Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Sunday, April 28, 2019
Worth A Look
Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...
The Story Behind Hollywood Writers vs. Their Agents
The Atlantic: In the summer of 1962, MCA Inc.—the giant Hollywood talent agency so dominant in its field that industry insiders called it The Octopus—acquired a majority stake in Decca Records and Universal Pictures, giving it control of a full-fledged movie studio and a major recording company. For the better part of a decade, MCA had already been the country’s largest creator of television programming. The agency was known for controversially “packaging” its star actors with writing and directing clients into ready-made shows for one-stop, near-monopoly sale to the networks.
Radiohead inquest recommends licensing companies that build temporary stages
CBC News: A coroner's inquest into the death of a drum technician who was crushed when a stage collapsed before a Radiohead concert in Toronto is recommending that companies that build temporary stages for events undergo licensing.
Jurors examining the circumstances surrounding the death of Scott Johnson also suggest that riggers who work on performance venues in Ontario go through a certification process similar to what's in place for electricians.
Life@CMU Measures Student Stress, Depression
www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University is turning to its strength in research to help enhance the student experience.
Commissioned by the Office of the Provost and the Task Force on the CMU Experience, the Life@CMU Project examined student behavior over the course of a semester, and looked at how factors such as stress and sleep affected, and in some cases predicted, students’ well-being. Results of the study, which were presented during a recent campus forum, will be used to guide future student experience initiatives.
A Look into Theatre’s FutVRe
HowlRound Theatre Commons: VR and AR are two different monsters. VR hardware is bulky—think HTC Vive or Oculus Rift. The headgear is attached to wires, and the system requires a complex camera setup to track the user moving through the room. VR also utilizes controllers to help the user interact with their environment. AR hardware is physically much smaller—think Google Glass. While the ultimate goal of AR is everyday use to augment our reality, the goal of a VR experience is to create an entirely new one.
Earth Day | Environmental Impact of Music Festivals
www.livedesignonline.com: It’s no secret that the live industry has room for improvement when it comes to environmental impact—from the carbon footprint created by fleets of trucks zig-zagging around the country (not to mention the thousands of fans traveling to each event) to the mountains of discarded plastic and paper goods at events.
Saturday, April 27, 2019
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Ellipses...
In what must be the absolutely least surprising announcement of the day Joe Biden is running for President... The kids are trying to set up credit ultimate for a week from Saturday. I hope I am up for it... The last Thursday of the month can absolutely sneak up on you if you don't regularly street park... The 600 calorie days hit the worst at lunchtime I think. After that is mid afternoon. Dinner hasn't really been a problem... I was back at West Penn today. Several years after the bulk of my thing I still don't really like these places... If one more person needs an early crit this spring I can collapse an entire session. I'm not sure it would be a good idea if I do... I'm reading the Three Body Problem series. The book I am reading now is not happy. More and more I think I accidentally stumble into really unhappy stories... The house renovation continues, mostly plumbing and electric this week. The further into it we get the more we remember points of abrasion the last time... I need this thing tomorrow that I know I've known I would need tomorrow for like 14 weeks. And yet, here it is today. Some things are hard to change... I'm pretty sure I have seen the writing on the wall for Semester Reviews. I'm not sure how long it will take though... The political state of things these days is really depressing. I think whatever your views are you cannot be too thrilled with the way people are conducting themselves... I'm starting to give real thought to what is going on this summer. It is likely time to put the summer schedule into my calendar... Duluth Trading Company emails every day. I think this is less likely to make me buy something and more likely to make me never pay full price for anything... The problem with asking for more money for your project is that you might get more money for your project - and then have to do a bigger project. It's not always about the money... I thought it was going to be warmer today...
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Worth a Look
Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...
Hollywood Writers Have Fired Their Agents; Here's Why
www.forbes.com: Fans of various television series and films who follow writers of said projects on Twitter were met with something very different this past Friday afternoon - a deluge of tweets featuring a form letter displaying those writers announcing a cutting of ties with their agencies. But, while Friday’s action may have been introductory for some, it’s actually the end of the beginning of a war that’s been brewing between writers and their representation for the past twelve months.
How Australian theatre rebalanced its gender disparity
ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): In 2009, director Neil Armfield stood on the stage at Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre and announced, for his swansong season as artistic director of the company he co-founded, a season of shows almost exclusively written and directed by men.
It was a moment that prompted considerable scrutiny of industry-wide gender disparity.
In that year, at the eight best-funded Australian theatre companies — members of the Major Performing Arts Group (MPAG) — just 24 per cent of plays were written by women, and 24 per cent were directed by women. A staggering 86 per cent of productions had at least one man as writer or director.
Bioplastics bad for environment says recycling expert Arthur Huang
www.dezeen.com: Bioplastics could potentially be worse for the environment than conventional plastics, according to recycling expert Arthur Huang.
Switching to plastic made from plants instead of fossil fuels would require vast amounts of farmland, Huang said. This could could cause environmental problems and deprive humans of food.
What’s Your Vision for a Post-Carbon Arts Sector?
HowlRound Theatre Commons: Sounding an alarm in October 2018, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a special report to warn the world about the impact of the smallest decimal point changes in global warming temperatures above pre-industrial levels. The report also stated that, in order to prevent even larger scale human suffering than we are currently on course to collide with, the world has to commit to drastically reducing global emissions starting now until 2030, or face a point of no return for humanity. This hard deadline implies not just a profound shift in our current lifestyles, but also the creation of entirely new systems and cultural values for how our civilization operates.
Dialogue: The things that make you fall back in love with theatre
Exeunt Magazine: It’s April, and it’s surprisingly cold, and Fun Home STILL hasn’t got the West End transfer it so richly deserves. So what happens when everything feels a bit grey, and you stop feeling passionate about an artform you’ve spent large portions of your adult life waxing lyrical about? And what makes that feeling come back? In this group piece, Exeunt writers talk about the shifting emotional landscape of their relationship with theatre, and explore what it’s like to fall in, and out, of love.
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Ellipses...
Someone calls my office multiple times each day and doesn't leave a message. I wish they would either leave a message or stop calling... I've been doing this one lecture/talk in various classes for like 15 years maybe. I just put it in Powerpoint yesterday... We used to have this bathroom upstairs at the house. Right now it is no longer a bathroom, its just a room. Soon it will be a bathroom again... We've gotten to the point in the academic year where all my calendars have calendars pinned on top of them... Two days ago it was in the 40s. Today it is supposed to hit 80. It probably has always been this way, but it sure seems odd... The Crazy Scheme assignments for next year were posted yesterday. So far there's been no grousing. But it is still pretty early... I still want to know why they changed the platform at the convention... This is CAD Mastery week in the Studiocraft class. It should have been like 3 weeks ago but break and USITT and various other things got in the way. It is better late than never I guess... Group chats are perhaps one of the worst unintended consequences of texting technology... We're budgeting the first show for next year and as usual the first thing they are looking to cut is the thing we most want to build... The news shows at night have become largely unwatchable for me of late. Tonight I guess I might give it a try... After more than a month off we actually got a podcast this week... The Big Burrito people have opened a new Italian restaurant. I guess we'll have to find a time for that... I don't want to jinx it but I think I might have found another grad student for next year at the last second... The guys working on our house decided to have a minor flood. Now we have to decide just how much is required in the way of repairs. We really didn't want the scope of the job to get any bigger. The completion date needs to be pretty firm... Not having parking at work throws all kinds of curve balls into scheduling appointments around work... I should be interested in the NBA Playoffs, but I'm not - and with the Penguins dropping out of the NHL Playoffs in the first round I might have to take a hard look at MLB. Go Cubbies...
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Worth a Look
Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...
ENOUGH! A Call to Action
Event Safety Alliance: This month the industry was faced with two separate but related eye-opening reminders. On April 6, 2019 the industry lost another veteran member of our family in a heartbreaking accident on the Coachella festival site. Less than a week later, an inquest into the 2012 stage roof collapse in Toronto that killed another member of our family returned 27 recommendations that, had they been in place, might have helped break the chain of causation in both events
NYC Casting Call Says ‘White Artists’ Will Be Paid Less Than ‘POC Artists,’ And Undergo ‘Mandatory’ Session Of ‘Anti-Racism Training’
Daily Wire: Underneath the "rehearsal" heading, the call stated that white actors who were cast in the show would participate in a mandatory "anti-racism training" session. That training session would not be mandatory for actors of other races.
Under the "compensation" heading, the call stated that actors of color would be paid more than white actors.
Burning Man Attendees RAGE After Bureau Of Land Management Blasts Festival's Environmental Impact
Daily Wire: Career "Burners" or Burning Man attendees are raging over a Bureau of Land Management environmental impact report that accuses Burning Man of being a major environmental nuisance, and requests the weeklong festival in the Nevada desert take major measures to control trash, drug use, and crowds before expanding to accommodate more attendees.
Protestors Take On Long Island High School Production of THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, Citing 'Racism is Not Entertainment'
www.broadwayworld.com: Newsday reports that protestors took to the streets outside Huntington High School in Long Island to protest the production of Thoroughly Modern Millie taking place inside, which they say is "racist against Chinese-Americans."
The Next 10 Years
AMERICAN THEATRE: As a new generation of artistic directors start their jobs leading long-running institutions and taking on the role of leaders both in their communities and nationally, we asked them where they hope to see the theatre field a decade from now. These new a.d.s span the nation; some have already started their new jobs, while others begin this summer. All are coming in both optimistic and clear-eyed, and all have very specific visions.
Friday, April 12, 2019
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Ellipses...
It is Thursday. Photo Friday is tomorrow, so that means if I am doing this ellipses post I really ought to do it now... Our garage has a new door to the house. Now they just need to close up the old door, which right now is a big rectangular hole... Every time I go to type something political now I get maybe a dozen characters in before I delete them all. There's probably a name for this syndrome... Playoff hockey has arrived to save us all from evenings of MSNBC. Here's hoping the Penguins stay in long enough to provide a real break... In addition to the new door we recently found ourselves with a new water heater - a project we've been talking about for maybe a decade. It is amazing what you can bury in a renovation if you put your mind to it... Carnival starts today. The boy is excited. It looks like we might even get through it without snow this time around... I just proposed a very expensive project to my boss. I think there is statistically zero chance it will happen... The ER is a crappy place to be by yourself. Bring company, and a spare phone battery... There's a current Craigslist post for someone selling 55 pounds of bulk Lego I have been having trouble disregarding. They say the first step is acknowledging you have a problem... I love my laptop, but I don't think I will ever get use to the keyboard. Using external, full keyboards most of the time isn't helping... The precollege free period is no more. All hail the return of Sound Design, and the new appearance of VMD... One would think if you presented with some kind of infection that it would be standard procedure to culture said infection. One would be wrong... The boy now wants to eat at Hokkaido more than I do. I have created a monster... Today I had zero articles prepped for the other page. I can't remember the last time that happened. Finding a dozen articles from the "alerts" folder took longer than I would have liked... I've been trying to conjure memories of carnival from when I was a student. I'm sure I had a good time, but there isn't a whole lot standing out...
Sunday, April 07, 2019
Worth a Look
Here are a few posts from last week Greenpage that might be worth your time...
World Theatre Day 2019: On (Dis)Connection
The Theatre Times: World Theatre Day was instituted in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute (ITI) and is celebrated annually on March 27 across the globe. The day has at its core the vision of theatre as an actant of peace. Each year, the ITI invites a prominent figure in the broad domain of theatre to reflect on the theme. Cuban director, playwright and theatre educator Carlos Celdrán’s message for World Theatre Day 2019 centers on theatre as a mode of human connection.
All This Town’s a Stage
The New Yorker: It’s 7:45 p.m. in Stratford, Ontario when the city’s restaurants clear out. It’s a departure so sudden and sweeping one might assume this small city was rolling up its sidewalks for the night. In reality, these dinner guests are on their way to the 8:00 p.m. show at one of four performance spaces that make up the Stratford Festival, a repertory theatre and annual series that sells half a million tickets to shows in a town of little more than 30,000.
After Overture cancels 'Miss Saigon' panel, Asian American scholars host 'teach-in' on street
Entertainment | madison.com: The reason some theatergoers protest “Miss Saigon,” three decades after the French-written, British-born mega-musical touched down on American shores is because damaging stereotypes persist about Asian women as property, Asian men as weak, and white, Western guys as saviors.
That’s true not only in the United States.
How to be Greener on Broadway…and everywhere else
Associated Musicians of Greater New York – Local 802: This Earth Day, on April 22, marks 49 years of the largest civic-focused day of action in the world. Since 1970, hundreds of millions of people around the world have continuously come together to bring environmental issues to the forefront. Almost half a century later, this movement is more important than ever as climate change is a reality and individuals around the world are taking action. The theatre community, in New York City and beyond, is playing an increasingly large role in working for a greener world.
The Importance of the National Endowment for the Arts
NEA: I began working at the National Endowment for the Arts in January 2017.
One of the first things I did was begin to absorb the history and the milestones of the agency. Imagine my surprise in discovering that our budget in 2017 was almost the exact same as it was 40 years earlier.
A 40-year-old budget, no adjustment for inflation, and a hundred million more people in the country.
With an unchanged budget and an ever expanding population, the National Endowment for the Arts has created remarkably effective programs that blanket the nation.
Thursday, April 04, 2019
Ellipses....
I don't mean to be crass about it, but what the hell happened to March? I swear it was valentines day like a week and a half ago... The Frosh tell me the project cannot be completed without all-nighters. I decided not to argue... All this defense of Biden in the media makes me really wistful for Al Franken... Work in the basement at the house is into phase two I guess. Materials arrived yesterday. I should be shooting more pictures... The Scoobis are back on the streets. Totally unlike the swallows returning to Capistrano... I finished Westworld season two. This season made me think a lot about Dollhouse. The after credit scene on the season finale really knocked me off balance. Just when you think you know what's going on... The folks at MSNBC should know that I have basically stopped watching. I guess in general their ratings are up, but I just don't have what it takes anymore... I never get tired of hearing I'm not sick... We're moving pieces around to make sure we get to see Captain Marvel in a theatre before Endgame. This, I think, is caring too much. Thanks Marvel... I really prefer an RSS Feed to an email newsletter. I think I am probably in the minority there, but I also think I am doing it right... Posting regularly should be easier than this... I predict we are all going to learn quite a bit about the difference between an independent counsel and a special council. Comparisons to the Starr Report aren't necessarily parallel... Spring Carnival is coming. The boy is excited. That's as it should be...
