After Chita Rivera passed away earlier this year on 30th of January, a petition for renaming a broadway theatre after her has surfaced. The Broadway actress had recently celebrated her 91st birthday when she passed, and was a true Broadway legend during her career. She has long inspired other Latin Americans to pursue dreams of Broadway careers in theatre and if the petition is successful she could very well add another first to her list of accomplishments.
In this interview with Kiira Schmidt Carper, she goes through her entire career. From her start on Broadway, to her latest work with Opera Australia’s West Side Story as being the choreographer all while being a professor. During her career, she even got to record with the Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim. She has been on several national tours, lived in New York City, and performed world wide.
In this interview with Patrick Whitbread, he discusses his time touring New Zealand and Australia for nearly a decade. His new role in Opera Australia’s West Side Story is one he is familiar with from his own theatrical past. He is coming back to playing the role of Riff, one he has not portrayed since his time at the WAAPA during his Music Theatre course. In this interview he looks back at his extensive career over the past ten years and what he hopes to see for his future roles.
From the time a show closes at one venue to the time it opens at another, the logistics of concert tours can baffle even those who have been touring for decades. The take down, transition and instalment of a show can take anywhere from several hours to several days. Some concert tours are the size of small cities, especially when the performer or band is an extremely well known ‘A-Lister’.
American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper sells her publishing catalogue and the majority share of her master recording revenue to Pophouse Entertainment Group. This is the Swedish entertainment company’s first US deal, however Pophouse Entertainment Group have already made a name for themselves through ABBA’s Voyage and the upcoming KISS avatar show.
As of Wednesday, 6th of March, Jeremy Hunt announced a permanent rate for Theatre Tax Relief (TTR). The chancellor announced the rate of 45% for touring productions and 40% for non-touring shows. This announcement comes just before the general election, and has been the saving grace for the entire live entertainment industry throughout the United Kingdom.
In this interview with Michael Schade, we get an exclusive insight to his life before he became a celebrated opera singer and why he dedicates so much of his work and passion to helping those in need. Michael Schade is a Canadian opera singer who was raised in Germany and Canada. He appears regularly on several well known opera stages across the world, and in 2017 he was granted the tittle Officer to the Order of Canada (O.C.).
For the first time ever, the Oper! Awards 2024 took place outside of Germany and were more international than previous years. The awards ceremony was live streamed from Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The awards took place 29 January of this year and 20 winners walked away with Oper! Awards.
During the 66th annual Grammy Awards, some rare appearances were made and fans everywhere were excited about the return of some favourites in the entertainment industry. The nominees are chosen by members of the Recording Academy the night before the awards. The nominations for this year’s Grammy Awards were announced in mid November last year.
Elton John achieves EGOT status after being the recipient of an Emmy Award for Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium. This achievement was greatly deserved as Elton John has had a lengthy career since his debut album back in 1969 (later released in the U.S. in early 1975). He was one of the first openly gay artists and gave a voice to the LGBTQ+ community. Although he claims he has retired from touring, the artist still does the occasional show and is rumoured to be working on a new album.
The Golden Globes awards ceremony had several surprising and unforgettable moments. The Golden Globes has been honouring professionals in the film and television industry since 1944 and spotlights outstanding achievements in filmmaking, so it came as no shock to see such great nominations at this year’s ceremony. The categories cover everything from motion pictures, performances, television series, and breaking box office records.
Copyright basics about the music industry can be a difficult concept to grasp, even once you are in the industry. The more that you know about copyright, the better you’ll be able to protect what you’ve worked on and help ensure you will be properly paid for that work.
Glynis Johns, after 100 years on Earth, has passed away. While the British actress became best known for her role in Mary Poppins, she heavily contributed to live theatre, film, and an eight decade career most people in Hollywood only dream of.
After a major concern of low pay and drop of health coverage, adjunct faculty at USC School of Cinematic Arts seek to form a union. Majority (roughly 75%) of adjunct staff have signed on to join the UAW as they seek benefits, higher pay, better work conditions, expandable careers, and other demands.
The series The Traitors has helped with continuing generating millions of pounds for the Highland economy from TV and Film industries. Following another success, this production supports filming in the local region helping market its reputation as a filming location. The Traitors production company, Studio Lambert Scotland, aided in finding the perfect location spot as well as finding local crew and services.
Some common thespian terms that almost everyone in the theatrical and live events industry knows are great to have in your vocabulary if you want to get a foot in the door. Some of these term are more technically inclined while others are used more commonly by performers. Either way, these terms are heard throughout any stage of careers by those in the live events industry.
Multiple sources confirmed that the superstar Taylor Swift gave massive bonuses to crew on Eras tour. This generous bonus totaled over $55 million to everyone working on the tour. Dancers, caterers, truck drivers, and everyone in between was given the bonuses sometime while on the road with Taylor Swift during the Eras Tour.
How to read a stage plot is something one learns from almost their first day on the job in the industry. A stage plot is a day-to-day occurrence for anyone who works within music venues. These documents often depict bands and performers of various types on the stage and what they will need to make the show happen on that stage. For some bands, it is as simple as a basic drum kit set up, a D.I. (direct input) box for their keyboard, another D.I. for the guitar play, and enough microphones to cover anyone doing vocals. When you start getting into the major leagues however, stage plots can often require more. The opposite can sometimes be said for performers just starting out in the industry.
In this interview with Anna-Louise Cole she goes into detail about being in The Ring Cycle for the second time in her career, being mentored by Lise Lindstrom, and her time in Opera in Germany. Although this is her second Ring Cycle, this specific one is a world first and she explains why she is so excited to be apart of it.
Lise Lindstrom is an American soprano opera singer who has been given the amazing opportunity to play the leading lady, Brünnhilde in the first two cycles of The Ring Cycle in Brisbane. Lise has several major productions under her belt, including her current role Brünnhilde in her first Ring Cycle back in 2016. This will be her first time completing a full Ring Cycle as the character.
The looming threat of A.I. in the SAG-AFTRA tentative agreement is still ongoing. As more information is becoming public, it’s quite clear that the majority of the public is against the deal regarding the sections of artificial intelligence. The SAG-AFTRA union promised its members when they went on strike earlier this Summer, that artificial intelligence would be regulated in its usage and would not harm the careers of its members. That is not the case according to the new tentative agreement that SAG-AFTRA secured, and is awaiting a vote…
Contrary to what most people believe, studio time is not all about parties and bringing in as many people as possible to fit into a small space. Quite the contrary actually, as maximising studio time greatly helps with furthering careers for those recording as well as everyone involved behind the scenes such as the mixing engineer, producer, and the talent’s agent. There are only a few ways everyone walks away satisfied, and oftentimes it’s difficult to get everyone involved to agree on how something should be.
These rules of a stagehand can help make your experience be a little easier. As discussed before, being a stagehand in a venue is hard work, but it is where most people in the live entertainment industry start out in their careers whether for the hands-on experience before applying to larger roles, or overall knowledge before deciding a specialty. This is why it is considered a starting point, or closing point, to one’s career in the industry. Stagehands can also be those who are in-between contracts and looking to keep working until their next contract begins. Whatever the reason, these are tips from long-standing stagehands who have been around the block and seen many shows come and go.
An Industry Report since BREXIT became official has been released to the public, and things are not looking good for the live entertainment industry. The insight from several major organisations makes it clear that a smoother service is needed for those working in the industry and something more sustainable is being called for. The report highlights concerns from the masses who have to deal with the ins and outs of BREXIT and trying to work in the European Union from the UK, or the other way around. In short, the complexities of BREXIT and the added issues of a pandemic have made European work for UK professionals and vice versa nearly impossible and definitely not for the faint of heart.
