There are no bad ideas: January 2023

Sunday, January 29, 2023

Worth a Look

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

Could AI-Written Musicals Ever Come To Broadway?

www.broadwayworld.com: Imagine a Broadway where computer-generated musicals, powered by cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology, take center stage. No more waiting for years for a new hit musical to be written and produced, no more limitations on special effects, and no more casting restrictions. This may sound like science fiction, but the reality is that AI is rapidly advancing and has the potential to completely revolutionize the way Broadway musicals are created, produced and experienced. From AI-generated original scores to virtual reality sets, the future of Broadway could be unlike anything we've ever seen before.

Posted by David at 1/25/2023 11:06:00 AM
Oscars 2023: Academy Fails to Nominate Any Female Director

IndieWire: After last year’s record-breaking Best Director win for Jane Campion — who became only the third woman to ever win the Oscar for Best Director, joining Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland” in 2021) and Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker” in 2009) — the 2023 Oscar nominations failed to nominate any women in the Best Director category. Instead, this year’s Best Director race will see Martin McDonagh, Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Steven Spielberg, Todd Field, and Ruben Östlund duking it out for the honor.

Posted by David at 1/24/2023 10:15:00 AM
Ticketmaster/Live Nation Slammed in Extraordinary Senate Hearing

www.ticketnews.com: Ticketmaster and its parent Live Nation were under heavy fire on Tuesday, as its president and CFO Joe Berchtold was forced to answer withering questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee at its hearing examining the ticketing and live events industry in Washington, D.C. The hearing, which was scheduled in the wake of widespread outrage directed at the entertainment giant in the wake of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour ticket sales process in November, featured numerous references to lyrics from the singer.

Posted by David at 1/25/2023 11:08:00 AM
The strength of community

Chicago Reader: At the end of September 2020, I wrote a piece for the Reader titled “Black artistic leaders take charge at several Chicago theaters,” which framed the influx of new (and preexisting) Black leadership in Chicago theater against the backdrop of a historic disruption in the industry. That disruption was powered in part by COVID-19 leading to budget cuts and mass layoffs, and in part by intense public criticism of the shortcomings of many predominantly white theater institutions, with a call to action for faster and more concrete gains in racial equity in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement’s impact on the arts sector.

Posted by David at 1/26/2023 11:54:00 AM
How to Design a More Just Theatre Field

AMERICAN THEATRE: What is the role of race in theatrical design? An innovative symposium at the Park Avenue Armory a few weekends ago asked visitors to consider the question. As part of the venue’s conversation series, Making Space at the Armory, “Sound & Color: The Future of Race in Design” brought together artists and designers working across the disciplines of costume, lighting, set, and sound for a groundbreaking collaborative enterprise.

Posted by David at 1/23/2023 10:26:00 AM

Friday, January 27, 2023

DP Weekly Wrap Up

Sunday, January 22, 2023

Worth a Look

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

Prosecutors announces manslaughter charges for Alec Baldwin in shooting

CANVAS Arts: Prosecutors announced Thursday that actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons specialist will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer who was killed in 2021 on a New Mexico movie set.

Posted by David at 1/20/2023 12:16:00 PM
Oregon Shakes Restructures, Scales Back With Eye to Future

AMERICAN THEATRE: There’s no getting around it, Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) had a rough 2022. Crucial summer performances were canceled due to COVID, the now regular wildfire season took its toll, overall attendance was down, and, to make things egregiously worse, artistic director Nataki Garrett received death threats and had to travel with a security detail.

Posted by David at 1/16/2023 03:55:00 PM
Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

IATSE: Today we join in solidarity to honor the life and legacy of visionary Civil Rights and Labor Leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who famously said, “The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress. Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old age pensions, government relief for the destitute, and, above all, new wage levels that meant not mere survival but a tolerable life.”

Posted by David at 1/17/2023 10:20:00 AM
How British theatre censorship laws have inadvertently created a rich archive of Black history

theconversation.com: Between 1737 and 1968 British theatre censorship laws required theatre managers to submit new plays intended for the professional stage to the Lord Chamberlain’s Office for examination and licensing. This was necessary under the Stage Licensing Act of 1737 and the Theatres Act of 1843.

Posted by David at 1/18/2023 11:15:00 AM
‘Reconnecting people to their joy’: Brian Stokes Mitchell, Senator Schumer et al at APAP conference

New York Theater: Brian Stokes Mitchell, Wynton Marsalis, Senators Chuck Schumer and Amy Klobuchar, and Broadway League President Charlotte St. Martin were among those who took to the stage on the first day yesterday of the annual conference of APAP (the Association of Performing Arts Professionals)—its first in three years, at the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Below are edited transcripts of their speeches, and two videos of their perfomances.

Posted by David at 1/16/2023 04:12:00 PM