Come From Away has reopened on Broadway as of September 21, 2021 after being shuttered for 18 months, and is also now available in its filmed version on Apple+, both directed by Christopher Ashley. The creative team includes set designer Beowulf Boritt, costumes designer Toni-Leslie James, and sound designer Garth Owen. Lighting is by the late Howell Binkley, recreated by Ryan O'Gara.
Following the 9/11 attacks, 38 planes and 6,579 passengers were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland, doubling the population of one small town on the edge of the world. Based on interviews with locals, Come From Away is about how hosting this international community of strangers spurred unexpected camaraderie in extraordinary circumstances
• September 23 @ 11am Eastern: Live Design Virtual Classes: Extend Your Reality: How to use the latest technology to create spectacular live experiences: Three sessions on xR and Virtual Production: An Intro to xR; How to translate creative concepts into production; Entering The Metaverse: How To Take Live Experiences To The Next Level. Read more about it and register here. Free.
• September 23 @ 3pm Eastern: frame:work fall social: Join frame:work for their fall social, an informal meet-up, a 90-minute session of general chat, creative brainstorming, and everything in between, plus future scheming. Hosted by Bob Bonniol, Mode Studios, JT Rooney, Silent Partner Studios, and Laura Frank, Luminous FX. Drop by anytime during the session. Register Here.
• September 23 @ 6pm Eastern (online "doors" open at 5:30pm): Theater Resources Unlimited Hosts Town Hall Open Discussion: What Producing Companies Need to Start Producing Again (Part 2): A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU), announces an initiative to create programs to specifically serve not-for-profit theater companies emerging from shutdown. With the goal to help restore the theater community in New York and beyond, all not-for-profit and fiscally sponsored companies in New York and beyond will be welcome and encouraged to participate for free, but please register at https://truonline.org/events/town-hall-2/ in order to be sent the Zoom link.
• September 23 thru October 1: USITT: COVID Safety and COVID Compliance Officer training for USITT Members @ $20/Non-members @ $50. Full details here and registration here.
Looking Ahead, Register In Advance:
• September 27 @ 2pm Eastern: Strand Lighting FLX S Introductory Training: This is an introductory training class for the FLX S console line of the FLX S24 and the FLX S48 consoles running the powerful ZerOS software. This course will cover all basic components of the ZerOS software to get you up to speed and programming a basic show quickly and simply. Areas of the console that will be covered are console setup, patch, fixture control, and programming cues. For the session, the trainer will be running "Phantom ZerOS" software, that emulates ZerOS consoles on PC. Register Here.
• September 28 @ 8pm Eastern: USITT Membership Committee: Student Chapter Formation Webinar: A web based seminar focused on how your students can form their own USITT Chapter. This is an opportunity for students, faculty, and potential chapter sponsors to learn how to start a student chapter or revitalize one! The seminar will include an informational presentation followed by a period for questions, answers, and discussion. Register Here.
• November 15-21: LDI2021: A comprehensive professional training program for the entertainment design and technology industry. Complete details here.
New Podcasts:
• Light Talk: Episode 233: The Catalina Wine Mixer: The Lumen Brothers discuss everything from Working on Devised Productions to Chloe. Join Steve, Driscoll, and David as they pontificate about: What we learned from our first lighting designs; Having something in common with Mozart; With travel budgets being cut, how to get all the experience of going to trade shows if you can't go to trade shows; Working on devised productions; Call me "Jacques Martan,'" Halloween treats; "Koi Delight," Taking the last boat out of Catalina; The MTV VMA Awards Show; Big bottoms and big kick drums; Smashing guitars on your head; Dave Grohl vs. Richie Blackmore; What is real, what is AR, and what is just a hallucination?; Floor projections; What is "Jewel Lighting?" and "Hoping for the best." Listen Here.
• Artistic Finance: Can anyone beat the market? More specifically, did Ethan Steimel, a freelance lighting designer, beat the market? New IATSE apprentice Marc Santos joins him for a review of the investments they made for the Artistic Finance 6k, their self designed index fund. In May 2021 they invested in stocks, REITs, cryptocurrency, and wine. This is a three month check-in to compare them to the market. Co-host Marc Santos is now an IATSE apprentice at the Metropolitan Opera. He is also a fine art photographer specializing in dance movement and whose work has been show in solo and group exhibitions in the United States and abroad. Listen Here.
Things To Buy:
• Behind The Scenes Holiday Cards: Each design comes in a package of 10; Printed on 5 x 7 white card stock; Blank white envelopes included; Card packs are shipped in late November. Buy Here.
Exhibits:
• Showstoppers! Spectacular Costumes from Stage & Screen: Over 100 garments from Broadway, TV, film, and dance on display thru September 26, 2021. A great way to see costumes close up, and check out the detail and the craftsmanship. The venue is at Times Square, near 42nd & Broadway and the maze-like exhibit has been created by Thinc Design. Presented by the Costume Industry Coalition. All proceeds from the exhibition will raise money for the Costume Industry Coalition Recovery Fund, which continues to support one of the hardest hit sectors of the entertainment industry.
Older Podcasts:
• USITT: TECHnically Speaking: USITT's 2021 TDMY (Young Designers, Managers, and Technicians) winner podcast series comes to a close with costume artist Annie Ulrich, winner of the 2021 Barbara Matera Award for Costume Making. Annie Ulrich fell into theatre during her undergraduate studies at Middlebury College in Vermont, where she graduated with a BA in Theatre and Studio Art in 2013. From there, she freelanced as a costume designer and took on the role of assistant shop manager in the same costume shop at Middlebury. In the Spring of 2021, Annie completed her MFA in Theatre and Dance (Costume Technology) from the University of Texas at Austin. Listen Here.
• Inwood ArtWorks On Air: A Podcast With Libby Stadstad: Scenic designer Libby Stadstad discusses her work on an upcoming stop-motion animated film + much more: Listen Here. Read more about her in Live Design: Designing Couples: Libby Stadstad and Brandon Stirling Baker.
• USITT: TECHnically Speaking: 2021 YDMT Award Winner Casey Duke, winner of the 2021 Barbizon Lighting Company Jonathan Resnick Lighting Design Award: Casey Duke is a theatrical lighting designer and MFA candidate in the Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts (anticipated 2022), and received her B.A. in Theatre from the Mississippi University for Women in 2014. For the past seven years, Casey has worked in theatres and theme park entertainment such as the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Goodspeed Musicals, and Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Listen Here.
• Making Theatre: James Farncombe and Bruno Poet: Lighting designers James Farncombe and Bruno Poet host conversations about the complex and sometimes messy business of making a show for theatre. We aim to draw in guests from all aspects of production; from directors and designers to actors, stage managers, technicians, makers, builders and producers, to start a broader conversation about all things involved in bringing a show to the stage. Listen Here.
• Artistic Finance: Diversify: A discussion of diversification within a financial portfolio with lighting designer David Martin Jacques. He explains how his portfolio allocation has changed over time as he’s gone from freelancing to becoming a theatre professor. David has been designing lighting, sets, and projections for the past 40 years. His work spans across Europe, Asia, South America, Scandinavia, and North America. David has designed at venues such as The Royal Opera House, Teatro alla Scala, The English National Opera, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, and The National Theatre of Tokyo. David served as lighting consultant for Disney Creative Entertainment where he helped design many attractions for Disney Orlando, Euro-Disney, Epcot, and MGM.In 2017, David, along with fellow lighting educators Steve Woods (SMU) and Stan Kaye (University of Florida) created the popular weekly podcast "LIGHT TALK with The Lumen Brothers." Listen Here.
Archives:
• 4Wall Sunday Roundtable Episode 48: Pat MacKay Diversity Scholarships: Join judges and former recipients of the Pat MacKay Diversity In Design Scholarships. Founded in 2019, and funded by LDI and Live Design, the goal of these unique Diversity In Design scholarships is to support underrepresented and unique voices in the field of entertainment design. The scholarships are named for Pat MacKay, formerly publisher of Theatre Crafts and Lighting Dimensions magazines and founder of the LDI Trade Show and Conference. Guests: Sydney Dye - Projection Designer (Past Recipient); Nina Field - Lighting & Sound Designer (Past Recipient/Judge); Roma Flowers - Lighting & Projection Designer (Judge); Ellen Lampert-Greaux - Live Design/LDI Creative Director; Yuko Taniguchi - Lighting Designer (Past Recipient). Watch Here.