"The Justice Syndicate": How Do You Make Decisions? Immersive Theatre and Jury Duty

The Theatre Times: An empty room. A large table. 12 iPads, 12 note pads, and 12 name desk holders that designate “Juror” along with a number. That is the simple setting for The Justice Syndicate, a new piece by fanSHEN. This interactive play revolves around a jury deliberation on a high-profile sexual assault case. And while it is not the first attempt to have an audience decide the fate of a court case—there is Ferdinand von Schirach’s Terror, which features a similar premise, and played at the Lyric in 2017—fanSHEN’s production arises as an exceptional instance of interactive theatre that is pushing the dramaturgy of the genre to higher standards.

‘Spring Awakening’ Creative Duo Has Six More Musicals in Development

Variety: At the Off-Broadway premiere of “Alice by Heart,” a new musical from “Spring Awakening” creators Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik and inspired by “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” conversations with the cast and creatives revealed the impact of their work on a generation of theater-makers, including their young stars — and what the pair learned from them in return.

Legal Threats From Broadway’s ‘Mockingbird’ Sink Productions Around the Country

The New York Times: Some community theaters have canceled productions of the play after receiving legal warnings that theirs cannot go on at the same time as the one in New York.

Bright Ideas in a Basement Shop

www.woodcraft.com: To say sunglasses are a requirement for spending time in Mark Koritz’s workshop would be a stretch, but a bright space was a priority when Mark designed his 15×55' shop.

“Lighting is a key factor in a shop. I had all the walls and the ceiling painted white to reflect light and make the ceiling seem higher,” Mark explains. The result is a long, narrow, glistening shop. Several white-faced cabinets and benches with white drawers provide plenty of storage and reinforce the clean, tidy look Mark wanted. For a touch of color and comfort, red, yellow, blue, and green rubber mats are placed at key workstations.

Makita AWS-Ready HEPA Backpack Vacuum XCV10ZX

Pro Tool Reviews: The Makita AWS-Ready HEPA Backpack Vacuum is the brand’s newest portable vac offering for the cordless jobsite. Makita intends for this vac to bridge the gap between smaller onboard dust extraction and larger, less-mobile, wheeled, canister-style job site vacuums.

ESPN, NFL Sued Over 2017 NFL Draft

www.forbes.com: ESPN and the National Football League are facing a lawsuit that alleges safety violations during the construction of a temporary stage built for the first NFL draft ever held entirely outdoors.

A New Jersey man who allegedly suffered head trauma, broken ribs and a ruptured spleen after a 30-foot fall while working on the temporary amphitheater for the 2017 NFL Draft in Philadelphia has filed a lawsuit against the NFL, ESPN and the event production company they hired.

David Korins' Scenic Renderings For The 2019 Oscars

www.livedesignonline.com: Stepping into the world of televised awards shows, designer David Korins captures the glamour of Hollywood with his first scenic treatments for the Oscars. More than 41,000 Swarovski crystals will be integrated into the four main design elements: the Crystal Cloud, a 1,600-pound cloud-shaped installation; the Crystal Swag, a three-story high, 54'-wide ribbon-like formation; and two Crystal Presenter Backings. The Crystal Cloud and Crystal Swag are both inspired by natural geography. The Crystal Cloud is a sparkling interpretation of atmospheric clouds, with over 1,250 crystal strands floating ethereally over the stage. The striking Crystal Swag, created from nearly 400 crystal strands alongside a crystalized steel structure, is designed to look like a waterfall flowing from the ground up. The Crystal Presenter Backings, which will appear on stage behind award presenters, are free-flowing creations adorned with 1,800 crystals.

Meow Wolf to open ‘otherworldly’ art experience in Las Vegas

Las Vegas Review-Journal: The last time Meow Wolf was in Las Vegas, it unleashed pillow monsters, slime and a land of ramen on unsuspecting festivalgoers.

Just a year and a half after that temporary Life is Beautiful installation, the Santa Fe-based art collective is creating a permanent experiential space for Area15, the art and tech hub rising just west of the Strip.

“It’s going to be like an open-world video game,” says Corvas Brinkerhoff III, co-founder of Meow Wolf. “Except you’ll explore the world with your body instead of on a screen.”

ON THE JOB with IATSE Local 28

nwLaborPress: It’s Jan. 31, and Gburek’s rigging crew is setting up for KISS: End of the Road World Tour. That means unloading 27 semi trucks and hanging 170,000 pounds from the top of the arena. At sign-in, crew members greet each other with hugs and handshakes. Gburek explains the day’s set-up. “Up-riggers” then take an elevator to the arena’s eighth floor, a floor thats’s off-limits to the public, and use a catwalk to access steel beams 105’ above the floor below.

The Photos I Took At Burning Man Festivals On Three Different Continents Show How Different They Are

Bored Panda: Everyone knows the worldwide famous festival of art – Burning Man. But did you know that regional Burn festivals elsewhere in the world can offer you more than the biggest one in Nevada? They all observe the ten principles and the largest ones are supervised by the Burning Man Organisation itself.

Industry Editor Exclusive: The Real Results of Equity's Lab Agreement Strike

www.broadwayworld.com: A couple of weeks ago, Actors' Equity Association ended its strike against the Broadway League related to development of new work. Most of the press regarding the strike and its termination is related to the Lab agreement--after the strike, and a #NotALabRat social media movement, Equity members will receive some profit participation for what we used to know as Labs. But there is a lot of the story that this spin misses.

Resurrecting a Forgotten Female Playwright

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: You've probably never heard of Elizabeth Baker, and the Mint Theater Company, which specializes in reviving lost plays, aims to fix that. A British dramatist who enjoyed a fair amount of success in her homeland in the early 20th century, she's barely known stateside, and was more or less forgotten in her native country until recently. But with an oeuvre that examines issues of class and gender with intelligence and insight, it's easy to see why Mint producing artistic director Jonathan Bank thought the time was right to introduce New York audiences to Baker.

Why Don't Concert Dance Productions Have Preview Periods?

Dance Magazine: Compare the gestation of new works across the performing arts and you'll find an ingredient mostly missing in concert dance that's occasionally used in opera and relatively common with plays and musical theater: the preview period. Ranging from a few days to, in the case of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, a record-breaking 182 performances, previews provide extra time for fine-tuning shows after tech and dress rehearsals but before critics can review.

Review Roundup: Critics Go Down the Rabbit Hole At ALICE BY HEART

www.broadwayworld.com: When the madness of the world is too much to bear, we take refuge in the stories we love. Tony and Grammy award-winning creators of Spring Awakening, Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, reunite for their new musical Alice By Heart, inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and directed and co-written by Jessie Nelson (Waitress). In the rubble of the London Blitz of World War II, Alice Spencer's budding teen life is turned upside down, and she and her dear friend Alfred are forced to take shelter in an underground tube station. When the ailing Alfred is quarantined, Alice encourages him to escape with her into their cherished book and journey down the rabbit hole to Wonderland.

Billy Porter speaks on social media hate his Oscars gown received

www.usatoday.com: Billy Porter, speaking to Vogue before he walked the Oscars red carpet, knew what he was in for among some social media users:

"People are going to be really uncomfortable with my black (expletive) ass in a ball gown, but it's not anybody's business but mine."

The remark from the Tony-winning stage performer, actor and singer was both prescient and disproven. There was mega-praise for his velvet custom tuxedo look by Christian Siriano and outrage over the notion that an African American man in a dress was a threat to black masculinity.

Style 412 teams with Carnegie Mellon's Lunar Gala for a lesson in fashion

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A dozen or so (mostly rookie) designers sit at tables in a nondescript room. Seated across from them are Pittsburgh-based fashion professionals who are there to help tell them what it takes to turn garment illustrations and fabric swatches into something wearable and wonderful.

Why We're Bad at Estimating Time (and What to Do About It)

zapier.com/blog: Over the last three years, I've painted five rooms in my house. The first room I painted was my bedroom, and I was convinced that I'd have the task finished in a weekend.

A month later, I applied the finishing touches.

So naturally, when it was time to paint the second room, I estimated that the task would take a month, right?

Wrong.

Monday Musings | Canadian Creative Design Companies

www.livedesignonline.com: Oh Canada, Oh Canada! Or in this case, more specifically Montreal and Quebec...I’ve often wondered what they put in the water up there, or if creativity just runs freely through their veins. After all, Canada is the birthplace of Cirque du Soleil, as well as Robert Lepage and his company, Ex Machina, which are, in my book, two of the most creative driving forces of the past few decades.

Oscars 2019: ‘Black Panther’s’ Ruth E. Carter makes the record book with costume design win

Los Angeles Times: “Black Panther” costume designer Ruth E. Carter made history on Sunday as the first African American to win the costume design Oscar for her work on the Marvel blockbuster.

Carter was chosen for the Academy Award ahead of “Mary Poppins Returns” and “The Favourite” designer Sandy Powell, who was nominated twice this year and already has three Oscars. Also competing were “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” designer Mary Zophres and “Mary Queen of Scots” designer Alexandra Byrne.

Grosh Backdrops & Projection Launches Grosh Cares Grants Program

Stage Directions: Grosh Backdrops & Projections steps up its commitment to help the performing arts in schools, theater, and dance to overcome budgetary challenges through the launch of its new “Grosh Cares” grants program. Hollywood-based Grosh, well known for its large stage and theater backdrops, drapery, and projections, will award three grants this year, said Amanda Uhlein, Grosh Backdrops & Drapery president. “All schools, theaters, and dance companies are invited to apply.”