Racism within DC area theatres. DCTS Roundtable calls for reckoning

dctheatrescene.com: On Thursday, July 16, seven gender diverse artists and leaders in our theatre community gathered for a Roundtable to talk about the barriers that Black women, femmes, and nonbinary folx face in our community, guided by JR Nexus Russ. Watch the full discussion on the DCTS Facebook page.

These conversations are not new. Whiteness and White Supremacy in Theatre is traumatizing.

Walt Disney World Revamps Bird Show Attraction Without Actors

Deadline: Up characters Russell and Dug the dog are out — and so are the Actors’ Equity members who played them — in a revamped version of a bird-show attraction at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom.

As the union and Walt Disney World in Orlando enter into discussions about a grievance filed by Equity over the resort’s COVID-19 safety protocols, Disney has quietly revised what was previously known as ‘Up! A Great Bird Adventure’ into an actor-less ‘Feathered Friends in Flight.’

City of Sydney COVID-19 Relief Grants announced

www.limelightmagazine.com.au: The City of Sydney has announced the recipients of its $6.75 million Covid-19 Relief Grants Program, part of the City of Sydney’s broader $72.5 million Business, Arts and Creative Support Package. Of the 455 Covid-19 Relief Grants awarded, more than 100 organisations will receive funding through Cultural Sector Resilience Grants.

Time's Up Urges SAG-AFTRA Members to Vote Against Contract

Variety: Time’s Up is urging SAG-AFTRA members to oppose the proposed successor deal on its master contract, provoking an accusation by the union of unwarranted interference.

Balloting on the deal, reached last month between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, concludes Wednesday at 5 p.m. PDT.

Warner Bros. Creates Anonymous Coronavirus Reporting System

gizmodo.com: As studios grapple with the impact of coronavirus on the entertainment industry at large, Warner Bros. is reportedly planning to roll out an anonymous reporting system in the United Kingdom that would allow workers on production sets to flag violations of covid-19 safety protocols.

New study: Theatergoers are averse to returning but woke to racism

DC Metro Theater Arts: Shugoll Research, a national marketing research company in Bethesda, Maryland, has released findings from a Wave 2 online survey it conducted with 743 DC-area theatergoers about three pressing areas of concern: their intent to return to the theater when it reopens after the coronavirus pandemic, their engagement with online content, and their views on systemic racism in area theaters. The results on all counts have far-reaching implications.

If you ever wanted to take up painting as a hobby you need to check out these classes

Boing Boing: If you can say anything for the current state of our world, it certainly isn’t boring. However, the constant churn of high-stakes activity happening around us every day is enough to make even a Buddhist monk feel a twinge of anxiety now and again.

L.A.'s Satellite Club Closes for Good, Says 'Indie Venues Are Screwed'

Variety: L.A.’s Satellite club — a mainstay of the Silver Lake music scene for 25 years that has hosted major acts like Lady Gaga, Beck, the White Stripes and the Foo Fighters — is closed for good, its owners announced Friday.

Shut down since March 12 due to the pandemic, the nightspot has already removed its stage and is being transformed into a sit-down restaurant, because of the dim chances of live music returning any time soon, the club revealed in social media posts.

Don't Expect Concerts Before 2022, Says Top Touring Exec Marc Geiger

Variety: Marc Geiger, until recently the head of music at WME, and one of the founders of Lollapalooza, sounds like he’s not expecting to be attending any festivals in 2021.

Asked on “The Bob Lefsetz Podcast” when he expects concerts to return, Geiger said, “My guess is late ‘21, more likely ‘22.” And he told Lefsetz that the problem of insurance going forward is “a biggie” when it comes to reasons for that long a delay, although “there are probably 20.”

England to Allow Indoor Concerts Beginning Next Month

Consequence of Sound: Earlier this week, veteran talent agent and Lollapalooza co-founder Marc Geiger predicted that concerts likely won’t return in the US until 2022 — a much bleaker timeline than the one previously provided by health experts. Meanwhile, our friends across the Atlantic will allow indoor concerts to take place beginning August 1st, 2020.

Klein Ratcheting Lineman Wrenches

Pro Tool Reviews: Klein has redesigned their line of ratcheting wrenches for utility workers. The updated Klein Ratcheting Lineman Wrenches are stronger than previous models, and the brand has made improvements to the overall comfort of the tool.

Michigan workers rally and march for unemployment extensions

Fight Back!: 120 union members and supporters marched through downtown Lansing, July 15, chanting, “They say cut back! We say fight back!” The march stopped at a union worker statue where Nick Eaton of IATSE Local 247 spoke, “This statue represents the workers who built the new buildings you see in front of you. It also reflects the history of factory workers before deindustrialization left ugly scenes and empty lots, like many cities in the Midwest.”

VJ Spetto: Audiovisual Artist Speaks on Life in Lockdown

TheatreArtLife: Before the chaos of the global pandemic, I considered myself to be an audiovisual artist with a long and successful career: for over 25 years I have participated in major art festivals, creating and performing content for VJ sets, video mappings, car reveals, movies for full-domes, Olympic ceremonies. I used to work with dozens, or even hundreds of projectors at the same time, design integrating systems, connections, media servers, large teams. That was before the pandemic.

Theater in The Time of COVID-19: Must The Show Go On?

The Theatre Times: Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, people around the world turned to the arts and creative sector for entertainment, connection and to respond to the unknown. Yet, the cultural and creative industries sector (CCI) is undoubtedly one of the sectors that have been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. UNESCO called the situation a “cultural emergency” on a global scale (2020).

Bureaucratic snag leaves thousands of gig workers shut out of relief aid

www.nbcnews.com: When the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out almost all of Daniel Herman's coming work, he was hopeful that he would get help from the federal government.

Herman, 30, a videographer and musician from Boulder, Colorado, believed he would qualify for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, a new federal relief program for self-employed gig workers and independent contractors. The program was designed to support freelancers like Herman, who would not qualify for traditional unemployment benefits.

Hale Centre Theatre suspends production of ‘Mary Poppins’ after second cast member contracts COVID-19

The Salt Lake Tribune: Hale Centre Theatre — the first live theater troupe in Salt Lake County to start packing in audiences since the COVID-19 pandemic began — is suspending performances of the musical “Mary Poppins,” after a second cast member tested positive for the disease, the company announced Thursday.

'Hamilton' movie credits explained: Visual applause for cast

Los Angeles Times: “Part of the experience of the theater is thumbing through that Playbill at intermission and looking for that person you admire, finding their headshot and learning more about them by reading their bio,” said Thomas Kail, who directed the stage show and the movie. “This felt like the most appropriate way to celebrate this onstage company: creating a visual Playbill, using a cinematic language.”

Film Industry Risk Management Launched by Jon Heaney and Lucas Foster

Variety: Veteran producer Lucas Foster (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”) has teamed with Australian safety expert Jon Heaney to launch safety advisory company Film Industry Risk Management. The pair recently co-operated on the successful production of “Children of the Corn” through the coronavirus pandemic and industry shutdown in New South Wales.

Lollapalooza Co-Founder Says Concerts Unlikely To Return Until 2022

brobible.com: As every diehard Coldplay fan like myself knows, the band released its eighth studio album in November but made the unconventional decision to hold off on touring, deciding it would wait until a later date in order to explore ways it could reduce the environmental impact that comes with traveling around the world to play shows.

In this choose-your-own-adventure production, the audience guides the show

CANVAS Arts: New York’s Public Theater streamed playwright Richard Nelson’s “What Do We Need to Talk About?” — often considered the first play created for Zoom, a video-conferencing service. In L.A.’s Westwood neighborhood, the Geffen Playhouse has extended illusionist Helder Guimarães’ “The Present,” another hit on Zoom, for the third time, with virtual admission selling out into October. And now comes “Fairyland Foibles,” presented by the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts program GRoW @ the Wallis, which allows the audience to play a part in shaping the narrative of each 15- to 20-minute episode. It streams every Saturday through August 15 at 7 p.m. PT on Facebook and Instagram and subsequently on demand.