By my calendar, we should have another month to go before this year's Broadway Lighting and Sound Master Classes. After all, for the last several years the event has been firmly ensconced in the month of June. But this year, we moved the classes up a month; the event will be held May 19-24 at NYU. Schools and instructors indicated that May was a better time for students, since it fell between the end of classes and the beginning of summer jobs.
Well, it's a bloody pain for me, mates! Moving it to May is cutting into my work on the back patio. I gotta get my grill ready, people! Barbecue season is nearly upon us!
All kidding aside, this year is especially noteworthy, I think, because both Jules Fisher and Abe Jacob, the creative consultants for the Master Classes, have brought some fresh faces to each event. On the BLMC faculty, for the first time, we have Chris Akerlind and Howell Binkley; at the BSMC, we have Steve Kennedy and John Shivers.
The classes are but one example of our commitment to the theatre market, the other being Live Design's Theatre Quarterly. The first issue of TQ was a standalone; we decided to incorporate the TQ into the run of the regular issue to save a few trees; let me know which you prefer. TQ coverage starts on page 59; you can also find the full program and schedule for the Master Classes beginning on page 62.
I always complain every year about what a massive undertaking this is for such a tiny, boutique event — the time, the drain on manpower, the costs, especially the costs (putting on any kind of show in New York is not cheap, needless to say). But the feedback we always get from the attendees, who not only get to learn from the masters, but in many cases get to speak to them one on one about their hopes and aspirations, makes it all worthwhile. I look forward to having that happen again this year. Just as long as I can still get my grill ready.