: It was the late '90s, and breaking pioneer Ana "Rokafella" Garcia was in rehearsals for a major theater production with a crew of male breakers. A popular b-boy began making comments dripping with sexual innuendo about the only other woman in the group. With each consecutive rehearsal, the harassment progressed while other castmates stood by silently.
Thursday, November 04, 2021
The B-Girl's Battle for Equality in a Male-Dominated Style
Dance Magazine
: It was the late '90s, and breaking pioneer Ana "Rokafella" Garcia was in rehearsals for a major theater production with a crew of male breakers. A popular b-boy began making comments dripping with sexual innuendo about the only other woman in the group. With each consecutive rehearsal, the harassment progressed while other castmates stood by silently.
: It was the late '90s, and breaking pioneer Ana "Rokafella" Garcia was in rehearsals for a major theater production with a crew of male breakers. A popular b-boy began making comments dripping with sexual innuendo about the only other woman in the group. With each consecutive rehearsal, the harassment progressed while other castmates stood by silently.
Marshall mini cams perform for the Pink Floyd Experience
www.avinteractive.com
: As the 2021 Pink Floyd Experience tour readied to roll out across Australia and New Zealand, creative director for the event Craig Walsh was looking for high-quality, compact cameras to capture vibrant images of the performances. Walsh turned to pro AV equipment provider Corsair Solutions, and the team selected Marshall Electronics CV503 miniature cameras for the project.
: As the 2021 Pink Floyd Experience tour readied to roll out across Australia and New Zealand, creative director for the event Craig Walsh was looking for high-quality, compact cameras to capture vibrant images of the performances. Walsh turned to pro AV equipment provider Corsair Solutions, and the team selected Marshall Electronics CV503 miniature cameras for the project.
Virtual Production Bulletin: Reality TV and Gamification
by Srushti Kamat
| Nov, 2021 | Immerse: Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Dark Slope Studios is a virtual-production company which opened in 2017. Dan Fill, president of the company, defines Dark Slope’s version of virtual production as a production with any of the following three core elements: a motion-tracking stage, a game engine and haptic components for location-based spectacles.
| Nov, 2021 | Immerse: Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Dark Slope Studios is a virtual-production company which opened in 2017. Dan Fill, president of the company, defines Dark Slope’s version of virtual production as a production with any of the following three core elements: a motion-tracking stage, a game engine and haptic components for location-based spectacles.
Wednesday, November 03, 2021
New 'My Fair Lady' design emphasizes history, class divisions over fantasy
Datebook
: It’s one of the most visually stunning scenes in musical history: Professor Henry Higgins brings his protege, Eliza Doolittle, to the races at Ascot to see if she can conversationally pass muster among the British upper crust after his intensive elocution training.
: It’s one of the most visually stunning scenes in musical history: Professor Henry Higgins brings his protege, Eliza Doolittle, to the races at Ascot to see if she can conversationally pass muster among the British upper crust after his intensive elocution training.
Didn’t we almost have it all? Contemplating Black arts in Pittsburgh
Opinion | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper:
I firmly believe I was born at the wrong time, even though being born in June of 1969 meant I saw the moon landing at one month old which shaped my love for the cosmos, if not my ability to get good grades in physics.
I firmly believe I was born at the wrong time, even though being born in June of 1969 meant I saw the moon landing at one month old which shaped my love for the cosmos, if not my ability to get good grades in physics.
Review Roundup: Anna Deavere Smith's TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992
www.broadwayworld.com
: Signature Theatre just celebrated opening night of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, National Humanities Medal-recipient Anna Deavere Smith's gathering of voices surrounding the 1992 L.A. civil unrest in a complex portrait of a city's racial anguish. The production, directed by Taibi Magar and running through November 14, brings five performers into its dissonant chorus-a bold ensemble vision of a work that was first performed solo by Smith in 1993, and has been made all the more urgent after a year when millions rose up nationwide in a movement for racial justice that rippled around the world.
: Signature Theatre just celebrated opening night of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, National Humanities Medal-recipient Anna Deavere Smith's gathering of voices surrounding the 1992 L.A. civil unrest in a complex portrait of a city's racial anguish. The production, directed by Taibi Magar and running through November 14, brings five performers into its dissonant chorus-a bold ensemble vision of a work that was first performed solo by Smith in 1993, and has been made all the more urgent after a year when millions rose up nationwide in a movement for racial justice that rippled around the world.
4 Steps to Uncover Workflows, Procedures, and What Teams Really Need: AutoCAD Process Assessment – Step Four
AutoCAD Blog - Autodesk
: Now, we’ve reached our last installment of a four-part series on conducting a process assessment of AutoCAD workflows and procedures. Finally, after bringing structure to a disorganized mountain of information as discussed in Step 3, the final step is to present and communicate what was found. While the meat of such an exercise is undoubtedly the things your organization could do better, it’s equally essential to spotlight what your organization is doing well.
: Now, we’ve reached our last installment of a four-part series on conducting a process assessment of AutoCAD workflows and procedures. Finally, after bringing structure to a disorganized mountain of information as discussed in Step 3, the final step is to present and communicate what was found. While the meat of such an exercise is undoubtedly the things your organization could do better, it’s equally essential to spotlight what your organization is doing well.
Nine years after she died, Whitney Houston is back to entertain you
Music | phillytrib.com
: The caramel hair was as perfect as remembered. The rhythmic moves were as graceful as in our mind’s eye. And when those signature melismas of “I Will Always Love You” began, it was impossible not to be transported to the spot again — that spot, the plane of transcendent Zen only a handful of singers have ever taken us.
Whitney Houston was back.
It’s just that she was a hologram.
: The caramel hair was as perfect as remembered. The rhythmic moves were as graceful as in our mind’s eye. And when those signature melismas of “I Will Always Love You” began, it was impossible not to be transported to the spot again — that spot, the plane of transcendent Zen only a handful of singers have ever taken us.
Whitney Houston was back.
It’s just that she was a hologram.
Hollywood Armorers Speak Out on ‘Rust’ Safety Issues, Guns on Sets
IndieWire
: When Mike Tristano is working on a film or television production, his guns never leave his line of sight. The armorer, who has lent his decades of weapons expertise to “The Purge” and hundreds of other productions, follows strict safety protocols on sets to ensure that the guns being used cannot harm the cast or crew he works with.
: When Mike Tristano is working on a film or television production, his guns never leave his line of sight. The armorer, who has lent his decades of weapons expertise to “The Purge” and hundreds of other productions, follows strict safety protocols on sets to ensure that the guns being used cannot harm the cast or crew he works with.
Can Computers Be Creative? A Look at AI Use in Music Composition
AMT Lab @ CMU
: When we think about AI, it generally is with some amount of wariness. We’ve all seen too many science-fiction movies where sentient robots take over the world, but we’re mostly certain that the creativity needed for these sentient beings to overtake us doesn’t exist. Artists, musicians, and creatives especially have historically been comfortable with the knowledge that their livelihoods were not in danger of being replaced by AI because of the inherent creativity necessary in those industries… until now.
: When we think about AI, it generally is with some amount of wariness. We’ve all seen too many science-fiction movies where sentient robots take over the world, but we’re mostly certain that the creativity needed for these sentient beings to overtake us doesn’t exist. Artists, musicians, and creatives especially have historically been comfortable with the knowledge that their livelihoods were not in danger of being replaced by AI because of the inherent creativity necessary in those industries… until now.
Following Protocols: A Dive Into The World Of Audio Over Ethernet (AoE)
ProSoundWeb
: Defining different protocols and looking at their advantages (and disadvantages) with an eye on the future of audio networking.
Working in audio these days, it seems impossible to avoid the topic of audio networking protocols. Let’s break down what these protocols mean as well as how and when we can use them.
: Defining different protocols and looking at their advantages (and disadvantages) with an eye on the future of audio networking.
Working in audio these days, it seems impossible to avoid the topic of audio networking protocols. Let’s break down what these protocols mean as well as how and when we can use them.
Prop Master and Daughter of Martin Scorsese on 'Rust' Shooting
www.businessinsider.com
: My father kneeled down on the sidewalk next to me so that we'd be eye to eye and asked what I'd thought of the film. I didn't say much, but then he said, "You got any questions?" and I found myself blurting out, "How did they get all the blood to work like that and look so real?"
I should have known then one day I'd work in props.
Prime Stage demystifies star with Karloff: The Man and The Monster
Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper
: The late Boris Karloff has remained one of the most famous names in cinema history, bringing to life Frankenstein’s monster and other characters with the help of makeup and prosthetics, as well as ample screen presence. Now, a Pittsburgh theater company will honor the English actor with a one-man show at New Hazlett Theater.
: The late Boris Karloff has remained one of the most famous names in cinema history, bringing to life Frankenstein’s monster and other characters with the help of makeup and prosthetics, as well as ample screen presence. Now, a Pittsburgh theater company will honor the English actor with a one-man show at New Hazlett Theater.
accesso | expanded partnership with Illuminarium Experiences
blooloop
: accesso Technology Group PLC, a leading technology provider, has signed a three-year agreement with Illuminarium Experiences, a global experiential entertainment company. This will see accesso providing its accesso Passport eCommerce ticketing suite and Ingresso ticketing distribution solution to Illuminarium at AREA15 in Las Vegas, set to open early next year.
: accesso Technology Group PLC, a leading technology provider, has signed a three-year agreement with Illuminarium Experiences, a global experiential entertainment company. This will see accesso providing its accesso Passport eCommerce ticketing suite and Ingresso ticketing distribution solution to Illuminarium at AREA15 in Las Vegas, set to open early next year.
Touring experts launch 'one-stop shop' for music and entertainment travel needs
TPi: New travel management company Equinox Travel has begun operations, offering clients unparalleled expertise in music and entertainment travel. The Equinox brand is further boosted with the launch of sister company Equinox Charter.
With combined travel experience of over 100 years, Equinox’s expert team specialise in delivering bespoke travel solutions and managing complex itineraries for bands and solo artists, agents, tour managers, film production companies and more.
Tuesday, November 02, 2021
Road Stories: A Successful Tour Back In The Day, Except For One Particular Show...
ProSoundWeb: Over the years I’ve had some gigs go sideways for various reasons, but I can only think of one that seemed to have been deliberately sabotaged.
For most of the 1980s, one of my freelance gigs was mixing front of house for a Toronto-based nine-piece Latin-jazz band. In the summer of 1988, we had a western Canada tour lined up, all fly-in dates, with the last at a large folk festival. About a month out, I was sitting in the office that I shared with four other sound folks when I got a phone call from a woman who identified herself as the artistic director for that festival.
CHICAGO Will Hold a Special Performance This Month to Celebrate 25th Anniversary
www.broadwayworld.com: A special performance of Chicago will be held on Tuesday, November 16th at 6:30PM with appearances by original cast members and other surprises at the Ambassador Theatre to mark the 25th Anniversary of the longest running American musical in Broadway history.
HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD Will Bring Back its 'Friday Forty' Tickets
www.broadwayworld.com: The Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has announced the return of the popular "Friday Forty," where every Friday at 1:00 PM ET the show will release a limited number of $40 tickets for every performance the following week. Entries begin on Monday, November 1st at 12:01 PM ET with the drawing taking place on Friday, November 5th for the next week of performances.
Series of Social Justice Initiatives Announced In Conjunction with Broadway Production of CLYDE'S
www.broadwayworld.com: Second Stage Theater has announced a series of social justice initiatives centered around the upcoming Broadway production of Lynn Nottage's play, Clyde's, directed by Kate Whoriskey. A funny, moving, and inspiring new play, Clyde's centers around the lives of four formerly incarcerated kitchen staff working at a sandwich shop and looking to reclaim their lives.
SIX, MOULIN ROUGE! and WICKED Will Perform at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
www.broadwayworld.com: The world-famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will march down the streets of New York City for its 95th annual holiday celebration later this month. Broadway's best musicals will perform including SIX, Moulin Rouge! and one of Broadway's longest running hits, Wicked; along with a sneak preview of NBC's Annie Live! In addition, the show-stopping Radio City Rockettes will bring their signature magic to Herald Square.
Interview: BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon Hit the Road This Holiday Season
TheaterMania: BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon are ready to bust out of quarantine and hit the open road with The Return of The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show, LIVE! The two queens came to international attention as contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race, but they have gained a steady following of devotees through their subversive stage shows, including an annual holiday spectacular.
Pittsburgh Opera Launches New Season with Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”
onStage Pittsburgh: For the first time in nearly two years, Pittsburgh Opera returns to the Benedum Center this Saturday evening, November 6, for the first of four performances of Mozart’s phantasmagorical The Magic Flute. The company did a marvelous job with the smaller scaled productions it managed to give last season, but it will be a genuine treat to return to the grandeur of the Benedum.
Mandy Greenfield Resigns From Helm of Williamstown Theatre Fest
AMERICAN THEATRE: Artistic director Mandy Greenfield recently tendered her resignation as artistic director of Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF), and the festival today announced the appointment of Jenny Gersten to the role of interim artistic director. Greenfield’s exit follows a storm of controversy and criticism about working conditions at the theatre.
Interlochen’s New Breathtaking Dance Center Is Ready for Class
Dance Magazine: After months of practicing in a cramped space at home, young dancers have dreamed of training in a spacious, airy studio. And when the facilities are as resplendent as the brand-new dance center at Michigan's Interlochen Center for the Arts, everyday technique class is to be savored.
Mollie Autherson – DiGiCo Tech Specialist
SoundGirls.org: Mollie started at DiGiCo on the R&D team during her placement year while attending the University of Surrey. Before finishing the year, she let DiGiCo know that she would love to come back after she finished her degree and she did when they offered her a job in the sales department. At DiGiCo she got an insight into the R&D side of the company that most of the Sales team haven’t had. Things like knowing how the different parts of the console engines work together and how the code that the software department writes works.
The ‘Jaws’ Shoot Was a Drama. Now It’s a Play.
The New York Times: When Ian Shaw was 5, he did something to make any movie fan jealous: He visited the set of “Jaws.” On location on Martha’s Vineyard, an assistant pulled back a huge sheet and young Shaw found himself staring into the gaping mouth of the man-eating shark that would soon become a cinematic icon.
Elephant stars in COP26 guerrilla projection mapping
www.avinteractive.com: Greta Thunberg may have captured the attention of the world’s media for her words about COP26, the United Nations climate change conference that is under way in Glasgow, Scotland.
Monday, November 01, 2021
Brand Loyalty in the Power Tool Industry
Pro Tool Reviews: iPhone vs. Android, Apple vs. Microsoft, Ford vs. Chevy, Coke vs. Pepsi, Milwaukee vs DeWalt. These are common industry battles fought to win the minds, dollars, and loyalties of consumers. The power tool and outdoor power equipment industries uniquely differentiate their products to gain consumers’ attention. Still, brand loyalty in the power tool industry is a bit of an enigma. Those of us who use more than one brand often scratch our heads in mild annoyance.
WGA Orders Members to Stop Working for Constantin Film Over Foreign Residuals Dispute
www.thewrap.com: The Writers Guild of America on Friday instructed members to immediately stop all work with “Resident Evil” production outfit Constantin Films, due to an ongoing dispute with the German-based company over foreign residuals.
Inside the Making of Oscar Isaac's Viral Scenes From a Marriage Fits
GQ: Lately, it's been impossible to spend any time on social media without running into a photo of the actor Oscar Isaac in costume fittings for his recent HBO miniseries Scenes from a Marriage. Instagram, Twitter—no platform is safe from his wire-rimmed glasses and salt-and-pepper curls. Hell, E! News even crowned him their #ManCrushMonday. Now, Oscar’s a cutie, but the chatter here has mostly been centered on what he’s wearing.
Makita Cordless Sub-Compact Oscillating Multi-Tool Review
PTR: We’ve been anticipating an updated cordless multi-tool from Makita for quite a while now. Their XMT03 has done fine work for us, but it’s fallen behind the performance of more recent competition. We were excited when the Makita cordless Sub-Compact oscillating multi-tool arrived on our doorstep. However, what we saw when we opened the box wasn’t exactly what we were expecting.
Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s new building a ‘love letter to Chicago’
Chicago Sun-Times: The new Steppenwolf Theatre campus is all about collision.
Glass panes collide with ribbed concrete panels. Traditional playwriting collides with a new style of art for performers to imagine. In the new in-the-round theater, artists collide with audiences, who sit close enough to see the sweat bead on actors’ foreheads.
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Last Night in Soho costume designer breaks down the thriller's scary-good vintage glam
EW.com: The question isn't what happened Last Night in Soho. The question is: What was everyone wearing?
In Edgar Wright's psychological horror film (out Friday), style takes the spotlight. Thomasin McKenzie stars as Ellie, a naïve young woman with a talent for clothing construction and a mysterious psychic ability who moves to London to study fashion design. In her rented flat in Soho, when she goes to sleep at night, she finds herself involuntarily transported in her dreams to the neighborhood as it was in the 1960s.
Meyer Sound Systems Focused for Audience Excitement at Montréal International Jazz Festival
LightSoundJournal.com: The Montréal International Jazz Festival returned this year for five days of shows featuring 30 artists at two outdoor stages in the Canadian city’s downtown district. Along with strict vaccination requirements, the unprecedented all-outdoor format promoted health and safety for artists and audiences alike.
How Dune’s Costume Designers Created the Definitive Sci-Fi Fashion Fantasy
Vogue: Film costume departments regularly bring new worlds to life, but when Jacqueline West and Bob Morgan began work on Dune, they had to create an entire galaxy. Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal science-fiction novel introduces a complex extraterrestrial kingdom where a multitude of planets—each with their own culture and social structure—play a key role in the narrative.
Lisburn costume designer shares her creative skills
Ulster Star: Susan Scott has spent more than 20 years creating stunning costumes for actors including Daniel Day Lewis, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Anna Friel, Sean Bean, Jessie Buckley, Ben Hardy and Guy Pearce to name a few.
The Secrets Behind Heidi Klum's Most Amazing Halloween Costumes
Allure: There's great joy in seeing experts in their element, thriving, like Serena Williams serving a ball with precision and force, Harry Styles going wild on stage, or Heidi Klum on Halloween.
‘Rust’ Update: AD Was Unsure if He Fully Checked Guns, Armorer Says Rounds Were Not ‘Hot’
www.thewrap.com: “Rust” assistant director Dave Halls told police that he did not thoroughly check the guns used on set, as he “should have,” according to details in a third search warrant released Wednesday to media.
Combating Global Narratives by Ashley Hajimirsadeghi
WIT journal: In a world filled with anxiety and fear due to the ongoing pandemic, as theatres remained shuttered and the future seemed uncertain, a group of women from all over the world started an online project. These women met virtually during the League of Professional Theatre Women’s Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award 2020 event week. Initiated and developed by New Perspectives Theatre Company, Theatre from the Streets was launched in August 2021. This program’s goal was to reach a global community and combat biased narratives created by media and politics.
Sunday, October 31, 2021
NFTRW Weekly Top Five
Here are the top five comment generating posts of the past week:
Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ Shooting Update: More Live Bullets Found on Set
www.vice.com: Police have recovered three guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, both dummy and live, from the Rust movie set, according to a press conference Wednesday. Among the evidence collected was the Colt .45 revolver fired by actor Alec Baldwin that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and a projectile that injured director Joel Souza last week.The 10 Most-Produced High School Plays and Musicals of 2020–2021
Playbill: The Educational Theatre Association has unveiled its list of the most produced plays, musicals, and short plays in U.S. high schools during the 2020–2021 school year, the result of a survey that has been conducted annually since 1938.Two Ohio High Schools, Including Hudson, Cancel Fall Productions of the Same LGBTQ-Themed Play
Scene and Heard: Scene's News Blog: Though Hillsboro High School and Hudson High School are separated by more than 200 miles, they now share one thing in common: productions of the same LGBTQ-themed play have now been canceled on both of their stages.No One Is Alone: Theatre Ghost Stories, Vol. 6
AMERICAN THEATRE: As theatre workers continue to grapple with issues of racial injustice and concerns about unhealthy labor practices, as well as the challenges of putting on shows during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the industry has its share of real-life horrors to contend with. This piece, the latest installment of a Halloween series American Theatre has published each year since 2016, discusses frights of a different kind: ghost stories from across North America. As theatre districts begin to look less like ghost towns and the theatre field comes back to life, we hope these spooky tales can help raise your spirits.Feld Entertainment Plans Return of Ringling Bros. Circus (Minus Animals)
www.ticketnews.com: Feld Entertainment is planning on bringing back the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, four years after the “Greatest Show on Earth” was retired from active performance. The circus will reportedly return without the animal attractions, which had become a lightning rod for protest and led the the promotion’s retirement.
Friday, October 29, 2021
TAIT acquires ITEC Entertainment, creating end-to-end design solution organization
InPark Magazine: TAIT, the global group of creative engineers, fabricators, producers and technologists for live entertainment environments, announced its acquisition of ITEC Entertainment (ITEC), an industry leader of worldwide solutions in entertainment design, technology and project development. The acquisition brings together two organizations with complementary expertise in mounting live events and experiences. ITEC will join the TAIT group comprised of a roster of innovators, creating a comprehensive end-to-end developer of entertainment projects and solutions.
Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ Shooting Update: More Live Bullets Found on Set
www.vice.com: Police have recovered three guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, both dummy and live, from the Rust movie set, according to a press conference Wednesday. Among the evidence collected was the Colt .45 revolver fired by actor Alec Baldwin that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and a projectile that injured director Joel Souza last week.
Rosco CrystalGel – An Out Of This World Primer For Painting Foam & Synthetics
www.rosco.com/spectrum: Scott Roewer, the founder of The Organizing Agency, contacted us for advice about how to paint a “herd of foam aliens” for the Halloween display he was working on. Having seen the type of Halloween decor The Organizing Agency has created in the past, we were eager to help. Scott had created Planet Pumpkin for a client using a variety of different items, including foam pumpkins, pool noodles, and beach umbrellas. The problem was, he couldn’t get paint to stick to any of it.
Facing Our Failure: The Power of Acknowledging Racism Within the American Theatre
AMERICAN THEATRE: As Young Playwrights’ Theater (YPT) learned when we began our own internal antiracism work in 2017, you can’t fix something that you cannot—or will not—name. American theatre is not immune to the racist, oppressive practices baked into other industries, but too often we are resistant to holding up the same mirror to our own institutions that we hold up to society through the work on our stages. We must stop leaning on radical art to justify oppressive art-making, and start talking about radical hiring, decision-making, budgeting, and power-sharing.
Feld Entertainment Plans Return of Ringling Bros. Circus (Minus Animals)
www.ticketnews.com: Feld Entertainment is planning on bringing back the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, four years after the “Greatest Show on Earth” was retired from active performance. The circus will reportedly return without the animal attractions, which had become a lightning rod for protest and led the the promotion’s retirement.
EQ Your Vocal Reverb Return
www.sounddesignlive.com: So, Sean, I definitely want to talk to you about this topic of finding your sound tips for mixing live vocals and sound system calibration. But before I do that, after you get a sound system set up, what’s one of your favorite pieces of music to play through it to get more familiar with it.
Review Roundup: CAROLINE, OR CHANGE Opens On Broadway - See What the Critics Are Saying!
www.broadwayworld.com: Caroline Thibodeaux is a Black woman working as a maid for a Jewish family in 1963 Louisiana, as the civil rights movement is transforming America. From Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner and Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori comes the show that pulses with the urgency and passion that's shaping the world today.
The pandemic was the final blow for some dance companies. How do the survivors stay nimble?
The Washington Post: Sloan Pearson was expecting good news from the Zoom call with her director and fellow members of Taylor 2, the dance troupe she’d performed with for four years. With only six dancers, the group was an intimate, highly mobile offshoot of the celebrated Paul Taylor Dance Company, designed to bring Taylor’s beautifully made works to colleges and small towns.
New York's $3 million tax credit aims to help restart Broadway
Broadway News: Broadway productions are vying for a $3 million tax credit that the state hopes can jumpstart the industry.
The New York City Musical and Theatrical Tax Credit Program is intended to support commercial productions through the industry’s uncertain return and to encourage greater diversity backstage and in the audience.
When The Fire Dragon Dances Under The Full Moon: Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong
The Theatre Times: The rhythmic sound of drumming echoes through the streets. Tai Hang is normally quiet on weeknights, but tonight it is filled with people. In an alley near the Chinese Recreation Club, on the edge of the neighborhood, a creature waits in the dark. With a body of rope and a head crafted from rattan and metal, it’s a dragon, and it lies sleeping on the ground – for now.
A STRANGE LOOP's Pre-Broadway Run Announces Cast Talkbacks, Accessibility Offerings & Pay What You Will Shows
www.broadwayworld.com: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company will present the pre-Broadway engagement of A STRANGE LOOP, Michael R. Jackson's blistering, mind-blowing, Pulitzer-Prize winning musical. Directed by Stephen Brackett, choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly, music directed by Rona Siddiqui, and produced in association with Playwrights Horizons and Page 73 Productions, A STRANGE LOOP runs November 22, 2021 through January 2, 2022.
New gender-neutral categories announced for Off-Broadway’s Lucille Lortel Awards
DC Metro Theater Arts: The Lucille Lortel Awards, honoring outstanding achievements Off-Broadway (productions in Manhattan venues with 100-499 seats), has announced that its awards for acting will no longer be defined by gender. The actor and actress categories for both musicals and plays will instead move to Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical, Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Musical, Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play, and Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Play.
Thursday, October 28, 2021
Two Ohio High Schools, Including Hudson, Cancel Fall Productions of the Same LGBTQ-Themed Play
IATSE Area Standards Agreement: Tentative Deal Reached
How Can a Gun Loaded With Blanks Still Be Deadly?
How live ammo got on set still a mystery in Baldwin shooting
Broadway shows filled 85% of all seats last week, League says
Potential legal woes mount after ‘Rust’ shooting tragedy
No One Is Alone: Theatre Ghost Stories, Vol. 6
AMERICAN THEATRE: As theatre workers continue to grapple with issues of racial injustice and concerns about unhealthy labor practices, as well as the challenges of putting on shows during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the industry has its share of real-life horrors to contend with. This piece, the latest installment of a Halloween series American Theatre has published each year since 2016, discusses frights of a different kind: ghost stories from across North America. As theatre districts begin to look less like ghost towns and the theatre field comes back to life, we hope these spooky tales can help raise your spirits.
In praise of a resilient small theater: Fredericksburg Theatre Ensemble
DC Metro Theater Arts: The pandemic has taught us many things: a lack of human interaction (and hugs) can trigger depression, around 35 percent of jobs can be performed fully at home, and many people not only desire but need the arts in order to live a full, balanced, and happy life.
IATSE and Producers Reach Tentative Theatrical and Television Motion Picture Area Standards Agreement
IATSE: Late Sunday, 23 Local Unions of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) reached a tentative three-year agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) for the 2021 Theatrical and Television Motion Picture Area Standards Agreement.
On Stage: A New Pittsburgh Ballet Emerges
onStage Pittsburgh: This past weekend, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre had more to celebrate than any other company that I’ve come across. In its season opener the company connected with the past in a tribute to former artistic director Patricia Wilde, who passed away in August, and the future with the long-anticipated reveal and the dawn of another era under the newest artistic director Susan Jaffe. Oh yes, it was also the company’s first performance at the Benedum Center in about one-and-a-half years, marking the company’s triumphant emergence after its COVID-imposed exile.
Projection mapping cities | Barco explores the rising trend
blooloop: The projection mapping market is estimated to be worth USD 2.8 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 7.9 billion by 2026. Retail is playing an increasing role, but media and culture remain the main applications. Projections onto landmark buildings continue to be a major attraction. So, what is driving the growth of projection mapping worldwide now and into the future?
'First-of-a-kind 3D curved Sony Crystal LED system' installed
www.avinteractive.com: A 32 ft by 9ft curved 8K Sony Crystal LED direct-view display system forms the centrepiece of a first-of-its-kind Crystal LED installation for 3D simulation in the aerospace arena.
The display, which is one of the few curved Crystal LED walls in existence, has an extra-wide aspect ratio which required special programming to ensure that complex CAD models can be displayed in their native format.
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
PICT Classic Theatre’s 25th season is perfect timing for a Shakespearean comedy
onStage Pittsburgh: In the words of Shakespearean heroine Rosalind, “Time travels in diverse paces with diverse persons.”
That’s from As You Like It, and is followed by the speed in which time flies, when it meanders and when it stops entirely.
Guns on stage are here to stay, some Chicago theater workers say
Chicago Sun-Times: Days after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was injured after actor Alec Baldwin fired a gun on the set of “Rust” during the filming of the movie in New Mexico, some Chicago theater workers say their procedures are safe and have no plans to stop using guns in stage productions here.
Cincinnati’s American Legacy Theatre Aims to Tackle Social Issues Through Performance
www.citybeat.com: While Matthew David Gellin was an undergraduate theater major at the University of Buffalo in 2007, he was questioning his chosen career. “I feel like I’m wasting my life,” he told his advisor. “I hate theater.” Asked what was troubling him, he confessed to love his studies and performing, but that wasn’t enough. He had been reading theater history, and he felt that contemporary theater wasn’t playing the important role it had in the past.
The 10 Most-Produced High School Plays and Musicals of 2020–2021
Playbill: The Educational Theatre Association has unveiled its list of the most produced plays, musicals, and short plays in U.S. high schools during the 2020–2021 school year, the result of a survey that has been conducted annually since 1938.
Roundabout Theatre Company Will Host Virtual Industry Event- Opening Stage Doors
www.broadwayworld.com: From December 7-9, Roundabout Theatre Company, with support from The National Endowment for the Arts will host Opening Stage Doors, the first-of-its-kind virtual convening to share tools and innovations in job training, mentorship, and job placement, with the goal of helping remove traditional barriers to off-stage performing-arts jobs.
DiGiCo and KLANG give Midas Korolev the golden touch
LightSoundJournal.com: Highly respected Russian sound engineer, Aleksey ‘Midas’ Korolev, has recently moved to an immersive audio environment, expanding his work with d&b’s Soundscape system by adding KLANG’s immersive in ear system to his workflow. The move to KLANG also prompted him to switch from his long-term choice of console to DiGiCo, taking advantage of the SD-Range’s native integration with the KLANG system.
Donnelley Foundation survey shows arts organizations still hesitant to open in-person for fall season
Chicago Tribune: Since Illinois has reopened from the pandemic lockdown in 2020, normalcy is one thing that remains elusive. Case in point: a new survey by the Chicago-based Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation that shows that despite overall theater industry comeback, smaller organizations are still struggling to reopen.
Robe for the 2021 VMAs
LightSoundJournal.com: The 2021 MTV VMAs (Video Music Awards) was back in-person, in style and with a live audience at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City … and making it extra special this year the event celebrated its 40th … so the pressure was on for lighting designer Tom Sutherland of DX7 Design to smash it in terms of visual flair for the occasion.
Introducing the University of Pittsburgh's August Wilson Archive
HowlRound Theatre Commons: With every year that passes, it seems that playwright August Wilson's legacy looms ever larger over the American theatre. The signs of his influence are everywhere, from the recent announcement that his image will grace one of the US Postal Service’s Forever Stamps to the critical acclaim that greeted the recent movie adaptation of his play, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
Premieres aplenty for Adelaide Festival
The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT: Programming a top-line Australian festival with a judicious selection of highly-sought international and local acts isn't for the faint of heart, even when the going is good.
Add the myriad uncertainties and complexities so bountifully gifted by COVID-19, and things really start to get tricky.
A look back: why the Philly theater scene needs…
Broad Street Review: On the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, in a pandemic world that can no longer ignore police violence, exclude our LGBTQ+ family, or avoid acknowledging how many of us experience some type of bias—from Asian people to Black people to those of Jewish or Muslim faith to those with visible or invisible disabilities—I wanted to know if things are improving in the Philly theater community.
Real World Gear: The Latest Subwoofers
ProSoundWeb: Initially developed to extend low-frequency response in the 1960s, subwoofers have grown to become the most ubiquitous specialty enclosure. For years, dedicated subs accompanied modular full-range loudspeakers with predictable tops-to-subs deployment ratios, depending on the type or style of music: two-to-one for pop music, one-to-one for rock and one-to-two for reggae and rap. This was as complicated as subwoofer math initially got.
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Social justice was not at the core at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis for many years. Then Hana Sharif took over.
www.stlmag.com: I’m sitting in a dim auditorium next to Hana Sharif, the first Black woman to serve as artistic director of a major American regional theater—in her case, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis—and the stage in front of us at the Loretto–Hilton Center for the Performing Arts on Webster University’s campus is blazing with light and sound and sweat, but Sharif is not looking at it. She’s hunched over, thumbing notes into her iPhone on how to tweak it. This is an urgent task.
Broadway Productions ‘Is This A Room’ And ‘Dana H’ To Close Early
Deadline: The first clear sign that Broadway’s road to recovery will be a very bumpy one came today with the announced early closings of Is This a Room and Dana H., two critically acclaimed plays performing on alternative nights at the Lyceum Theatre.
Inside the Gibney Company's Radical Reinvention
Dance Magazine: The Gibney Company is not your average contemporary-dance troupe. The 12 dancers, who are helmed by three directors enacting a model of lateral leadership, go by the title "artistic associate." As full-time employees, they make a competitive 52-week-per-year salary complete with health insurance, free on-site physical therapy, an annual artistic sabbatical and paid vacation. The company is deeply committed to activism, and part of each artistic associate's job is to do regular work with survivors of partner abuse, and to design fellowship projects aimed to fill a particular need in the community.
Guest essay: Penelope McPhee on why Atlanta's next mayor must invest in the arts
ARTS ATL: In Atlanta’s first mayoral election since the onset of the Covid pandemic, candidates face new or exacerbated concerns around crime, health, racism, education and reviving the economy. What if there were a single investment that could address all these issues to improve the quality of life of all Atlantans? What if it were the arts?
Dave Chappelle’s Intent Doesn’t Matter, Jon Stewart
IndieWire: Nearly three weeks after its October 5 debut on Netflix, Dave Chappelle’s stand-up special “The Closer” remains embroiled in controversy. Last week saw the promised walkout of trans Netflix employees and allies in protest of their employer’s defense of Chappelle and his increasingly trademark transphobia, as well as comments from Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos in which he expressed regret regarding how the company had handled employee concerns about “The Closer” while continuing to defend the choice to proceed with the special.
Healthy, Safe & Engaging: Sound Loudness & Level Basics For Churches
ProSoundWeb: For many churches, live music plays a pivotal role in the modern worship experience. This can often lead to contention between musicians, leadership, and members of the congregation about “how loud is too loud.” Some might want the mix to be louder, some might think it’s too loud, and others might feel it’s fine the way it is. This highlights the subjective nature of loudness perception – and if someone feels uncomfortable, who are we to tell them they’re wrong?
Interview Tip: BoA Exec on Answering Key Question About 'Initiative'
www.businessinsider.com: Virgin founder Richard Branson has said that asking people "what didn't you get the chance to include on your CV?" helps him gain a better understanding of a candidate. Oprah Winfrey's "What's your spiritual practice?" aims to bring out a person's "inner relationship with themself."
Northern Ballet Dances Into The Future With RIVAGE PM3
LightSoundJournal.com: Describing itself as ‘the UK’s foremost narrative ballet company’, Northern Ballet performs a repertoire that ranges from very traditional to very contemporary. A key part of its work is taking shows on tour, performing for audiences away from its Leeds base. With touring now resuming, the ballet has looked to the future by investing in two Yamaha RIVAGE PM3 digital mixing systems. These were first put to use on the world premiere of the ballet Merlin, which started its tour at Nottingham Theatre Royal.
Pimax 12K VR Headset Announced With Release Date, Price, Specs
www.roadtovr.com: In a livestreamed presentation this week, VR headset maker Pimax announced its Reality “12K” QLED headset which aims to pack in a kitchen sink’s worth of wishlist features, not least of which is a dual-mode capability which allows the headset to function as a standalone headset or a native PC VR headset.
A Pas de Deux of Pride
Playbill: How do you choreograph an intimate pas deux in the depths of a pandemic? And how do you then make history with a romantic story of two gay men, Adam and Steve, tailored for dancers from American Ballet Theatre, that’s both erotic and heartfelt? Choreographer Christopher Rudd has the answers with his landmark ballet Touché that celebrates the inclusion and visibility of the LGBTQIA+ community. Touché will have its world stage premiere on October 26 at the Company’s Fall Gala, followed by performances at ABT’s first-ever Pride Nights, October 27 and 30, during the Company’s Lincoln Center Fall season.
Addison theater is first in DFW to partner with big streaming service
CultureMap Dallas: Many theater companies turned to streaming options in the wake of the pandemic, but WaterTower Theatre is the first in Dallas-Fort Worth to partner with national streaming service Broadway on Demand.
Kinetic Theatre premieres Donald Stephen Olsen’s Oscar & Walt on November 3rd
onStage Pittsburgh: Oscar & Walt celebrates the enduring legacy of two towering literary figures by dramatizing a real life encounter that took place in 1882 between the 62 year-old American poet Walt Whitman and the 28 year-old Anglo-Irish wit Oscar Wilde. Cultures clash, egos flare, words fly, and secrets emerge as two of the greatest writers of the 19th century – one nearing the end of his career, the other just beginning – come face-to-face in an unforgettable meeting of minds and hearts.
Monday, October 25, 2021
The Color Blue Is the Latest Victim of the Supply Chain Crisis
www.businessinsider.com: Manufacturers are running out of supplies needed to make shades of blue paint, the latest good to be affected in the ongoing supply chain crisis.
How the 'Dune' VFX and Sound Teams Made Sandworms From Scratch
WIRED: They call it “sandscreen.” Out in the deserts of Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, where director Denis Villeneuve shot much of Dune, everything is varying shades of beige. To match it, visual effects supervisor Paul Lambert did something he’d never done before: turned his greenscreens brown. Sandscreen meant Villeneuve could get all his beauty shots out in the desert and Lambert could easily add whatever he needed to in post-production. All he had to do was swap out the sand color for whatever building, background, or beast he wanted. It allowed every shot to look as natural as possible—and also let them create one of sci-fi’s most iconic creatures.
“the other shoe” by CorningWorks at the New Hazlett Theater
The Pittsburgh Tatler: If you can take a work of art as an indicator of its creators’ state of mind, then it’s clear from the other shoe that Beth Corning and her collaborator Kay Cummings are frustrated, angry, and perhaps more than a little bit bitter. The source of their frustration? In part it’s the usual suspects that haunt nearly all women who have survived more than a couple of decades into adulthood
Little Amal is a reminder of how vital art is
Culture | The Guardian: Your excellent leader (The Guardian view on Little Amal: telling the unpalatable truth, 20 October) is a timely reminder of the proper value of art in an era when irony seems to have expired with the appointment of culture secretaries such as Oliver Dowden and Nadine Dorries. In England, this apparent decline in how we see our culture has been accompanied by the slow erosion of integrity, over the past 35 years, in an increasingly politically compromised Arts Council.
Pittsburgh arts organizations focus on empowering local artists with 2021 VACE Fellowship
Visual Art | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: The Pittsburgh arts coalition known as VACE, or Visual Arts Coalition for Equity, started in 2020 as a response to the pandemic. But the program seeks to address equity issues in art beyond the struggles of COVID-19. The coalition continues its work with a four-month-long fellowship described as showing candidates “the ins and outs of small Pittsburgh arts business models, nonprofit governance, financial structures, programming, administration, and core values.”
The Week That Shook Center Theatre Group
AMERICAN THEATRE: “We knew we had to pivot and let folks know,” said Meghan Pressman (she/her), the managing director of CTG, which had on Sept. 30 proudly announced a 10-show 2021-22 season at two of its Los Angeles venues (the mid-sized Mark Taper Forum and the intimate Kirk Douglas Theatre, though one Taper production, The Lehman Trilogy, would be presented at CTG’s larger Ahmanson Theatre). It was by many measures a diverse mix of plays and musicals, blending new work and revivals by both local and out-of-town writers, a majority of them people of color, but for one significant metric: gender parity. Only one of those 10 plays was written by a woman, Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky.
“The Chief” at the Pittsburgh Public Theater
The Pittsburgh Tatler: I moved to Pittsburgh in the summer of 2007. This means, as far as I can tell, that I have had six opportunities before now to see a production of The Chief, the one-man show about Steelers’ owner Art Rooney written by Rob Zellers and Gene Collier.
Rust Shooting: At Vigil for Halyna Hutchins, There’s Grief and Anger
IndieWire: At a candlelight vigil held outside the Burbank offices of Cinematographers Local 80 on Sunday evening, Halyna Hutchins was remembered by her friends and colleagues as a loving and passionate mother, wife, friend, and filmmaker whose life was cut short when she was shot and killed on the New Mexico set of “Rust” last week when the film’s star and producer Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun.
Rust Shuts Down Production for Shooting Investigation
Variety: The producers of the movie “Rust” are suspending production while sheriffs investigate the circumstances of the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins that occurred when a gun handled by Alec Baldwin discharged on Thursday.
Meet the dramaturg for 'Hadestown'
DC Metro Theater Arts: A dramaturg is one of those jobs in the theater world that many people don’t quite understand yet that are vital to a show’s success.
The dramaturg works with the playwright and creative team to support a show’s development by asking key questions, starting conversations, researching, providing context, and helping the artists as they work together to bring the book to life.
San Diego's Old Globe to premiere musical adaptation of India's longest-running film 'DDLJ'
Rancho Santa Fe Review: One of India’s most-beloved and enduring cinematic stories, “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,” better known as “DDLJ,” will be turned into a Broadway-bound stage musical that will make its world premiere next September at The Old Globe in San Diego.
Halyna Hutchins 'Rust' Death: Candlelight Vigil Attracts Hundreds
Variety: Hundreds of entertainment industry artisans gathered on Sunday evening in the crowded parking lot of IATSE Local 80 Burbank headquarters to pay tribute to Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer killed by a prop gun on the New Mexico set of the film “Rust.”
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