Setting the Stage’ tells the story of Chicago theater in 56 objects

Performing Arts Feature | Chicago Reader: A new exhibit at the Design Museum of Chicago pushes visitors through the theater's proverbial fourth wall and onto the scaffolded backstages of some of the cities most storied theaters.

Staging Sexual Assault Responsibly

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Barnstorming speeches, rousing calls to action, and unapologetic feminist rhetoric fill the play Emilia, written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm for Shakespeare’s Globe in 2018. But, for me, the most profound moment in this all-female show is one I imagine slips by for a lot of others. The play is a historical fantasy about Emilia Bassano Lanier, sometimes thought to have been the Dark Lady of the Sonnets and a lover of Shakespeare’s. Near the end of the play, Shakespeare brags to Emilia that he’s “the world’s most famous playwright so any theatre I may step into can legitimately be considered ‘My gaff.’” Emilia responds, with quiet strength, “Not right now it isn’t.” The conversation in the play quickly moves on, but that moment reverberated through me.

Steel City Kitty brings worldwide burlesque performers to Pittsburgh

Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: When Kat De Lac chooses performers for her Steel City Kitty Burlesque & Variety Show, she looks for more than the usual striptease-inspired acts. Doing so requires going outside of Pittsburgh and, in many cases, the country, as De Lac, a self-described “international showgirl,” keeps an eye out for the best talent while traveling for work.

Music festivals: how to get more women on stage (and it's not just 50/50 quotas)

theconversation.com: By all accounts, Kylie Minogue was fabulous at Glastonbury this year. What she wasn’t though – contrary to promotional material – was a headline act. Unlike Stormzy, The Killers and The Cure, who all topped the bill on successive nights on the main Pyramid Stage, Kylie appeared in much less prominent spots on the festival line-up – similar to Janet Jackson, who had also been promoted as a headliner.

Two of Mister Rogers' short pieces to be performed at Winchester Thurston School

Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: In a small rehearsal space at a Shadyside school, bodies are veering and staggering from one side of the room to the other, as if being thrown by a strong wind. They fling themselves with abandon, teetering off kilter, hopping from right foot to left. Some have bananas — one, two, or a basketful. And when they reach the conclusion of the passage, the performers are unable to conceal their pure delight in the fun they’re having.

TCG Conference Coverage 2019: What is a Review(er) Good For?

rescripted.org: The Theatre Communications Group Conference took place on June 4-8th, and for the first time ever they included an arts journalism track. My conference journey began with co-facilitating a session with Brian Herrera of the Sol Project titled “What is a Theater Review(er) Good For? A Critical Look at the Role of Journalism in Theatre Today.”

James Shoberg stages an updated Winnie the Pooh and the Seven Deadly Sins

Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: James Shoberg's darkly comic Winnie the Pooh and the Seven Deadly Sins was first produced by his company, The Rage of the Stage Players, in 2013. The group has produced similarly adventurous programming since then — notably the ambitious adaptation of the vampire classic Fright Night last year — but the overwhelming success of Pooh was always fresh in the minds of its fans and the company. So Shoberg decided to bring it back this summer, running July 12-27 at McKeesport Little Theater.

Adagio Tour™ Continues To Roll Out The Competition Floor For Leap!

Rosco Spectrum: When I began Leap! National Dance Competition, I knew that I had to put together a “top notch” competition with all the best elements I could implement, including sound, lighting and of course flooring. I was used to the traditional dance floor coverings that made performances better by providing a “non-slick” surface for turning and tumbling. However, almost every floor tended to be unforgiving when it came to the tap category.

Nicki Minaj Pulls Out Of Saudi Arabia Gig To Show Support For Women

www.ticketnews.com: Rapper Nicki Minaj was slated to perform in Saudi Arabia later this month for a large music festival, but after educating herself on the issues plaguing the country and hearing from human rights activists, Minaj has called-off her appearance.

Alaska Will Become First State Without an Arts Agency If Governor's $444 Million Budget Veto Holds

hyperallergic.com: On Friday, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy decided to cut 41 percent of state appropriations for the University of Alaska system as part of his $444 million line-item veto to the state budget. That caught the attention of major national outlets like the Washington Post and the New York Times. Less discussed was the fate of the state’s arts council, which also suffered a $2.8 million cut under the Republican governor’s veto pen.

New Theater Books for Summer Reading 2019

New York Theater: Here are 14 new or forthcoming books about theater, listed under three general categories — Scripts and Play Anthologies; Biographies and Memoirs; Theater History, Criticism and Reference — plus a bonus of two books likely to be of interest to theatergoers, which I list under the category Theater Adjacent. Only a few of these selections are what you could call beach reads (and a couple won’t even be officially available until the Fall), but they promise to keep you engaged in the stage even when you’re nowhere near one.

Are We Traumatizing People?

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Just yesterday, as part of my seminar here at the Shakespeare Association of America conference, I gave a paper on staging sexual assault in Hamlet’s nunnery scene. About how in recent productions there’s a tendency to stage this performance of madness as gendered violence. My paper stemmed out of my own disappointment, my own frustration. Because, despite myself, I really like Hamlet. And I go to productions of Hamlet sometimes. I’ll be in the audience and it’ll come up to the nunnery scene, and I’ll think to myself, Okay hopefully they won’t do it this time.

Recording, Production and Educational sessions to Converge at Prolight + Sound Shanghai

LightSoundJournal.com: As the scope of audio making expands, the number of brands leveraging the show’s platform to unveil new products is going up year by year. PLSS aims to bridge the gap among sound engineers, retailers and audio-related product manufacturers for the recording and production community, to propel music and sound technologies.

For Indie Artists, Does the Daisie App Match the Hype?

www.clydefitchreport.com: After a decade of playing a central character in someone else’s creation — something that happens to be one of the biggest shows in TV history — Emmy-nominated actor Maisie Williams is now setting her own stage, one to be shared with anyone caring to join her. Earlier this year, she developed and launched Daisie, an app for struggling artists. Her journey from actor to tech entrepreneur has been relatively quick (Maisie is 22); she gave a talk at TEDx Manchester back in March that is worth the 16-minute commitment.

Hypnotic New Garments by Iris van Herpen Blur the Boundaries of Art, Science, and Fashion

Colossal: Like many of her haute couture peers, fashion designer Iris van Herpen (previously) selects a theme that inspires and unites the designs in each of her collections. Van Herpen, who has interdisciplinary interests in fine art and science, is particularly known for her wide-reaching collaborations. For her latest body of work, titled ‘Hypnosis,’ the Dutch designer partnered with Anthony Howe (previously), an American sculptor who specializes in large-scale kinetic works.

Intern Blog Series - Post 1: Want Fusion 360 for Free? Here’s how.

Fusion 360 Blog: Here in our Portland Office, we’ve been lucky enough to have interns from FIRST robotics the past 6 years. You can read about our fresh batch of high school in college interns in Shaan Hurley’s post from last week – New High School Interns in Autodesk Portland Office. I’ve been working with a few of them and letting them try their hand at content strategy. Their first post, written by Andrei Stoica, covers some of the basic information they share with other robotics students, coaches, and mentors about how to get Fusion 360.

A Contemplation of Design

Exeunt Magazine NYC: As the meltdown over the removal of the Les Miserables revolve has taught us, audiences care about design (and possibly they also hold onto the past a little too tightly).

Far too often theater design does not get the attention it deserves in criticism. To rectify this imbalance, we thought it was time to bring attention to the design and designers who deserve better and maybe also make a little room for our rants about design too.

LPTW Rachel Crothers Leadership Award Luncheon

The Theatre Times: On June 27, 2019, the League of Professional Theatre Women held their first Rachel Crothers Leadership Award luncheon honoring Donna Walker-Kuhne, founder of Walker International Communications Group Inc. The event celebrated the extraordinary achievements of Walker-Kuhne who has dedicated her life to community engagement, bringing theatre to diverse constituents and helping theatres build and deepen relationships with multicultural communities.

Black Ariel: Casting Controversy Under the Sea

Bitter Gertrude: By now you’ve heard that Disney cast someone called Halle Bailey, a young singer, as Ariel in a live-action Little Mermaid. While I was stuck trying to figure out why they would cast someone in her 40s as Ariel and then discovering that it was not, in fact, Halle Berry but someone else entirely, because I am #old, don’t watch TV, and have no idea who anyone is, the rest of white America was, evidently, freaking out.

Putting on the 'Dog': New Village Arts stages latest show with special-needs actors this weekend in Carlsbad

The San Diego Union-Tribune: The groundbreaking program at Carlsbad’s New Village Arts Theatre to bring special-needs performers into stage productions gets its latest public showcase this weekend with a “Project Fairytale” happening.

The show is called “The Great Smelly, Slobbery, Small-Tooth Dog,” and it’s based on Margaret Read MacDonald’s book for kids, which takes off from the “Beauty and the Beast” saga.

Into Their 60s and ‘Into the Woods’

The New York Times: It’s a half-hour to curtain, and a wicked stepsister in an emerald dress and an updo dashes through the lobby of Lenox Hill Neighborhood House on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

It’s a distinctive run: a cautiously teetering, toe-heavy canter you might resort to when you’re in heels, on the far side of 60 and about to take the stage before your friends and family at your musical’s opening night.

Scenes of Returning: The First National Veterans Theatre Festival

The Theatre Times: The First National Veterans Theatre Festival, a partnership between the Feast of Crispian (FoC) and the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, ran in Wisconsin from May 23 to 26, 2019. Subtitled “Acts of Engagement” and mainly performed by veterans with and without professional acting training, the Festival presented five productions, FoC’s And Comes Safe Home: A Story of Homecoming, The Telling Project’s She Went to War, Mitch Capel and Sonny Kelly’s The Color of Courage: A Two-Man Play with Actors, The Combat Hippies’ Amal, and DE-CRUIT’s Cry Havoc!.

Op-Ed: The Dance Class Video Craze Is Out of Control

Dance Magazine: A few weeks ago, a friend of mine attended a professional contemporary class one morning, and later that evening perused Facebook to find that the teacher had shared a video of her dancing a phrase from class. A successful and professional working dancer, she was horrified to see a video of herself online that she had never given permission to be used, or even been approached about.

Circus Knie's Very Cool Indoor Drones by Verity Studios

Control Geek: I’ve been following the use of drones in live shows since I saw the first Intel drone show at Disney in 2016. When they can be used in a large scale outdoors (which always has airspace issues) the drones have been interesting, but most indoor usage I’ve seen hasn’t been that impressive, because it’s been in a two dimensional proscenium frame.

2019 SPAM Grant Winners

Prop Agenda: The Society of Properties Artisan Managers is proud to announce the winners of their fifth annual Jen Trieloff and Edie Whitsett Internship Grants. Congratulations to Emily Davis and Kenly Cox. These grants are awarded to individuals wanting financial assistance with transportation, housing or other necessities during an internship in theatrical properties.

Romania's divided political theatre landscape

Exeunt Magazine: “They call us ‘the unemployed’,” Oana Mardare, founder of the independent Romanian theatre company Reactor, tells me. Reactor stages original, experimental productions in a ramshackle building down a side street at the edge of Cluj city centre. It runs a residency programme supporting young graduate directors working in new theatrical forms.

Judge rules against Guthrie in scene shop worker's labor case

StarTribune.com: The National Labor Relations Board has ruled in favor of Molly Diers in a case she filed last year against the Guthrie Theater, alleging the theater violated the National Labor Relations Act by downgrading her performance evaluation after she complained about conditions in the scene shop, where she worked.

How to Bend PVC & Make Incredible Shapes: 5 Steps (with Pictures)

www.instructables.com: I was recently working on a project where I needed to bend pvc pipes into smooth, round shapes. After some trial and error I found an easy way to get great results.

In ‘Fairview,’ the Light of Truth and Its Reflection

AMERICAN THEATRE: I recently saw Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Pulitzer-winning play Fairview with my mother. Like Drury, whose parents are from Jamaica, my parents also come from the Caribbean—Trinidad and St. Vincent, specifically. There they were not minorities; their brown skin was the default. It was upon their arrival in this country that they first tasted the bitterness of racial discrimination.

Trans actor Skyler Cooper is a male Othello after playing the role as female

Datebook: For classical actors, it’s not uncommon to revisit the same role multiple times over the course of a career. For black classical actors, that’s especially true with the title role in “Othello, the Moor of Venice” — the one major role in Shakespeare’s canon that, at least in recent decades, has usually been played by a black performer.

Prague Quadrennial 2019: Behind the scenes at theatre design's global festival

www.thestage.co.uk: Design has become an increasingly high-profile aspect of theatre thanks to new technologies and the blurring between design and performance. And there is nowhere better to catch the latest developments in the art form than the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space.

Top 10 Event Planning Podcasts

Event Planning Blueprint: We think podcasts are awesome because you can easily stream them from home or in the office or download them to your smartphone.

Whether you’re driving to an event, washing the dishes or stuck in traffic, podcasts are a great way to stay current and up-to-date with the latest trends and happenings in the event industry.

So, which are the best event planning podcasts to listen to (and learn from)?

Sia's Kung Fu Musical Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise Is a Thing

The Mary Sue: How’s this for a Mad Libs-inspired sentence: Sia and Kung Fu Panda writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger have collaborated on Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise, a “futuristic kung fu musical” inspired by Bruce Lee. The kung fu musical (kung fusical?) is currently playing at The Shed in Manhattan Hudson Yard.

Ethiopian Theater: A Brief Introduction

The Theatre Times: Prior to the introduction of European form of theatre in Ethiopia, people use dance, story-telling, dialogue and role play in various social engagements. Most of the social engagements involve many dramatic elements that are used as a basis for writing and directing different Ethiopian theatres. Yearly ceremonies like Shadey and Ashenda in Amhara and Tigray and Meskel[i] in Guraghe, Kaffa, and Wolaita among Orthodox Christians have, for example, significant dramatic elements in their performances.

9 Former Broadway Theatres Still Visible Today

Playbill: Over the years, the theatre district has morphed significantly; there is a long list of Broadway theatres that are no more. Typically, buildings have been demolished after theatrical operations ceased, relegating their legacies to pictures and memories. But, some former Broadway theatres are hiding in plain sight—if you know where to look.

Judge sides with workers in Guthrie Theater labor dispute

MPR News: A judge has ordered the Guthrie Theater to cease and desist from unfair labor practices.

The order is part of a judgment issued Friday by the National Labor Relations Board.

It found the Minneapolis theater's administration threatened and punished employees for engaging in union-protected activities.

Keep an open mind, because Mark Toland knows what you're thinking anyway

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette“We have officially removed mystery from our lives in 2019,” Mark Toland declared at the top of his show, “Mind Reader.”

He later concluded by saying his goal — after 75 minutes of astonishing the intimate crowd at Liberty Magic Wednesday night — is to “send you out with a mystery.”

Janelle Monae Fan Told Accessible Seating Is First-Come First-Serve

www.ticketnews.com: A Janelle Monae fan with a serious back condition bought a ticket to an upcoming show last year, making sure that she would be able to secure a seat. However, now, the venue claims that seats are “first-come, first-serve.”

BY THE NUMBERS: Is it the show itself or awards shows in general?

The Producer's Perspective: The Tony Awards telecast took some shots from the press this year, many of which I still can’t understand. I enjoyed the show, as I wrote about here, and most theatergoers I spoke to did as well, including you.

The most quantifiable piece of criticism was (on the surface) the ratings. “Viewership 10% down,” headlines screamed. “Will CBS drop the show?” articles asked, like teenagers gossiping about whether or not the most popular couple in school would break up.

"Electra" Enlivens Little Lake Theatre's Main Stage

Pittsburgh in the Round: Electra, a one-act tragedy by Sophocles, explores the story of Electra that has been passed down for generations beginning in ancient Greece. It all goes back to Tantalos, a son of Zeus who angered the gods, causing them to put a curse on his family that would continue with his children and so on. Sophocles play picks up four generations later with Electra after fifteen years of waiting for her younger brother, Orestes, to return to avenge their father’s death.

6 Productions That Pushed the Sonic Envelope

AMERICAN THEATRE: Last Halloween in Austin, Shakespeare in the Dark: Macbeth took the stage at the historic and allegedly haunted Driskill Hotel. Adding to the spookiness—and giving special power to its sound designer, Emily Duncan Wilson—the show was performed in pitch blackness, with the audience seated in the middle of moving actors and four audio speakers.

In theater, the white gaze takes center stage

theundefeated.com: Right before the end of Act I of Toni Stone, a new play about the first woman to play in baseball’s Negro Leagues, its company engages in an extended shuck-and-jive routine.

The nine actors, all wearing the uniform of the Indianapolis Clowns, sport wide, ersatz grins as they leap across the stage, each performing some grotesque trick. One juggles, another high-kicks. The team of court jesters does its best to amuse an imaginary crowd of white baseball spectators, most of whom showed up to see the team’s feigned merrymaking and Bojangling in the outfield.

Spotlight Operator June Abernathy Talks with City Theatrical

www.livedesignonline.com: Whether you are new to the theatre industry or a seasoned pro, you've likely seen how a single spotlight can transform the look and feel of a show. But what goes into the follow spot operator role? What are the tips and tricks of the trade? City Theatrical interviewed June Abernathy, a 30-year spotlight veteran and front light supervisor for The Lion King US Tour

Exploring 6 of the Best Modern Art Museums in the World

mymodernmet.com: The modern art movement has had a significant impact on the course of art history. Starting with the onset of Impressionism and ending as Pop Art emerged, the period lasted nearly a century, culminating in countless important works—many of which are now housed by modern art museums.

How to Solve Design’s Diversity Problem

AMERICAN THEATRE: After lighting designer Porsche McGovern gave birth to her daughter Lucy, her phone stopped ringing. She’d known for a long time that there weren’t many women in her chosen profession, and she was starting to see why. When she called some of her theatre contacts to ask why they weren’t hiring her anymore, many said they assumed that motherhood had made her unavailable.

How ‘Patrick’ Actors Saw Nudity as a Costume

Variety: Sometimes the more you look for something the less chance you have of finding it. “If you really want something you have to try to not want it so much,” says director Tim Mielants, describing how his character Patrick finally cracks the case of his missing favorite hammer.

The Mueller Report Is the Surprise Hit of the Summer

AMERICAN THEATRE: The Mueller Report has become this summer’s most sought-after script. Following its release in April 2019, theatre artists in both red and blue states have organized unique showcases of special counsel Robert Mueller’s “Report on Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.” This month alone, there will be live readings of the report from theatre companies in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., starring actors like Alfred Molina and Harry Groener.

Outrage as University Strips Name of Lillian Gish from Campus Theater

www.thevintagenews.com: The “First Lady of American Cinema” Lillian Gish has had her name removed from a university theater and it’s not sitting well with many movie buffs. More than 50 film industry leaders ranging from Martin Scorsese to Helen Mirren to James Earl Jones are protesting the decision of Ohio’s Bowling Green State University to remove the name of actress Lillian Gish from a campus theater because she appeared in the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation.

Why some music might not be protected by copyright

Marketplace: Sitting in a courtroom in June 2016, Bloomberg journalist Vernon Silver saw something that shocked him. A lawyer pointed out that Jimmy Page’s introductory guitar solo in Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” was not included in physical sheet music submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office.

The ‘Nakamura.ke’ Mobile Dining Experience Rolls Into LA

noproscenium.com: The Nakamura.ke Mobile Kitchen first popped up in Atlanta slinging bowls of glow-in-the-dark ramen and an immersive experience to patrons. The experience which is steeped in folklore, ritual history, and food had made its way to Los Angeles and we had chance to chat by email with Romy Maloon, one of the people who conceptualized the experience for Dashboard.

Is It Ever Okay to Leave a Performance During Curtain Call?

Dance Magazine: Last week, I attended a show I'd been eagerly anticipating: Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise at The Shed, a brand-new performance venue in New York City. Not only was I looking forward to Akram Khan's choreography (not to mention a sword-wielding PeiJu Chien-Pott and remixes of Sia's music), but I was anxious to get a taste of The Shed's ambitious inaugural season.

What’s In Your Audio Go Bag? A Professional Reveals

TheatreArtLife: Picture this: You’ve just gotten a call for a contract you can’t turn down, but the gig is tomorrow morning in a city three hours away at a company that is new to you. What do you bring? What will they already have? Is it worth it to load your car with all of your worldly possessions? To ease the stress of staying prepared while still trying to not turn into that cute little junkyard monster from the Labyrinth (where my 80s babies are at), I’ve prepared a list of my favorite tools of the trade that are always in my audio Go Bag.

Q&A: Live Sound Engineer Jen Watman

Live Design: Jen Watman doesn’t have a lot of downtime. The 34-year-old engineer spends half her time on the road, mixing FOH and monitors for up to several touring acts each year, including Bikini Kill, Dilly Dally, and the Miles Electric Band (FOH) and Anita Baker, Googoosh (monitors); the rest of the time she works as a freelance engineer and sound tech in Los Angeles, mixing dates at clubs and concert venues around town. The common thread? An unshakable work ethic, continual quest for new skills and experiences, and a lifelong commitment to hearing health.

PA Lawmakers Want Colleges To Create Online Sexual Assault Reporting Systems

90.5 WESA: Pennsylvania colleges and universities could soon be required to offer online, anonymous systems to report sexual assault or violence.

The policy was rolled into school code changes that were approved during budget debates last week. It is now on Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk.

August Wilson's 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' prepping exteriors on Pittsburgh's North Side

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” reportedly is scheduled to begin shooting a screen adaptation for Netflix next week. The play, part of the Pittsburgh playwright’s American Century Cycle works that take place in each decade of the 20th century, exists entirely within a recording studio in 1927 Chicago. Might the film take it out into a bigger world, as the Oscar-nominated, filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Fences” stretched into street views?

Boom! Immersive Theatrical Experience for Britannia Mine Musuem

www.livedesignonline.com: Along the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler, the 96-year-old Mill No. 3 is nestled against the side of a mountain. Shut down in 1974, the 20-story national historic building was reopened in 2010 as the Britannia Mine Museum. Launched on June 1, BOOM!, a live-action, multi-sensory special effects show, transports visitors back to the 1920s when the Mill was booming as the largest copper producer in the British Commonwealth.

The Future of AI and Audience Engagement in the Arts

AMT Lab @ CMU: The arts have the power to transform lives, bring us closer to our own humanity and offer understanding of the world around us as it is, has been, and could be. In our current system we have placed institutions firmly between the audience and the art. Hence, it is the institutions responsibility to foster a connection to the art with the broadest available audience while also supporting all available modes for each audience member to find their connection and transformation.

The Business of Charging a Show

Guild of Scenic Artists: When you’re a Scenic Charge Artist, you’re expected to wear a lot of hats. The job description seems obvious, but it’s quite a handful when you break it down. I know that this job varies between companies, but here is a basic overview of what you might have to do as a Scenic Charge Artist

Maid to Order Mysteries—‘The Parseltongue Parlay Murder Mystery’ (A NoPro Adventure)

noproscenium.com: I am fortunate enough to live near Universal, and can visit Wizarding World of Harry Potter any time I like. I’m always pleased to use my wand to engage with the land and goodness knows I can’t get enough Butterbeer, but I always feel like there’s something…missing. I want to engage with characters, feel like I’m part of the story!

Bolivian Women Fight Gender-Based Violence through Theater

Voice of America - English: On stage, amid the hubbub of a Bolivian street market, women recount their stories of abuse at the hands of men.

But the violence depicted in the play isn't just make-believe for the 22 indigenous actresses: It's based on their own real-life experiences.

Anne Kauffman on the Dream Job She Didn't Know She Wanted

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: When Michael Friedman, the former artistic director of New York City Center's Encores! Off-Center, invited his longtime collaborator and friend Anne Kauffman to direct Assassins two summers ago, neither one had any idea of the journey being set in motion. After Friedman died unexpectedly that September, Kauffman agreed to temporarily help Encores! Off-Center's founder, Jeanine Tesori, get through the next season. Then last fall, Kauffman was announced as the artistic director of the series, which revives underappreciated Off-Broadway musicals for limited-run, stripped-down stagings. Yet she can't recall exactly how that happened.