On The Campaign Trail - Actors and theatre staff are being urged to make sure they have made arrangements to vote in next month’s election amid warnings that those working away from home on Christmas shows could be disenfranchised.
Matt Hood, Equity’s assistant general secretary, described the election date as “inconvenient for many”, adding: “For our members, many of whom will be working away from home on tour, in panto or filming, it runs the real risk of them losing their right to vote.”
Thomas Hescott, chief executive of Stage Directors UK, comments: “November and December is an extremely busy time of the year for our members, many of whom are working away from home on Christmas shows. The short notice means many of our members are already away working and so have little opportunity to organise postal ballots. We are concerned that our members will struggle to be able to vote in such an important election.”
Safety First - Theatre staff working at the Piccadilly Theatre on the night its ceiling collapsed have been praised for their “quick and professional actions”. Industry body the Society of London Theatre said front-of-house staff and emergency services handled the situation quickly and safely. “We were immensely impressed with the quick and professional actions of staff and emergency services at the Piccadilly Theatre. More than 1,000 theatregoers were safely and calmly evacuated from the theatre by well-trained staff, who have been commended by many people attending the performance,” it said in a statement.

Major Revamp - The Brit Awards have announced a major revamp for 2020, with fewer awards and an end to fan votes. Organisers promise "more music" as a result, with artists being given full creative control of their performances. Prizes like Best British Video and Best International Group have been cut, while the outstanding contribution award has been retired for 2020. Despite press reports earlier this year, gendered awards will remain part of the ceremony.
The changes come after several years of falling ratings. This year's ceremony, which saw performances from Pink, Dua Lipa and George Ezra, was watched by 4.1m people, down 400,000 from 2018.
This year, all awards will be decided by a 1,200-strong "official voting academy", made up of “experts” from all areas of the music industry. Brits chairman David Joseph explained the changes, saying: "We will be putting creativity, British culture and exceptional performances at the heart of the show to make Brits night a world class celebration.”
MTV EMAs - BTS won three categories at this year's MTV Europe Music Awards held on 3 November in Seville. The K-pop seven-piece won in the best group, best live and biggest fans categories. Flying the flag for the UK were Little Mix (Best UK & Ireland Act), Liam Gallagher (Rock Icon) and FKA Twigs (Best Alternative). Ariana Grande and Lil Nas X came away empty-handed, despite starting the night with seven and six nominations respectively. Niall Horan, Halsey and Mabel were among the performers, while US singer Becky G hosted. Liam Gallagher closed

Property Moves - An immersive Monopoly experience is the first show to be announced under a new partnership between Selladoor Worldwide and games company Hasbro Inc. The collaboration will see the theatre company and Hasbro adapt more boardgames into live experiences in the future. While further productions have not yet been confirmed, other boardgames in Hasbro’s portfolio include Cluedo, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Twister and Operation.
Monopoly will run at a location in London which is yet to be announced in 2020. The experience will include a 75-minute segment where teams will compete to win tasks in order to move along the board, buy properties, and attempt to win the game. Features from the game including famous London landmarks, chance, community chest and jail will all be “brought to life” in a space that will also feature cafes, bars and shops.
David Hutchinson, chief executive of Selladoor Worldwide, said: “We’ve been working for over a year with Hasbro on this exciting partnership, developing our concept and vision to bring one of the world’s biggest board game brands to life in this thrilling experiential theatre landscape. Trends in our sector are moving in a very exciting direction with demand from a new generation of theatregoers looking to experience live theatre differently, and to be immersed in the world of the narrative in a different way.”
Vice-president of location-based entertainment at Hasbro, Matt Proulx, added: “Launching the Monopoly experience in London n

Lead Guitar - Some of the biggest names in rock and roll including Sir Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Steve Winwood, Mark Knopfler, Pete Townshend, Albert Lee, David Gilmour, Joe Brown, Richard Thompson and Dave Pegg have signed a guitar to be auctioned in honour of stroke victim Jerry Donahue.
In 2016, American guitarist Jerry Donahue suffered a catastrophic stroke, almost certainly ending his career as one of the world’s finest folk-rock guitarists. The former Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and Hellecasters guitarist, was regarded by the music media as an extremely talented musician with an extraordinary technical approach to string bending.
“To have so many famous signatures on this guitar is a fantastic achievement,” says close friend Dave Pegg, bassist in Fairport convention. “We know that the guitar will raise many thousands of pounds and all the money raised from the auction will go towards Jerry's rehabilitation in the USA.”
The guitar itself, donated by John Hornby Skewes, is Jerry Donahue’s own Vintage Signature V58, built to his own specifications as a collaboration with specialist guitar and hardware designer Trevor Wilkinson and JHS managing director Dennis Drumm.
The auction, to be held at Gardiner Houlgate’s Bath Auction rooms, on 11 December 2019, is expected to attract attention from collectors and music fans from all over the world.
Sound Move - The Dolby Institute has partnered with the AES Educational Foundation to offer the Dolby Institute Scholarship, award

Glastonbury 2020 - Tickets for next year's Glastonbury Festival sold out in just over half an hour. All 135,000 tickets for the 2020 event were bought within 34 minutes, according to organisers. Demand for the Somerset festival far outstripped supply, as 2.4m people registered to try to attend.
Glastonbury celebrates its 50th year in 2020, and big acts are expected to be booked to appear on the various stages at Worthy Farm. Sir Paul McCartney has hinted he may return to play the festival in its anniversary year.
Emily Eavis, daughter of founder Michael, tweeted: "We have now sold out. Thank you all for your incredible, continued support. Demand was higher than ever, with over 2.4 million people registered. Bring on 2020!"
Carbon Neutral Theatre - Shell’s membership of the National Theatre will come to an end next year, as the arts organisation unveils an accelerated goal of making itself carbon neutral in the face of the climate emergency. The National Theatre lists fossil fuel company Shell as one of its corporate Gold members. Prices for this band of membership begin at £15,000 a year.
It has not been made clear whose decision it was for the partnership to end in June 2020, but a statement from the National Theatre said: “Shell have been valued and longstanding supporters of the National Theatre, most recently as corporate members – this membership will come to an end in June 2020.”
The end of Shell’s association with the theatre follows earlier news that the Royal Shakespeare Company has ended its longstanding partn

Gendered Awards - The Brit Awards say they will review the way they distribute prizes, with one option being the abolition of separate male and female categories. But reports that gendered awards have already been axed are "based on rumour and speculation", organisers said. "We can 100% confirm that there will be male and female awards in the UK and international categories in February 2020," they told the BBC.
The statement was issued after a story in The Sunday Times at the weekend claimed organisers wanted to accommodate non-binary artists - who identify as neither male nor female - and that scrapping gender-specific categories was the likely outcome. The report came a week after pop star Sam Smith asked fans to call them by the pronouns "they/them", not "he/him". "After a lifetime of being at war with my gender I've decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out," they wrote on Instagram.
Rumours of the Brit Awards shake-up prompted an outburst from Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan, who accused organisers of "wrecking" their reputation.
Live in Birmingham - Wizkid has been announced as the headline act for this year's BBC Radio 1Xtra Live music event. The Nigerian singer will join the likes of French Montana, Ms Banks, Aitch and DaniLeigh at Arena Birmingham on 5 October. Other acts performing at the event include Headie One, Miraa May, Stylo G, and Lil Tecca.
Joseph Returns - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is set to return to the London Palladium next year for a second summer run. Th

Europe - From The Road to the Billboard Music Awards with NBC Universal, to the Thanksgiving Parade Celebrations in New York City, and a recent show in Las Vegas, Production Zync Entertainment are cementing their partnership in the world of design and production, and PRG has supported a diverse range of productions for them across the world.
Over the last seven months PRG has been working closely with newly formed Production Zync Entertainment, on the delivery and execution of a range of television, music, sport and live projects, from studio to arena across Europe, the US, and the UK.
PRG has provided Production Zync with a fully supported ‘one stop shop’ technical production solution across multiple territories, including equipment, crew, transportation, logistics, and pre-visualisation support.
With sites in London and Los Angeles, Production Zync combines production lighting design and complete production solutions, with technical provision.
The label was jointly founded by ITV’s former head of scenic and lighting (The London Studios) Dave Stevens, and production & lighting designer / director of production Steff Jones. Dave serves as managing director, with Jones as creative director & director of production.
The label specialises in the design, management, execution and delivery of the A to Z in production from inception to execution of TV shows, to international tours and music videos, to one-off bespoke live projects and events.
Dave spent almost 30 years at ITV’s The London Studios where he headed up li

Glastonbury Records - Kylie Minogue's decades-spanning greatest hits set has become the most-watched Glastonbury performance ever, according to BBC figures. An average audience of 3.2m people tuned in to see her play the festival's legend slot, beating previous highs set by Ed Sheeran and Adele. Viewership peaked at 3.9m during the closing minutes of Kylie's set, as she played Dancing and Spinning Around. The emotional show came 14 years after a cancer diagnosis forced the star to pull out of a planned headline slot.
This year's Glastonbury saw a significant shift in viewership, with audiences increasingly choosing to catch up with performances online. The total number of online requests, including YouTube views, iPlayer requests and live streams, reached 37.5m - an increase of 86% from 2017 (Glastonbury took a year off in 2018). However, TV viewership was down - from 23m in 2017 to 21.1m this year; although that figure is still the second-highest on record.
Rebranding Potter - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has unveiled new branding and a new logo at its London home, bringing the theatre production in line with the book and film franchise worldwide. Producers said the global expansion of the play meant that they now wanted to “coordinate the marketing of the show around the world so there was consistency across all territories”.
Written by Jack Thorne and based on a story by Thorne, director John Tiffany and Harry Potter creator JK Rowling, the play premiered in London in 2016, featuring a new story set 19 yea

USA - Three new or revised standards are available for public review on the ESTA TSP website at estalink.us/pr.
Those materially affected by the proposals is invited to review them and to offer comments before the deadline.
BSR E1.62, Minimum specifications for mass-produced portable platforms, ramps, stairs, and choral risers for live performance events is being offered for a fourth public review. The proposed standard covers mass-produced portable platforms, stair units and ramps used with those platforms, and choral risers, designed to be used for the presentation of music concerts, dramatic plays, fashion shows, and other entertainment and special events. The units covered by this standard are of a size and weight that allows them to be moved and erected by one or two people. The scope also covers the railings provided as fall protection accessories, and the legging systems. The public review runs through to 23 September.
BSR E1.4-3, Entertainment Technology - Manually Operated Hoist Rigging Systems, is a standard for permanently installed, human-powered manually operated hoists, used as part of rigging systems for raising, lowering, and suspension of scenery, properties, lighting, and similar loads This standard establishes requirements for the design, manufacture, installation, inspection, and maintenance of manual hoist systems for lifting and suspension of loads for performance, presentation, and theatrical product

Hey Jude - China's oldest symphony orchestra played their first ever BBC Prom on Sunday, and after playing pieces by Rachmaninov and Mozart, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra launched into a raucous version of The Beatles' Hey Jude in a surprise encore. Conductor Long Yu encouraged Prommers to sing along, which they did, before giving the players a standing ovation. "We're very happy," said Yu. "Please accept our warm wish from Shanghai." The concert marked the end of the orchestra's 140th anniversary tour, which began in the US three weeks ago.
Picture Post - Sir Elton John features on a new set of Royal Mail stamps to celebrate his contribution to music. The singer-songwriter is only the second individual music artist to be given such an honour, with David Bowie featuring in 2017. Eight of the Sir Elton stamps feature images of some of his most popular album covers. They include his 1972 breakthrough record Honky Chateau which features the track Rocket Man.
The album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road which features the songs Candle In The Wind, Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting and Bennie And The Jets, is also celebrated.Caribou is another one of the albums that features on one of the stamps. Also commemorated is Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy from 1975, which features Someone Saved My Life Tonight, with its cover designed by Gianni Versace. On Your Feet! - Gloria Estefan musical On Your Feet! is being lined up for a second summer run in the West End. Produ

Motown Gold - Stevie Wonder's Superstition has topped the chart of the most popular Motown tracks of all time in the UK. The 1972 single beat classics by the Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and the Temptations. The list of the top 100 Motown tracks was compiled by the Official Chart Company based on all time downloads and streams.
"I am proud to have been chosen at the top of such an incredibly talented group of artists," said Wonder. Overall the singer-songwriter legend had the most songs on the list with 20. His next most popular track was Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours), which came in at five.
The Empire Strikes Back - A new campaign group has been set up to bring the at risk Garston Empire in Liverpool back into use as an entertainment venue. The building has been disused for 10 years and was placed on the Theatres Trust Theatres at Risk Register in 2009 due to threat of demolition. Having opened in 1915, the Garston Empire operated as a theatre for three years before becoming a cinema. Its last use was as a bingo hall, which ended when it closed in 2009.
Now, a group of local residents, led by businessman Tony Murray, hope to see the building “returned to its glory days” as a theatre and multi-use entertainment venue. The venue has an estimated capacity of 1,000. Murray, who has previously worked as a bingo-caller at Hackney Empire in London, said: “The idea just came to me in a flash one day. I know that they have turned the Hackney Empire into a roaring success and I thought we could do the same thing

Early Closing - Peter Pan, the opening production at the Troubadour White City Theatre in west London, will close nearly two months earlier than planned, producers have announced. Sally Cookson’s devised adaptation of the JM Barrie novel began performances at the theatre in July and will have played for just six of the scheduled 14 weeks when it closes on 1 September.
A statement from the producers said: “The production received acclaim from critics and a hugely positive reaction from audiences, however due to ticket sales, we have reluctantly taken the decision to close in September. We’d like to thank our wonderfully talented cast and creative team for all of their hard work, as well as the audiences who have enjoyed the production.”
The production is the first show to play at Troubadour White City, one of two new theatres that were launched last month by the team behind the King’s Cross Theatre. The White City venue is situated on part of the former BBC Media Village, while the second theatre, Troubadour Wembley Park, is located in the former Fountain television studios.
Last Christmas - An unreleased, six-minute song from the late George Michael will feature in a new movie loosely based on his music. Last Christmas, released later this year, is set to star Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding and Emma Thompson. Its director Paul Feig told BBC News: "[George Michael] was putting together his new album when he passed. And one of our tracks is one of those songs, and it's just an absolutely amazing song that I'm so exc

Tax Relief - Nearly 3,400 productions benefitted from £78m worth of theatre tax relief last year, new statistics show. This represents a £1m increase on the total figure paid out in 2017/18, however the number of individual productions benefitting from tax credits increased by 13% in the same period.
Theatre tax relief, which was introduced in 2014, allows touring shows to claim back 25% on eligible costs. All other productions can be reimbursed for 20%. In the first year of the scheme, £15m was paid out, rising to £46m in the second year and £77m in 2017/18.
Statistics published by HM Revenue and Customs for 2018/19 reveal there were a total of 930 claims, representing 3,380 productions, of which 950 were touring and 2,430 non-touring. A single claim can request tax relief for multiple productions.
Financial secretary to the treasury, Jesse Norman, said: “The arts and creative industries make a vital contribution to the UK economy. These tax reliefs have helped support some astonishing and exciting work again this year, celebrating the very best of British culture.”
Famous Footsteps - Beatlemania returned to Abbey Road, 50 years on from the camera clicking on the image that would go on to become one of the most famous album covers ever created. Tribute act Fab Gear followed in the footsteps of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison to re-enact the zebra crossing photograph as about 2,500 fans cheered them on. Traffic stopped, musicians played and sang Beatles hits.
Fans travelled from all over the w

World Record - Ed Sheeran’s Divide Tour has been named the highest-grossing tour of all time, breaking a record set by U2 that had stood for eight years. Coming off the back of the chart-topping album of the same name, the Divide tour began in March 2017, and will have encompassed 255 shows when it finishes with four homecoming gigs in Ipswich later this month. So far it has grossed $736m (£607m), breaking U2’s record of $735m, with 12 dates still left to play.
It has also been named the most attended tour of all time: when it finishes, more than 8.5m people across 43 countries will have seen Sheeran perform, breaking U2’s record of 7.3m.
Writing on Instagram, Sheeran said: “Thanks so much for each and every one of you who have come to a show. 12 shows left, will never forget it.” Sheeran’s manager Stuart Camp told Pollstar, who amassed the tour data: “What Ed has accomplished is truly incredible - to even be in the same ballpark as [U2] or spoken in the same sentence with a touring act like that is very humbling.”
U2’s record was set in 2011 by their 110-date 360° tour. Rather than focusing on stadiums as U2 did, Sheeran has included more intimate arenas - his average concert attendance is 34,541, around half U2’s 66,091 average. He also rejected VIP areas and sold tickets at a relatively low price, 14.2% lower on average than U2’s, but the sheer number of dates has ensured the record was broken nonetheless.
Immersive Future - West End producer Hartshorn-Hook has unveiled an ambitious plan to become “the futu