Point Park dance season celebrates Pittsburgh ties

Post Gazette: "The talents of legendary choreographers, Pittsburgh natives and Point Park University students, faculty and alumni will take center stage during Point Park University's Conservatory Dance Company's 2010-11 season.
Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago will stage a one-night performance Sept. 25. The renowned original jazz dance company includes four Point Park alumni on its roster.

'Phantom of the Opera' doesn't diminish with time

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "When it debuted in London almost 25 years ago 'The Phantom of the Opera' ushered in the age of the mega-musical.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Filled his musical to the saturation point with lavish and abundant scenery, flashy special effects — most notably its soaring, crashing crystal chandelier and its throbbing, emotionally overwrought score.
It captured the imaginations and affections of the casual theatergoing public.

‘Andrew Jackson’ and ‘Merchant’ Head to Broadway

NYTimes.com: "The hit Broadway revivals of “Hair” and “South Pacific” may have closed this summer, but they are continuing to pay important dividends for their producers, the Public Theater and Lincoln Center Theater.

Know When to Stop Talking

FreelanceSwitch: "I’m pretty sure I successfully managed to talk my way out of a new project. Yay. But at least I learned when to stop talking.

AutoCAD for Mac and iOS Announced

The CAD Geek Blog: "BIG NEWS – after an 18-year absence, AutoCAD is returning to the Mac! Of course, much to Autodesk’s dismay, this hasn’t exactly been a secret to nearly anyone following who follows the CAD industry. Now for the part I hadn’t expected (but makes perfect sense); AutoCAD is also coming to the iOS (aka. iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad).

Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre founder balances artistic risk, business sense

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Andrew S. Paul dreams big.
'I'd like to devote a festival to Chekhov. I want to do Alan Bennett's 'The Madness of George III.' But you need 35 actors. I'd like to do Stoppard's 'Coast of Utopia' trilogy. That also uses 35 actors,' Paul, the producing artistic director and cofounder of Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theater, says.
'I keep them in my head because, eventually, I will be able to do them. There's no reason to stop dreaming. If we didn't have aspirations, we would be really bored.'
Paul has neither the inclination nor the time to be bored.

Donmar Warehouse’s Broadway Transfers

NYTimes.com: "THE most counter-intuitive producing move on Broadway this summer was closing the hit play “Red” on June 27, just two weeks after it won six Tony Awards, including best play honors. Sure, its two actors, Alfred Molina and Eddie Redmayne, had to leave for other commitments. But with few plays on Broadway this summer — not a single nonmusical is running right now — the producers of “Red” stood to make a mint at the box office if they had recast with two big-name stars.

A day in the life of a theatre

thestar.com: "Looking forward to an enchanted evening at the theatre? Easy, right? Just buy a ticket.
Then, leave the rest to scores of people behind the scenes and at the front of house whose jobs are to make something so maddeningly complex seem so seamlessly carefree.

How the Washington Shakespeare Company came to offer Shakespeare in Klingon

Washington Post: "Don't you love that remarkable moment when roSenQatlh and ghIlDenSten exit the stage and Khamlet is left alone to deliver the immortal words: 'baQa', Qovpatlh, toy'wl'a' qal je jIH'?
No? Well, it always kills on Kronos.

Plays booking a novel source

Variety: "With a journo's typically unreliable 20-20 foresight, it's a good bet that the novel-to-stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's 'War Horse' looks to be one of the major events of the 2010-11 Broadway season. Then again, whether this Brit transfer turns into another hit (like 'Nicholas Nickleby') or a flop (like 'Coram Boy') won't be answered until April 14, when Nick Stafford's legit take on the book about a boy and his long-lost horse opens at LCT's Vivian Beaumont Theater.

Gemini's 'Beauty' mixes comedy, interaction to teach life lessons

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "In Gemini Theater's version of the classic fairy tale 'Sleeping Beauty,' viewers can count on additional quirky and modern twists, extra-funny characters and plenty of laughs, the show's directors say.

Technology in the Arts #72

Technology in the Arts: "In this episode of Technology in the Arts, Brad interviews Brett Jarvis, Technical Supervisor for THE RIDE, a multi-media, multi-discipline production that moves guests through midtown Manhattan on custom-built vehicles, while an ever-changing show featuring actors, performers, and everyday citizens unfolds on the streets before them. THE RIDE rolls out on September 16, 2010.

The ABC’s Of Getting “A”s and “B”s

College Candy: "In elementary school all that was required of us to get decent grades was coloring inside the lines. Middle school and high school introduced to the word “studying” and, soon after, a genuine dislike for the word. But college is where the work is no joke. The classes are hard. The workload is heavy. And the social scene is exploding. So how does a college girl stay on top of it all?

Edinburgh Festival Fringe - Voyeurs Have Roles, Too

NYTimes.com: "Sitting on a bus on a cool, misty evening here, an enthusiastic teenager chatted up nearly every one of the 15 riders, telling them about her recent move to Edinburgh from Nigeria, and about the things she planned to do in her Scottish environs. She and her “Auntie Martha” were on their way to a new life in an Edinburgh flat. A short time later, the bus riders would discover that this immigrant was not going to shop on the Royal Mile, visit Edinburgh Castle, see the Palace of Holyroodhouse or do anything else on her list. Instead, she was to be quickly assimilated into a world of sex slavery.

An Open Letter to Students on the Danger of Seeing School as a Trial to Survive

Study Hacks: "“The demands of imminent independence can worsen mental-health problems or create new ones for people who have managed up to that point to perform all the expected roles,” explains Henig. “[They] get lost when schooling ends and expected roles disappear.”
In other words, when you go through life thinking “if I can make it through this, things will be better later,” you eventually forget what “better” means.

Review: Theatrical Design and Production by Gillette

props: "The Sixth Edition of Theatrical Design and Production, by Michael Gillette was published in 2008. Gillette, a retired professor at the University of Arizona, first published this seminal textbook in 1987. Though pricey (it is a textbook, after all), it has not become the go-to text for stagecraft without earning it.

Use Two Identical Camcorders to Create Simple DIY 3D movies

Lifehacker: "Whether you're borrowing a buddy's or you've got two on hand, this clever guide will help you turn the output from matching video sources into 3D video.

Mendes to direct Spacey in 'Richard III'

Variety: "Sam Mendes will direct Kevin Spacey in Shakespeare's 'Richard III' in the title role at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, with an opening date in February 2012. Show will kick off the third and final season of Mendes' international series The Bridge Project, which has been pushed back from 2011 to allow the company to beef up the touring portion of the production.

Pittsburgh Ballet's new dancers to fill many shoes

Post Gazette: "The face of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is still changing as the company prepares for its annual outdoor opening at Hartwood Acres Thursday. After slowly building the company to 30 members over the course of several years, artistic director Terrence Orr has cut the number of full-fledged company members to 28, which includes three apprentices.

Trevor Nunn to Be Visiting Professor at Oxford

Playbill.com: "Tony Award-winning director Trevor Nunn, currently represented on Broadway with the revival of A Little Night Music, will be the Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theater at St. Catherine's College in Oxford, according to the New York Times.