Broadway looks like it's ready to open at 100% next fall, but in the meantime a wonderful ensemble of actors presents The New Group's Off Stage virtual version of Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot. Billed as "a combination of theatrical invention and innovative filmmaking. At once both a faithful realization of a classic work and an artistic expression of now," this production features Ethan Hawke (Vladimir), John Leguizamo (Estragon), Wallace Shawn (Lucky), Tarik Trotter (Pozzo) and Drake Bradshaw (Boy). Directed by Scott Elliott, with production design by Derek McLane, costumes by Qween Jean, sound by Justin Ellington, and Kramer Morganthau as director of photography. Purchase tickets here and watch over the weekend of May 7-8-9, 2021.
Looking Ahead, Register In Advance:
• May 10 @ 1pm Eastern: Strand Lighting: Lighting Design For The House of Worship: The basics of lighting design as it applies to houses of worship. Learn principles of design, theatrical lighting standards, TV lighting principles and concert lighting techniques as they apply to all types of religious services. Register Here.
• May 10 @ 6pm Eastern: New York City Vectorworks Entertainment Online User Group Meeting: Audio Toolset: C. Andrew Dunning of Landru Design, production designer and developer of many Event Planning Tools will discuss the Audio Toolset. We will focus on best practices for developing a design plan and creating easily understood documentation. Time-allowing, we will also look at recent improvements to Softgoods 2, some of which were inspired by questions asked during Andrew's last visit with us. Zoom Here. Questions: Diana Kesselschmidt at [email protected], Kevin Lee Allen at [email protected], or Steve Backo at [email protected].
• May 12 @ 10am Eastern: Green Hippo: Design, Prepare, Deliver with Hippotizer Media Servers: Highlighting popular playback features and our redesigned pre-viz and pre-programming tools, this webinar will guide you through the new 3D Visualizer and TimelinePlus feature set, available in Hippotizer v4.6. Register Here.
• May 12 @ 2pm Eastern: Bill Sapsis Free Remote Seminars: Decks and Winches: Loren Schreiber, professor emeritus, San Diego State Univ; Chuck Adomanis, foreman & head of the automation department, Hudson Scenic, and Bill Sapsis discussing cable and belt drives, push chains, self-driven units, etc. We’ll also talk about carrying power/control to skids, pallets, wagons & turntables. It’ll be fun to talk about rigging once again! Registration opens Friday, May 7 @10am Eastern. Register Here.
• May 25: Virtual Showlight 2021: As the live version in France has been postponed, Showlight presents a virtual day of papers by international keynote speakers, interspersed by a series of video shorts from the likes of Peggy Eisenhauer and Bill Klages. There will also be a discussion panel based on the subject of diversity in the lighting industry, chaired by award-winning lighting designer, Paule Constable. More Here.
• May 24-31: 4Wall 2nd Annual Virtual Vendor Showcase: This year 4Wall presents two full days of live product demos, new product releases, and never-before-seen videos made by 40+ vendors! The full schedule of events will be released in the coming weeks. Register Here.
New Webcasts & Podcasts:
• Light Talk: Episode 213, Turning on a Dime: The Lumen Brothers welcome back guest host, projections designer, The Lumenoids' bass and guitar player, and "non-pseudo" Lumen Brother, Zak Borovay, to the show. They pontificate about: Color matching in real and virtual worlds; Integrating XR and live design; Zak's favorite bass guitar; Using your Bar Mitzvah money wisely; The Lumenoids' Unplugged Concert at LDI; Steve's Bagpipes; Dance Towers vs. Booms; Why are lekos getting bigger and heavier?; Moving actors with chain motors; How to keep up with the show without falling behind; "Working Over Rehearsal" tips; Organizing your cue list; Keeping a cool head; Battling "The Beaver Threat"; Test Driving the ETC Source Four Series 3; Docked Cruise Ships; and How much "gear" should you own. Listen Here.
• GLP: 10 Out Of 10: Rick Fisher: This week's guest on GLP's 10 Out Of 10 is Tony and Olivier award winning lighting designer, Rick Fisher. Some of his most renowned work includes Billy Elliot The Musical, An Inspector Calls, Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, and 25 productions at the Santa Fe Opera over 14 seasons. Watch Below:
• Light Talk with The Lumen Brothers (and Sistah, that's me!): Episode 212: “The New Renaissance," an interview with my dear friend Bob Bonniol is now online. With Steve and David, we pontificate about: Back in the tourist business; From "Leko Lane" to XR; The evolution of technology over the last decade; Blending video and lighting; Integrating XR into live performance; Robert Edmund Jones flashback; Discovering a new form of theatre; Nickleback; Bob's Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame; How music influenced Bob's artistic life; Marrying your Electrician; How MODE works, and how it pivoted; How to train young designers to come up with creative solutions; "Constraints are Gifts"; Working with difficult personalities; Bob's most powerful influencers; Becoming a good listener, problem solver, and life coach; Emotionally surviving the pandemic; and The Key to the Future for students. Listen Here.
• USITT: TECHnically Speaking: 2021 YDMT Series: Costume Designer Erin Barnett: Recipient of the 2021 Zelma H. Weisfeld Costume Design & Technology Award, Erin is currently a third-year MFA Costume Design student at Indiana University. She has worked as a costume designer and technician with Triad Stage, Jenny Wiley Theatre, GLOW Lyric Theatre, and Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre. On this episode, we chatted about her award win, favorite costume pieces she's created, and her passion for the industry and craft. Listen Here.
Archives:
• ETC's New Product Presentation, Keynote by Justin Townsend:
• AVO and ROBE: The creative team at Robe has been using Avolites Titan to create their shows and videos for years; Avo spoke to Robe about the brand new Timeline feature. Watch Below:
Conferences & Special Events:
• USITT21 Virtual Conference: The 2021 USITT Virtually Anywhere Conference was presented live March 8-12, 2021. The conference can now be accessed from virtually anywhere on demand. Available thru September 8, 2021. On Demand
Webcasts & Podcasts On Demand:
• Light Talk: Episode 208: The Devil's Triad: The Lumen Brothers talk about everything from Dimmer Doubling to Dr. Strangelove. Join Steve, Stan, and David as they pontificate about: Letters to Light Talk Central; The Beaver Junction Iditarod; "POE Anon"; Stan and Steve fight over Tungsten; What happened to ETC's Dimmer-Doubling?; Hitching your wagon to proprietary technology; Getting into the Worship Lighting industry; The Crippled Dragon 660; Deciding on scripts for educational theatre classes and productions; "Not dead, and under 30"; and Why can't DMX use just one wire? Listen Here.
• Geezers Of Gear Podcast: The Covid Crew Anniversary... yup 1 year to the day since our first! In March of 2020, we put together this small group of visionary leaders from the industry - and at the time - had NO idea what it was for. We just knew that we needed to talk through this, and hopefully, provide some guidance or insight to folks who were pretty shocked, anxious and stressed. We made some bold predictions (mostly WAY wrong) but we also said some things that really ring true, still today. It's been a hell of a year... and the gang reflects, listens back to some of our predictions, and continues to positively point north through the darkness. Brought to you by GearSource. Listen Here.
• Live Design's Plot Lines With Jeff Croiter: Tony-Award winning lighting designer Jeff Croiter shares and discusses the plots for his award-winning work for Peter and The Starcatcher. Hosted by KOI Award-winning LD/projection designer Roma Flowers. Q&A via live Zoom. Register Here to watch on demand.
• Casting Light Podcast: Host Jason Marin chats with DP Bill Berner on the serious business of lighting comedy. Berner talks about how he creates lighting for television, how the TV business works, and the protocols he works under on set during the pandemic. His nearly 40 years of experience on camera, first as a lighting designer and then as a director of photography, gives him insight into and informed opinions about nearly every aspect of the job. Listen Here.
• Artistic Finance Podcast: Taxes With Cory Pattak: This new episode features lighting designers Cory Pattak and Ethan Steimel discuss how to organize and itemize receipts for tax time. They go line by line through the actual list of itemized categories on their taxes. Once they make it through the 25 items, you can see it isn't as complicated as it seems. Listen Here.
• in 1: the podcast episode #104 Quarantine Happy Hour #8-UK Edition: Hopping over the Atlantic to chat with some amazing designers based in the UK. Before that, however, Howell Binkley’s long-time associates Ryan O’Gara and Amanda Zieve join us to talk about the newly created fellowship in Howell’s name and the upcoming March 1 deadline to apply. Then it’s on to the roundtable with lighting designer Tim Deiling, scenic & costume designer David Farley, lighting designer Lucy Carter, scenic designer Chiara Stephenson, and scenic designer Andrew Edwards. Hosted by Cory Pattak. Listen Here.
• ETC Study Hall: Steve Terry chats with Dave Cunningham on the details of developing the ETC Source Four:
• USITT: No More 10 Out of 12's- Why It's Time for Change: A discussion about the move for changing the traditional rehearsal known as the 10 of 12. Sound designer Lindsay Jones, scenic designer Regina Garcia, actor Rachel Spencer Hewitt, and stage manager Lisa Dawn Cave participate in this discussion. Watch Here.
• Tony Award-winning lighting designer Ken Billington, guest on the Artistic Finance podcast, discusses how he has managed his personal finances during more than sixty years of designing on Broadway and running a design studio. With over 100 Broadway shows to his credit, not to mention a slew of other shows from Las Vegas to SeaWorld and beyond. He has been nominated for nine Tony Awards for Best Lighting Design, and won for the musical Chicago. Thanks to Ethan Steimel for this interview with one of my favorite LDs. Listen Here.
• Featured podcast: Changing The Landscape: In 2020, a group of theatre designers, directors, actors, managers, and technicians, produced an open letter titled ‘We See You White American Theatre," and laid it square in the public eye. The letter detailed the many transgressions accumulated toward theatre-makers identifying as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, by the predominantly white American theatre in the United States, and has reverberated through management structures, teaching institutions and theatre producing organizations at all levels prompting a new, thorough, unavoidable level of public conversation and accountability. Joining host Alan Edwards to discuss these topics: Award-winning scenic & costume designer and activist Clint Ramos; assistant dean and assistant professor adjunct in Theater Management for Yale School of Drama and general manager of Yale Repertory Theatre Kelvin Dinkins, Jr; and managing director of the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts at Northwestern University Al Heartley. Listen Here.