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This year there were three separate productions of Glengarry Glen Ross in the Bay Area meaning the play was running for four months straight: one production in San Francisco, one in Berkeley, and one in Alameda. I should say there was one ten day stretch where GGR wasn't playing, but there was also one ten day stretch wherein two were happening at the same time, 11 miles apart, so they sort of cancel each other out in my non-scientific mind. I wonder if both of those Ricky Romas were looking up at the same moon.

The new experimental study published in Education Next examines the impact on students of attending high-quality theater productions of either Hamlet or A Christmas Carol. The researchers found that viewing the productions leads to enhanced knowledge of the plot, increased vocabulary, greater tolerance and improved ability to read the emotions of others.

"Artists frequently hide the steps that lead to their masterpieces. They want their work and their career to be shrouded in the mystery that it all came out at once. It's called hiding the brushstrokes, and those who do it are doing a disservice to people who admire their work and seek to emulate them. If you don't get to see the notes, the rewrites, and the steps, it's easy to look at a finished product and be under the illusion that it just came pouring out of someone's head like that. People who are young, or still struggling, can get easily discouraged, because they can't do it like they thought it was done. An artwork is a finished product, and it should be, but I always swore to myself that I would not hide my brushstrokes."

" But why does mere revision make so many Shakespeare fans so uncomfortable? Some people don't like any alterations to Shakespeare's text nor even presenting them in anything other than their historical settings. To me, such an ultrapurist approach can lead to what I somewhat derisively call "museum piece Shakespeare"-though, I must say, I do enjoy visiting and spending hours in museums, and among my favorite stagings of Shakespeare are text-centric, historically costumed productions. But even these are cut for length. Furthermore, to varying degrees, each could be called an "adaptation" because any time an actor picks up a Shakespearean role, he or she is adapting it for that production, and sometimes adapting it from performance to performance, depending on the theater and audience."

Here are two videos that I've probably watched a couple dozen times each. They're both of the title song from the current Broadway production of Anything Goes.

The Stage Manager's monologue at the start of the 1989 Lincoln Center Theater production of Our Town, starring Spalding Gray as the stage manager. For more infomation visit www.mastervision.com.

Put on a stage-crew intercom headset and listen to stage manager, Mark Stevens, calling some of the lighting, follow spot and set cues for the San Diego REP's musical production of "HAIRSPRAY." No rehearsed action is taken by the stage crew unless they hear the word "GO" from Mark's lips. The sound feed from the actors has been turned down on the headset so the crew members can clearly hear Mark's directions. No talking on the intercom please.

He adds "I had my luck because Robert Mackintosh decided to drive to Guilford to see Putting it Together. I wouldn't be here now if that hadn't happened. Actually, I'd say it's 60% who you know and 40% what you know."

An Edmonton theatre company has cancelled its production of Othello after controversy erupted over the casting of a white woman as the lead, traditionally a role filled by a person of colour.

Long after the stars take their final bows, production assistants, dressers, marketing directors, designers, physical therapists and house managers keep the Broadway business running. They are among the minds at work behind the bright lights and creative forces driving the industry forward.

I have been teaching properties design and production classes at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for over two decades. Prior to that, I worked professionally as a properties director, properties artisan and designer when UWM recruited me to start a props training program in the professional training tracks. Students came to the theatre department with a passion for technical theatre having hung lights, built scenery, or run a show in high school or community theatre. However few were familiar with props or had even an inkling a professional properties career was a possibility. Each class of students sifted out a gifted few who excelled in the props area. These students have gone on to have highly successfu

"One of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies, Twelfth Night was 'blissfully reborn' (Telegraph) for the 2012/13 season at London's Globe Theatre, under the direction of Tim Carroll. The hilarious tale of misdirection and deception is performed here by an all-male cast, among whom we find Mark Rylance as Olivia and Roger Lloyd-Pack as Sir Anthony Aguecheek. The production also marks Stephen Fry's triumphant return to the stage as the pompous Malvolio, ridiculous in his yellow stockings."

"Then there is the flip side, the shitheads who seem to ruin every production they're involved with or ruin theatre all together for others. I can't stand these people and try to avoid working with them as much as possible. So here is a list of the worst people in theatre that I've either worked with or encountered in some fashion. Some of these might sound familiar."

Equally comfortable playing romantic leads and action heroes, he has never been quite a force in theatre. This is partly a matter of choice. He has prioritised screen roles over stage opportunities. The last time he acted on stage was in 2009 in a popular West End production of Richard Greenberg's three-hander Three Days of Rain. In the mean time he has been taking a while to shake off the halo of urgent youth. He has tended to play callow characters more sinned against than sinning - the closest he's come to anything like villainy is as Idi Amin's morally compromised medic.

One of my favorite lessons I do is having my students work in groups to create TV commercials inspired by works. Check it out below. It never fails to be a fun time in the classroom!

Rentals and classifieds for theaters in the US.

Use this free tool to play nature sounds on headphones while reading or meditating or just for fun.

Staged Play Filmed by Jasmine Castillo

"Soundplant turns your computer keyboard into a versatile, low latency sound trigger and playable instrument. Via drag-and-drop, easily assign sound files of any format and length onto 72 keyboard keys, creating custom soundboards that put hours of instantly-playing audio at your fingertips with no extra hardware needed."