Worth a Look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

American Theatre Artists: Don’t Throw Away Your Shot

AMERICAN THEATRE: On Friday night, Vice President-Elect Mike Pence walked into the Richard Rodgers Theatre for a performance of Hamilton and was booed by the audience. These were the boos heard round the world, including by President-Elect Donald Trump, who tweeted multiple times about the incident

Posted by David at 11/23/2016 12:00:00 PM

“Pop!”-Up Theater Extends Venues and Audience Experiences

urban excavations: “I wanted people to just be able to happen upon it and see something weird and go: what was that?” Dramaturg Kelly Kerwin reflected recently on her temporary “pop up” performance festival. POP! comes at a pivotal career stage, and was funded by the Bly Creative Capacity Grant, a two-year-old initiative hosted by the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.

Posted by David at 11/21/2016 01:18:00 PM

ACTRA Backs SAG-AFTRA Video Game Strike

Variety: The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists has backed SAG-AFTRA’s month-long strike against video game companies. “All of ACTRA’s 23,000 members from across Canada stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers at SAG-AFTRA as they take job action until they can negotiate a reasonable deal for their Interactive Media Agreement,” said ACTRA President Ferne Downey in a statement issued Tuesday

Posted by David at 11/25/2016 12:00:00 PM

Judge Allows Bid to Free "We Shall Overcome" From Copyright

Hollywood Reporter: A group of plaintiffs have overcome the first major hurdle in a lawsuit that aims to establish that the unofficial anthem to the Civil Rights Movement is not really under copyright protection. On Monday, a New York federal judge rejected a publisher's bid to dismiss, ruling that the plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that lyrics in the first verse of "We Shall Overcome" were copied from material in the public domain and that there's been a fraud on the U.S. Copyright Office.

Posted by David at 11/23/2016 12:00:00 PM

A New Model of Female Producers: The WP Lab

HowlRound: We are the five producers of the 2014–2016 WP Lab, a two-year residency offered by WP Theater (formerly known as Women’s Project Theater) in New York to 15 female-identifying playwrights, directors, and producers. The Lab was established in 1983 for directors; it expanded to include playwrights in 1994 and again for producers in 2006. It provides professional and artistic development through mentorship, networking among Lab members and within the larger theater community, entrepreneurial and leadership training—and perhaps most importantly—tangible resources for the development and production of bold new work for the stage.

Posted by David at 11/21/2016 01:11:00 PM

Worth a Look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

'There's a real humiliation I feel': the struggle for fair wages off-Broadway

Stage | The Guardian: For many of us, there’s a time before you know the amount actors are being paid to perform off-Broadway, and then there’s the time after. The first, more innocent life is full of breezy trips to wonderful shows, the occasional standing ovation, a flush of pleasure when an old favorite wins an award. How happy everyone is at the curtain call! How delighted we all are to have come together for art, for entertainment, for something beautiful!

Your life after is a bit less breezy. I remember when someone first told me that actors in a show I had seen were taking home less than $500 a week. These were the bright lights of the theatre; I was at a prestigious venue; I had paid more than $100 to be there. What the hell?

Posted by David at 11/15/2016 03:27:00 PM

Calling Out Arts Organizations: This is Our Fault

Clyde Fitch Report: Here is a quote:

The world is a complicated place, and there’s a lot of division between people. The performing arts tend to unify people in a way nothing else does.

I understand that blame is rarely a productive place to start. Casting aspersions is easy compared to doing the actual work. I also recognize that there is a difference between casting blame and taking ownership. I’m unsure how to get us to do the latter without also doing the former. And productivity will be what I do next week. But right here and right now there is a point I can’t shake:

I blame nonprofit and regional theaters for the election of President Trump.

Posted by David at 11/14/2016 06:10:00 PM

Pregnancy Prompted Closing of ‘Shuffle Along.’ Should Insurance Pay?

The New York Times: Audra McDonald’s pregnancy was a surprise. But was it an accident, an illness or neither?

That is the question the producers of the Broadway musical “Shuffle Along” are asking a court to decide as it demands that an insurance company, Lloyd’s of London, compensate the show for what it says were more than $12 million in damages. The show closed in July, four months after performances began, when Ms. McDonald, who was 45 at the time, became pregnant, and the producers decided they could not continue once she went on maternity leave.

Posted by David at 11/17/2016 01:44:00 PM

This Disney Drone Light Show Looks Like a Beautiful Alien Invasion

sploid.gizmodo.com: Drones are all the rage, but Disney has taken it to the next level with this synchronized drone light show. Disney was given special permission earlier this month from the Federal Aviation Administration to use drones in its theme parks. I guess we finally know what it was for.

Posted by David at 11/16/2016 06:31:00 PM

Harry Potter Kept A Quarter Of The U.K.’s Top Actors Paid

FiveThirtyEight: Harry Potter is of the most consequential cultural phenomena in the history of pop culture. It catapulted several 12-year-olds into international stardom.1 It made an indelible mark on the history of the international box office by proving that franchises could be longer than trilogies and still be highly rated international box-office smashes. It launched a franchise — the stock-juicing, legacy-setting, empire-building fuel that keeps a studio relevant these days — for Warner Brothers. It is singlehandedly responsible for people across the Eastern Seaboard saying, “Let’s go to Orlando’s Islands of Adventure.” It paid dozens of British actors’ rents for a decade.

Posted by David at 11/15/2016 06:14:00 PM 

Bonus Article:

Tony Awards, Carnegie Mellon Open Submissions for Theatre Education Award

www.cmu.edu/news: The Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University will recognize a deserving teacher with the “Excellence in Theatre Education Award” for the third year in a row.

Now through Feb. 10, 2017, submissions are accepted online for K-12 theatre educators at an accredited institution or recognized community theatre organization. Anyone — from students and school administrators, to friends, neighbors and family — can submit a worthy teacher for consideration. He or she must be a teacher whose position is dedicated to and/or includes aspects of theatre education. Submissions can be made at www.TonyAwards.com/EducationAward.

Posted by David at 11/16/2016 06:25:00 PM

Worth a Look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

Guns Onstage are a Model for Guns Offstage

HowlRound: If we told artists they could not have guns onstage or in movies, they would be furious at such an egregious suppression of the freedom of speech and expression. Imagine Annie Get Your Gun without guns. How would Annie come to the realization, “You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun,” as she sings in Act I? In Chicago, Roxie Hart can’t reinvent her story if she can’t show how “We Both Reached for the Gun.” Playwrights as diverse as Henrik Ibsen, Arthur Miller, and Suzan-Lori Parks all include guns onstage. Guns have a place onstage and in the movies without a doubt; however, the performance industry strictly regulates firearms.

Posted by David at 11/08/2016 03:38:00 PM

Special Report: Where Things Stand

Pro Sound Web: The much-discussed auction of the 600 MHz frequency band is happening in the U.S., and it may well affect present wireless systems as well as related issues such as frequency planning/coordination.

It’s important for everyone who works with creating the content that will stream on the mobile devices when the spectrum is cleared to understand the present situation and to be planning for the transition to different frequency bands.

Posted by David at 11/08/2016 03:41:00 PM

An Animator's Quest for Better Female Characters

The Mary Sue: Astrid should have been chief in How to Train Your Dragon 2.

If you’d been at DreamWorks Animation during the making of that movie, you might have heard that in the hallways–as I would excitedly start ranting about it to almost anyone who’d listen.

I worked there from 2009 to 2014 as an effects animator: about the farthest one could get from making creative decisions. And while making water break the laws of physics was creative work, I wasn’t exactly calling the shots.

But I did get to send in notes. And oh, did I send in notes.

Posted by David at 11/07/2016 01:23:00 PM

Hollywood Studios Beat Lawsuit Over PG and PG-13 Films Featuring Smoking

Hollywood Reporter: The Motion Picture Association of America and the National Association of Theatre Owners have come out victorious in a lawsuit that insisted that tobacco imagery in films rated G, PG or PG-13 causes 200,000 children every year to become cigarette smokers and 64,000 people to die as a result. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg dismissed an attempt led by a California father of two to hold major film studios and theater owners legally responsible.

Posted by David at 11/11/2016 02:48:00 PM

‘Lawrence of Arabia’ Editor Anne Coates on Why So Many Great Editors Are Female

Variety: At venerable Pinewood Studios west of London, a fledgling Anne Coates hoped editing experience would serve as a stepping stone to directing. No surprise, the industry proved even more resistant back in the 1950s to female occupants of the canvas chair than today.

But the cutting room has always welcomed a woman’s firm hand, whether old school “cutting neg” or manipulating top-of-the-line digital equipment. The would-be helmer soon became a celebrated doyenne of the world editing community, subject of academic analysis of the “Anne Coates style,” a concept about which she claims to have no clue.

Posted by David at 11/11/2016 02:52:00 PM

Worth a Look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

Accord Reached in Battle Over ‘The Great Comet’

The New York Times: An uneasy peace has broken out on West 45th Street.

The unusually ugly who-gets-how-much-credit-for-a-big-Broadway-musical battle was officially resolved on Wednesday, when the commercial producers of “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” agreed to revise the show’s Playbill to give more specific credit to Ars Nova, the nonprofit theater that commissioned the show.

Posted by David at 11/02/2016 05:40:00 PM

SAG-AFTRA Draws Hundreds to Warner Bros. Strike Picket

Variety: SAG-AFTRA drew several hundred supporters to picket Warner Bros. in Burbank, California, for Thursday, the second demonstration since the performers union went on strike against video game companies on Oct. 21.

The union drew more than 100 supporters on Oct. 24 at Electronic Arts in Playa del Rey, California, to back the strike. SAG-AFTRA launched the strike by voice actors against EA, Warner Bros., and nine other video game makers after negotiations cratered over the key issues of secondary compensation (residuals) and transparency for voice actors — meaning that the union wants companies to stop being able to hire without identifying the game.

Posted by David at 11/04/2016 02:54:00 PM

Mila Kunis Pens Essay Blasting Gender Bias

The Mary Sue: Mila Kunis is done with the objectifying, sexist bull-hickey in Hollywood. Kunis posted an essay on Medium titled, “You’ll Never Work In This Town Again…” The title references a threat she received after refusing to pose semi-naked on the cover of a magazine for film promotion. The actress says this was the first time she had said “no” in her career and, as we know, she did “work in this town again, and again, and again.”

Posted by David at 11/03/2016 04:43:00 PM

Here's What Happened When an Actor Tried to Publicize a Racist Casting Call

jezebel.com: Hollywood is in the business of representation. Actors pretend to be others, directors control artistic images, PR departments manage their clients’ images, and agents—if Entourage’s totally convincing portrayals are to be believed—claw each others’ eyes out to represent actors. But Hollywood also fairly regularly fails to represent the lives and the interests of anyone who is not a straight cis white man, most visibly, in casting notices and choices.

Posted by David at 11/03/2016 04:40:00 PM

The NHRA vs The IATSE

Racing Junkie: What is the IATSE? It stands for...International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees. They include, but are not limited to...(as the above photo shows) Cameramen, Audio, and Visual people for the, TV and Film industry.


And they have alleged, to the National Labor Relations Board, that the NHRA is trying to block Union representation, of the NHRA TV production Employees. They have also, asked the NLRB to, oversee a secret ballot, of the NHRA Crew Members, to elect, Union Representatives to negotiate with the NHRA.

Posted by David at 11/04/2016 03:04:00 PM

Worth a look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

Three Words Lead to a Battle Over ‘Great Comet’ on Broadway

The New York Times: Five years ago, the small nonprofit theater company Ars Nova commissioned an up-and-coming composer to write his wacky dream project, a musical adaptation of one dramatic section of “War and Peace.”

On Tuesday night, that musical, “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” now a $14 million show starring the best-selling recording artist Josh Groban, had its first preview performance at the Imperial Theater — a major moment for Ars Nova, which has never before seen a project it birthed transfer to Broadway.

But the leadership of Ars Nova was not allowed to be there.

Posted by David at 10/27/2016 03:44:00 PM

AFL-CIO Backs SAG-AFTRA Strike Against Video Game Companies

Variety: AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has issued a strong statement of support for the six-day-old SAG-AFTRA voice actors strike against video game companies.

“The AFL-CIO stands in solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA voice-over and motion-capture performers who are on strike after failed negotiations with eleven video game employers,” Trumka said. “Performers deserve a modern contract that offers the protections necessary to work in today’s video game industry.”

Posted by David at 10/28/2016 02:34:00 PM

‘Midnight Rider’ Filmmakers Fault CSX in Lawsuit with Insurer

Variety: Film Allman, the production company behind “Midnight Rider,” is faulting CSX Corp. for failing to slow a train that plowed through the set of the movie on Feb. 20, 2014, killing camera assistant Sarah Jones and injuring eight others.

The company, owned by director Randall Miller and producer Jody Savin, are making the claims as part of its lawsuit against New York Marine, the insurer which is refusing to pay for losses on the grounds that they were incurred as a result of a criminal act.

Posted by David at 10/26/2016 05:16:00 PM

The haunted hotel that breeds engineers 

Technology: The Gravesend Inn: A Haunted Hotel is an attraction built every year by entertainment technology students at CUNY in Brooklyn, NY. Instead of scaring the audience, it's meant to inspire high school students to go to college and study technology.

Posted by David at 10/26/2016 05:28:00 PM

Shakespeare's 'Henry VI': Christopher Marlowe Officially Credited As Co-Author

The Two-Way : NPR: Oxford University Press has announced that its new edition of the complete works of William Shakespeare will credit Christopher Marlowe as a co-author on the three Henry VI plays.

Despite years of controversy about the authorship of some of Shakespeare's work, this is the first time a major publishing house has formally named Marlowe as a co-author.

Posted by David at 10/25/2016 05:41:00 PM