Pro Sound Web: One of the first things I think I need to get into is money. They aren’t going to teach you the real money side of the production world in tech school.
The conservatory, Full Sail or wherever…They aren’t going to get into the survival side of it. I spent most of my career broke. It creates a strain on your mind, your wallet and your family.
Just want to share a few things I should have learned in the early days.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
An august assemblage of film talent
SFGate: By the time John Wells graduated from the prestigious drama department at Carnegie Mellon, all he could think about was running a repertory company. He was besotted with the classics and imagined mounting Shakespeare or Brecht as a way of life.
It was his particular desire to work at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where fellow Carnegie alum Bill Ball was doing exactly what Wells dreamed of and becoming nationally known for it.
"If I had gotten a job at ACT, I never would have ended up doing anything else,"
It was his particular desire to work at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where fellow Carnegie alum Bill Ball was doing exactly what Wells dreamed of and becoming nationally known for it.
"If I had gotten a job at ACT, I never would have ended up doing anything else,"
Frickin’ Lasers: Exploring Better Drum Sound
Pro Sound Web: The Sennheiser Technology & Innovation lab in California has created a new concept microphone designed to explore new tools for drum capture.
At its core, the Element system offers the ability to detect when an individual drum has been physically hit. This allows the engineer to carefully craft the sound of the drum set with less bleeding and tighter control over tone and dynamics.
At its core, the Element system offers the ability to detect when an individual drum has been physically hit. This allows the engineer to carefully craft the sound of the drum set with less bleeding and tighter control over tone and dynamics.
Vegas show's star counts on his dresser for success
latimes.com: Paula Nyland stands in the shadows, waiting for her star. The curtain barely hits the floor before the backstage calm erupts into measured chaos.
Mammoth sets on wheels glide past like icebergs in the darkness. Dozens of singers, dancers, musicians and stagehands hurry silently through a warren of passageways. Suddenly, Eric Jordan Young, the lead performer in "Vegas! The Show" stands before Nyland.
Mammoth sets on wheels glide past like icebergs in the darkness. Dozens of singers, dancers, musicians and stagehands hurry silently through a warren of passageways. Suddenly, Eric Jordan Young, the lead performer in "Vegas! The Show" stands before Nyland.
Equalizing The Room—What It Really Means
Pro Sound Web: “I’m going to equalize the room.” We’ve all heard that statement so many times that we scarcely think about what it literally means. We know that in practical terms it means adjusting an equalizer to suit your taste. It may be done with the latest high-technology analysis equipment, voodoo magic or simply tweaking away “until it sounds right.”
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Legion Of Boom: Subwoofer Evolution And Recent Developments
Pro Sound Web: While we tend to think of extended bass as a modern invention, audio folks have been expanding frequency response for decades. Way back in 1932, A.C. Thuras received a patent for a bass reflex ported design, and in 1934, Andre D’Alton was granted a patent for a bandpass design.
More than 80 Hurt, Four Seriously in Apollo Theatre Ceiling Collapse
FOH online: More than 80 people were hurt, four seriously, in a ceiling collapse at the Apollo Theatre here on Dec. 19. The 775-capacity theatre, which first opened in 1901, was nearly full when the ceiling fell a little after 8 p.m., according to reports. The staged production, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, had been underway for about 40 minutes when it was halted amid the fallen debris and dust.
38 Special Cancels SeaWorld Concert Amid Controversy
PLSN: The band 38 Special has followed Martina McBride, Willie Nelson, REO Speedwagon, Trisha Yearwood, Barenaked Ladies, Cheap Trick and Heart in cancelling their upcoming performance at Orlando's SeaWorld amidst intense public pressure fueled by the documentary film Blackfish. 38 Special’s announcement came after more than 1,500 people signed a change.org petition to encourage artists to cancel on SeaWorld’s annual "Bands, Brew, and BBQ" concert series.
Andrew Lloyd Webber May Not Be Able to Afford to Do More New Musicals
Playbill.com: In an interview prior to the opening of his new musical Stephen Ward, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber told the Evening Standard that he didn't believe he had the finances to continue to produce large-scale musicals in the West End.
Seven PLASA Standards for Reaffirmation Are Posted for Public Review
Lighting&Sound America Online - News: Seven PLASA standards up for reaffirmation are posted for public review on the PLASA TSP website at the URL below. No changes are planned at this time for the requirements in the standards. Any changes would be limited to changing "ESTA" to "PLASA," updating the PLASA office address and copyright date, and so on. However, this public review period is a time when the public is invited to tell PLASA if they think changes are needed.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Cleaning Up 'Deadliest Catch'
c2meworld.com: It’s almost 10 years since sound designer and mixer Bob Bronow was asked by television producer Thom Beers to work on “the crab show.” Nine seasons and 140-plus episodes later, Bronow has collected two Primetime Emmy Awards and three CAS Awards for his work on Deadliest Catch, a reality TV series from Original Productions that follows the fortunes of the Alaskan king and snow crab fishing fleet in the icy Bering Sea.
A vintage year onstage as classics blended with provocative premieres
latimes.com: Much that was old was new again in 2013, which turned out to be a very good year for the classics.
It wasn't a bad year for new work either, even if too many of today's most provocative playwrights are getting short shrift from this town's nonprofit heavyweights.
It wasn't a bad year for new work either, even if too many of today's most provocative playwrights are getting short shrift from this town's nonprofit heavyweights.
5 High Tech Music Concerts From 2013
5 High Tech Music Concerts From 2013: Stages are built digitally before a show comes to life
TAIT, a world leader in stage design uses these high-tech tools to create concert experiences that rock!
TAIT, a world leader in stage design uses these high-tech tools to create concert experiences that rock!
Theatre A La Carte redirecting drama to the stage
Tallahassee Democrat | tallahassee.com: In the wake of crisis, Theatre A La Carte has decided that the show must go on.
The Tallahassee performance group was sucker-punched in April by the arrest of its former president, Eric Hurst, whose identity was so closely associated with its scores of productions over two decades, that the board pondered whether it should close. Instead, it quietly shuttered a planned summer production of the Broadway hit, “Avenue Q,” and created a new plan.
The Tallahassee performance group was sucker-punched in April by the arrest of its former president, Eric Hurst, whose identity was so closely associated with its scores of productions over two decades, that the board pondered whether it should close. Instead, it quietly shuttered a planned summer production of the Broadway hit, “Avenue Q,” and created a new plan.
Sets, Lights, and Lunacy: A Stage Designer’s Adventures on Broadway and in Opera by Lloyd Burlingame
Theatre content from Live Design Magazine: Sets, Lights, and Lunacy is the story of Burlingame, recipient of the prestigious Robert L.B. Tobin Award for sustained excellence in theatrical design; designer for more than 40 Broadway shows who worked extensively off Broadway, in opera and regional theatre; and head of the Department of Design for New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts from 1971 until 1997.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Kinky Boots Tour Plans September 2014 Las Vegas Launch
Playbill.com: The national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots, featuring a book by Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein and a score by Tony and Grammy winner Cyndi Lauper, will open Sept. 4, 2014, at the Smith Center in Las Vegas.
Based on the 2005 film of the same title, the Northampton, U.K.-set musical has a new book by Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy, La Cage aux Folles, Newsies) and a score by "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" hit-maker and "True Colors" songwriter Cyndi Lauper.
Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell (2004's La Cage aux Folles, Legally Blonde, Catch Me If You Can), who created the high-energy dances that sent audiences and cast members into a frenzy during Hairspray, directs and choreographs Kinky Boots, which is bedazzled with a series of show-stopping numbers by Porter and a bevy of drag performers.
Kinky Boots premiered on Broadway March 3 following an out-of-town engagement at the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago last fall. It opened to acclaim April 4 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.
Based on the 2005 film of the same title, the Northampton, U.K.-set musical has a new book by Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy, La Cage aux Folles, Newsies) and a score by "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" hit-maker and "True Colors" songwriter Cyndi Lauper.
Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell (2004's La Cage aux Folles, Legally Blonde, Catch Me If You Can), who created the high-energy dances that sent audiences and cast members into a frenzy during Hairspray, directs and choreographs Kinky Boots, which is bedazzled with a series of show-stopping numbers by Porter and a bevy of drag performers.
Kinky Boots premiered on Broadway March 3 following an out-of-town engagement at the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago last fall. It opened to acclaim April 4 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.
Art Installation Uses Google Glass To Reveal Hidden Content
PSFK: Art is often about hidden meanings and interpretations that are difficult for others to see, and New York artist David Datuna‘s latest piece is no exception. The only difference is that this piece of art isn’t about digital interpretation; Viewpoint of Billions requires viewers to use Google Glass in order to fully experience the artwork.
JK Rowling to co-produce new Harry Potter stage play at West End theatre
Mail Online: Truly it’s beyond wizard. I can exclusively reveal that a play based on J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter tales will open in the West End within two years.
Rowling will not write the stage piece — however, she will co-produce and collaborate with a playwright.
Rowling’s seven-volume Harry Potter series began with The Philosopher’s Stone, published in 1997.
All told the books have sold well in excess of 450 million copies and been translated into 77 languages.
Eight movies were made featuring Daniel Radcliffe as the boy wizard with the thunderbolt scar on his forehead, and Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, as Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his best pals at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
But the play, to be steered by prominent London and New York producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, will mine (according to a statement sent to me, as a mudblood, by Owl Post yesterday) ‘the previously untold story of Harry Potter’s early years as an orphan and outcast’.
Rowling will not write the stage piece — however, she will co-produce and collaborate with a playwright.
Rowling’s seven-volume Harry Potter series began with The Philosopher’s Stone, published in 1997.
All told the books have sold well in excess of 450 million copies and been translated into 77 languages.
Eight movies were made featuring Daniel Radcliffe as the boy wizard with the thunderbolt scar on his forehead, and Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, as Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his best pals at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
But the play, to be steered by prominent London and New York producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, will mine (according to a statement sent to me, as a mudblood, by Owl Post yesterday) ‘the previously untold story of Harry Potter’s early years as an orphan and outcast’.
Need for leaders at D.C. arts institutions could be a golden opportunity or a squandered one
The Washington Post: One down, so many, many more to go. The Kennedy Center recently announced that Deborah Rutter of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association will become its new president, but many high-profile Washington cultural and arts institutions are still searching for new leaders to fill their top posts.
The Smithsonian Institution announced in October that its secretary, Wayne Clough, would be stepping down next year. Richard Koshalek, the former director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, resigned in May after the demise of his seasonal inflatable structure project, dubbed “the Bubble.” The Corcoran Gallery of Art paused its search for a new director because of a planned merger with the University of Maryland after financial woes and leadership battles. And it seems as though the Obama administration has all but forgotten about the chairmanship vacancy at the National Endowment for the Arts since former chairman Rocco Landesman stepped down last December. In April, former U.S. representative Jim Leach of Iowa departed from the National Endowment for the Humanities, thereby leaving the two national grant-making agencies without appointed leaders.
The Smithsonian Institution announced in October that its secretary, Wayne Clough, would be stepping down next year. Richard Koshalek, the former director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, resigned in May after the demise of his seasonal inflatable structure project, dubbed “the Bubble.” The Corcoran Gallery of Art paused its search for a new director because of a planned merger with the University of Maryland after financial woes and leadership battles. And it seems as though the Obama administration has all but forgotten about the chairmanship vacancy at the National Endowment for the Arts since former chairman Rocco Landesman stepped down last December. In April, former U.S. representative Jim Leach of Iowa departed from the National Endowment for the Humanities, thereby leaving the two national grant-making agencies without appointed leaders.
Difficult truths to face as theater leaders talk diversity, economics
latimes.com: In 21st century America, there is one subject even more difficult to discuss honestly in public than race: money.
It took a while but near the end of Monday evening's diversity forum featuring the artistic leaders of Southern California's most prominent nonprofit theaters, the issue everyone was skirting was finally being loudly addressed.
It took a while but near the end of Monday evening's diversity forum featuring the artistic leaders of Southern California's most prominent nonprofit theaters, the issue everyone was skirting was finally being loudly addressed.
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