What's this show 'Blackout'? We're in the dark

Chicago Tribune: A show called "Blackout" opens Friday night in Chicago. You likely can't go, unless you get really lucky on Craigslist. This is a very hard show to catch. It has shown up sporadically over the last three or four years in New York and LA, but you won't see advertisements or the like. Often, theater companies seek out coverage in newspapers. Not this show. This show had to be tracked down.

Send in the Cameras - Sondheim on TV

NYTimes.com: These are just some of the revelations in HBO’s documentary “Six by Sondheim,” about the composer and lyricist, to be broadcast on Monday. The film, directed by James Lapine, explores Mr. Sondheim’s development as a songwriter by focusing on six of his most pivotal songs; the other three are “Something’s Coming,” from “West Side Story” (which he wrote with the composer Leonard Bernstein); “Send In the Clowns,” from “A Little Night Music”; and “Sunday,” from “Sunday in the Park With George.”

New leadership to continue Lamp fundraising in Irwin

TribLIVE: Despite a change in leadership, fundraising for the historic Lamp Theatre in downtown Irwin remains in full swing.
Former Relight the Lamp committee leader Kathleen Heuer has resigned from her post on Irwin's Lamp Theater interim board of directors, which is dedicated to seeing the project through construction. Ben Wren was appointed to take her seat.

German Plays and Children Take Center Stage in the British Capital

NYTimes.com: Do you know where your children are? You could start by combing the National Theater’s stage adaptation of “Emil and the Detectives,” which may just be the most kids-intensive production I have ever seen. That’s saying a lot in a theater capital that is also showing “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Matilda” and “Billy Elliot,” three musicals that give pride of place to many a pint-sized tyke.

Tree Lights, Camera, Action at Rockefeller Center

c2meworld.com: Last week, millions of television viewers were treated again to a spectacle that aligns living rooms nationwide for one moment: the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan.

Former ‘Sleep No More’ Interns Say Immersive NYC Megahit Offers Little Educational Benefit

www.ibtimes.com: If you care about the burgeoning unpaid-internship movement, here’s something that may keep you up at night: Interns for the wildly popular interactive show “Sleep No More” do a lot of grunt work for little educational benefit and no pay, according to people familiar the show.

A Concert for the Musical ‘Hit List’

NYTimes.com: For fans, these concerts offer a chance to connect one last time with cast members — and learn just what “Hit List” really was meant to be. For the no-longer-naïve “Smash” veterans, they are an opportunity to take stock of their experiences and to remind themselves that, although the series had its detractors, it also had some deeply devoted fans.

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show: Models' Wings Were 3D Printed

TIME.com: This year, the angel wings — part of the quintessential Victoria Secret’s Fashion show costume — got a techie makeover and were created with a 3-D printer. The elaborate piece of clothing was made using a computer algorithm that mimics the crystaline shape of snowflakes.

When Shakespeare Steps In, What’s Left Out?

NYTimes.com: A new revival, this one starring Ethan Hawke, opened on Nov. 21, four months after the previous Broadway production, starring Alan Cumming, closed. If you fail to see Mr. Hawke reveal what life, which as we know is full of sound and fury, signifies, not to worry: Kenneth Branagh will fill you in next spring, when he brings his production of “Macbeth” to New York.

Sandy Hook and on-screen violence

BBC - Culture: This week marks the first anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in which 26 people died after Adam Lanza went on a rampage. As often happens in the wake of bloody shootings involving young gunmen, a finger was pointed at the entertainment industry: in Lanza’s case it was claimed he was influenced by the violent video games he owned.

Musicals Couldn’t Be Hotter Off Broadway (by 7,000 Miles)

NYTimes.com: The packs of young women arrived 90 minutes early for the evening’s show: “Murder Ballad,” a rock musical that flopped off Broadway in July and then opened here four months later in an all-Korean production. They wanted time to shoot smartphone video of Seoul’s newest theater, built inside a shopping mall, and start scoring autographs: of actors, sure, but lighting operators and makeup artists too.

Theater of the Stars files for bankruptcy

CBS Atlanta News: Atlanta is a city known for supporting the Arts. Whether it's the Atlanta Symphony or a show at the Alliance or the Fabulous Fox, every year Atlantan's spend millions of dollars on the town. Many buy season tickets to guarantee better seats. So what would you do if your pre-paid tickets were suddenly worthless? CBS Atlanta's Jennifer Mayerle investigates.

'Taffeta Christmas' offers plenty of holiday cheer

TribLIVE: The Theatre Factory invites patrons to swing into the holidays with classic songs like “There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays,” “Marshmallow World” and “Silver Bells.”
Anyone who's searching for some seasonal sounds to help get them into the holiday spirit will find those tunes and more at “A Taffeta Christmas,” the Trafford theater company's holiday production directed by Erin Seaberg with musical direction by George Pecoraro Jr.

College says time’s up for cheaters, bans all watch-wearing during exams

Ars Technica: The Artevelde College in Ghent, Belgium, may have recently become the first institution to ban students from wearing watches during exams. According to a report in De Standaard (Google Translate), the new rule is in response to the growing availability of smartwatches and the cheating possibilities that come with it.

Full-Color 3D Printing Is Here, and It's Marvelous

gizmodo.com: Everything from photography, to television, to printers made the eventual evolution from black and white to full color. And following in those technological footsteps is the 3D printer, with 3D Systems recently announcing what it's claiming is the world's first continuous-tone full color plastic printer called the ProJet 4500.

Millennial narcissism: Helicopter parents are college students’ bigger problem.

www.slate.com: Amy (not her real name) sat in my office and wiped her streaming tears on her sleeve, refusing the scratchy tissues I’d offered. “I’m thinking about just applying for a Ph.D. program after I graduate because I have no idea what I want to do.” Amy had mild depression growing up, and it worsened during freshman year of college when she moved from her parents’ house to her dorm. It became increasingly difficult to balance school, socializing, laundry, and a part-time job. She finally had to dump the part-time job, was still unable to do laundry, and often stayed up until 2 a.m. trying to complete homework because she didn’t know how to manage her time without her parents keeping track of her schedule.

Renovating Your Safety Culture

Occupational Health & Safety: Many people, including my family, are drawn to the current slate of home renovation television shows. It's fascinating to watch a shabby or dated house be transformed into an almost unrecognizably upgraded, efficient home. Of course, this occurs only with the right combination of planning, resources, and work.

New Gear? Beyond The Hype It’s Up To You

Pro Sound Web: Attention shoppers: the good news is that in this century, there is very little bad sound equipment. There are still plenty of bad engineers (not enough sleep and too much fun) and bad combinations of gear (70-volt clusters and powered mixers driving powered loudspeakers).
But the stuff coming out of the factories - and even a lot of the proprietary (home brew) gear - is light years beyond the stuff we all got stuck with in the past.

How To Create The Ultimate Online Portfolio

www.lifehack.org: These days it is equally as – if not more – important to create a fantastic online portfolio in order to gain a following and, depending on your industry, work. This can be tricky and it’s very difficult to build if you’re not design or web savvy, but that doesn’t mean all hope is lost! Paige Donahue of Digital Information World shares everything you could possibly need to know for creating the ultimate online portfolio, from which sites to use to everything it should include

They Stole Our Stuff, But Not Our Spirit!

Razoo: During Saturday night's performance of Midnight Radio Animated Holidaze, a thief crept into our offices and stole twoMacBook pro laptop computers, a wallet with $60 in it and a standard backpack. While we are grateful that all they got away with was "stuff," it still hurts, and now we have to replace what was taken.