Brownstein: Montreal's National Theatre School 'over the moon' after receiving $1.5M donation

Montreal Gazette: In the best of times, the arts are far, far down the list when it comes to receiving private donations — if they appear at all. And these are hardly the best of times.

'Hadestown,' coming to the Fox, features 3 St. Louisans in sizzling spin on myth

www.stltoday.com/entertainment: ‘Hadestown” isn’t the usual Broadway musical, which makes its breakout success all the more noteworthy. Inspired by Greek mythology and boasting a folk-inflected score with a hint of jazz, the show not only won eight Tony Awards, including one for best musical, but also has attracted the kind of buzz that made “Hamilton” and “Rent” must-see cultural phenomena. The touring production, whose cast includes several performers who hail from St. Louis, runs Oct. 11-23 at the Fox Theatre.

‘Rust’ filming to resume after Alec Baldwin shooting lawsuit settled

CANVAS Arts: The family of a cinematographer shot and killed by Alec Baldwin on the set of the film "Rust" has agreed to settle a lawsuit against the actor and the movie's producers, and producers aim to restart the project in January despite unresolved workplace safety sanctions.

Something For Everyone At IAAPA Expo 2022 In Orlando

themeparkuniversity.com: Attendees from all over the world come to the Global Attractions Industry’s Premier Event, IAAPA Expo, Nov. 14-18, 2022, in Orlando, FL, for different reasons—It’s that diversity that makes the experience so educational, memorable, and meaningful. At IAAPA Expo, there is something for EVERYONE!

Q&A: Anaïs Mitchell couldn't imagine success of 'Hadestown' then or now

www.stltoday.com/entertainment: When Anaïs Mitchell believes in a project, she sticks with it. At least that was the case with “Hadestown,” whose long road to Broadway and beyond began in 2006 with a couple of community theater productions of the musical in her home state of Vermont.

‘Don’t worry, just watch’: how do you tell a story through dance?

Dance | The Guardian: “There are no mothers-in-law in ballet,” said George Balanchine, meaning there are some details you can’t express through dance steps. Actually, a lot of details. If you’ve ever watched dance and thought “what’s going on here?” you wouldn’t be alone. Even the best-known ballets can be baffling to a newcomer: a woman has been turned into a swan, you say, and can only be returned to human form by a man swearing his true love to her? And then her doppelganger comes along, played by the same dancer, but it’s actually an evil sorcerer’s daughter? You what now?!

Meet Idris Goodwin, Seattle Children’s Theatre’s new artistic director

The Seattle Times: Playwright Idris Goodwin had been working on his play “The Boy Who Kissed the Sky” for around four years prior to it becoming this year’s season-opening show for Seattle Children’s Theatre (running Oct. 11-Nov. 6). Back then, the early conversations about the play were with then-artistic director Courtney Sale, who left SCT in 2020 to become the artistic director at Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Massachusetts. There was no way anyone could have known that, years later, Goodwin would be introducing both his play and himself to Seattle after becoming SCT’s new artistic director in late July.

Julia Miles: Making Theatre for the Women’s Century

WIT journal: The twentieth century in America was the women’s century. The century opened with the ascendance of what the media at that time called the New Woman. The New Woman didn’t yet have the right to vote, but she was out there: getting jobs, so she could support herself; organizing unions; establishing settlement houses for the urban poor.

Thousand Miles Project Finalists Announced by Soo Hugh and UCP

The Hollywood Reporter: Universal Studio Group division Universal Content Productions has selected the finalists for the Thousand Miles Project, the Asian Pacific Islander storytelling incubator created under Pachinko showrunner Soo Hugh’s overall pact with the studio and led by writer-director Ria Tobaccowala.

Working in theater doesn't have to be a grind

NPR: Recently, Baltimore Center Stage had to cancel its first preview of the season. There was a problem with the giant moon in the background and the lights didn't come in time to be thoroughly tested. For artistic director Stephanie Ybarra, it was ultimately a safety issue.

Shakespeare Theatre revives a visionary 'Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci'

DC Theater Arts: Mary Zimmerman — a playwright, opera and theater director, and performance studies educator — is a true original in contemporary theater. Her best-known work is Metamorphoses, which won her a Tony Award for Best Direction; and let us not forget she is a bloody “Genius,” awarded by the MacArthur Foundation.

Patrick Marber Delves Into the Raw Power of Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt

Playbill: “What you really need to bring is your heart with this play,” says Patrick Marber. “I would say it's the most openly emotional play that Tom has written. It's Tom's reckoning with his past.”

Clyde's serves up magical sandwiches and commentary on life after prison

Pittsburgh City Paper: Director Monteze Freeland, along with the cast and creative team of City Theatre’s newest production, has taken great care to respect Clyde’s, the creation of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. Although Nottage’s characters are fictional, in Clyde’s, running now through Sun., Oct. 16 at City Theatre’s South Side mainstage, they face the very real obstacles of life after prison.

Cal Shakes might not produce any of its own shows next summer under new leadership model

Datebook: California Shakespeare Theater is instituting a new leadership structure and a new programming model, which might mean it doesn’t produce any of its own shows next summer at the Bruns Amphitheater.

The Suppliants Project Ukraine. Aeschylus and refugees on a football field

New York Theater: Kristina Obluchynska and Bohdana Yakobchuk were two of the seven women from Ukraine who were standing yesterday In the middle of the football stadium of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, speaking these lines from “The Suppliants,” written by Aeschylus 2,500 years ago. They were performing, alongside three well-known professional American actors, Anthony Edwards, Keith David and Tate Donovan, in the latest innovation from Theater of War Productions.

IATSE Applauds President Biden for Reestablishing the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities

IATSE: On September 30, President Biden released a proclamation declaring October 2022 as National Arts and Humanities Month and issued an executive order to promote the arts, humanities, museum and library services by reestablishing the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

KAGE KRANKks it up at Pukkelpop with Pioneer PRO AUDIO Immersive System

LightSoundJournal.com: After beginning life as a one day event back in 1985, Pukkelpop has grown to become one of Belgium’s largest festivals, and has a reputation for consistently delivering some of Europe’s most wide-ranging and creative lineups. Staged near the city of Hasselt in a sprawling enclosure of fields and woodlands, the festival is essentially a pop-up city boasting ten stages, as well as a host of activities, eateries and shops.

How a new law could remake California's small theater landscape in the wake of AB5

Datebook: California is moving toward a revolutionary overhaul in how it finances the performing arts. In signing SB1116 into law on Thursday, Sept. 29, Gov. Gavin Newsom created the Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund, which would reimburse small performing arts organizations for large portions of their payroll costs. The smaller a company’s budget, the more the fund would reimburse.

Meeting the Moment: Elevate Chicago Dance 2022 Returns to New and Old Spaces

Newcity Stage: “Elevate Chicago Dance” has never been the same festival twice. The first iteration was in 2017, an expansive series of events across eleven venues over four days, highlighting dozens of local artists. The Chicago Dancemakers Forum, a small nonprofit that awards no-strings grants to choreographers, worked with the New England Foundation for the Arts to sponsor the fest with a mission of bringing national attention to Chicago’s rich, diverse and bizarrely overlooked (at least on a national level) trove of dance talent.

Celebrating 25 years, Story District parties on

DC Theater Arts: “Who was here when we were at the 9:30 Club?” Amy Saidman, artistic executive director of Story District, asks the audience. She is greeted with cheers and whoops, so she continues: “Who found us at the Black Cat? How about the Sixth & I?” More cheers, as Saidman names the different locations and different stages where Story District, the nonprofit spearheading DC storytelling, has performed over the last two decades.

Thousand Miles Project Finalists Announced by Soo Hugh and UCP

The Hollywood Reporter: Universal Studio Group division Universal Cable Productions has selected the finalists for the Thousand Miles Project, the Asian Pacific Islander storytelling incubator created under Pachinko showrunner Soo Hugh’s overall pact with the studio and led by writer-director Ria Tobaccowala.

Preview: Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s ‘Storytelling in Motion’ Opens Friday

onStage Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s first production of the 2022-2023 season is Storytelling in Motion, a mixed repertoire showcase of contemporary ballet featuring Nacho Duato‘s Duende, along with two other innovative contemporary pieces — Helen Pickett‘s The Exiled and a new world premiere choreographed by PBT’s principal dancer Yoshiaki Nakano.

Dramatists Guild, TCG, Shakespeare Theatre Association Stand With Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Nataki Garrett

Playbill: The Dramatists Guild, Theatre Communications Group, and The Shakespeare Theatre Association have released a joint statement standing behind Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Nataki Garrett, who has been the recipient of racist death threats and other harassment in response to her progressive artistic decisions.

"Cabaret" at the Theatre of Nations: Inside and Underwear of the Third Empire

The Theatre Times: Musical drama of unlearned lessons is perhaps the most appropriate definition for Evgeny Pisarev’s loud, in all senses, performance Cabaret. If this premiere had taken place at the Theatre of Nations a year ago, the production would have been considered prophetic; today it seems a bitter, yet belated warning.

Hippotizer Mayon+ MK2 makes its mark for Isle of MTV Malta

LightSoundJournal.com: MTV’s Isle of MTV festival burst into life on the beautiful island of Malta this summer with a line up of pop music heavyweights performing on the main stage, backed by shifting LED screens powered by a Hippotizer Mayon+ MK2 Media Server.

Race, Mystery, RBG, Opera: I’ve Got a Little List

AMERICAN THEATRE: The fall theatre plate is full and I’m still at the buffet, seeing a lot more I’d like a bite of. This week I’ll inaugurate a more quick-hit version of this column, based in part on a running list I’ve kept as I’ve updated these season listings and noticed shows that piqued my interest, and based in part on other projects I’ve been trying to keep an eye on, all of which I would make a point to personally see if distance weren’t an obstacle. Each of these productions might merit their own piece, but this will have to do for now.

As ‘Come From Away’ Closes, a Newfoundlander Heads Back Home

The New York Times: On Sunday afternoon, “Come From Away” played its final performance on Broadway, before a raucous sold-out crowd that wept and waved. By Monday morning, stagehands were already taking down and hauling away the real trees that gave the Schoenfeld Theater its forested look.

TDF Names H. Gwen Marcus Chair of the Board of Trustees

Playbill: Non-profit TDF has named entertainment lawyer H. Gwen Marcus as its new chair of the board of trustees, succeeding current Chair Earl D. Weiner. Marcus leads the board after joining it in 2007 and subsequently serving as vice chair and chair of the committee of trustees. She's also been a member of the executive committee and the audit committee, and served on the ad hoc task force during the pandemic.

“Clyde’s” at City Theatre

The Pittsburgh Tatler: Nothing in Lynn Nottage’s play Clyde’s is only what it first appears to be. While on the surface it’s a play about a diner in a truck stop somewhere near Reading, PA, that establishment is not merely a way station for hungry drivers but also a liminal space – a limbo, if you will – for its employees, all of whom have felony convictions and prison records.

On Broadway this fall, everything old is new again

nypost.com: Post-pandemic Broadway has gone into overdrive. This is the most promising season in years, one that’s especially rich in revivals — with a twist. The hottest new musical to watch for is “Almost Famous,” which starts previews Oct. 3 at the Bernard B. Jacobs. It’s drawn from Cameron Crowe’s 2000 movie, a semi-autobiographical take on his travels as a teenage reporter for Rolling Stone.

Make your kids into lifelong theater lovers with these kid-centric productions

nypost.com: It’s the only theater on 42nd Street that offers stroller parking — and tickets that start at $20. Welcome to the New Victory Theater, where productions from across the country and around the world play out in a family-friendly space at family-friendly prices.

Interview: After Standing By for the Schuyler Sisters, Jennie Harney-Fleming Gets Her Shot at Angelica

TheaterMania: If you've ever found yourself in the audience of Hamilton across the country, you might have seen Jennie Harney-Fleming play Eliza. Or, you may have seen her play Peggy. But it's also possible that you saw her as Angelia. For the last several years (not counting the pandemic break), Harney-Fleming has stood by for all three Schuyler Sisters in the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical's various touring routes.

Tom Stoppard's Leopoldstadt addresses the playwright's Jewish roots

NPR: All four of Tom Stoppard's grandparents died in the Holocaust, but he only learned about his Jewish roots in middle age. His new play, Leopoldstadt, which opened Sunday on Broadway, is both an acknowledgement and personal excoriation, asking how for so long he could have ignored his family's history of suffering.

Light, Color, and Beauty | ExhibiTricks: The Museum Exhibit Design Blog

blog.orselli.net: Since the connected topics of light, color, and beauty seemed to come up so often during my experiences at the recent ASTC Conference in Pittsburgh, I thought I'd share some of my favorite light/beauty inspirations.

The mid-century architecture and furniture of Don't Worry Darling

Film and Furniture: Olivia Wilde’s new movie Don’t Worry Darling has been attracting attention not only for its high profile cast (including Harry Styles, Florence Pugh and Chris Pine) but also because of its dreamy locations and stunning mid-century film sets. Basically, we’re talking nothing short of mid-century design porn here.

Denver dance company takes a giant leap off social media

John Moore | Arts & Entertainment | denvergazette.com: A Denver contemporary ballet company has taken off on an airborne jeté that conventional wisdom might call a bold leap right off the marketing cliff. To the contrtary, Wonderbound Artistic Director Garrett Ammon calls it a glorious vault into freedom from algorithms, branded content, boosted posts and the cesspool of toxicity that is the internet.

Never Mind the Chaos, Here’s Danny Boyle’s Pistol

fxguide: Union Visual Effects brought to life a 1970s version of London for the FX miniseries for Danny Boyle’s Sex Pistols bio-pic; Pistol. Union was the sole vendor on the six-part show set at the birth of the punk movement in the UK.

Bruce Willis and Russian AI Company Deny Reports of a Deal to Create ‘Digital Twin’

www.thewrap.com: On Saturday, representatives for Willis told BBC News that the actor had “no partnership or agreement” with the Russian company Deepcake to create a digital copy of himself using machine learning technology, with Deepcake itself confirming that no deal was in place. The supposed deal was first reported by The Daily Mail on Sep. 27.

Phish Hit the Road with Robe for Summer Tour

LightSoundJournal.com: Phish delivered a fantastic summer tour experience for fans in North America, uniting another highly talented collaborative lighting team of Chris Kuroda,longtime lighting designer for Phish, and associate designer Andrew “Gif” Giffin, who have created a dynamic and eye-catching design with the help of 72 x Robe Tetra2 moving LED bars and 60 x Robe Spiiders.

Bruce Willis’ Rep Refutes Report That He Sold Likeness for Deepfakes

The Hollywood Reporter: Recent media reports, including one from The Telegraph, suggested that the actor sold his rights to Deepcake to authorize the creation of a “digital twin” of himself to appear in projects following the announcement that he has stepped away from performing. Although reports stated that this made Willis the first Hollywood personality to set up this type of deal, his team denies the existence of any such arrangement.

Black Arts Leader in Cleveland Gives Cultural Institutions An "F" For DEI Efforts

www.theroot.com: Black cultural leaders in Cleveland, Ohio are not happy with the so-called efforts made to diversify the city’s art institutions. While organizations such as Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, and the Cleveland Institute of Art all boast increases in the diversification of their staff, the artwork that is promoted and sold, and in the case of the Cleveland Institute of Art, the students they’re admitting, many are not happy with the actual impact these changes have made.

Ayrton Perseo and Domino Profiles light up the Jova Beach Party 2022

LightSoundJournal.com: There was great success for the summer tour of Jova Beach Party 2022, which saw the Italian songwriter Lorenzo Cherubini, aka Jovanotti, performing from June until September along beautiful Italian beaches, in front of stadium-size audiences totalling 550,000 spectators. This was a project that wanted to break the mould, leaving behind the usual live circuits to collaborate with an ambitious ecological initiative that aims to clean up 20m sqm of beaches, lakes, rivers and seabeds.

The Origins and Influence of Body Percussion

Dance Magazine: Crash. Bump. Thump. Thwack. Whack. Knock. These are a few of the many synonyms of the word “percussion.” All of them are appropriate when we look at the ways world cultures use the body as an instrument.

Broadway shines at live Curtain Up concert

Broadway News: Rain couldn’t stop Broadway from shining this weekend. The Curtain Up Broadway Festival returned for a second year, filling Times Square with the sounds of cheering fans as they watched live performances from some of their favorite musicals.

Gore, Horror and Fun at PMT’s production of ‘Evil Dead the Musical’

onStage Pittsburgh: As October falls upon us, Pittsburghers typically seek their favorite haunted houses, Halloween costumes, and of course, everything pumpkin-flavored. However, Pittsburgh Musical Theater (PMT) offers another way to revel in all things Fall, gore, horror, and fun this Halloween season. Evil Dead the Musical kicked off PMT’s 2022-23 season on September 30th and runs through October 22nd.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

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

As ‘Six’ Marks One Year On Broadway, Take a Glimpse Behind the Scenes of the Smash-Hit Musical

Vogue: In the two and a half years since Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss—who together wrote the book, music, and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical Six—spoke to Sarah Crompton for Vogue’s February 2020 issue, a lot has happened.

Posted by David at 9/29/2022 10:46:00 AM

How A Fog Machine Works

spectrum.rosco.com: Since their introduction in the 1970s, fog machines have remained among the most commonly used piece of special effects equipment in the entertainment industry; including stage, film & television, and theme parks. Prior to the fog machines we use today, fog & smoke effects were created by incinerating flammable materials such as mineral oil and even used tires. Using a professional fog machine is a much safer and more effective way to create a smoke effect on set.

Posted by David at 9/30/2022 10:29:00 AM

What My Job As a Fashion Stylist for Netflix and Atlantic Records Is Like

www.businessinsider.com: I'm a freelance stylist. I mostly style musicians, and I'm also a TikTok influencer. I style clients and then I'll also create content with them. It's cool how the two jobs intertwine. I'm from North Carolina originally. I had been living between LA and New York before I enrolled in Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York. I had only done one semester at FIT before dropping out in December.

Posted by David at 9/30/2022 10:35:00 AM

Let It Snow: Frozen’s wintry transformation is just one of the tricks and treats of the stage show

onStage Pittsburgh: If your eyes glaze over when you see the title “production supervisor” in your theater program, here’s something that might make you wide-eyed instead: It is a production supervisor’s attention to detail that may be responsible for every harmonious moment of interaction among lighting, sound, costumes, scenery, technical wizardry – you name it, it’s on their checklist before the curtain goes up.

Posted by David at 9/29/2022 10:39:00 AM

Bruce Willis Becomes First Celebrity to Sell Rights to Deepfake Firm

collider.com: Action movie legend Bruce Willis has just become the first Hollywood actor to sell his rights to the possibility of a "digital twin" to the US firm Deepcake, according to The Telegraph. With the use of deepfake technology, Willis has offered his likeness to be used onscreen for future projects, following his first experience with the digital media manipulation in a commercial for Russian phone service, MegaFon, last year.

Posted by David at 9/30/2022 10:31:00 AM