Japanese 'Shooting-Star' Satellite to Launch on Landmark Rocket Lab Flight This Month

Space: "With this launch, we are a step closer to realiz[ing] the man-made shooting star," Astro Live Experiences CEO Lena Okajima said in a statement. "Please look forward to the world's first demonstration we are aiming [for] in 2020, which will be a major milestone for ALE."

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

Carnegie Mellon University searching for next dean of College of Fine Arts; Dan Martin stepping down after a decade

Pittsburgh Business Times: Dan Martin is stepping down as dean of Carnegie Mellon University’s prestigious College of Fine Arts after 10 years. He will return to the School of Drama faculty, CMU said in a release issued on Tuesday.

A national search to find Martin’s successor will be announced later this fall, with the goal of naming the new dean by fall of 2020. Martin will serve in his current role until a new dean is named.

Posted by David at 11/14/2019 11:12:00 AM

For Creatives, the American Dream Is Becoming Less Sexy and More Pragmatic

Eye on Design: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Creative person hits the creative ceiling in their not-so-creative small town. They pack their bags and move to the big city with nothing more than a head full of dreams and a pocket full of loose change. They hustle. They starve. And they make it.

Posted by David at 11/15/2019 10:47:00 AM

In ‘Mockingbird,’ a deaf actor finally gets his wish: Not to be defined solely by deafness

The Washington Post: Russell Harvard has been waiting not so patiently for this his entire career. And now, at long last, for a deaf actor channeled inexorably into deaf roles, the moment has arrived:

Playing a hearing character.

Harvard is part of the (mostly) new cast of Broadway’s hit production of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” with Ed Harris following Jeff Daniels as Atticus Finch and LisaGay Hamilton succeeding LaTanya Richardson as the housekeeper Calpurnia.

Posted by David at 11/15/2019 10:47:00 AM

Cirque Du Soleil's "R.U.N." Opens To Terrible (And Suspiciously Positive) Reviews

Theme Park University: Las Vegas is an ever-changing landscape of new restaurants, slot machines, hotels and entertainment. Cirque du Soleil for years has dominated the strip with a whopping seven shows for quite some time now. Their newest show “R.U.N”, which has been in previews for weeks and officially opening November 14, has gotten some scathing feedback online from those who have seen early performances.

Posted by David at 11/15/2019 10:48:00 AM

How Stage Managers Shepherd Tech Rehearsals

Dramatics Magazine: THE SAWDUST HAS SETTLED. The lights have been focused. The props are preset. You call half-hour, instructing the cast to get into costumes, mics, and wigs; grab your water, stopwatch, legal pad, and promptbook; and head to your tech table. As you hike, you check in with run crew, assistant stage managers, designers, production staff, and the director. It’s time. You take a breath, look over the space, maybe even smile … tech has begun.

Posted by David at 11/13/2019 12:26:00 PM

Review: No rehearsal, no problem in profound 'Nassim' at Magic

Datebook: Put a professional actor in a show without any rehearsal, without letting them look at the script, without telling them what the show is about or what their character’s emotional journey will be, except in the vague terms of a marketing blurb, and it’s thrilling, right? It’s the magic of live theater dialed up, the danger that something could go wrong, not cloaked but celebrated.

But magnify that danger, as “Nassim” does, and you pique something voyeuristic or even a little perverse.

La Explosión De La Música Latina

Pollstar: 2019 has been full of power moves in the Latin concert industry, and momentum is only building heading into 2020.

Most notably, Live Nation acquired a controlling interest in OCESA Entretenimiento and Ticketmaster Mexico from CIE and Grupo Televisa.

OCESA/CIE was the largest promoter in Mexico and the fifth-largest promoter in the world in 2018, with 3.8 million sold tickets reported. Ticketmaster Mexico is the largest event ticketer in Mexico, selling 37 million tickets annually. The deal also brought OCESA Seitrack, the booking and artist management joint venture, and corporate event specialist CREA under the Live Nation umbrella.

Universal Music Claims Copyright Over Newly Public Domain 'Yes! We Have No Bananas'

Techdirt: As you're probably aware, on January 1st of this year, we actually had a public domain day in the US for the first time in over two decades. Prior to that Congress (with the help of Hollywood lobbyists) had worked to continually extend copyright law whenever new works were due to go into the public domain.

‘Charlie’s Angels’ Costume Designer Created New Looks With Nods at Past

Variety: The costumes that the “Charlie’s Angels” trio have worn over the years have always been functional but fashionable. In the TV show starring Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson, which ran from 1976 to 1981, and then in the movie franchise of the early 2000s with Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore, the functionality always fit the fashion of the time.

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 845 – “All the World’s a Stage, But it Lacks an Asbestos Curtain,” 1913

Drypigment.net: In 1913, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Miles asbestos curtain in Cleveland, which I did, hangs badly and big dents kill my picture. As it is a woven wire asbestos there is no remedy – they should never be folded, always rolled.” There were many different ways to construct a fire curtain for the theatre, with a wire substrate being one.

Cirque Du Soleil's "R.U.N." Opens To Terrible (And Suspiciously Positive) Reviews

Theme Park University: Las Vegas is an ever-changing landscape of new restaurants, slot machines, hotels and entertainment. Cirque du Soleil for years has dominated the strip with a whopping seven shows for quite some time now. Their newest show “R.U.N”, which has been in previews for weeks and officially opening November 14, has gotten some scathing feedback online from those who have seen early performances.

For Creatives, the American Dream Is Becoming Less Sexy and More Pragmatic

Eye on Design: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Creative person hits the creative ceiling in their not-so-creative small town. They pack their bags and move to the big city with nothing more than a head full of dreams and a pocket full of loose change. They hustle. They starve. And they make it.

In ‘Mockingbird,’ a deaf actor finally gets his wish: Not to be defined solely by deafness

The Washington Post: Russell Harvard has been waiting not so patiently for this his entire career. And now, at long last, for a deaf actor channeled inexorably into deaf roles, the moment has arrived:

Playing a hearing character.

Harvard is part of the (mostly) new cast of Broadway’s hit production of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” with Ed Harris following Jeff Daniels as Atticus Finch and LisaGay Hamilton succeeding LaTanya Richardson as the housekeeper Calpurnia.

Lights. Camera. Fireworks. All of the Deets for Light Up Night 2019

Made In PGH: Tis the season for all things merry and bright! The official start to the Christmas season in downtown begins on November 22nd! There’s so much going on, including the Christmas tree lighting, ice skating, village shopping, music, and fireworks.The night brings all of the holiday spirit and puts everybody in the most wonderful time of the year.

Jubilee: A Toolchanging Homage To 3D Printer Hackers Everywhere

Hackaday: I admit that I’m late to the 3D printing game. While I just picked up my first printer in 2018, the rest of us have been oozing out beautiful prints for over a decade. And in that time we’ve seen many people reimagine the hardware for mischief besides just printing plastic. That decade of hacks got me thinking: what if the killer-app of 3D printing isn’t the printing? What if it’s programmable motion? With that, I wondered: what if we had a machine that just offered us motion capabilities? What if extending those motion capabilities was a first class feature? What if we had a machine that was meant to be hacked?

Strange Plays for Strange Times

The New York Times: Picture this holiday season scenario. After an indulgent lunch, stomach discomfort turns into uncontrollable gas; you’re forced to excuse yourself repeatedly to stagger to the bathroom, all the while trying to maintain some composure. It’s the stuff of nightmares — and a gold mine of comedy for the French theater company Les Chiens de Navarre.

Chicago bar installs over 70 Big Mouth Billy Bass to sing popular songs in unison

WGN-TV: Remember the Big Mouth Billy Bass singing fish that was so popular back in the 90s? Well, a bar in Chicago now has more than 70 of them hanging on a wall singing popular songs in unison.

Ashley Albert, a co-owner of the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club, said coming up with the idea and finding the fish was one thing; choreographing the fish was another.

First Impression: Riedel Bolero Wireless Intercom

Church Production Magazine: Intercoms are a live production mainstay. While they have changed a little over the years, those updates generally amounted to simple modifications to keep up with the times. There hasn’t really been a need for a major overhaul, since the intercom is simple and it only has one job. At least that was what I thought before I learned about the Riedel Bolero Wireless Intercom.We can’t wait to test our new assumptions when our review unit arrives later this month, but it appears Riedel seems to have redefined the standard intercom.

Carnegie Mellon University searching for next dean of College of Fine Arts; Dan Martin stepping down after a decade

Pittsburgh Business Times: Dan Martin is stepping down as dean of Carnegie Mellon University’s prestigious College of Fine Arts after 10 years. He will return to the School of Drama faculty, CMU said in a release issued on Tuesday.

A national search to find Martin’s successor will be announced later this fall, with the goal of naming the new dean by fall of 2020. Martin will serve in his current role until a new dean is named.

The Art of Blackness: Sound Design for the Culture

Stage Directions: I met Derek Graham when he was the resident sound designer/engineer at PlayMakers Repertory Company on Skeleton Crew, for which I designed lights. Derek Graham is a sound designer, composer, and audio engineer based in North Carolina. A native of Queens, NY, Derek holds a MFA in Sound Design from Ohio University. His sound design and composition works include: Redwood (Portland Center Stage at the Armory), Your Healing is Killing Me and Bewilderness (PlayMakers Repertory Company: PRC2 Series); The Passion of Teresa Rae King, A Raisin in the Sun, and Beautiful Star (Triad Stage); Believe in Cleveland (Karamu House); and Wakey Wakey, An Octoroon (Dobama Theatre). Derek has recently co-founded a multi-media design company with his wife, Jessica called Life by Design Media & Productions, recently launching the first episode of the new podcast series What’s the Law? Ask John Eluwa.

Twenty Years of Learning and Facilitating

Remodeling: In 2000, I was asked by Linda Case and Victoria Downing to be a facilitator of Remodelers Advantage Roundtable Meetings. Each Roundtables group consists of around 10 non-competing member companies from the U.S. and Canada, who gather for annual Spring and Fall meetings. The meetings are three very busy days long.

Deconstruction in the Valley keeps materials from landfills, saves homeowners money

www.abc15.com: Arizona environmental leaders have teamed up with a Valley nonprofit to raise awareness about deconstruction as a more economical and environmentally friendly alternative to demolition.

During the deconstruction of a building, a team carefully removes reusable materials from homes and businesses instead of demolishing them and throwing them in landfills. Those reclaimed materials are then re-sold at a discount to the public.

BWW TV: Celebrate THE LION KING's Anniversary With a Look at Scar's Makeup Process

www.broadwayworld.com: Broadway has officially been experiencing the circle of life for 22 years because today is the anniversary of the Disney hit musical The Lion King! To celebrate, we're taking you backstage to see what it takes to transform into one of Broadway's nastiest villains. Head to the Pridelands with the video below for a look at Broadway's Scar, Stephen Carlile, getting into character at the Minskoff Theatre!

Q&A: Automation Technician Alyse Porsella Talks Pre-Cirque Adventures

USITT News: Alyse Porsella is an Automation Technician with Cirque du Soleil at Sea on board the MSC Bellissima. But before she called the sea her newest home, her time with Elite Training and life on the road brought an arsenal of skills to her already robust repertoire. Alyse sat down with us to discuss tour life, the friends who’ve acted as mentors, and her one true love — automation.

PICT's 'The Woman in Black 'Delivers The Theatrical Goods'

Pittsburgh Current: In 1983, British novelist Susan Hill set her hand at writing a ghost story told in the Gothic style of bygone days. The result was The Woman in Black about a lawyer, Arthur Kipps, who once had to visit the isolated, remote home of a recently departed woman to go through her papers and close down the estate. But what happened instead was a sudden encounter with the supernatural. There were a lot of secrets in the creaky, corrupted old house and some with murderous consequences.

From Stage to Sky!

Broadway Media Distribution: One of the most impressive (as well as most difficult) special effects to be done onstage is flight. Broadway equips themselves with highly skilled engineering teams to create impressive technical illusions that leave audiences wondering, “How did they do that?”
Without Broadway’s secrets of hidden wires and harnesses, how can theatres of all sizes deliver the same magical and effortless effect of flight?

The Sea Beckons and Inspires "Shakespeare’s Will" at Quantum

Pittsburgh in the Round: An intriguing journey for anyone who loves Shakespeare’s works or treasures the intimate artistry of solo theatre, Shakespeare’s Will provides a memorable dramatic portrait of a woman who deserves history’s listening ear. Thankfully, the play doesn’t rely on only documented facts as it would be a very short monologue indeed. Instead, Quantum Theatre brings Anne to life in a moving and musical 90-minute, one-woman show. This inventive regional premiere runs through Dec. 1 at West Homestead United Methodist Church.

Event Programming Like ‘Little Mermaid Live’ May Help Boost Networks

Variety: The networks still want to be a part of your world, and the success last week of ABC’s “The Little Mermaid Live” was a reminder that they can — especially with the kind of appointment programming that the streamers still don’t do.

“The Little Mermaid Live” averaged 9 million viewers and a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49 in same-day ratings — numbers that aren’t huge but are remarkable in 2019, when fragmented audiences aren’t watching day-and-date TV like they used to.

“Shakespeare’s Will” at Quantum Theatre

The Pittsburgh Tatler: When William Shakespeare died in 1616, he left behind dozens of plays and hundreds of poems, but little other than a last will and testament to shed light on his personal life. That document contains a much-debated line that has been inserted, almost as an afterthought, into a paragraph detailing his fairly generous bequest to his younger daughter Judith: “I give unto my wife my second best bed with the furniture.”

Celebrate family and kinship through dance, music, and activism at My People: A QTPOC Festival of the Arts

Features | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: When Adil Mansoor first moved to Pittsburgh in 2010, he wanted to find a vibrant queer community on par with the one he experienced in Chicago. He was drawn to events at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, where he met long-term friends and began attending My People, a yearly arts festival centering the experience of queer and trans people of color. Now, the festival is in its 11th year, and Mansoor is the curator of My People: A QTPOC Festival of the Arts.

Started in the Basement, Now They're Here: Talking With the Next Generation of Storefront Theaters

Newcity Stage: It all started in a basement…”

Or so the mythologizing goes when you talk to theater companies in Chicago. Steppenwolf, now a multimillion-dollar nonprofit theatrical enterprise, started from humble beginnings in a church basement, honing in on a specific brand of honest and raw performance, ballooning into a nationally renowned institution that many theaters hope to emulate. It’s as close to a theatrical American Dream as you can get, a Chicago spin on New York’s “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”

How Stage Managers Shepherd Tech Rehearsals

Dramatics Magazine: THE SAWDUST HAS SETTLED. The lights have been focused. The props are preset. You call half-hour, instructing the cast to get into costumes, mics, and wigs; grab your water, stopwatch, legal pad, and promptbook; and head to your tech table. As you hike, you check in with run crew, assistant stage managers, designers, production staff, and the director. It’s time. You take a breath, look over the space, maybe even smile … tech has begun.

The TBA Awards, and why gender disparities in acting are everyone's problem

Datebook: The profession of acting hasn’t always treated women well: fewer roles, less interesting roles, less pay for similar work. But in the theater world, that might be changing. Take the 15 performers in ACT’s main-stage season thus far, in “Top Girls” and “Testmatch.” All the actors were women or nonbinary, and they all played female characters. It’s hard to imagine that, 10 or even five years ago, a major company would have opened its season with so many women.

Attack Theatre adds Mulholland Drive star and so much more to The Kitchen Sink

Dance | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: For its 25th anniversary, Attack Theatre wanted to do something special. The local modern dance company looked to the avant-garde world of filmmaker David Lynch, specifically to Rebekah Del Rio, the Mexican-American singer/songwriter noted for her Spanish rendition of Roy Orbison's song "Crying" in Lynch’s 2001 film Mulholland Drive.

Are dark tourism performances of gulag life educational – or voyeuristic?

theconversation.com: Dark tourism – involving travel to places historically associated with death and tragedy – is on the rise worldwide. Increasingly, this does not involve only visiting such places, but also witnessing certain performances of dark pasts.

Frick Museum disrobes a Hollywood icon with Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage & Screen

Features | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Katharine Hepburn — the late actor noted for her independent spirit, patrician features, and much-impersonated Mid-Atlantic accent — was not a typical Hollywood fashion icon. She existed between two Hollywood ideals, too tomboyish to emulate someone like Grace Kelly, who could wear a gown like nobody’s business, and too outspoken to match the seductive mystique of her contemporary Marlene Dietrich, who embraced androgyny and defied gender norms by dressing in both tailored tuxedos and women’s wear.

The Importance of Introducing Mummenschanz to New Generations

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: The only sounds you hear at a Mummenschanz performance are laughs coming from the audience. Using masks, props, puppets, and their malleable bodies and imagination, the members of the inventive Swiss mime troupe conjure humorous vignettes in complete silence. A pair of people with putty faces that can be sculpted into any expression; a giant foam mouth that devours everything in sight; two creatures crying toilet paper tears -- scenes like these don't need dialogue or music to tickle your funny bone and touch your heart.

Your mother will love the delicious cheesiness that is Forever Plaid

Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Forever Plaid is cheesy as hell.

We’re talking grilled cheese sandwich on white bread, dipped in white cheddar cheese fondue, with a slice of cheesecake for dessert.

The Pittsburgh CLO production, the very first show performed at The Greer Cabaret Theater, where it has returned to kick off its 15th anniversary season, is your mother’s musical theater, which is exactly what it intends to be.

'The Imagineering Story' debuts with Disney+

www.themeparkinsider.com: The hour-long first episode of The Imagineering Story takes viewers through the early days of what is now known as Walt Disney Imagineering. Begun as WED Enterprises in the early 1950s, this new company of Walt's was his "sandbox" for the development of Disneyland. Long-time theme park fans probably won't learn anything new from The Imagineering Story - the history of Disneyland is well known - but even the most knowledgable fan will geek out over the visuals here.

What is ‘Devised Theatre’?

At This Stage: There are so many different and new forms of artistic expression emerging from theatre. In traditional theatre, actors would show up on the first day of rehearsals expecting two very important resources at their service, a script and a director. Scripts and directors equip the actor with their lines and stage directions, which pretty much tell the actor much of what they should be doing on stage. But a new form of theatre-making is emerging, many are calling this method “devising”.

Fuller: Duopoly? What if Vivid Seats Bought StubHub?

www.ticketnews.com: The drumbeat is getting louder. More and more traffic is coming through my channels. “Vivid is buying StubHub,” “The deal is very close.” If this were to happen, there would really only be two major players in the ticket resale game: Vivid Seats and Live Nation.

Is it true? I don’t know. None of us will really truly know until we know. But, let’s talk about what such a combination might mean. Isn’t that how forecasting works? Take a potential scenario and game out what it means now and into the future, then try to find a path through.

How Three Diverse Creators Brought a Musical About Racial Strife to Life

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: It's ironic that Broadbend, Arkansas -- the new two-person musical about an African-American father and daughter grappling with the personal impact of racial oppression in the '60s and '80s -- started off as a monologue about an elderly Southern white woman living in a nursing home during the pre-civil rights era.

Pittsburgh Public Theater Hopes ‘School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play’ will help the city’s theater scene become more diverse

Pittsburgh Current: Markia Nicole Smith, a Point Park University graduate who plays Paulina in “School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play” at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, says her time on the Public stage is a full-circle moment.

“We’ve come to see shows here. Some of our professors were in shows here and now those same people get to come and see us do what they taught us to do,” she says.

Attack Theater is throwing ‘The Kitchen Sink’ at its 25th season

Pittsburgh Current: While it may be popular Pittsburgh dance troupe Attack Theatre’s milestone 25th Anniversary Season, fans shouldn’t expect the forward-thinking company to go all nostalgic. In fact, for its newest production, The Kitchen Sink, November 15-17 at the New Hazlett Theater, there are only a few select references given to the company’s past.

How to Sew Webbing Loops

Sailrite: Sewn loops on webbing are used in a variety of load bearing applications. Sailboat harness tethers use sewn loops so you can clip to your boat’s jackline to keep you safely onboard. They’re used in towing applications. They’re found on safety harnesses and climbing gear, lifting harnesses for dinghies and outboard motors, and much more. If you want to sew your own webbing loops, it’s important to understand the mechanics of proper loop construction and how to sew loops with the required minimum breaking strength (MBS) for your particular weight bearing application. Understanding the math and the calculations required to sew loops with adequate MBS will keep your sewn loops from breaking and causing potential harm or injury.

Opinion: What people of color experience at the theater

Broadway News: I’ve been working professionally as a theater critic since 2013; I’m a board member of the Drama Desk (where I also serve as part of the nominating committee), and I’ve written for every reputable publication in town. For as long as I’ve been attending theater in the city, my name and brown skin have made me the target of bullies and racists.

Formlabs Form 3 SLA 3D Printer Review!

Tested: We spend two months testing the new Form 3 printer from Formlabs, which uses a new type of low force SLA resin printing for improved print quality and low impact print supports. Sean reviews the Form 3 and explains how the new laser module works, its caveats, print speeds, and how the new system compares with the Form 2 and other SLA printers!

Pittsburgh Opera’s “Florencia en el Amazonas” Premiere a Full-Steam-Ahead Success

Pittsburgh in the Round: Florencia en el Amazonas was performed Saturday night for the first time by Pittsburgh Opera, and the audience on hand at the Benedum was treated to a production that was brilliant to the ear and eye alike. The opera is the first Spanish-language composition to be produced by the company, but the same can be said for the many opera companies which have staged the work since its 1996 premiere: for while opera has a long history of popularity in Spain, Mexico and parts of South America, works in the language most familiar to audiences in these countries are few and extremely far between.

Dear Woodzick, #2

Non-Binary Monologues: Personally, I really appreciate being able to chat one on one with a costume designer before measurements are taken. Even before coming out as non-binary, I’ve had extremely negative experiences with costumers. These experiences have ranged from costumers suggesting I go on a diet to them telling the director they didn’t know how to costume for my body type.