Stage Directions back issues from August 2008:
Examining Assumptions
Aug 01, 2008; ... I recently enjoyed the opportunity to hear Oskar Eustis speak on a panel after a performance of Mike Daise/s controversially titled How Theater Failed America. The panel's ostensible topic was "Theatre in 2033," and Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theatre, laid out one heck of a ...
Letters
Aug 01, 2008; ... Happy 20th Anniversary! Not to toot our own horn, but being around 20 years is a pretty nice achievement. This month in letters, as a tribute to our first two decades, we thought we'd print some of the unabashedly great things our readers have to say about us. All of this comes with a ...
NAACP Theatre Awards Salute Black Theatre
Aug 01, 2008; ... The Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP Annual Theatre Awards hosted the 18th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. This year's theme, "Salute to Black Theatre," celebrates the evolution of the portrayal of African Americans in theatre, from unrealistic, stereotypical ...
Equity and Broadway League Reach Tentative Agreement
Aug 01, 2008; ... Actors' Equity Association, the national union of stage actors and stage managers, and The Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway and touring industry, have successfully reached a new 39-month tentative agreement for their production contract. The collective ...
Three Theaters Unite to Form National Middle Eastern Plays Initiative
Aug 01, 2008; ... Three theatre organizations from across the nation, GoldenThread Productions in San Francisco, the Lark Play Development Center in New York and Silk Road Theatre Project in Chicago are collaborating to form Middle East America: A National New Plays Initiative. This initiative represents the ...
Chauvet Delivers Interstate Tour Training Sessions
Aug 01, 2008; ... Chauvet has set up summer school with its 2008 Interstate Tour training sessions. Started in June, the lighting manufacturer is taking new and flagship products on the road for a series of free two-day seminars consisting of training, Q&A sessions and demonstrations led by Product Specialist ...
Manhattan Theatre Club Awards Playwrights, Renames Biltmore Theatre
Aug 01, 2008; ... Manhattan Theatre Club has announced the recipients of its first Bank of America Playwright Commissioning Program. The three recipients are David Lindsay-Abaire, Noah Haidle and Liz Flahive. Bank of America has provided a grant to Manhattan Theatre Club to support this three-year ...
Royal Shakespeare Company Stage Techs Injured After Scenery Collapses
Aug 01, 2008; ... Three Royal Shakespeare Company stage technicians were injured when a piece of scenery collapsed during a set change at Stratford's Courtyard Theatre. According to reports, RSC Stage Supervisor Roger Haymes was seriously injured when a large perspex sheet at the back of the stage fell ...
Wybron Promotes John Sondericker to Director of Technologies
Aug 01, 2008; ... Wybron, Inc. has promoted John Sondericker to director of technologies. In his new role at Wybron, Sondericker will help the company stay abreast of new ...
Paper and Pencil ETCP Exams Offered at LDI 2008
Aug 01, 2008; ... All three ETCP examinations will be given at the October 2008 LDI show in Las Vegas. The entertainment electrician exam is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 24; the arena rigging exam is to be given the morning of Saturday, Oct. 25, and the theatre rigging exam ...
About Face Theatre Names Artistic Director
Aug 01, 2008; ... Bonnie Metzgar has been named artistic director for Chicago's About Face Theatre. Metzgar is an awardwinning producer, director, playwright and dramaturg. Before joining About Face, she was a professor and director of the graduate playwriting program at Brown University. In addition to her ...
American Repertory Theatre Appoints Artistic Director
Aug 01, 2008; ... Harvard University and the American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) have announced the appointment of Diane Paulus as artistic director. She will be the third artistic leader of the A.R.T., following founding director Robert Brustein (1980-2002) and Robert Woodruff ...
Moving Slower (and Louder) than Light
Aug 01, 2008; ... How moving lights can work in straight plays without being upstaging monsters. The first thing budding young lighting designers ask me is, "Can we use the moving lights in this production?" Okay, so Our Town is probably not the best candidate, but I do try to encourage creativity and ...
Tools of the Trade
Aug 01, 2008; ... Audio-Technica PRO 92cW Headworn Mic Audio-Technica's new PRO 92cW subminiature omnidirectional condenser headworn microphone is a low-profile headworn microphone that uses a small condenser capsule, making it suitable for applications requiring minimum visibility. In addition, the PRO ...
Back in Time
Aug 01, 2008; ... Scott Lehrer uses high-tech gear to get the period right for his Tony Award-winning design on South Pacific. Most revivals of a Broadway classic usually take a generation or so to come around. But Rodgers & Hammerstein's beloved classic South Pacific hadn't graced a stage on the ...
Creating Space in the Great Outdoors
Aug 01, 2008; ... The Peninsula Players braved a harsh northern winter for a timely renovation. The Peninsula Players Theatre, America's oldest professional resident summer theatre, is celebrating its 73rd season in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Those who visit the Players know we provide a unique ...
Renewal in Northport
Aug 01, 2008; ... Named to honor a fallen brother, the John W. Engemen Theater was completed double-quick. What a difference a year makes. In June 2006, the Northport Theater was a faded movie house with an uncertain future. A year later to the month, it transformed into the John W. Engeman Theater at ...
SD's EVOLUTIONARY TIMELINE
Aug 01, 2008; ... July 1988: The first issue of Stage Directions, an eight-page newsletter printed in two colors (black and burgundy) appears. The lead story is "The Actor's Nightmare," an article about what to do when you forget your lines. June 1989: The first ad appears (from Sitter's Supplies, ...
Sweat It Out, Part I
Aug 01, 2008; ... Like dad used to say, "I'm glad the experience was worth it. Now get a job." With the summer season wrapping up and the academic theatre seasons from coast to coast ramping up for their hectic builds, TDs everywhere find themselves inundated with stories about "what I did last summer." ...
Success Is an Open Book
Aug 01, 2008; ... New titles on leadership, management and fundraising What's the difference between leadership and management? You can't lead inventories, cash flow, costs, information, time, structures, processes, facilities and tools. You have to manage them. Why? Because things don't have the power ...
20/20 Hindsight
Aug 01, 2008; ... How an eight-page newsletter became the national magazine of practical theatre. It began in 1981, in the Veterans Memorial Theatre in Davis, Calif. Sitting next to Susan Wershing in the house during a break in rehearsals for A Little Night Music (I was director, she was ...
Top of the Crop
Aug 01, 2008; ... An inside look at three of the country's best theatre management grad programs. Looking to pursue that MA, MFA or PhD in theatre management? Today's students can choose from university programs offering innovative curriculum, top technical know-how and a frank approach to the realities ...
All In the Family
Aug 01, 2008; ... Plays that explore the ties that bind "Happy families are all alike," goes the opening to Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. "Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Indeed, conflict among family members has been a dramatic staple since Euripides (and most likely, before). If Eugene ...
Curtain Up on the Small Screen
Aug 01, 2008; ... When preparing for your unlimited engagement on YouTube, there are a few things to consider. If you log onto YouTube and type Theatre Askew (my company's name) into the search engine, you will be offered four online videos to choose from for your viewing pleasure. One is of a rock band ...
Building the Empty Space
Aug 01, 2008; ... How to work with architects and consultants to make your dream theatre a reality Considering the size of the investment in a new or upgraded theatre space, and how long that space will be used, the enormity of whaf s at stake becomes obvious. In order to give theatres, performing arts ...
Avoid the Dot Bomb
Aug 01, 2008; ... These theatres wed traditional marketing strategies to Internet tools to successfully grow their audience. Back in the Stone Age of 1996, a long-haired information technology-type friend of mine was trying to convince a major LORT theatre to create a Web site. The theatre marketing ...
Your Ticket Please
Aug 01, 2008; ... Ticketing services abound to tit any theatre's need. "You don't really have a choice to not have a ticketing system anymore," says Jeffrey Larris of Intex (the International Ticketing Association). "You have to invest in it, because patrons want to do business that way." "A good ...
Girding for War
Aug 01, 2008; ... Building a 20th Century opera in a 19th century armory presented some challenges for riggers. Lincoln Center recently presented the American premiere of RuhrTriennale's production of the seminal opera, DleSoldaten, by German expressionist composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann. The production ...