Forecast For Thursday, January 27, 2022

It's a Throwback Thursday with a stimulating conversation, Inside The Reopening Of Broadway, recorded last fall as Broadway started to reopen after being shuttered for 18 months. Playwrights Lynn Nottage, Douglas Lyons, and Antoinette Nwandu, who all had plays on Broadway this season, discuss essential topics from storytelling to catharsis and a sense of community and Covid. 

Watch here:

 

Webcast:

• January 27 @ 4pm Eastern: USITT/Rigging Basics by Delong Rigging Solutions: The third in a series of eight seminars designed to give participants the foundation to begin building the skill sets needed to be a theatrical rigger. The following dates are February 2, 10, 17, and 24. These sessions are free and registration is open now at usitt.org/education-training/usitt-webinars

Looking Ahead, Register In Advance: 

• January 28 @ 5pm Eastern: Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU): Is the Great White Way Becoming a Little Less White? In the room: Adam Hyndman, board member and Tara Moses, advisory board member of Broadway for Racial Justice, fighting for greater equity and inclusion by providing immediate resources, assistance, and amplification for BIPOC in the Broadway and theatrical community at-large. Though its nickname referred to the bright lights on its marquees, intentional or not, white privilege and perspective have shaped Broadway and our business from its very beginnings. On June 8, 2020, the pandemic already raging, the BIPOC proclamation "We See You, White American Theater" challenged theater to acknowledge the problem and address it. The current commercial season boasts 7 plays by BIPOC writers, and regional theaters have announced their most diverse seasons to date. Is it enough? And is our current COVID world stifling progress? Click here to register and receive the Zoom link.

• Febraury 4 @ 5pm Eastern: Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU): The National New Play Network and How It Helps Producers As Well As Writers: In the room: Anne Morgan, program director for NNPN and Stephen Kaplan, playwright. Learn about the many programs and services NNPN provides for our industry, including the Rolling World Premiere initiative and the New Play Exchange®, a cloud-based script database, enhanced with a robust search-and-filter mechanism, crowd-sourced recommendations of plays, and personal script and coverage information storage. Click here to register and receive the Zoom link.

 February 14 @ 6pm Eastern: New York City Vectorworks Entertainment Online User Group Meeting: An open discussion and conversation about user’s needs and wants for future versions. What would simplify or speed up your workflow? Open to screen sharing with the group to illustrate ideas? We can do that. Have an idea for a tool or a PIO, let’s hear it! Take this time to make your list, and bring your demo files to show what you mean. Social hour at 5:30pm: Zoom Link. Email user group leaders Diana Kesselschmidt at [email protected], Kevin Lee Allen at [email protected] or Steve Backo at [email protected].

Podcasts: 

• Light Talk: Episode 251: The Legend of Lake Ronkonkoma: The Lumen Brothers discuss everything from House Programmers to Light Talk Tax Write-offs.  Join David, Steve, and Zak as they pontificate about: Shrinking Broadway audiences; Backing up theatre jobs; Discounted Broadway tickets for $7; Another Light Talk Binger; Is the lighting "...another character in the show"?; Personal relationships with design assistants; Working with house programmers; NEURO-DRAFT; Keeping your sanity during "The New Normal"; Reconnecting with friends; More streaming shows; and Stylistic differences in dance lighting. Listen Here: 

• USITT/TECHnically Speaking: Scenic and costume designer Christian Fleming chats about his upcoming participation in the 2022 World Stage Design exhibition as well as share some details about his selected design. Listen Here.

Christian Fleming
(Christian Fleming)

 

Bob Bonniol on Artistic Finance1

* Artistic Finance: If you don't know about NFT's and the metaverse, it's time to learn. so don't miss this podcast with Bob Bonniol, Emmy Award winning director, production designer, and producer known for his implementation of extensive media and interactive features in his productions and installations. He is also the founder of Mode Studios, and its hybrid event company Meta Mode. Join him as he explains the future, with host Ethan Steimel on Artistic Finance. The discussion includes Bonniol's opera NFT, how NFTs are currently being used and can be used in live events and theatre, the metaverse—how it's working and where it's headed, and an actionable challenge to you to create an NFT. Listen here.

 Live Design Online, On Demand:

 • LDI New Tech Breaks: Don't miss LDI's Virtual New Tech Breaks now On Demand: Presentations of new products and technology from LDI2021 exhibitors including: MyCaseBuilderZanniMadrix, and  ProparedRegister Here and watch when you can, some really good products here, like Zanni's Ovees (pictured below), which will take you into immersive worlds of AR and VR.

Ovees

 

• Celebrating The Tonys: Interviews with Tony-nominated sound designer Jonathan Deans (Jagged Little Pill), and Tony winner for Moulin Rouge, Peter Hylenski, moderated by Abe Jacob, and sponsored by Meyer Sound. The second session, sponsored by ETC, features lighting designer Justin Townsend, Tony nominated for Jagged Little Pill and the winner for Moulin Rouge. Free. Register Here.

• Live Design Virtual Webcasts: Extend Your Reality: How to use the latest technology to create spectacular live experiences. This three-session virtual event is free to watch and sponsored by disguise, the platform for creatives and technologists to imagine, create and deliver spectacular live visual experiences. Three sessions that take you deep into the world of xR production. Ellen Lampert-Gréaux, creative director for Live Design/LDI, moderates. The tech and design savvy panelists are from disguise as well as such companies as Studio Lab, All Of It Now, Far Right Productions. Free. Register Here.