Disability and Management

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Nicole Kelly and Jenn Poret are two examples of leaders with disabilities. They are both arts managers who also wear a variety of hats in other aspects of their lives. Nicole is a former Miss Iowa, podcast host, educational lecturer, and limb-difference awareness advocate, while Jenn is a freelance stage manager, swimmer, and a founding member of a health and wellness group in her community called Geese Revolution. In this article, Jenn and Nicole brainstorm and discuss the various ways their disability identities intersect with their roles as managers, as well as the advantages and challenges that come with the territory.

What's behind the Spice Girls' sound problems?

BBC News: If you believe everything you read, the sound at the Spice Girls' recent comeback shows has been zig-ah-zig-awful.

Some fans who attended the opening night in Dublin complained about muffled vocals and being unable to hear the band speaking between songs.

Mel B acknowledged the issues in an Instagram video, saying she hoped "the vocals and the sound will be much, much better" for the second show in Cardiff.

Introducing True Rosco Color™ Created Exclusively By DMG Lumière MIX® LED Technology

Rosco Spectrum: It’s been over a year since we introduced the DMG Lumière MIX LED Technology, and one of the attributes filmmakers have appreciated most is its ability to accurately match Rosco gels on traditional light sources. We call that ability True Rosco Color, and we put it to use in a recent marketing campaign to promote MIX.

The Importance of Including the Disabled Designers

HowlRound Theatre Commons: American theatre is slowly waking to the idea that equity, diversity, and inclusion is not only a good idea but is essential to our art. Disabled characters should be crafted with nuance and depth, people of color need to be on our stages in non-appropriative fashion, women need to be treated equally and with respect, LGBTQ+ people need to be embraced and not used. Our stages and our audiences must represent the kaleidoscopic panoply of the human experience. While many theatre artists today acknowledge the power of diverse lived experiences, one thing we are still missing is disabled designers. Where are they, and why aren’t they employed?

Hamilton parody is pure, absurd fun

Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Lin-Manuel Miranda wants a revolution, but not the kind that builds democracy in America. The bright-eyed, idealistic Miranda of Spamilton is fighting on the battlefield of Broadway.

Spamilton: An American Parody lampoons Miranda’s smash hit Hamilton with a winking reverence. Author Gerard Alessandrini’s imagination is on full display in the satire, producing wild musical mashups (the “Lion King and I” a personal favorite), crazy plot points, and surprisingly frequent use of hand puppets.

Reimagining The Music Of 'Oklahoma!'

www.forbes.com: A vital and visceral production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!,” directed by Daniel Fish, is currently playing at the Circle in the Square Theatre in New York. It’s a show loaded with astonishments, not the least being the new musical arrangements for seven-piece band by Daniel Kluger. Mr. Kluger has been nominated for a Tony Award for his work, which partly involved extricating the tunes from Robert Russell Bennett’s beloved original orchestrations.

Eisenhauer Lights Up Broadway

www.cmu.edu/news: For Peggy Eisenhauer light is more than just illumination — it has a musical quality and rhythm. She came to the medium quite early, at age 13, in fact. "I started to hang around this theater company in Nyack, New York, and they sent me to the lighting board for a rehearsal and showed me what to do with the little controller.

Wagner's "Pretty Woman" a Record-breaker on Broadway

www.cmu.edu/news: Paula Wagner has experienced a sort of homecoming this year. Returning to her roots in the theater, the powerhouse film producer has brought the musical adaptation of the beloved 1990 movie "Pretty Woman" to the stage.

Coleman Offers Sound Advice for Women on Broadway

www.cmu.edu/news: Liz Coleman is a "sound sister," very much in tune with her professional and personal journey. As one of about ten women working as a sound engineer on Broadway, she and her fellow female sound artists often gather for an event they call "Sound Sister Sunday," to network and share their experiences working in the male-dominated discipline.

‘Within These Walls’ and ‘Dreams of Flight’ Have Wings on Angel Island

noproscenium.com: It’s been raining all week, and today is no different. I’ve woken up early on a Saturday morning to make the trek across San Francisco to the pier, where my ferry awaits to take me to Angel Island. On its quick trip through the Bay, the boat passes the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island. Looking back, Ghirardelli Square and Coit Tower recede into the distance, and, ahead of us, the shores of Sausalito and the Marin Headlands come into view.

Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Theatrical Stage Employees

AFL-CIO: Next up in our series that takes a deeper look at each of our affiliates is the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).

Name of Union: International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees

Mission: To support members' efforts to establish fair wages and working conditions throughout the United States and Canada, embrace the development of new entertainment mediums, expand the craft, innovate technology and grow the union to new geographic areas.

How Michael Krass Used Fashion to Make Hadestown’s Players Into Singular Characters

Playbill: For more than four years, Michael Krass has been clipping images from his library, pinning photographs to walls, and poring over color palettes and fabrics to create his piece of Hadestown. As the costume designer for the 14-time Tony-nominated Broadway musical, Krass has been on board since the lead-up to the show’s Off-Broadway run at New York Theatre Workshop and, through his wardrobe designs, helped create a new interpretation of characters who have lived since the ancient Greeks.

Why Aladdin wears many layers in Disney's live-action remake

EW.com: When EW revealed the first look at Guy Ritchie’s live-action Aladdin remake in December, there was one question (no, not Will Smith’s Blue Genie-gate) that was perplexing a lot of fans: in the arid heat of Agrabah, just why is Disney’s beloved street rat wearing so many layers of clothes?

“That’s the question on everyone’s lips,” said costume designer Michael Wilkinson, with a laugh.

And turns out, there’s a simple answer.

Pittsburgh CLO Puts the Fun in Summer with “Spamilton An American Parody”

Pittsburgh in the Round: The Pittsburgh CLO is putting the fun in musical theater this summer by producing the hilarious Spamilton An American Parody at the Greer Cabaret Theater in Pittsburgh.

I recently had the pleasure of seeing this musical spoof of the Broadway hit “Hamilton” that is part of the Pittsburgh CLO’s Kara Cabaret Series running now through August 25.

Composer Ryan Shore Discusses Bringing New Sounds to the Star Wars Franchise

Sound & Picture: When legendary composer John Williams told KUSC last year that Star Wars: Episode IX would be his last entry in the saga, the chatter about who would replace him began immediately. Although some argue that Williams’ score can never be topped, there’s no denying that a new maestro with a fresh take on the franchise will be an interesting thing to hear. A possible contender is Emmy and Grammy-nominated composer Ryan Shore.

Disability, Identity, and Representation

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Theatre is an art form that seeks to reflect and change society. As a Seattle-based dramaturg who identifies as a disabled artist, I recognize a glaring need for more disabled theatremakers in the industry—to enrich the theatrical landscape with diverse perspectives, challenge the norms, and encourage new ways of thinking.

Broadway Museum in the Works

www.forbes.com: Broadway producer Julie Boardman and marketing executive Diane Nicoletti are preparing to open a state-of-the-art museum about the history of the Great White Way in the Theater District. Spotlighting the evolution of the industry from the late 1800’s, the Museum of Broadway is scheduled to run from April through December 2020 with the possibility for an extension.

The Complete Guide to Recording Vocals

Pro Audio Files: Most of the music I record is Pop, RnB, and Hip Hop. I’ve been the recordist for Akon for over a year now. I’ve recorded Dizzee Rascal, SisQo’, Becky G, Ozuna, and countless other incredible vocalists. I say all that to say this: I record a lot of vocals in genres which are heavily vocal-centric.

Recording vocals is an interesting process. There’s a technical side and an artistic side to it. There’s an ideal way to do it, and a practical way to do it. Ultimately as an engineer or producer, it’s our job to facilitate the artist’s performance, so we’re always catering to that.

Monticello High School's Madeline Michel to Receive 2019 Excellence in Theatre Education Tony Award

www.broadwayworld.com: The Tony Awards announced today that Theater Director Madeline Michel from Monticello High School in Charlottesville, Virginia, will receive the 2019 Excellence in Theatre Education Award.

How Zachary Quinto Transformed Into a 135-Year-Old for ‘NOS4A2’

Variety: Much of an actor’s job is to convey a character’s inner emotional truth. That can prove complicated when the character requires layers of prosthetics and specialized makeup to come to life. Such was the challenge for Zachary Quinto, who portrays Charlie Manx in AMC’s “NOS4A2,” an adaptation of Joe Hill’s novel about a supernatural being who feeds on the souls of children to replenish his youth. But Quinto had the aid of special makeup designer Joel Harlow, with whom he had collaborated on the “Star Trek” films.