Behind the Museum Walls: 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Made In PGH: Chances are that if you live in Pittsburgh, you’ve driven past the giant dinosaur statue in Oakland quite a few times, and you’ve at least heard of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. For those of us who grew up here, field trips to the museum were a highlight of our youth (getting out of school to look at fossils and play inside an igloo replica all day…what could be better!?). This museum isn’t just for kids though—it’s one of the top natural history museums in the nation, so you’ll want to take some time to explore it as an adult too. Here are 10 things that you probably didn’t know about the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

'Like dance, but with more pointy objects': Learning swordplay for the stage at SDSU

The San Diego Union-Tribune: A voice rings out across the Don Powell Theatre stage early one morning at San Diego State University, issuing a terse command: “Assume the position of attention.” But for an observer witnessing a dozen people suddenly brandish swords and daggers as they step into warrior stances, attention is not really an issue. The weapons, as it happens, are real (more or less). But the purpose is the pursuit of art rather than some poor foe’s arteries.

Ms. and They: Coming to Terms with Terms of Identity

www.clydefitchreport.com: As the only white dancer in the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater circa 1969, my moniker was “Miss Scarlett.” Fresh from high school, I remember thinking it hilarious at the time. While touring Africa, the company played 12 countries, including Kenya, where there was a press conference at the embassy before opening night (you may remember this tale from a story that I wrote for the CFR last April). A reporter asked Ailey, “Do you want to be known as ‘Negro’ or ‘Black’?” I saw him struggle with frustration as he searched for an honest answer. Finally, he said, “I want to be called Alvin Ailey, the choreographer.” This began my lifelong fascination with the profound impact of identity on our deeper selves, whether it is personal or within society.

How Seeing Shows Is Changing These Veterans

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: James Faulkner recalls his wife and daughter going to the theatre, but the Korean War veteran admits he didn't join in. "I never did go with them there, or to the Statue of Liberty or, you know, a lot of places," he says, explaining his experience as a prisoner of war left him a bit introverted. "My wife was a big talker, not me."

What Makes Site-Specific Revivals So Powerful?

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: This week, TDF Stages Editor Raven Snook geeks out (via Facebook Messenger) with Juan Michael Porter II, a dancer, teacher and playwright who's contributed articles to Time Out New York, Broadway World, HuffPost and TDF Stages. Today's topic: The coolest site-specific revivals we've seen, wish we'd seen or would like to see!

Top 5 Stories from IAAPA 2019

Theme Park University: One of the highlights of the year is visiting the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) in Orlando. A place where designers of theme parks, attractions, food… anything that relates to attractions is on display. There are literally hundreds of booths all vying for the attention of vendors and the press. They’ve all got their own stories to tell. Here are our top 5 favorites from IAAPA 2019.

'Hairspray' at Stage 62 is 'non-stop entertainment'

Pittsburgh Current: If heroin could assume artistic form, it would surely be the 2002 Broadway musical Hairspray, an adaptation of the 1998 John Waters movie. I swear composer Marc Shaiman and lyricists Shaiman and Scott Wittman have somehow managed to slip some form of aural crack into their songs; these aren’t the sort of tunes you leave the theater humming, they’re the kind of numbers pursuing you to your car, following you home and getting stuck in your brain for weeks. Maddening, yes, but a hell of a lot of fun.

The Global Narrative for Arts Education Is Changing

www.clydefitchreport.com: The ninth World Alliance for Arts Education International Conference, held in Frankfurt, Germany, from Oct. 25 through Nov. 1, gathered more than 200 people from 47 nations. Delegates debated big ideas, connected over pretzels and beer, and took in the sights of student artwork, politicians speaking in favor of the arts, and regular performances. The conference conveners notably shepherded a global dialogue around a call on UNESCO to host a third-world congress on arts education — how to support arts education in a changing globalized world.

Point Park cancels musical due to student concerns over racist content

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Student concerns over racist content in Point Park University’s fall show have led to the cancellation of “Adding Machine: A Musical.” On Thursday, Steven Breese, artistic director of the university’s Pittsburgh Playhouse and dean of the Conservatory of Performing Arts, convened a town hall in the Playhouse’s Highmark Theater, where “Adding Machine” was to have opened Dec. 5. More than 200 students, faculty and staff aired their concerns for nearly three hours.

House Committee Announces Investigation Into Live Event Ticketing

www.ticketnews.com: The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced Thursday it would be investigating the live event ticketing industry, looking for “potential unfair and deceptive practices” within, according to a press release. Letters were sent to Live Nation, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), Tickets.com, StubHub, Vivid Seats, and TicketNetwork requesting details on business practices from each and a briefing to take place by December 12th.

An American Revolution at Sing Sing

Reasons to be Cheerful: “This is a revolution, dammit!” shouts John Adams, his voice thundering against the fluorescent lights in the acoustic-tile ceiling. “We’re going to have to offend somebody!” The original congressman from Massachusetts is addressing his fellow founding fathers, twenty of whom are huddled on a 16×20 foot platform, arguing over word choices in the newly-written Declaration of Independence. Adams’ long dreadlocks are twisted into elegant coils as dignified as any powdered wig.

The Pop Musical: Go Big (and Loud) or Go Home

The New York Times: Sometimes, I crave a musical where grandiosity is unencumbered by logic and good taste. I don’t need a book that makes sense when I can feast on eye-popping visuals backed by an eardrum-busting sound system. It’s O.K. for the brain to take a rest while the senses work overtime. Broadway knew that once, or at least Florenz Ziegfeld did.

"A Bronx Tale"

Pittsburgh in the Round: The timeless compositions of Alan Menken have been the heartbeat of many memorable musical tales dealing with the themes of duty, love, and morality. Should Ariel abandon her family and kingdom for a pair of legs and a shot at love with a human prince? What lengths is Seymour willing to go to in order to impress his crush and bring business to the store he works at?

2019 KOI-USA Winners Revealed

LightSoundJournal.com: The winners have been announced at the second annual Knight of Illumination Awards USA (KOI-USA) ceremony, which took place at The Joint in The Hard Rock Hotel on Friday, November 22. This year, underlining the immediate popularity of the KOI-USA ceremony, attendance was up by a third over 2018’s inaugural event, with almost 400 industry professionals gathering to celebrate the creative talents of lighting and video designers’ work produced in the United States over the last year.

21 Satisfyingly Beautiful Pieces Of Welding Art

canyouactually.com: Welding art is truly an art, I mean seriously, scroll through these pictures below and you’ll instantly get want I’m talking about. Even if you don’t like welding or have absolutely no interest in it it’s hard not to be impressed by these incredible welds.

Bowie video inspires First Nations deep listening experience

www.limelightmagazine.com.au: The project, which is called Momentum, will be performed in Blak Box at Barangaroo, Sydney until November 17 and features leading First Nations arts practitioners including composer and violinist Eric Avery, musician-composer Troy Russell, vocalist/performer Ursula Yovich, visual artist Vernon Ah Kee, legal professor and radio broadcaster Larissa Behrendt, poet and literary editor Evelyn Araluen, spoken word artist and podcaster Lorna Munro, emerging writer Joel Davison, and Sydney Festival Artistic Director and theatre director Wesley Enoch. The artists don’t refer directly to Let’s Dance, instead they riff around ideas inspired by it.

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show canceled in end of bygone era

www.fastcompany.com: Congratulations, consumers of taste. You did it. You killed the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The onetime television staple, which debuted in 1995 and usually airs in November, will not take place this year, according to Stuart Burgdoerfer, CFO of the brand’s parent company, L Brands, who announced the news in an earnings call yesterday. The cancellation follows steadily declining ratings and attempts to “rethink” the show’s image for younger consumers who saw it as outdated.

An article of importance – a review of “Or,”

'Burgh Vivant: Poet, playwright and spy Aphra Behn (Georgia Mendes) welcomes King Charles II (Dylan T. Jackson) into her life and into her bed in “Or,” a play about England’s first female playwright by Liz Duffy Adams. Once the king resumes his throne, after the death of Cromwell, he frees Aphra from Debtor’s prison. She becomes the king’s paramour, but also earns the affection of the foul-mouthed sex symbol, actress Nell Gwynne (Katie Sacks).

LUMA Projection Mapping Festival 2019 Art and Technology

Live Design: For the fifth year, projection mapping festival, LUMA, transformed downtown Binghamton, NY, into an immersive storytelling experience. From September 6-7, approximately 55,000 attendees witnessed the colorful and, sometimes interactive, art installations created by artists and mixed media professionals.

2019 IAAPA Expo Recap: Sights And Sounds From The Show Floor

Coaster101: Last week, we were down in sunny central Florida to cover the 2019 IAAPA Expo, the global conference and trade show for the attractions industry, and our second time attending the event. We’ll have plenty of content coming up on Coaster101 that emerged from the conversations on the trade show floor (and beyond), but we wanted to give you a quick photo recap of some of everything we saw, just in case you weren’t following us on social media last week.