Tucson Chamber Music Group Puzzled By Actors’ Union Ban

Equity warns its members not to work with Tucson’s Chamber Music Plus Southwest. But “we’re not a theater organization. It doesn’t fit. If we were a theater organization, where actors came in for a week at a time and you had costumes and sets, that’s Equity. What we do is no different than what the New York Philharmonic does. . . . It’s a guest appearance by an actor; it’s not an Equity situation. But they don’t seem to understand this.”

Strike.TV Takes To The Web

“Strike.tv plans to launch this summer with more than 40 shortform programs, including comedies, dramas and a game show. Some programs will be serialized while others will be standalone; the site has yet to secure advertising. The impetus for the online network came from writers who wanted to generate revenue for out-of-work colleagues.”

Chicago’s Drury Lane Theatre Becomes A Hot Venue

When Chicago’s Drury Lane Theatre opened on Michigan Ave. in 2005 it had a rocky start. Now not so much. “A lot of shows are now circling red-hot downtown Chicago looking for a venue. We don’t have enough theaters with more than 500 seats. A whole lot of in-town and out-of-town producers want a piece of Drury Lane. So does Broadway in Chicago, which would dearly love to program all the shows at the Drury Lane Water Tower and would probably do a fine job.”

Barbershop Quartets Fight Over Their Heritage

The signature sound of four unaccompanied male voices singing in harmony has been the roots of the style, but modernizers want new blood and fresh ideas. Supporters of the traditional style are also known as ‘kibbers,’ for the slogan ‘Keep It Barbershop.’ The traditionalists question the use of modern songs in barbershop harmonizing. Some say the chord structures don’t lend themselves to harmonizing because they are based on the blues, not classical sounds.”