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

Broadway Actors to Receive 3 Percent Pay Increase With New Contract

Playbill: On October 18, following weeks of tense negotiations that also included the threat of a strike, the actors-stage managers union Actors' Equity Association and the Broadway League came to an agreement on the details of a new Broadway work contract. On October 22, details of the new three-year Production Contract were released to Equity's membership, who have until October 30 to vote on whether or not to adopt the new contract.

 

CBS, MTV, BET hit hardest as Paramount layoffs begin- Fast Company

www.fastcompany.com: The entertainment giant began cutting around 1,000 workers on Wednesday, with twice that many pink slips expected in the days to come. In a memo to staff, new Paramount CEO David Ellison characterized the reductions, which will ultimately shrink the company by 10%, as a necessary step for the company’s long-term growth.

 

'Task' Dialect Coach Susanne Sulby on Teaching the Delco Accent

variety.com: Throughout “Task,” the seven-episode crime thriller that concluded on HBO on Oct. 19, viewers were re-introduced to the specific Delaware County, Pa. accent that they’d perhaps first heard in HBO’s 2021 hit “Mare of Easttown,” from creator Brad Ingelsby. On “Mare,” southeastern Pennsylvanians were generally pleased with the way that Kate Winslet, Jean Smart and especially Evan Peters bravely tackled the sounds of the region.

 

White House Movie Theater Demolished in President Trump Ballroom Build

www.hollywoodreporter.com: The White House family theater, which has held movie screenings for Presidents, their families and other invited guests for decades, is among the structures removed from the East Wing as part of President Trump’s $300 million ballroom project.

 

‘We want to use this as a launchpad’: can A24 also conquer the world of theater?

US theater | The Guardian: On a recent Saturday night in downtown Manhattan, a sold-out crowd at the Cherry Lane Theatre delighted in one of the most bizarre sights in recent New York stage memory: comedian Natalie Palamides, dressed as if in split screen – her left side bedecked in Y2K girl signifiers (butterfly clips, low-rise jeans), her right in bro clothes (cargo pants, flannel) – barreling across the stage and tangling with … herself.

 

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Look Back on the Original Broadway Production of Chess

Playbill: Chess is currently back on the boards, as it readies to open its first ever Broadway revival, led by a trio of young stars: Aaron Tveit, Lea Michele, and Nicholas Christopher. It is also playing at the Imperial Theatre, the same theatre where the show first ran in 1988. But how did a show about a board game, which only had 68 performances on Broadway, become a cult classic?

 

Sorry, But You Can’t Copyright AI — One Filmmaker Just Found Out the Hard Way

No Film School: There is an old biblical saying, "You reap what you sow," which essentially means you get out of the world what you put in. So excuse me while I pile onto an AI filmmaker, who posted on Twitter that their prompts were being stolen by the outside world.

 

Ireland’s basic income scheme for artists points at how governments could help sectors in crisis

theconversation.com: The Irish government has announced that a pilot scheme providing artists and creatives with a weekly stipend of €325 (£283) will be made permanent. The scheme, which was first introduced in 2022, was launched in an attempt to mitigate the growing financial instability many in the creative industries face.

 

Why I left the Kennedy Center

DC Theater Arts: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has always been a part of my life. Growing up just outside of Washington, D.C., in the 2000s, I always saw its large marble building as integral to my city’s landscape, just as much as the Washington Monument. I came of age in the building, seeing Theater for Young Audiences as a kid, national tours of Broadway musicals as a middle schooler, and music concerts as a high schooler.

 

Experiential entertainment is having a gold rush but commercial success is far from certain

Business | The Guardian: When the first ever stage adaptation of the global book and film franchise The Hunger Games opens its doors in London next week, fans paying up to £200 have been promised an “electrifying” and “immersive” experience.

 

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The NEA At 60, Through The Eyes Of Past Chairs

Butts In the Seats: Last week, the Arts Management program at American University released a series of video interviews with the former chairs of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) on the occasion of the NEA’s 60th anniversary. These chairs are Jane Alexander, Bill Ivey, Dana Gioia, Jane Chu, Rocco Landesman, Maria Rosario Jackson.

 

OpenAI’s Sora Video App Is Jaw-Dropping (for Better and Worse)

The New York Times: The app we used was not TikTok, Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, the current leaders of short-form video. It was Sora, a smartphone app made by OpenAI that lets people create such videos entirely from artificial intelligence. Sora’s underlying technology debuted last year, but its latest version — which is faster and more powerful and can incorporate your likeness if you upload images of your face — was released on an invitation-only basis this week.

 

Bread and Puppet Theater forges ahead in uncertain times

NPR: Generations of peacenik Americans first saw Bread and Puppet Theater during anti-war protests. Giant white birds on rods soared high over marchers against U.S. military actions in Vietnam, Central America, Iraq and Gaza. Performers milled on the street with bobbing paper mache heads of Uncle Sam and other caricatures.

 

Meet the Experimental Collective Reimagining Set Design for the Contemporary Stage

Architectural Digest: It’s hard to think of a more iconic exchange in the history of theater than the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet. Those legendary lines. That stolen kiss. It’s been performed countless times the world over. And it was for that reason that Andrew Moerdyk, Kimie Nishikawa, and Santiago Orjuela-Laverde, founders of the Brooklyn-based scenic design studio dots, hoped to reinvent it, when tapped by director Sam Gold for the Circle in the Square Theatre’s recent Broadway adaptation.

 

Malfunctioning drones rain fireballs on fleeing crowd

AV Magazine: A pyrodrone show went disastrously wrong when spectators were showered with fireballs. The incident, which took place in Liuyang, China, saw people flee for cover in panic as sparks rained down.

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IATSE ratifies first-of-its-kind contract with AICP for commercial workers

Reel 360 News: The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) has ratified a first-of-its-kind contract with the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) covering Production Department Workers on TV commercials.

 

Exclusive: Broadway Green Alliance establishes inaugural board of directors and advisory council

www.broadwaynews.com: Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) has established an advisory council and a board of directors. This announcement marks the first formal governing bodies of the 17-year-old industry initiative dedicated to educating, motivating and inspiring the theater community to implement environmentally friendlier practices.

 

IATSE on President Trump Movie Tariff Announcement: ‘U.S. Needs Balanced Federal Response to Return Film and TV Jobs’

IATSE: IATSE continues to pursue all policy measures that can be implemented to return and maintain U.S. film and television jobs, while not disadvantaging our Canadian members. Federal policymakers must act to level the playing field and make the U.S. film and television industry more competitive on the global stage. IATSE is engaging with the Trump administration and Congress to advocate for policies that result in those stated goals.

 

Santa Fe: The Hollywood Insider's Guide to the Capital of Tamalewood

www.hollywoodreporter.com: Beautifully lit desert-to-mountain landscapes, authentic Western sets, and early adoption of production tax incentives have long made “Tamalewood,” as New Mexico has been dubbed, a favorite Hollywood backdrop. While Albuquerque boasts a Netflix production hub, Santa Fe continues to grow its infrastructure.

 

DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter Says 'There Is Still So Much to Do'

www.hollywoodreporter.com: “It is no secret that our industry, which is no stranger to rapid change, is experiencing a period of massive transition,” Glatter wrote. “The industry contraction from the dual strikes has led to significant unemployment for our members and all industry workers. AI presents both incredible opportunities and concerning unknowns.

 

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Workers Bear the Burden of Des Moines Metro Opera’s Ambitions

www.broadwayworld.com: It sounds like boot camp. An 89.5 hour workweek. Back to back 14 hour days. Overtime pay a rarity (and lack thereof legally sanctioned). Working in a warehouse where temperatures exceeded 100. Bullying. An open pit with no proper safety barriers. An employee so depleted and delirious that a doctor asked whether they were a victim of human trafficking. People in tears. Others too stressed to sleep. Dozens of employees sharing a single kitchen, with one stove and one refrigerator.

 

IATSE on President Trump Movie Tariff Announcement: ‘U.S. Needs Balanced Federal Response to Return Film and TV Jobs’

IATSE: IATSE continues to pursue all policy measures that can be implemented to return and maintain U.S. film and television jobs, while not disadvantaging our Canadian members. Federal policymakers must act to level the playing field and make the U.S. film and television industry more competitive on the global stage. IATSE is engaging with the Trump administration and Congress to advocate for policies that result in those stated goals.

 

What's at Stake for Live Nation/Ticketmaster? Billions - Plus its Entire Business Model

TicketNews: Two historic cases now threaten Live Nation and Ticketmaster from different directions: the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit filed in 2024, which seeks remedies up to a full corporate break-up, and the FTC’s consumer-protection and BOTS Act lawsuit filed this week, which targets deceptive fees and resale practices. Together, they put Live Nation’s vertically integrated empire — and the fee-heavy ticketing system fans have railed against for years — in serious jeopardy.

 

Michigan anti-porn bill would criminalize ASMR, written erotica, and nonsexual depictions of trans people

reason.com: An "Anticorruption of Public Morals Act" sounds like something out of the Victorian era. But far from the brainchild of Comstock-era Progressive scold, it's a new bill in Michigan. Introduced September 11 by state Rep. Josh Schriver (R–Oxford), the act would ban the online distribution of material "that corrupts the public morals."

 

Taylor Swift Lawsuit Dismissed: Judge Rules Lyrics Didn't Copy Poems

www.billboard.com: A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit claiming Taylor Swift stole lyrics for 15 of her songs from a self-published Florida poet, ruling the accuser was trying to claim ownership over basic ideas and “common words.”

 

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Louisville Will Be New Home for International Thespian Festival Beginning in 2027

Playbill: After five years at Indiana University in Bloomington, ITF has outgrown its current venue. Following a search guided by six criteria—mission alignment, safety, accessibility, walkability, affordability, and capacity for growth—Louisville emerged as the next home.

 

Ticketmaster Under Fire: FTC Lawsuit Over Hidden Fees, DOJ Antitrust Case Explained

www.ticketnews.com: Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment are facing an unprecedented one-two punch from U.S. regulators. In one case filed this week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – along with seven states – accuses Ticketmaster of deceiving consumers with hidden fees and by tacitly enabling scalpers to snag tickets en masse[1].

 

Broadway Climate Summit will debut during Climate Week NYC

www.broadwaynews.com: The inaugural Broadway Climate Summit will take place on Sept. 22. Co-founded by Climate Imaginarium, Earth Era Studios, OneUpAction International and 6th Fest, the summit will be part of the roster of events for Climate Week NYC, the largest climate symposium in the world. Broadway Climate Summit will take place at Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York and Ripley-Grier Studios in Manhattan between 10:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.

 

'Cultural coffin': Pittsburgh's thespians and universities react to theater woes

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The three Pittsburgh theater companies exploring a possible merger to help keep the lights on in the face of sharply rising costs have postponed a decision until next year.

 

Remembering Lavina Jadhwani 1983–2025

Chicago Reader: avina Jadhwani built what was by any measure an admirable career on Chicago stages and beyond. Locally, she directed for a range of companies large and small, including Silk Road Rising (now Silk Road Cultural Center), Writers Theatre, Oak Park Festival Theatre, and Rasaka Theatre Company. Nationally, her productions could be seen at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Asolo Repertory Theatre in Florida, and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Her adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol also graced the Guthrie stage every year starting in 2021 and returns this season.

 

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Caesars Palace Casino Denied Approval to Open in Times Square After Final Vote

www.broadwayworld.com: The bid for a casino to open in Times Square has been denied after a final vote this morning. A community advisory committee denied the plan after a 4-2 vote. A two-thirds majority vote was required for the proposal to advance to consideration by New York State for one of three downstate casino licenses.

 

National Theatre to use home-grown dye in sustainability push

www.thestage.co.uk: The National Theatre has committed to using natural dye for all its future productions, which it will make from plants grown in its newly launched well-being garden. The venue says the innovation marks a "clear statement" of its intention to improve its sustainability and "future-proof" its work in accordance with recommendations laid out in the Theatre Green Book.

 

The big-screen gamble: How movie theaters are fighting to stay alive

Salon.com: It’s a lonely life, being a superfan of Judd Apatow’s 2015 romantic comedy, “Trainwreck.” When the film, starring and written by Amy Schumer, opened in July of that year, it was lauded by critics and audiences as a refreshing take on a well-tread genre. “Trainwreck” even overperformed at the box office, raking in cash well beyond initial estimates.

 

CMU Alumni Emmy Winners Showcase Steady Results of Arts Excellence

News - Carnegie Mellon University: Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama empowers students to balance technical precision and artistic expression with its consistent influence on society and culture, evident most recently at the 77th Emmy Awards.

 

Work Visa Issues Threatening Music Artist Careers, Support Networks

www.billboard.com: Just a day before his sold-out show at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, regional Mexican star Julión Álvarez posted an “urgent” announcement on his social media, informing the 50,000 fans who purchased a ticket to the May 24-dated show that it was cancelled.

 

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The 1/52 Project Reveals Twelve 2025 Early Career Designer Recipients

www.broadwayworld.com: The 1/52 Project, the financial grant program founded by Tony Award-winning set designer Beowulf Boritt, revealed the twelve early-career designer recipients selected for the 2025 cycle to benefit from $165,000.00 in grants.

 

These Theatre Kids Won the Fight Against Proposed Anti-Arts Measures at an Arizona School Board Meeting

Playbill: Arts educators and advocates successfully killed a proposed move in Arizona's Peoria Unified school district to bar arts educators from renewing memberships in their professional associations, including but not limited to the Educational Theatre Association, National Association for Music Education, National Dance Education Organization, and National Art Education Association.

 

Judge: Anthropic’s $1.5B settlement is being shoved “down the throat of authors”

Ars Technica: At a hearing Monday, US District Judge William Alsup blasted a proposed $1.5 billion settlement over Anthropic's rampant piracy of books to train AI. The proposed settlement comes in a case where Anthropic could have owed more than $1 trillion in damages after Alsup certified a class that included up to 7 million claimants whose works were illegally downloaded by the AI company.

 

Oklahoma AG on the First Amendment and Drag Shows

Reason.com: Such drag shows are protected unless they fit within the (fairly narrow) category of obscenity, which is limited to certain material that depicts sexual conduct (not just cross-dressing).

 

Welcome to the Creator Revolution

Guest Column - TheWrap: When a single YouTube video commands more views than a blockbuster premiere, when a TikTok Creator can launch a global trend overnight and when communities once overlooked by Hollywood are finding their voices through creators, it’s clear that a new level of opportunity for the entertainment industry has been unlocked. Creators are expanding the industry’s reach and helping to reshape its future (literally!), and the impact they are having is undeniable and transformative.

 

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Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Get TV Academy Governors Award

variety.com: As it prepares to shut down after nearly 60 years of service, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will be honored with one of the Television Academy‘s top prizes, the 2025 Governors Award. The news is bittersweet, as it comes following President Trump’s move kill federal funding for public media.

 

Taylor Sheridan, Paramount establish massive production hub in Texas

Reel 360 News: Taylor Sheridan, the creative force behind Yellowstone, Tulsa King, and Landman, has teamed up with Paramount Television and real estate developer Hillwood to launch Texas’s largest-ever film and TV production campus in Fort Worth.

 

Climbing the Ladder: Theater Women on Learning and Leading by Sonya Hayden

WIT journal: In an industry built on relationships and where the steps to building a career can feel murky, mentorship is essential. This is particularly true for women, who remain underrepresented in many fields across the theater industry, as documented by various organizations including RISE Theatre’s network partners and The Lillys. Sometimes all we need is someone to open a door, show us that a door exists, answer a question, or encourage us to send that cold email.

 

Hackers Threaten to Submit Artists' Data to AI Models If Art Site Doesn't Pay Up

www.404media.co: Artists&Clients is a website that connects independent artists with interested clients. Around August 30, a message appeared on Artists&Clients attributed to the ransomware group LunaLock. “We have breached the website Artists&Clients to steal and encrypt all its data,” the message on the site said, according to screenshots taken before the site went down on Tuesday.

 

Sign of Inclusivity: 'Another Kind of Silence' at City

onstagepittsburgh.com: It was no exaggeration when City Theatre announced that Another Kind of Silence, the world-premiere play that leads off its 2025-2026 season, “is one of the most ambitious shows the company has taken on.” Bilingual and bicultural, the plot unfolds simultaneously in English and American Sign Language (ASL), along with some Greek Sign Language, as Evan and Chap, two already-partnered queer women, cross paths in modern-day Greece and find themselves falling in love.

 

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Pittsburgh Public Theater, City Theatre & CLO to join forces to survive

90.5 WESA: The years since the pandemic shutdown have been especially difficult for nonprofit performing-arts groups, in terms of both selling tickets and raising funds. On Friday, three of Pittsburgh’s most venerable troupes announced they are looking into ways they might join forces to survive.

 

2,400 People Sign Letter Decrying Maybe Happy Ending Casting Decision

Playbill: Maybe Happy Ending's decision to replace lead actor Darren Criss with Andrew Barth Feldman has continued to provoke responses throughout the theatre community. The latest: an open letter written by Tony Award winner BD Wong and signed by over 2,400 people, many of them theatre artists, including two-time Tony winner Donna Murphy, and Tony winners Francis Jue, Ruthie Ann Miles, and Ali Stroker.

 

Safety Commission Drops Planned Consumer Table Saw Rule

Engineering News-Record: Efforts by safety advocates to make table saws safer for all uses and projects—with an automatic brake that senses the difference between a finger and wood and stops cutting—have entered a new phase. On August 20, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) withdrew its pending rule requiring sensor-activated brakes that had advanced under the Biden administration.

 

The problem with Auschwitz-Birkenau’s new digital camp replica

theconversation.com: At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum announced the launch of a new digital replica of the concentration camp for filmmakers. Titled Picture from Auschwitz, the virtual film location is designed to facilitate a range of productions set on the grounds, where preservation regulations currently restrict filming to documentaries.

 

White House Lists Smithsonian Exhibits It Finds Objectionable

The New York Times: The White House published a list of Smithsonian exhibits, programming and artwork it considered objectionable on Thursday, one week after announcing that eight of the institution’s museums must submit their current wall text and future exhibition plans for a comprehensive review.