alternative takes on fundraising - stage...

JUNE 2009www.stage-directions.com

• Alternative Takes on Fundraising• Bringing Special Effects to

Community Theatre

• Makeup Techniques for a Pain-Free Black Eye


Community Theatre

• Makeup Techniques for a Pain-Free Black Eye

The accolades come fast and furious during awards season.

Inside, two Tony-nominated designers tell you how they did it.

http://info.hotims.com/23534-274

Features10 Two Classics and a Tony Nomination

LD Howell Binkley lights West Side Story and Guys and Dolls on Broadway. By Michael S. Eddy

12 Miking Billy ElliotTony-Nominated Sound Designer Paul Arditti talks about getting the sound right, fight dances and all. By Bryan Reesman

19 Bringing Magic to Community Theatre

Making a case for special effects—and what you need to know to do it right. By Kevin M. Mitchell

21 Directory of Special Effects Companies

SFX equipment, rentals and design-ers, magically here for you.

Special Section: Fundraising14 Theatre Fundraising Today

Strategies to help your theatre or school cast a wider net. By Kevin M. Mitchell

17 Patron of Your Own Art

The HBMG Foundation aims to change the way artists think about themselves and money. By Jacob Coakley

Departments 4 Editor’s Note

It takes effort, yes. And then it takes daring. By Jacob Coakley

4 LettersA high school writes in about their successful design efforts.

6 In the Greenroom Awards committees hands out the hardware, Imagem buys Rodgers and Hammerstein catalogue, Wybron starts a testing facility, and more.

9 Tools of the TradeProducts to help you spend the last of your season’s budget.

28 Answer BoxAll the steps to a pain-free black eye. By Dana Nye

Columns 25 TD Talk

Guess what? TDs can improvise, too. By Dave McGinnis

26 Off the ShelfNew books for directors, actors, teachers & writers. By Stephen Peithman

ON OUR COVER: Karen Olivo as Anita and George Akram as Bernardo, with the rest of the 2009 Broadway

West Side Story companyPHOTOGRAPHY BY: Joan Marcus

JUNE 2009www.stage-directions.com


Community Theatre

• Makeup Techniques for Bruises and Black Eyes


Community Theatre

• Makeup Techniques for Bruises and Black Eyes

The accolades come fast and furious during awards season.

Inside two Tony-nominated designers tell you how they did it

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3 March 2009 • www.stage-directions.com

Publisher Terry Lowe [email protected] Editor Jacob Coakley [email protected] AudioEditor Jason Pritchard [email protected] Lighting&StagingEditor Richard Cadena [email protected] NewYorkEditor Bryan Reesman [email protected] EditorialAssistant Victoria Laabs [email protected]

ContributingWriters Michael S. Eddy, Dave McGinnis, Kevin M. Mitchell, Dana Nye, Stephen Peithman, Bryan Reesman,

ConsultingEditor Stephen Peithman

ART ArtDirector Garret Petrov

PRoDuCTioN ProductionManager Linda Evans [email protected] WEB WebDesigner Josh Harris

ADVERTiSiNG AdvertisingDirector Greg Gallardo [email protected] NationalSalesManager James Leasing [email protected] AudioAdvertisingManager Dan Hernandez [email protected]

oPERATioNS GeneralManager William Vanyo [email protected]

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BuSiNESSoFFiCE 6000 South Eastern Ave. Suite 14-J Las Vegas, NV 89119 TEL 702.932.5585 FAX 702.932.5584

Stage Directions (ISSN: 1047-1901) Volume 22, Number 6 Published monthly by Timeless Com-munications Corp., 6000 South Eastern Ave., Suite 14J, Las Vegas, NV 89119. It is distributed free to qualified individuals in the lighting and staging industries in the United States and Canada. Periodical Postage paid at Las Vegas, NV, office and additional offices. Postmaster please send address changes to: Stage Directions, P.O. Box 16147 North Hollywood, CA 91615. Editorial sub-missions are encouraged, but must include a self-addressed stamped envelope to be returned. Stage Directions is a Registered Trademark. All Rights Reserved. Duplication, transmission by any method of this publication is strictly prohibited without permission of Stage Directions.

Joshua alemany, Rosco; Julie angelo, American Association of CommunityTheatre; RobeRt baRbeR, BMiSupply; Ken billington, Lighting Designer; RogeR claman, Rose Brand; PatRicK Finelli, PhD, university of South Florida; gene FlahaRty, Mehron inc.; cathy hutchison, Acoustic Dimensions; Keith KanKovsKy, ApolloDesign; becKy KauFman, Period Corsets; Keith Kevan, KKo Network; toDD KoePPl, ChicagoSpotlight inc.;KimbeRly messeR, LillenasDramaResources;John meyeR, MeyerSound;John muszynsKi, TheaterDirectorMaineSouthHighSchool;scott c. PaRKeR, JohnnyCarsonSchoolofTheatreandFilm;Ron Ranson, TheatreArts Video Library; DaviD RosenbeRg, i. Weiss & Sons inc.; KaRen RugeRio, Dr.PhillipsHighSchool;ann sachs, SachsMorganStudio;bill saPsis, SapsisRigging;steve shelley, Lighting Designer; RichaRD silvestRo, Franklin Pierce College

ADViSoRYBoARD

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4 June 2009 • www.stage-directions.com

Malcolm Gladwell didn’t know it, but in his latest article in The New Yorker (“Annals of Innovation:

How David Beats Goliath”, May 11) he was talking about theatre. At first I took his article to be a standard “it’s not talent, it’s effort” pep talk. I agree with that philoso-

phy—I think sustained effort and focus are much more important than any innate talent or ability. The smartest people didn’t always start out that way. They kept at it, kept learning, and kept grow-ing. It’s the same thing with talent—more rehearsal equals better performance.

But the piece really got interesting to me when Gladwell gave a second step beyond just effort to ensuring success when the odds are stacked against you. According to Gladwell, part of the reasons insurgents can be so successful in warfare is that they have no problems doing what is “socially horrifying.” They can do things that the establishment wouldn’t even dream of doing—couldn’t

dream of doing, in fact, because they are the establishment. It may be uncouth to insinuate that regional theatres have

a “powerbase” and are therefore unable to adapt to changing times and that fringe artists and organizations are the ones who will point the way to the next phase of American theatre. so I’ll say something scarier: at this point, all theatres are fringe theatres. We live in a society that doesn’t place a high value on art, and the way we used to do things has been swept out from under us. If we wish to keep doing this, we have to start acting like insurgents: applying maximum effort, and a willingness to contemplate “socially horrifying” ideas.

Now, luckily for us, we work in theatre, and a socially horrify-ing idea may actually only mean allowing drinks into the theatre, or working with Equity to allow some videotaping for a YouTube clip that doesn’t cost as much as money as a TV ad, but still gets eyeballs. Whatever it takes, let’s get going.

Editor’s Note

Jacob [email protected]

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I appreciated the suggestions given by Lisa Mulcahy in “Design on a Dime” in your great April edition. I agree that there are many ways for smaller theatres to achieve a more professional

appearance. My high school students and I were especially intrigued with the plants shown on your cover and inside the magazine . . . because we made them. Enclosed are pictures of our plants from our Spring 2007 production. We were lucky enough to have the help of a friend who builds costumes for a local theme park. Kelly Hagan helped my high school drama students and I build the four puppets from foam and fab-ric, air-brushing the stretch velour covers, very much like the

suggestions in your article. They were much too large to keep (high schools, like most theatres, have very limited storage) so we sold them to a small the-atre group in Fullerton who often rents props. We have had a wonderful time recognizing them in photos through-out Southern California. However, your photo was the most exciting!

By the way . . . the methods in the article work! We only have a small construction yard, regular sewing machines and limited funds . . . but lots of patience, creativity and talent. We loved making them and amazing our school and community. We enjoy knowing that they continue to help cre-ate production excellence for amateur groups . . . like ours!

Sincerely, Sara L. Hughes & CompanyLa Sierra High Drama Instructor

Letters

Barbarians at the Gate

Audrey Graduates with Honors

Audrey II in its fourth and largest incarnation, plus the “blooms” from the finale of Little Shop of Horrors, present by La Sierra High, Spring 2007.



In the Greenroom

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Awards season for NYC and the rest of the country has hit full stride. The Tonys announced their nomina-tions on Tuesday May 5, and Billy Elliot: The Musical ran away with the most noms (15), tying The Producers for the most noms ever, including Best Musical, Best Book

of a Musical, Best Original Score and “Bests” in all the design categories. Ian MacNeil, Nicky Gillibrand, Rick Fisher and Paul Arditti were nominated for Best Scenic Design of a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical and Best Sound Design

of a Musical, respectively. You can read an interview with Billy’s Sound Designer Paul Arditti on page 12. Along with Billy the other nominees for Best Musical include: Next to Normal, Rock of Ages and Shrek The Musical. Nominees for Best Play are: Dividing the Estate by Horton Foote, God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, Reasons to Be Pretty by Neil LaBute and 33 Variations by Moisés Kaufman. Virginia’s Signature Theatre received the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award. The Tonys will be held on Sunday June 7, be sure to surf over to www.theatreface.com during the broadcast to join in the online party during the show.

The Lucille Lortel awards, which honor off-Broadway productions, gave their Outstanding Play award to Lynn Nottage’s Ruined (see accompanying story on Nottage’s Pulitzer win) while Fela! A New Musical with a book by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones and music and lyr-ics by Fela Anikulapo Kuti won for Outstanding Musical.

In Chicago, the Jeff Awards announced their 114 nominations in 24 categories for Non-Equity Jeff Awards, which honor excel-lence in Chicago theatres not under a union contract. Lifeline Theatre (14) and Theo Ubique Theatre Company in Association with Michael James(13) garnered the most noms. Top-nominated productions were Theo Ubique's Evita, Lifeline Theatre's world pre-miere adaptation of Mariette in Ecstasy, and The House Theatre of Chicago's Rose and the Rime with 7 nominations each.

Check out the In Brief section for a quick list of even more awards.

Award Season Hits Full Stride


www.stage-directions.com • June 2009 7

Nottage Wins Pulitzer In Drama For RuinedOn April 20, Columbia University awarded Lynn

Nottage the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her play Ruined. As the 78th recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, Nottage was first woman to receive the Prize since Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog in 2002 and, after Parks, is only the second African-American woman ever to receive it. This award marks the first world-premiere production from Goodman Theatre in Chicago to receive a Pulitzer Prize in Drama—the Goodman’s American premiere pro-duction of Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet won in

1984—and the second consecutive Prize awarded for a play hailing from Chicago (Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County in 2008). A Goodman Theatre commission, Ruined was first seen in the Goodman’s 2007 New Stages Series, followed by its world premiere at the Goodman in the fall of 2008 as a co-production with Manhattan Theatre Club, directed by Kate Whoriskey as part of the “Strong Women, Strong Voices” Owen Theatre Series. MTC is cur-rently presenting the play off-Broadway at its New York City Center theatre.

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Way too many awards to really get into them in full. Here’s a brief rundown, head over to www.stage-directions.com to read full-length stories. The McKnight Foundation has named Minnesota theatre producer, director, designer and actor Bain Boehlke as the 2009 McKnight Distinguished Artist. The annual honor, now in its 12th year, includes a $50,000 cash award and recognizes individual Minnesota artists who have made significant contributions to the quality of the state’s cultural life . . . The Roadside Theater of Whitesburg, Ky., received the Otto Ren Castillo Award for Political Theatre. The Otto Awards, named after the Guatemalan poet and revolutionary, Otto Ren Castillo, is the only honor in the United States recognizing the achievement of individuals and theatre companies who conceive, produce, and foster the development of innovative and socially challenging theatre. . . Tina Packer, founder of Shakespeare and Company in Lennox, Mass., was awarded the American Shakespeare Center’s second-annual Burbage Award given for lifetime service to the international Shakespearean theatre community. . . Also at S&Co., Company Founder and Director of Education Kevin G. Coleman earned the prestigious “Distinguished Arts Educator Award” in the field of theatre, bestowed annually by the Massachusetts Arts Education Collaborative. . . Victory Gardens Theater took home the Best Accessible Theater award at the annual Deaf Illinois Awards ceremony on April 18th and Artistic Director Dennis Zacek accepted the Actor’s Equity Association’s Spirit Recognition Award.

In Brief, Special Awards Edition


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Imagem Music Group has released a statement announcing that they have bought the rights to the catalog of songs and musicals written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The catalogue includes such musical theatre clas-sics as South Pacific, The Sound of Music, The King and I and Oklahoma. In the deal Imagem has acquired the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, which handles licensing for the works of many composers including Irving Berlin, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Kurt Weill. Imagem said it would retain the current management of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, including its president and executive director, Theodore S. Chapin. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Imagem Gets Rodgers and Hammerstein Catalog

Enttec Pty. Ltd. of Australia, Martin Professional A/S of Denmark, and Wybron, Inc. of the U.S. have banded together to form The Institute for Feedback Excellence, a new non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure every piece of lighting equipment using industry-wide feedback protocols performs at the highest standard possible. The institute will will enable lighting manufacturers to test their feedback-enabled products—for now, those using Remote Device Management—to make sure they’re compatible with other feedback devices.

“Our goal here is not to break trail for new protocols. That is being handled very capably by ESTA and PLASA and the committee members who work diligently to advance the technical standards used in lighting control,” said Jeremy Kumin, Enttec’s U.S. Sales Manager. “What we are trying to

do is help the customer feel secure that when they rent or buy something using this new technology, it’s going to play as well as it should with other equipment.”

At labs located around the world, companies can test their RDM-enabled gear against open-source standard tests that, when passed, yield the product the “IFE Verified” seal of approval. Companies can also choose to perform the tests at their own facilities by using one of IFE’s portable labs. This will ensure complete confidentiality for manufacturers con-cerned about protecting proprietary information.

“It’s really all about the customers—making sure that when they buy RDM equipment, it’ll work like they want it to, and it’ll be compatible with RDM equipment made by different manufacturers,” said Wybron President Keny Whitright.

Wybron, Enttec and Martin Launch Institute For Feedback Excellence



Apollo Smart Power 200, 400, 600 Apollo Design Technology’s Smart

Power 200, 400, and 600 are new, more efficient power supplies designed to power the industry’s numerous DMX controlled equipment and accessories. Some of the features included in the Smart Power line include AC Line Voltage Auto-Sensing and two pair of 4-pin XLR output connectors for each 200-watt circuit. They also include isolated output circuits with automatic recovery for when shorts occur. With a user accessible (and extra) fuse and an optional rack mount kit, Apollo Smart Powers are designed to be functional and versatile. List prices for the Smart Power 200, 400, and 600 are $695, $995, and $1295 respectively. www.apollodesign.net

Robe Robin 300 Plasma SpotRobe’s Robin 300 Plasma Spot moving

head uses Lifi (Light fidelity) techonology from Luxim. The instrument uses a highly efficient electrodeless lamp that uses radio waves to create a plasma inside a small glass bulb (a “Tic-Tac” lamp), emitting 95 lumens per Watt. The Robin 300 Plasma Spot has a color rendering index of 94, a flat and even light beam of 1:1.4 and a lamp lifespan of 10,000 hours. The tiny plasma lamp also enables the fixture housing to be very compact, making it a highly flexible unit for all types of applications. The

plasma lightsource offers a smooth dimming capability between 20–100%. The Robin has a linear motorized zoom range of 10° to 40°. For color mixing, a CMY and CTO dichroic colour flag system works in combination with the Robin 300’s light homogenization system. The color wheel has seven (and one open) positions, and the rotating gobo wheel also offers seven (plus one open) user-replaceable magnetic gobos. The fixture can be driven by a variety of communication protocols including DMX512, ArtNet, MA Net, MA Net2 and RDM, and its auto-ranging electronic power supply works on systems of between 100 - 240 V AC at 50/60Hz. www.robe.cz

J.R. Clancy Batten End Caps J. R. Clancy, Inc., is now

shipping a bright yellow end cap to cover the ends of standard pipe battens. The new end caps feature a writeable surface on which rigging technicians can record the batten number using a permanent marker. If additional line sets are added during pro-duction, the operator can simply move the end caps, adding the new batten’s number on its end cap. It is designed to help coordi-nate the batten number and the controls, which will help theatre staff avoid incorrect cues—and even accidents—onstage. The end caps also include set capacity information, so users will know exactly how much weight each batten can hold—and when the batten is over capacity. www.jrclancy.com

Tools of the Trade



Two Classics and a Tony NominationLD Howell Binkley lights West Side Story and Guys and Dolls on Broadway

Although the borders were tilted on West Side Story there was plenty of room in the wings for side light-

ing, a boon for lighting the dance numbers.

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Lighting Designer Howell Binkley is enjoying a period in his career that most designers dream of and he has certainly worked hard to achieve it. He has no less than five shows

on Broadway at the moment, including Avenue Q, Jersey Boys (for which he won a 2006 Tony), his 2008 Tony-nominated work for In the Heights, this season’s Guys and Dolls and finally West Side Story—for which he received a 2009 Tony nomination. It is an impressive range of design work, but to see Binkley’s design versatility one only need look at the two recent revivals of Guys and Dolls, directed by Des McAnuff, and West Side Story, directed by Arthur Laurents, which opened within 19 days of each other. Though both are revivals of well known musicals, Binkley’s two distinctly different designs are appropriately current in approach while still serving the needs of the shows’ books and beloved characters.

Together Again, For the First TimeWhen asked how he approached the two revivals, consider-

ing their history and the iconic moments both shows contain, Binkley explains, “I don’t look at either of them like a revival; I look at each like a new show and treat them like they were new musicals. We are rejoining shows that have been done before but these particular productions have not.” This approach allows

Binkley to be open to the director’s vision and to be able to create without being constrained by preconceived ideas. Binkley notes that neither Laurents nor McAnuff ever discussed the designs of previous productions. “In my working relationship with both Des and Arthur there is a trust between us. They let me do my thing. They never really referred back to the originals at all. I think that if you are going to do revivals there should be different stuff in it, or why do the show?” It is interesting to note that Binkley’s is only the second original Broadway lighting design for West Side Story, the

original production in 1957 and the three Broadway revivals were all the great Jean Rosenthal’s design.

For Guys and Dolls, Binkley knew that McAnuff wanted, “bright, brighter and brighter still. Trying to keep the comedy level up there; trying to help with the love stories of the couples; always being aware of the book.” McAnuff’s attention to moving the story forward includes using today’s technology, “Des is very on top of technical details, especially automation. He can thread a show better than most people could stitch a shirt. All the designers and the staff had a great collaboration and we utilized that as a real strength when we were in tech.”

The lighting challenge on Guys and Dolls, according to Binkley was real estate. “There is a lot of scenery that moves across the stage and up and down, having to be stored; so I ended up with only three overhead electrics. A lot of it was sidelight driven. I needed to create some sidelight positions, which had to be automated so scenery could move underneath and still have a good storage position off-stage. I did not have as much sidelight as I wanted but I was able to have rovers to go in during the craps shooters’ ballet. So I could have nice sidelight there off the pipes and everything when they are down in the sewer. Also in the two Hot Box scenes we were able to get a little more sidelight in to help sculpt the girls.”

The Whole World’s on a StageThe largest technology change in Guys and Dolls today from

productions past is the large video screen that McAnuff uses to move the audience through locations, most impressively when the action “flies” down to Havana. Binkley needed to merge his lighting design cohesively with the screen’s output, “I think that the video screen was a key element and I love the way it moves the show. I was a little scared of the size of the large screen at first, but actually, it wasn’t bad at all. A lot of times it made things fun for me to do because I could work off their palette and move those colors downstage as well as layer inside of all of the trusses. There are vertical and horizontal trusses that are downstage of the videowall and I had Philips/Color Kinetics ColorBlasts inside of those. So, I could play a lot with color and set up a palette for each scene—like when we are in the interior of the mission or the exte-rior of the mission—establishing a motif per scene. David Arch, who also handled programming on West Side Story, programmed all of the moving lights and all of my LEDs. The whole system was

“I look at each like a new show and treat them like they were new musicals. We are rejoining shows that have been done before but these particular pro-ductions have not.” —Howell Binkley

Light on the Subject | By Michael S. Eddy


on MA Lighting grandMAs, the video was on one, the automated on another and all of the conventionals on a third. When it came time to get into show mode, all three were tied together with MIDI. It makes it quite easy to run the show. When someone wants to work separately, they are not handcuffed having to wait for someone else.”

Binkley points out, “Just getting the rig in for Guys and Dolls was a very challenging event. The Nederlander is a small space. Though, I think that they did a brilliant job with the recent renovation of the theatre, but it is a very small space.” Adding to Binkley’s space problems was the loss of some key front of house positions when the scenic signage that helps create the bustling atmosphere of the city was hung blocking lighting positions. “We tried to make up for that with systems that could cradle behind the signs because I didn’t want to intrude on the scenery but you still need some front light locations.”

Though Binkley found West Side Story more palatial in terms of space he faced other challenges including unusual angles and disappearing electrics. “The challenge on Guys was finding room for lights; the challenges of West Side was that all of the borders were tilted from left to right, so all of the electrics had to tilt as well. Another challenge was when at the end of Act One before the rumble a big scenic bridge comes in; well that has a whole electric underneath it. It was great for me while it was up in the flys to have throughout the show, but then I had to lose it when the bridge came in for the rumble.” Binkley, who has an extensive background of dance design, enjoyed lighting the renowned choreography that is so loved in West Side Story. “The choreography was very specif-ic in West Side Story because we re-did the original Jerome Robbins’ pieces. Plus in West Side, I had nice sidelight positions to be able to sculpt a lot of the dancing, like in the gym, the ballet and for the rumble and the killing.”

Staying SharpMcAnuff wanted Binkley to design

Guys and Dolls bright and encompassing, Laurents wanted something else, “Arthur wanted isolated and tight. The lighting was used much more as a character as far as time of day and location; whether we are scary or happy. There is more atmo-sphere to it. But, like on Guys and Dolls, Arthur insisted we never lose sight of the qualities required by the book as well. I think for the design of West Side Story I had to sculpt more of an environment that creates a surround for the actors, yet keep with that very active book, West Side Story is a book, it’s a big book. That’s true of both shows.”

West Side Story was the second revival Binkley worked with Laurents on; they collaborated on last year’s well received production of Gypsy as well. It is working relationship Binkley enjoys and is thrilled

to get to work with the acclaimed writer/ director, “I tell you, he is the sharpest knife in the drawer. He is very talented and very smart. He is a lovely man. He is a phenomenal director and he trusts his designers. If he doesn’t like something, he knows how to tell you, which is very important. Plus he is very collaborative.”

Binkley is very satisfied with the results of both shows, because they are both so different.

“I think that they show the flexibility of how I work with two different types of directors and choreographers. I feel great about both shows and am glad that they are back on Broadway.”

Binkley used rovers to add side lighting to the craps shooters ballet in order to sculpt the dancers.

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When the Tony Award nominations were announced, Billy Elliot: The Musical tied The Producers with the most Tony nominations ever. One of those Tony

noms came for Sound Design. Luckily, Stage Directions had already caught up with sound designer Paul Arditti, who has worked on the show faithfully since it was first launched in London four years ago.

Stage Directions: There is a lot of singing and dancing and moving of sets within this large ensemble show. What was your strategy in miking the performers?

Paul Arditti: In simple terms, we decided to give everyone on stage a wireless mic. They are all Sennheiser 5012s and the mic heads are all DPA 4061s.

My original conversations with director Stephen Daldry were all about how we were going to effectively mic the chil-dren. The concern was to make the lyrics always audible, even with big music and the relatively small voices of the kids. With Elton John writing the score, we knew from early on that the band would sometimes be fairly loud. Stephen and I started to think about using boom mics—the mic head ends up near the mouth—for the Billys, Michaels and Debbies, in order to get the maximum gain before feedback.

But as soon as we started rehearsing, back in 2004, it was clear that boom mics would be far too visually intrusive, so mics in the hairline became the only option. This put more pressure on me to deliver the vocals, but also more pressure on the children themselves to be loud and clear. A good part of this musical is actually like a straight play, and as well as the numbers I had to be able to deliver relatively naturalistic book scenes between the children, without ugly technology get-

ting in the way of the per-formances. Fortunately, most of the Billys—and we’ve had about 20 so far, in three countries—have their hair styled low on the forehead, which allows us a good, forward and mostly invisible mic position.

I designed separate band and vocal sound systems, with very controlled coverage in the auditorium, to maximize the vocal power without feedback. The vocal system is mainly comprised of Meyer M’elodies and UPM-1Ps, which offer a

good combination of sound quality, controlled coverage, and power.

The band has doubled in size since London, which is fantastic. We now have a much richer brass sec-tion. Of course, this makes the mix a little more tricky, particularly in numbers like “Expressing Yourself,” in which two small boys have to carry a big number, but the new

arrangements by Martin Koch sound so much better with the larger band.

What was the most difficult sequence to design sound for?

In sound effects terms, there are several big sequences that required a lot of experimentation. I suppose the “Angry Dance” sequence at the end of Act I is fairly complex, as it combines rapid riot choreography with an immensely tricky bit of tap-ping from Billy. Also, Billy’s audition scene has gone through many iterations over successive productions, and each version has offered new challenges and opportunities for recorded voices and effects.

My favorite effects sequence is when Billy is playing the ballet tape on his cassette player, which is actually a wireless speaker. He stops the tape, rewinds it to the beginning, presses play, and the first few bars of Swan Lake are heard from the

MikingBilly ElliotTony-Nominated Sound Designer Paul

Arditti talks about getting the sound

right, fight dances and all

Sound Design | By Bryan Reesman

“The band has doubled in size since London, which is fantastic. We now have a much richer brass section. Of course, this makes the mix a little more tricky.” — Paul Arditti

Sound Designer Paul Arditti and the Yamaha mixing gear used for mik-ing the tap floor and mixing the band.

David Alvarez, as Billy Elliot, dancing in front of mob police in the “Angry Dance” number from Billy Elliot: The Musical

tiny speaker, repeating over and over under a held trem-olo violin section. As Billy pre-pares to perform the “Dream Ballet” sequence, the tremolo strings grow out of the cas-sette player, and the feeble sound morphs satisfyingly into a full orchestra recording of the ballet, which spreads around the theatre, and into the surrounds and subs.

Are you using any foot mics?

In London we did. Just for taps. But I was never very happy with the volume levels we could achieve with this method. So I developed the idea of a tap floor, in which the entire stage is peppered with pickups, set into the deck just underneath the parquet flooring. In New York there are actually 96 piezo-electric pickups, which are painstakingly wired back to a Yamaha DM2000 under the stage. This console provides phantom power, EQ, compression and gating, and allows us to split the stage up into tap zones. The output from this console feeds a stereo pair of channels in the front of house DiGiCo D5T. The advantages of this system are that the tap sound is entirely independent of the vocal and musical sound, has huge gain before feedback, and is surpris-ingly immune to non-tap foot noise.

Even with the tap floor, we give Billy his own wireless tap mics for “Angry Dance.” This is mainly because he starts the number at in his bedroom at the top of the house, which is not covered by the pickups. Also, the choreography demands that Billy shows his anger by kicking things: railings, corrugated iron, etcetera, which the mics at his feet handle best.

What are you using to mix the show? We saw a lot of Yamaha gear for submixing backstage, including the M7CL and DM2000.

The Yamaha M7CL is an automated submixer for the band’s foldback system and is located under the stage and remotely controlled from FOH. Its great strength is the 24 variable outputs, which effectively give you an output matrix on each channel and is ideal for monitoring. As well as the M7CL there is the DM2000 submixing the tap pickups and a DM1000 sub-mixing the sound effects. The DM2000 is ideal in that it can easily be easily expanded to accommodate 96 inputs. We're using all 96 for the tap floor in Billy. The desk lives under the stage, and is controlled entirely by MIDI. Like all Yamaha prod-ucts, it is rock-solid and extremely reliable over the long term.

My favorite Yamaha tool on the show is the DME64—we’re using two to do most of the system routing, matrixing, delay and EQ. I love them when married to really good A-D / D-As, such as the Apogees. There are also a couple of Meyer Galileos to do the EQ on the Meyer M’elodies, which com-prise the meat of the vocal system.

In London and Australia, Billy Elliot is mixed on a Cadac J-type. However, for New York, space considerations were one of the main reasons why we went digital. We all like the DiGiCo

D5T. We’re blessed with FOH mixer Bob Biasetti, who is a master of his craft and this console; he makes the show sound fantastic. I’ve always been impressed by the musi-cality of the DiGiCo, and its programmability has been a real boon for the New York production.

What is something new that you have learned working on this show?

Lots! I learned that Actors Equity has the right to decide when you can and cannot use recorded vocals. I learned that the Musicians’ Union dictates how many musicians have to

be employed in the pit. I learned how much I rely upon John Owens, my U.K. Associate, to find good restaurants, and Tony Smolenski, my U.S. Associate, to convert my ideas into American. I learned how different audiences are in London and New York. I learned that QLab is a great tool for sound effects and multitrack playback. I also learned that the people at Masque Sound are prepared to go the extra mile, for which I am very grateful.


David Alvarez as Billy Elliot, Haydn Gwynne as his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson and the company of Billy Elliot: The Musical



Special Section: Fundraising

You can’t spell “fundraising” without “fun”—though there’s little joy in it, especially in these trying times. But successful theatres are blessed with an

abundance of creativity, and more than ever, some of that creativity needs to directed toward sustaining the organi-zation.

“We’re always retooling and reworking to come up with different ways to support the theatre,” says Janine Paver.

“These economic times just make it tougher.” For five years Paver has been with the 44-year-old musi-

cal theatre company Broadway by the Bay (the “Bay” being San Francisco’s). Currently she is development director for the theatre that does four shows a year, three musicals and a fourth show that features a composer/lyrist in a concert series setting joined by a Broadway performer. She reports that while individual and corporate donations are down across the board. “There are so many variables involved

with musical theatre, and sometimes it just requires you to be more resourceful.”

She’s found that it’s easier to ask more people for $50 or even $20 than that $100 subscriber package. For this they look beyond the subscribers to those who only come occa-sionally, who—despite being pinched by the times—have that “urgency to protect the arts.” Your job as a fundraiser is to get them to realize the value of the theatre, and that they need to give even the smallest amount to sustain the organization. This is easier than trying to turn them into a major donor.

Paver has had success reaching out to potential donors by e-mail. “I can reach a larger spectrum of people through e-mail and manage costs, though we do spend effort to include graphics and pictures to make those e-mails more appealing,” Paver says. “But not everyone responds to these e-mail requests, so we continue with a letter cam-paign as well.” She adds that she’s noticed a generational difference, with older patrons being more responsive to letter campaigns while the theatre’s younger patrons respond more readily to e-mail.

However, the major donor group still expects the proper reception, and while they may have trimmed the number of these events in a season they have not cut back on the quality of them. She says that they have tried something different this year and invited donors to a dress rehearsal where they got a “backstage pass,” and that was relatively less expensive. Yet while many enjoyed that, others missed the socializing that comes with the traditional reception.

Theatre Fundraising Today

By Kevin M. Mitchell

“Sometimes it’s more challenging pleasing a large group of people who have different taste and prefer-ences, and that’s why I do a little bit of a lot of things.” —Janine Paver

Janine Paver of Broadway by the Bay (a moment of their production of Crazy for You shown here)

recommends reaching beyond subscribers, to patrons who visit infrequently but still have the

“urgency to save the arts. “

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“Sometimes it’s more challenging pleasing a large group of people who have different taste and preferences, and that’s why I do a little bit of a lot of things,” she says, adding a word of caution: “But I don’t believe in chang-ing too dramatically from season to season—if you try too many different things, you’re in danger of losing site of your mission. Your audience is your community and it’s the whole culture of theatre going that’s a draw, so high donors and subscribers want the perks that come with their support.”

Know the AlternativesWhat if you’re raising big money—

to redo your theatre or even give your theatre company a new home?

Jay Kalagayan founded Know Theatre 12 years ago and today the Cincinnati-based organization has built a strong reputation for being a place that “creates alternative theatre that is uniquely relevant.” His first rule of surviving during these economic times is one that has served him well always. “We’ve always been fiscally responsible,” he says. “We’ve always gone ‘slow and steady’ with growth, building a foundation as opposed to rocketing into the big stuff.”

The theatre started out with the word “nomadic” in its name as it moved from space to space. But in 2006 it landed in permanent space. “When we opened this space, we made new friends and for us that was important,” he says. “It brought us into public view, and we did a Phase II capital campaign where 75% of the

donations came from people who had never given before.” They dubbed the campaign the “Next Decade” and got donors large and small excited by not so much talking about their past accomplishments, but by telling them where they will be 10 years from now.

“It’s all about building relation-ships,” he says of fundraising efforts. “It’s talking to people, meeting them one-on-one.” For those fund-raising for a capital campaign, he has some solid advice that to the uninitiated seems counterintuitive: Be quiet about it.

“You want a silent launch, and you don’t want a big announcement about a capital campaign until you’re about 70% to your goal—otherwise you’ll scare people off. You want momen-tum.”

Another word of advice on a big fundraising party: think midweek. Kalagayan points out that there is too much competition on week-end nights, so they held theirs on a Tuesday. And for their 10th anniver-sary, the team at Know figured out how to include several tiers of donors with a clever “simulcast” event. They held three parties at the same time for different groups of donors. “The least expensive was $30, the most $120,” he explains. “We had performers at each location, and the main one fea-tured Tony Award-nominee Pamela Meyers.” Gala attendees of all levels could stroll over to the TVs where they could view what was going on at the other events.

The “Slap That Bass” number from the Broadway by the Bay production of Crazy for You.

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Smaller parties are also working for them in more ways than one: “Instead of one big party, we’ve lately been divid-ing them up into smaller gatherings and getting supporters to host them at their homes.” So instead of the expense of hosting 200 and putting on a big song and dance routine (literally), these 75-person events allows them to just come

in and do some songs, keep it nice and short, and let the theatre company members mingle with the guest, which he says is sometimes more important than the performance. Also the draw of going to a fellow theatre-lover’s home is more of a draw then just going to the theatre or some banquet hall.

Fast CashSometimes theatres (or school theatre programs) just

need fast cash. Jeff Sirlin, president of School Fundraisers.com, has been

increasingly getting calls to apply what they do for schools to theatre and dance organizations, including high school and

college groups. “Theatres sometimes have big plans but need money to make it a reality,” he says. “Our programs work well for them because there’s no finan-cial risk—no money up front required. You can find a program on our Web site that is that is right for you, implement it, and two weeks later have the money for that additional piece of gear or to even help the production travel.”

They’ve been called upon in particu-lar to help community theatres. “Just last week a musical theatre group from Fall River, Mass., did a cookie dough and cheese cake fundraiser and put it directly toward an especially expensive production that required a special set. It was a one off and worked very well for them.” While a lot of their offerings are food-centric, groups that don’t want to go that route have had success with their flower bulb or book programs.

“First thing about our programs is always safety: we absolutely do not ask groups to do door-to-door selling. It’s outdated and we tell them not to do it. On our Web site is a resource section with selling tips, and ways for them to raise the most money quickly and eas-ily.”

For more constant sellers, their “school spirit” division does a lot of work with school drama clubs provid-ing names and logos on promotional items.

A moment from Know Theatre’s production of Rufer Madness. Left to right: Mindy Heithaus as Angel Showgirl, Daniel Hines as Jimmy, Brian Wylie as Angel, Sarah Stephens as Angel Showgirl, Fang Du as Jesus


“You don’t want a big announcement about a capitol campaign until you’re about 70% to your goal – otherwise you’ll scare people off!” —Jay Kalagayan




In these turbulent economic times, there’s been a lot of discus-sion about new models of funding for artists, and better ways to organize institutions so they can better serve the artists,

and not themselves. Most discussions on this have approached the problem as if art and business are distinct entities, and their relationship is (mostly) adversarial. Rarely do you find someone advocating inserting more business language into the creation of art—yet that’s exactly what Manuel Zarate and the HBMG Foundation try to do.

Creativity in CapitalismPrimarily funded by Zarate’s technology corporation, HMBG,

Inc., the HBMG Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit based in Austin, Texas. The original goal of the Foundation was to “focus on the support and development of creativity and collaboration in all artistic disciplines.” And when they say “all artistic disciplines,” they mean it—Zarate likes to call artists “creative entrepreneurs.” Conversely, he sees tremendous creativity in successful business-men.

“We don’t view creativity as being the exclusive property of the arts,” Zarate says. Through its programs, the Foundation strives

to use non-linear methods to create advantageous connections between business and art—while empowering artists and institu-tions to do the same, breaking them of the grant/donation habit.

“I started thinking there’s got to be a better way for non-profit theatre organization to secure its funds other than having to go out there and beg,” Zarate says, talking about what moved him to start the Foundation.

One of the “better ways” the Foundation is using to secure its own funds is a program called “The Art of Business.” Zarate and the Foundation approached “C” level executives (CEO’s, COO’s, etc.) at local (but by no means small) businesses and invited them

to submit their own artwork for an exhibition. After all—creativity is not just the province of the arts, remember?

“There was a CEO of a nanotechnology company that also hap-pened to be a painter and he was incorporating nanotechnology into his painting,” Zarate explains. “And it was exquisite. It was making people gasp.”

The Foundation then partnered with the Austin Museum of Art to host the exhibition. At first the museum was reticent, as they didn’t know what the response would be. It turned out to be one

of the most successful first-time events they’ve ever run; plans are in the work to do it again, and perhaps expand it to other cities.

“It exposed the museum to a whole level of a community that they’d been trying to get to, to break through in a simple methodology—and now the community’s saying ‘Hey, we like this, we want to do this again,’” Zarate notes.

Zarate’s larger point is that people will give money to causes they believe in and can be seen as directly impacting them. Loyal theatre lovers will always give money to theatres. But by creating an event that celebrates and promotes businesses, the Foundation was able to give something directly to those busi-nesses, who now view the non-profit as having a direct impact on their success.

Patron of Your Own ArtThe HBMG Foundation aims to change the way artists think about themselves and money

By Jacob Coakley

“I started thinking there’s got to be a better way for non-profit theatre organization to secure its funds other than having to go out there and beg.” —Manuel Zarate

Working on notes during Team Afterlife’s tech rehearsal

Attendees discuss a painting at the Art of Business event.

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“The conversation changes,” says Zarate. “They look at us, the Foundation side, and say ‘Well, wait a minute—you’re basically trying to help my business. You’re trying to help my exposure of my business. Dang. So, wait a minute, how do I make sure you continue doing this?’ And I think that you can see how the con-versation goes after that.”

Cultivating Creative EntrepreneursManagement staff probably have an easier time accepting the

idea of traveling in business circles to fund artistic endeavors—but trying to get artists to wrap their head around that idea is a different conversation. To help that conversation along, Zarate and the Foundation started the ArtSpark Festival.

Originally an eight-week new-play competition the Fest has grown in recent years to encompass more disciplines—music,

visual art, video game design and marketing (yes, marketing). Teams of artists (who can apply as a team or individually) are given a “spark” at the beginning of the process (a previously existing piece of art, or a partnership with a local business) and asked to create a fully-realized work based on that spark by the end of the program. Last year the HBMG Foundation awarded $15,000 in prizes to the two winning Creative Teams.

This year the Festival will be longer than ever—17 weeks—and add the disciplines of dance, film and entrepreneurship.

The interweaving of marketing and entrepreneurship as artis-tic skill sets, as well as partnering with local businesses for the spark, are vital to a core tenet of the Festival: creating empowered artists who can navigate the corporate world successfully enough to be their own patron.

“Artists have been creative entrepreneurs for centuries. They’ve just never thought of themselves in those terms,” Zarate says. “Some of these individuals that come in and view themselves strictly as artists, as they go through the ArtSpark program, they

begin to realize that they have value beyond just what they perceived of themselves. In other words, they don’t have to be working at a restaurant.”

By teaching artists what their skill sets are, and how to talk about them in business terms, they gradually let artists realize more of their own value—they no longer view themselves solely through the lens of a society that doesn’t value art. In a counter-intuitive way, teaching artists how their art is vital to business allows artists to claim more control of their own artistic work.

The ArtSpark Festival includes courses on intellectual property, project management, time management, financial management, fund raising and marketing. The increased length of the Festival this year will give more time for artists to get used to the new tools and language and will enable the Foundation to offer more classes than just “Marketing 101.”

But make no mistake, the focus of the Festival is the creation of new vital, work. Teams are given an office space and equipment to work with during the Fest as well as their own rehearsal space, all available 24/7. Teams are required to produce a fully-realized show by the end of the Fest, with a few limitations.

“A big thing about the theatre portion of the ArtSpark Festival is that you’re not allowed to have any sets,” says Will Hollis

Snider, programming director at the Foundation and produc-ing director at Cambiare Productions, a troupe he formed after participating in the 2006 ArtSpark Fest. “You’re not allowed to have any props for your piece. And that gets the artist out of the mindset of ‘I need these things in order to create my art.’ You don’t. There are different ways of looking at it.” The final pieces have a Poor Theatre quality, focusing mainly on writing and acting, but are full productions, not just developmental readings.

The Festival is open to artists from places other than Austin, but Zarate would rather partner with them to start an ArtSpark Festival in their own community.

“The ArtSpark Festival is really about how artists can become known in their community,” says Zarate.

And it’s paramount in this philosophy for artists to be engaged with their community—it’s the only way to know how to give them what they need, so the community sees the artists as valuable, and supports them.

“Artists have been creative entre-preneurs for centuries. They’ve just never thought of themselves in those terms.” —Manuel Zarate

A moment from Cambiare’s production of Transformations


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Bringing Magic to Community TheatreMaking the case for special effects

“Special effects can be overused and underused,” says Jeremy Chernick, design associate with Jauchem & Meeh Special Effects. He says common mistakes include big

effects in tiny theatres and pathetic cheap effects done in nice theatres. “It’s important to find the balance and stay in tune with the show.”

Recently a small production wanted a lightning bolt on stage. “A realistic one would have been incredibly expensive,” Chernick explains. “But take a reflective bolt-shaped prop wrapped in some-thing like tin foil behind a scrim and flash a light on it and you have your lighting bolt.”

Again, he advocates for a good fit: “I’ve seen shows where there’s a giant amount of fog and smoke but the show itself is small and gets overwhelmed. Blood, too, can be overdone or worse — tele-graphed. But you can avoid these problems when you start at the beginning and everyone in the room knows exactly what it’s going to look like.”

In addition to Chernick, several other FX professionals weighed in on how community theatres can bring the magic of special effects to their production — the right way.

MakeupOne area of SFX that every community theatre has access to is

makeup. For Shrek the Musical makeup company Mehron worked with the creative team to develop heavily pigmented makeup for Shrek and the other characters, as well as using new materials to develop prosthetics for the great green ogre. But makeup effects are just as possible for community theatre as Broadway productions. In our Answer Box article on page 28 Dana Nye of Ben Nye Makeup gives a step-by-step guide to creating a realistic black-eye .

Confetti “Probably the biggest myth about confetti in general is that

it’s difficult to clean up,” says Ronee Holmes of Flutter Fetti. “Our confetti, called Flutter Fetti, is 7/8” wide by 2” long and is easily vacuumed up.”

Most recently several productions of Beauty and the Beast used their Airless Launchers filled with metallic Fetti strips with great success. “These are 18-inch long tubes filled at each end with 6-inch metallic streamers so you get two shots per tube. With a ‘flick of the wrist’ the streamers fly out of the tubes between 25 to 30 feet high into the air and slowly float downward, giving a twinkling star effect.”

Care does need to be taken to use the correct launches for the area you want covered. Too much or too little can look bad, but all that needs to be done to avoid this error is to discuss the desired effect and area when renting a confetti launcher.

Fog“A common misconception is that foggers will clog unless you

maintain them by running a cleaning solutions through them, and even then they will sometimes clog,” says Look Solution’s Nathan Kahn. “Our fog and haze machines, such as the Viper NT Fogger and the Unique2 Hazer, do not clog and do not require any type of cleaning or regular maintenance.”

Another fallacy is that fog is not safe to breathe, but today there is now hard data to support its safety. “Twenty years ago there was only anecdotal evidence, and that caused plenty of confusion.”

A challenge for small theatres using an inexpensive fogger is that those foggers tend to have a thermostat that cuts off the pump while the fogger is heating or reheating. “So a machine may have been plugged in and hot for hours, but right when the cue comes the temperature of the heater could drop below that certain level, and then the heater comes on and you can't fog, missing your cue,” Kahn says. The better foggers don’t have this drawback and can always fog on cue.

Marnie Styles, vice president of Le Maitre Special Effects says theatres that adhere to the suggested regular maintenance of foggers have the most success with the equipment. She has another word of caution: “Many users think all fluids are created equal and will use cheap fluid” which is a mistake.

For those on the fence about using a fogger, she has these words: “Determine if the fogger is a want to have or a need to have in order to enhance the production it is being used for.” Needlessly using one for the sake of using one can detract from the production.

SnowWhen going for a snow effect, an evaporative snow machine

that leaves no residue and needs no clean up is ideal, says Roy Batson of SnowMasters. “In order to visualize the snow better most people tend to ‘front’ light the effect when it is best dis-played by back lighting.”

Snow can be done with great affect without busting a the-atre’s budget, he says. “We have had many theatre productions

Feature | By Kevin M. Mitchell

Willow Creek Church’s production of Imagine where several T1100

snow machines were used.


Feature Title

where they utilize the curtain effect’ when using snow. They don’t concern themselves with the whole audience experiencing a snowfall. They put snow machines on either side of the stage and shoot towards the middle so when the audience is looking at the stage it appears to be snowing all over.”

SnowMasters’s international manager Mike Giles says that placing the machines at a proper height is key. Otherwise, he advices to avoiding placing the machines at the wrong height and making the snowflakes too large. “Also practice timing the snow-fall effect to happen at the appropriate time of the event.”

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Pyro: Don’t Try This At Home?The challenges for a community theatre using pyro-

technics is in a sense boiled down to merely hiring a professional and letting him or her do their job. “When a professional comes in, they bring the right insurance, obtain the correct permits, and can jump through all the hoops,” says Advanced Entertainment Services president Matt Dillingham. “And it’s not dangerous if a professional is handling and it’s done correctly.”

What can open up a hornet’s nest of other problems is the professional ensuring the environment is up to code. Soft goods, fire extinguishers, electrical systems, etc., are looked at. “These are all things that should be up to code whether special effects are done or not,” Dillingham says. “Unfortunately, some community theatres let these things go.” So the “expense” is being forced to do things the the-atre should be on top of anyway.

He does add that schools, churches, or non-profit organi-zations should ask if there are discounts available.

Strictly FX’s Ted Maccabee takes a harder line: “They shouldn’t do pyro in community theatres,” he says. “It’s expensive to do right, and it needs to be done by profes-sionals so that amateurs don’t screw up, and then it’s on CNN as ‘pyro tech runs amuck.’ Just because you can look it up on Google doesn’t mean you should do it.”

He adds that fireworks can be faked with the use of CO2 jets and up lights with audio effects added. “Silk Flames are an excellent and cheap way to fake propane effects.”University of Utah Pioneer Theatre Company’s Miss Saigon, fog provided by Look Solutions.



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Madison, WI 53714P: 608-222-7849W: www.graftobian.com

Grand Stage Company630 W Lake StChicago, IL 60661P: 312-332-5611W: www.grandstage.com

Group One, Ltd.70 Sea LnFarmingdale, NY 11735P: 516-249-1399W: www.g1limited.com

Hall Associates Flying Effects3230 Sycamore Rd, Ste 143Dekalb, IL 60115P: 888W: www.flyingfx.com

Hogle’s Theatrical Supply, Inc3225 Richards Ln, Ste BSanta Fe, NM 87507P: 505-424-7435W: www.hogles.com

Hollywood Lights Inc, Portland5251 Se Mcloughlin BlvdPortland, OR 97202P: 800-826-9881W: www.hollywood lighting.biz

Hollywood Lights Inc, Seattle660 S Dakota StSeattle, WA 98108P: 800-547-2353W: www.hollywood lighting.biz

Holzmueller Pro-ductions1000 25th StSan Francisco, CA 94107P: 415-826-8383W: www.holzmuel ler.com

Indianapolis Stage Sales & Rentals, Inc905 Massachusetts AveIndianapolis, IN 46202P: 317-635-9430W: www.indystage.com

Indy Pro Audio Production Services4233a Lafayette RdIndianapolis, IN 46254P: 800-229-4472W: www.indypro audio.com

Inlight Gobos2348 Irving Blvd.Dallas, Texan 75207P: 469-916-2910W: www.inlight gobos.com

Jack A. Frost, Ltd.3245 Wharton Way

Mississauga, ON L4X 2R9P: 800-263-7678W: www.jfrost.com

Jauchem & Meeh, Inc Special Effects524 Sackett StBrooklyn, NY 11217P: 718-875-0140W: www.jmfx.net

John S. Hyatt & AssociatesMain Office420 Alabama Ave. NwGrand Rapids, MI 49504P: 616-451-9245W: www.jshaa.com

Kabuki63 Gaudet StCappele, NB Canada E4N 1T8P: 800-461-7625W: www.kabuki.com

KVA EffectsP: 310-748-5893W: www.teslacoil.com

Laser Design Produc-tions4325 West Post Rd., #9Las Vegas, CA 89118P: 702-450-7976W: www.laserdesign productions.com

Laser Production Network20209 Ne 15th CtMiami, FL 33179P: 305-690-6885W: www.lasernet.com

Le Maitre Special Effects, Inc3665 Dove RdPort Huron, MI 48060P: 800-388-0617W: www.lemaitrefx.com

Lightbroker.com215 W Palm AveUnit 101Burbank, CA 91502P: 818-557-0903W: www.lightbroker.com

Lighting And Produc-tion Resources LlcOrlando, FL 32856P: 407-967-7716W: www.mylpr.com

Limelight Productions, Inc471 Pleasant StLee, MA 01238P: 800-243-4950W: www.limelightpro ductions.com

Look Solutions USA118 Walnut St.Unit #111Waynesboro, NC 17268P: 800-426-4189W: www.fogspecs.com

Magic Gadgets/McIn-tire Enterprises12986 Mapleleaf Ct Ne



Aurora, OR 97002P: 503-678-6236W: www.magicgadgets.com

Martin Professional, Inc.700 Sawgrass Corporate Pkwy.Sunrise, FL 33325P: 954-858-1800W: www.martinpro.com

MDG Fog Generators10301 Ave. PelletierMontreal, QC H1H 3R2P: 800-663-3020W: www.mdgfog.com

Mehron, Inc. 100 Red Schoolhouse Rd. Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977P: 800-332-9955W: www.mehron.com

Mid-America Sound Corporation6643 W 400 NGreenfield, IN 46140P: 317-947-9980W: www.midamerica sound.com

Musson Theatrical, Inc.890 Walsh AveSanta Clara, CA 95050P: 800-843-2837W: www.musson.com

N & N Productions5540 High Rock WaySparks, NV 89431P: 775-355-9080W: www.brassgobos.com

NorcostcoHeadquarters825 Rhode Island Ave. SouthGolden Valley, MN 55426P: 800-220-6920W: www.norcostco.com

Northern Sound & Light11 Shingiss StMckees Rocks, PA 15136P: 412-331-1000W: www.northern sound.net

Optikinetics, Ltd.116 Sylvia RdSte AAshland, VA 23005P: 800-575-6784W: www.optikinetics.com

Orlando Special Effects, Inc14222 Lake Maryjane RdOrlando, FL 32832P: 407-648-1867W: www.orlandospfx.com

PDA Lighting And Sound2799 Three Lakes RdNorth Charleston, SC 29418

P: 843-554-3466W: www.pdalightin gandsound.com

Pegasus Theatrical, Inc20570 W 8 Mile RdSouthfield, MI 48075P: 248-353-6130W: www.pegasustheat rical.com

Performance Solu-tions FX29 Basin StToronto, ON M4M 1A1P: 416-410-1102W: www.performanc esolutions.net

PNTA615 S. Alaska St. Seattle, WA 98108P: 206-267-1789W: www.pnta.com

Premier Lighting & Production Company12023 Victory BlvdNorth Hollywood, CA 91606P: 818-762-0884W: www.premier-lighting.com

Pro Theatrical1501b Mountain Rd. NwAlbuquerque, NM 87104P: 888-875-1850W: www.protheatri cal.com

Production Advan-tageP.O. Box 1700Williston, VT 05495P: 800-424-9991W: www.production advantageonline.com

Production Express, Inc340 E Boundary AveYork, PA 17403P: 717-854-5265W: www.proexp.com

Projec.com, Inc1670 Semple St.Ste. 199QuÃ©bec, QC G1N 4B8P: 18775297481W: www.projec.com

PyrotecnicoP.O. Box 149New Caslte, PA 16103P: 800-956-7976W: www.pyrotecnico.com

Pyrotek Special Effects, Inc7676 Woodbine AveStes 7 & 8Markham, ON Canada L3R 2N2P: 800-481-9910W: www.pyrotekfx.com

Reel Efx, Inc5539 Riverton AveNorth Hollywood, CA 91601P: 818-762-1710W: www.reelefx.com

Richmond Sound Design Ltd.5264 Ross St.Vancouver, BC Canada V5W 3K7P: 800-664-5861W: www.richmond sounddesign.com

RoctronicsRoctronics ParkPembroke, MA 02359P: 781-826-8888W: www.roctronics.com

Rosco Laboratories, IncCorporate52 Harbor View AveStamford, CT 06902

P: 800-767-2669W: www.rosco.com

San Diego Stage & Lighting2203 Verus StSan Diego, CA 92154P: 619-299-2300W: www.sdstagelight ing.com

Scharff Weisberg Inc.36-36 33rd St.Long Island City, NY 11106P: 212-582-2345W: www.scharffweis berg.com

Sculptural Arts CoatingP.O. Box 10546Greensboro, NC 27404P: 800-743-0379W: sculpturalarts.com

Sigma Services, Inc8310 S County Rd. 39Plant City, FL 33567P: 813-737-1904W: www.sigmaservices.com

SLD Lighting318 West 47th St.New York, NY 10036P: 800-245-6630W: www.sldlighting.com

Smooth-on2000 St. John StEaston, PA 18042P: 800-762-0744W: www.smooth-on.com

Snow MastersP.O. Box 250Lexington, AL 35648P: 256-229-5551W: www.snowmasters.com

Snowmaker Produc-tions, Inc.1635 Dale Mabry HwyP.O. Box 1726Lutz, FL 33548P: 813-948-1717W: www.snowmaker.net

Soundsculpture Incorporated / RC4 Wireless60 Industrial Pkwy, #580Cheektowaga, NY 14227P: 866-258-4577W: www.theatrewire less.com

Special Effects Supply Corp.164 E Center StNorth Salt Lake, UT 84054P: 801-936-9762W: www.fxsupply.com

Special Fx LightingP.O. Box 177




P: 435-635-0239W: www.fxlight.com

Stage Equipment And Lighting, Inc.Main Office12250 Ne 13th CourtMiami, FL 33161P: 305-891-2010W: www.stageequip-ment.net

Stage Lighting Online2114 Seabrook Cir.Seabrook, TX 77586P: 281-291-0707W: www.stagelighting online.com

Stage Research, IncP.O. Box 670557Northfield, OH 44067P: 888-267-0859W: www.stageresearch.com

Stage Technology, Inc3110 Washington Ave. NSte 100Minneapolis, MN 55411P: 800-889-4081W: www.stagetechnol-ogy.com

Stageworks1510 S Main StLittle Rock, AR 72202P: 501-375-2243W: www.stageworks.com

Stageworks Lighting1100 Capital BlvdRaleigh, NC 27603P: 800-334-8353W: www.stageworks- lighting.com

Star Light And Magic, Inc218 Jefferson StLexington, KY 40508P: 800-275-4800W: www.starlight.com

Strand Lighting, Inc6603 Darin WayCypress, CA 90630P: 714-230-8200W: www.strandlighting.com

Strictly FX, L.l.c.1230 Jarvis Ave.Elk Grove Village, IL 60007P: 847-290-0272W: www.strictlyfx.com

Strong Entertainment Lighting4350 Mckinley St.Omaha, NE 68112P: 800-262-5016W: www.strong-light ing.com

Syracuse Scenery & Stage Lighting Co., Inc101 Monarch DrLiverpool, NY 13088P: 800-453-7775W: www.syracusescenery.com

Techni-lux Inc.10779 Satellite Blvd.Orlando, FL 32837P: 407-857-8770W: www.techni-lux.com

Theatre Effects11707 Chesterdale RdCincinnati, OH 45246P: 800-791-7646W: www.theatrefx.com

Theatreworks, LlcP.O. Box 787Branson, MO 65615P: 877-332-1821W: www.theatreworks.com

Times Square Lighting5 Kay Fries DrStony Point, NY 10980P: 845-947-3034W: www.tslight.com

TLS, IncMain Office1221 Jordan LaneHuntsville, AL 35816P: 866-254-7803W: www.tlsinc.com

TMB, Los Angeles10643 Glenoaks Blvd.Pacoima, CA 91331P: 818-899-8818W: www.tmb.com

TMB, New York100 Asia PlaceCarlstadt, NJ 07072P: 201-896-8600W: www.tmb.com

Vadar Production Company Inc.1300 W Mcnab RdFt. Lauderdale, FL 33309P: 800-221-9511W: www.avadar.com

Vincent Lighting SystemsGrand-Vincent Detroit Office317 E Elmwood AveTroy, MI 48083P: 800-644-7263W: www.vincentlighting.com

Z11 Pyro SupplyP: 815-969-9652W: www.z11pyro.com

ZFX, Inc611 Industry Rd.Louisville, KY 40208P: 502-637-2500W: www.zfxflying.com




By Dave McGinnis | TD Talk

What a difference a little improvisation can make. I recently designed and built a staging of Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love that seemed to go well in the final analysis,

but met a ton of hiccups along the way. Had I lacked the ability to improvise design and construction choices on the spot, the show probably would’ve opened, run and closed with me still standing in the middle of it wondering, “How am I supposed to adjust that?”

The RequirementsBased on rehearsals, the set required a few simple but essential

abilities. First, an actress would slam—not shut hard, but SLAM—the bathroom door. The show required that the walls not move in the least when she did this, that the door guaranteed optimum functionality every time and that the door could be kicked while shut with full force and not budge.

The set also required walls high enough that an actor could stand fully on the bed and not approach the top edge while still maintaining the above requirement.

Finally, the set had to produce an atmosphere indicative of a Mojave Desert motel but, more importantly, had to somehow corner the cast.

Based on the first requirement, I simply built three-fourths of an actual motel room—to code. This created a unit that would easily tolerate the stresses of door slams and—as I quickly noticed in rehearsal—actors treating the walls like punching bags.

Our solution to the second specification turned out to be insanely simple: shorten the bed. Standard construction codes made eight-foot walls the most budget-friendly, as eight-foot fac-tory cut 2 x 4 is one of the most common cuts of lumber on the market. Done.

The initial—note the word “initial”—design called for standard sheet rock, wall paper, and a process of torture to the wall paper involving various fluids of differing viscosities applied at irregu-lar intervals. This, when blended with a design reliant on sharp corners and off-putting angles, would create an atmosphere one would simply like to escape.

The IssuesBasically, my budget arrived three weeks late. This led to three

weeks of “hurry-up-and-wait.” Had I stuck hard and fast to the initial design, I wouldn’t have had

the man-hours to get it done. Period. In order to complete the job on time, well and within budget, I had to improvise.

I made alterations to everything from window placements to practical lighting choices to flooring. I altered the angle of the stage right wall to block the bathroom floor from the audience, eliminat-ing the need to floor it. I used an old and hidden “OPEN” sign to flash outside the window instead of installing an actual “VACANCY” sign in view.

Most importantly, though, we abandoned the sheet rock. (My foreman wept with joy.) As I’ve stated here before, pneumatic tools can save our collective life, and they rescued me yet again. Instead of having to screw sheet rock down one sheet at a time, we went to standard paneling—oh yes, paneling—made of 1 x 6 with 1 x 2s to

cover the seams. We simply attached these with a pneumatic nailer, and the process cut our build time by more than half.

In addition, the lumber turned out to provide one other advan-tage over its sheet rock counterpart: strength. The frame had been strong before we faced it, but the actual lumber facing transformed it into rock.

I know a lot of TDs don’t like to improvise, but there comes a time when we have to be able to do it. We rely on floor plans, sectionals, models, elevations and every detail drawing we can get our hands on. We like to plan. I have to say, though, that had I lacked some improvisational ability (and, yes, authority) in this case, I would have sunk like a stone.

Floating Stones Guess what? TDs can

improvise, too.

Left to Right: Emily Belvo, Josh Porthouse, Mark “Tiger” Edmonds. This final product used odd angles (90 and 50 degrees) to create a holding tank effect.

The upstage center section of the set culminated in this 90-degree corner where actors could get trapped.


Theatre is all about words—whether we’re talking about the playwright’s script, the director’s work with the players, or what comes out of the actors’ mouths in performance. This

month’s round-up of new books and DVDs emphasizes the com-munication process in all these areas.

Playing Shakespeare features nine master classes in Shakespearean performance on four DVDs, with the help of such well-known British actors as Judy Dench, Ben Kingsley, Peggy Ashcroft, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and David Suchet. The series debuted on PBS in the mid-1980s, and it holds up well. The intimate, informal setting features the Royal Shakespeare Company’s John Barton in conversation with 21 performers, as they explore verse, character motivation and fresh approaches to classic speeches. A 20-page viewer’s guide is a helpful addition. [$79.99, Acorn Media. John Barton’s Actor’s Guide to the original TV series is available for $13.95 from Anchor Books.]

Offering a narrower focus is Hamlet: Character Studies, in which author Michael Davies approaches the classic play through an analysis of its key characters. There is an introductory overview of the text (including the play’s sources, reception and critical tradition) and a solid discussion of its narrative structure, before moving on to detailed studies of key characters such as Hamlet, Gertrude and Ophelia; as well as the play’s more minor (yet still important) personages. Davies ends with a section that links the characters, key themes and issues. It’s nicely done throughout. [$16.95, Continuum Books]

As the title suggests, Script Analysis for Actors, Directors and Designers, provides an analytical method for getting at the heart of a play in ways that are most useful to those working on an actual production. This fourth edition for the first time includes in-depth analysis of several recent unconventional plays, which often present unique analytical challenges. James Thomas covers all the essentials: plot, background story, external and internal action, progression and structure, character, dialogue, tempo, rhythm, mood, and style. Each chapter includes comprehensive examples, end-of-chapter questions, and summaries to stimulate the creative process. [$34.95, Focal Press]

Directing Theater 101: 10 Steps to Successful Productions for New Directors and Regional Theater Companies, by Wilma Marcus Chandler, is a concise handbook that summarizes the key elements of play direction. Included: how to read and analyze a script; visualizing the show, research and concept; music, lights, sound and costumes; auditions; how to prepare the production, including timelines, budgets, royalties, and publicity; staging a

play, including blocking body movement, stage business, exits and entrances, and talking with actors. That’s a lot to squeeze into 143 pages, and those looking for in-depth coverage of these topics may want to look elsewhere. However, those in need of a quick-immersion experience—particularly someone with an “Oh, my God, I’ve got to direct a play” deer-in-the-headlights situa-tion—should find much of value here. [$16.95, Smith and Kraus].

In similar fashion, PLAYdate: A Parent’s and Teacher’s Guide to Putting on a Play, by Cindy Marcus, takes the novice director step by step and week by week through the entire production process. The emphasis here is on working with children, and there is helpful information on play selection, adapting a script, audi-tions, casting, blocking, finding parents to volunteer, dealing with potential administration problems, run-throughs, dress rehearsal, opening night, and more. [$19.95, Meriwether Publishing]

Words to the WiseNew books for directors, actors,

teachers & writers

Off the Shelf | By Stephen Peithman

Advanced Entertainment Services - AES 20 http://info.hotims.com/23534-293

Angstrom Lighting 27 http://info.hotims.com/23534-176

Arena Drapery Rentals 27 http://info.hotims.com/23534-248

Atlanta Rigging 7 http://info.hotims.com/23534-177

Ben Nye 21 http://info.hotims.com/23534-106

BMI Supply 20 http://info.hotims.com/23534-107

Bulbtronics 11 http://info.hotims.com/23534-110

Charles H. Stewart & Co. 27, C3 http://info.hotims.com/23534-113

Chauvet Lighting 3 http://info.hotims.com/23534-155

Checkers Industrial Products 4 http://info.hotims.com/23534-269

CM Rigging 9 http://info.hotims.com/23534-116

Demand Products 22 http://info.hotims.com/23534-156

Eartec 13 http://info.hotims.com/23534-276

Elation C4 http://info.hotims.com/23534-182

ETC 5 http://info.hotims.com/23534-122

Flutter Fetti 27 http://info.hotims.com/23534-355

Full Compass 1 http://info.hotims.com/23534-274

GAM 8 http://info.hotims.com/23534-330

Graftobian 27 http://info.hotims.com/23534-208

Graham Swift & Co/ Theatre Guys 27 http://info.hotims.com/23534-168

Jauchem & Meeh 23 http://info.hotims.com/23534-126

Light Source, The C2 http://info.hotims.com/23534-160

Look Solutions 24 http://info.hotims.com/23534-312

Production Advantage 15 http://info.hotims.com/23534-139

Provider Series 16 http://info.hotims.com/23534-343

Sculptural Arts Coating 24 http://info.hotims.com/23534-141

Selecon Performance Lighting 6 http://info.hotims.com/23534-283

Stage Lighting Online 23 http://info.hotims.com/23534-344

Stagelights.com 27 http://info.hotims.com/23534-167

Theatre Wireless/ RC4 Wireless Dimming 27 http://info.hotims.com/23534-166

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Seven Steps to a Pain-Free Black EyeAnswer Box | By Dana Nye

Apply foundation shade to match actor’s skintone. Set with translucent powder.

From inner corner, apply Dark Burgundy shade with brush (No. 5) just above eyelid crease, extending outward toward temple. Apply Burgundy contour beneath eye following lower socket. Keep overall shape of injury irregular for realism.

Apply Blood Red to lower lash line. Blend downward onto lower lid.

Remove excess pow-der with sponge dampened with water. This will “revive” colorbrightness. Intensify with more color if desired.

Gently apply colorless powder with puff or brush to set, including upper and lower lids.

Blend contour colors lightly with a clean, dry brush (No. 10) to soften edges. Blend with a light motion to avoid overmixing colors (overmixing will create a “muddy” effect).

Deepen Burgundy contour with Midnite Violet and Coal.

Apply Yellow or Goldenrod between lower lid and socket contour to simu-late swelling.

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Makeup can supply an easy special effect within anyone’s grasp. We asked Dana Nye of the Ben Nye Makeup to walk us through the steps to making a quick black eye,

and he went right to work on his model Peter Wilks. For big-ger pics—and the additional steps to turn the black eye into a bruise, or add a little bit of gore—surf over to www.theatreface.com/blackeye. Not a member? Join up at www.theatreface.com/join.

Supplies: • Ben Nye Master Bruise Wheel (or individual colors: Dark Burgundy, Midnite Violet,

Blood Red, Chrome Yellow or Goldenrod Creme Color, Coal Creme Color)

• Neutral Set Powder• Flat Brushes (5, 7 or 10)• Foam Sponge Sections• Stipple Sponge Sections• Velour Puff or Powder Brush

alternative takes on fundraising - stage...

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