IATSE and the Metropolitan Opera have reached an agreement that will allow the union members to return to work ahead of reopening for the… Read More »IATSE Deal Made With Metropolitan Opera for the 2021/22 Season
Happy July 4th! This year brings with it renewed attention and consideration of what America stands for as we look towards making diversity, inclusion and equity important measures of our efforts towards realizing the best of those ideals. Theater as well must during our reopening look to tangible ways to bring diversity, inclusion and equity to our community and work, moving from ideal to realization.
1776, with a book by Peter Stone, music & lyrics by Sherman Edwards and directed by Peter Hunt, opened on March 16, 1969 at the 46th Street Theatre, now known as the Richard Rodgers Theatre, (which in a wonderful moment of theatrical symmetry, is the current home of Hamilton.) Both are examples of theater, both entertaining and thought-provoking and are rather timely reminders to us that America has a history of ideals that emerged from open debate and the exchange of ideas essential to its core existence.
The Egg performed by Ken Howard (Thomas Jefferson), Howard Da Silva (Benjamin Franklin), and William Daniels (John Adams) reprising their Broadway roles in the film version of 1776.Read More »A 1776 Happy 4th of July
NY – In response to ongoing demand, the Behind the Scenes Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Initiative has posted new online Mental Health First… Read More »Behind the Scenes Announces Mental Health First Aid Training Classes in August for Entertainment Industry Workers
Actors’ Equity Association, the national union representing more than 51,000 professional stage managers and actors in live theatre, has updated its safety protocols for theatres across the country with fully vaccinated companies, including the lifting of masking and testing mandates. These new guidelines have been significantly streamlined compared to previous versions.Read More »Equity Releases New Streamlined COVID Safety Protocols; AEA and LORT Agreement on Safety Protocols
DAYTON, OHIO —Scenic Solutions LLC is pleased to welcome Veronica R. Bishop as Senior Project Manager. This is a new position for the company. Bishop’s… Read More »Scenic Solutions LLC Hires Veronica R. Bishop as Senior Project Manager
RETURN TO THE STAGE, a study of the impact of COVID-19 on Performing Arts workers, is conducting its third and final survey July 1-14. The study authors of the survey, Meg Friedman and David J. McGraw, note that over 4,700 workers participated in the first two surveys. For this final survey they have added some new questions as venues begin to reopen.
If you worked or volunteered in the Performing Arts in the United States from March 2019 through March 2020, please make your voice heard and participate in this study. To read previous reports and to participate in this final survey, visit www.returntothestage.com. Read More »Return to the Stage Final Survey now open until July 14th
After conducting a thorough national search, the Alliance Theatre is pleased to announce that Shaina Pierce has been chosen as the inaugural Stage Management Fellow for the Alliance Theatre, beginning August 1, 2021, and continuing until the end of its 2021/22 Season. Pierce is a recent graduate of the University of Alabama and has worked with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Cloverdale Playhouse, the Montgomery Ballet, and Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre.
Pierce received her MFA in stage management from The University of Alabama. While at UA, some of her credits included The Merchant of Venice, Intimate Apparel, and Legally Blonde (int. COVID). She has taught and mentored undergraduate stage managers and enjoys learning as much as she does sharing her artistry. Previous credits include Comedy of Errors, Cinderella, and Disney’s The Little Mermaid at The Alabama Shakespeare Festival. She stage-managed The Last Five Years and The Boys Next Door at the Cloverdale Playhouse. She has also worked for the Montgomery Ballet’s The Nutcracker and stage-managed Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre at UA. Pierce has been a part of numerous staged readings as well as zoom recorded readings.Read More »Alliance Theatre Names Shaina Pierce the First Stage Management Fellow
PRIMOS, PA – The Long Reach Long Riders (LRLR) recently announced the successful completion of their 18th annual charity motorcycle ride, A River Runs Through It. The annual ride, which benefits the Behind the Scenes Charity and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, began and finished in Woodbury, MN June 20-26.
The upcoming virtual North American Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference (NATEAC) will host two sessions that embrace gender issues in the building design industry. Please… Read More »The North American Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference to address gender issues
June 30, 2021—Present and future students at Yale University’s drama school will no longer pay tuition, thanks to a landmark $150 million gift from entertainment executive and philanthropist David Geffen, the university announced today. The donation—the largest on record in the history of American theater—makes the school the only institution of its kind to eliminate tuition for all degree and certificate students, removing financial barriers to access. In recognition of the gift, Yale School of Drama is now the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University.Read More »Yale’s Drama School Goes Tuition-Free and is renamed David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University
The Santa Fe Opera has appointed Eileen Garcia as its new Properties Director. Garcia had returned earlier this year as the Interim Properties Director to take the place of longtime SFO Properties Director Randy Lutz, who died on January 12, 2021. Stage Directions sends its sincere congratulations to Garcia and look forward to hearing all about her next act!Read More »Eileen Garcia Appointed Properties Director at the Santa Fe Opera
The National Endowment for the Arts announces the release of the report Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium, the result of a two-year field scan, an initiative of the Arts Endowment in collaboration with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The field scan and report explore the multi-faceted practices of artists who engage with digital technologies in both the creative and functional aspects of their work. The report also looks at the training and exhibition infrastructure that tech-centered artists have developed to pursue their creative practices and diagnoses a critical need for funding to advance the field. Here’s a video of the work of 3-Legged Dog on Designer, Writer, and Director Kevin Cunningham’ work on Losing Something and its work with technology:
Read More »NEA News | Releases New Report on Artists’ Use of Technology as a Creative Medium