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JANUARY 2007
Ring
NewYear
inthe
with
costumes&makeup
How to pick the right
cosmetic brush
Everything you need
to know about
corsets
Designing
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ardens
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Table Of Contents
Features
28 It’s All In The Branding
ielsen, the name that defined ratings
N
as television’s lifeblood, may have just
entered stage left. By Lisa Lipkin
2 0 0 7
photo courtesy of Period Corsets
J a n u a r y
34 Summer Study Directory
ut to hone your craft during those free
O
summer months? Here are some places to
do precisely that.
Special Section:
Costuming & Makeup
40 Underneath It All
A comfortable corset? Perhaps the secret lies not in the material, but in its construction. By Lisa Mulcahy
44 Brush Up Your Brushes
Great makeup designs rely on great tools for execution, and finding the right brush is step one. By Lisa Mulcahy
48 Costuming Grey Gardens
This new musical examines a socialite and her daughter’s descent into near madness, and the clothing they used to stave it off. By Fiona Kirk
Spotlight:
Seattle
30 The Intiman Theatre
40
Chris Bennion
30
The fortitude to face challenges and a commitment to excellence have driven this Seattle theatre company to success, sometimes unexpectedly.
By Mary Murfin Bayley
32The University of Washington
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With academic offerings ranging from bachelors to Ph.D.s, the University of Washington School of Drama has brought together the scholarship of aesthetics and the practice of craft. By Mary Murfin Bayley
12/14/06 12:40:41 PM
Departments
7 Editor’s Note
Just what time of year is it?
By Iris Dorbian
9 Letters
A reader defends the non-smoking ban.
10 In The Green Room
The next round of copyright battles hits theatre, early awards and honors, the Guthrie and Public add staff, while the theatre world remembers two industry
notables. By Iris Dorbian
27 Vital Stats
Meet Robert Christen, lighting designer. By Kevin Mitchell
52 Off The Shelf
The American musical has become the main course in the common theatrical diet, and this month’s texts offer up a few recipes to explain why. By Stephen Peithman
54 The Play’s The Thing
Three plays that run the gamut of subject and tone, and a compilation of lessons from those at the forefront of the craft. By Stephen Peithman
When a simple tree just won’t do, it’s time to get creative. By Dave Williams
Tech Talk
16 Resource Roundup
Scenery builds the world of the play, and these companies build the scenery.
18 Toys Of The Trade
New gear for the new year.
20 Light On The Subject
From day one of tech to preview number 10, experience lighting a new Broadway musical from the inside. By Ben Pilat
24 Sound Advice
Body mics can be tricky. They can also
be virtually invisible. By Jason Pritchard
On our cover: Christine Ebersole as
“Little” Edie in the Broadway production
of Grey Gardens
Photography by: Joan Marcus
Joan Marcus
56 Answer Box
40
20
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Editor’s Note
Looking Ahead
kimberly butler
N
ow that the Christmas decorations have been struck
and the noisemakers put
away for the year, it’s time to get
down to the nitty-gritty and focus
on the remainder of your season.
For many people, January can be a
month of probing introspection and
personal appraisal. Many like to set
goals (infamously dubbed as “resolutions”) for what they would like to accomplish in the
year. In the theatre calendar, however, January is not
necessarily the beginning of a new year. It’s the midway point of a season that began in the fall. During this
period, several shows have already opened at most theatres, and the destinies of each have been determined.
Perhaps one show has succeeded while the other has
not — or maybe both have not. Perhaps, if Providence
has intervened, both have recouped and then some.
Whatever the outcome, there are still a few more
shows left to open for the remainder of the 2006-07 season. The success or failure of these remaining shows
could spell the meteoric rise — or precipitous fall — of
a theatre. With success comes a higher profile in the
community and in the local press, perhaps more money
(approved by the board of directors) for long overdue
repairs or equipment upgrades, or maybe an aggressive marketing campaign to increase the audience
base. With failure, the options grow increasingly more
limited, with the final — and dire — end result being the
demise of that theatre.
So right now, there’s a lot at stake for a lot of theatre
companies nationwide. Much of their theatre’s future
may be riding on what will be happening to them in the
next few months. Taking this into account, I extend a
heartfelt New Year’s best regards to all non-commercial
theatres (community, regional, academic, ministry, etc.)
that are approaching the remainder of the season (and
the beginning of the next) with a mixture of excitement
and optimism. Good luck to you all.
Iris Dorbian
Editor
Stage Directions
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Publisher Terry Lowe
Editor Iris Dorbian
Editorial Director Bill Evans
Managing Editor Jacob Coakley
Associate Editor David McGinnis
Contributing Editor Richard Cadena
Contributing Writers Mary Murfin Bayley, Fiona Kirk, Lisa Lipkin, Kevin Mitchell, Lisa Mulcahy, Ben Pilat, Dave Williams
Consulting Editor Stephen Peithman Joshua Alemany
Rosco
Julie Angelo
American Association of Community
Theatre
Robert Barber
BMI Supply
Ken Billington
Lighting Designer
ART
Advisory Board
Art Director Garret Petrov
Graphic Designers Dana Pershyn, Michelle Sacca
Roger claman
Rose Brand
Production
Production Manager Linda Evans
WEB
Web Designer Josh Harris
ADVERTISING
Advertising Director Greg Gallardo
Eastern U.S. Account Mgr Warren Flood
Western U.S. Account Mgr Holly O’Hair
Audio Advertising Manager Peggy Blaze
OPERATIONS
General Manager William Vanyo
Office Manager Mindy LeFort
CIRCULATION
Stark Services
P.O. Box 16147
North Hollywood, CA 91615
BUSINESS OFFICE
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 20, Number 01 Published
monthly by Timeless Communications 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, PO Box
16147 North Hollywood, CA 91615. Editorial submissions 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.
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Patrick Finelli, PhD
University of South Florida
Gene Flaharty
Mehron Inc.
Cathy Hutchison
Acoustic Dimensions
Keith Kankovsky
Apollo Design
Becky Kaufman
Period Corsets
Todd Koeppl
Chicago Spotlight Inc.
Kimberly Messer
Lillenas Drama Resources
John Meyer
Meyer Sound
John Muszynski
Theater Director
Maine South High School
Scott Parker
Pace University/USITT-NY
Ron Ranson
Theatre Arts Video Library
David Rosenberg
I. Weiss & Sons Inc. Karen Rugerio
Dr. Phillips High School
Ann Sachs
Sachs Morgan Studio
Bill Sapsis
Sapsis Rigging
Richard Silvestro
Franklin Pierce College
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Letters
No Smoking, Please!
In Stage Directions’ December, 2006
“In The Greenroom” column, you featured a story about the Curious Theatre
Company’s lawsuit seeking an exemption
from a statewide ban on smoking. Citing
freedom of expression under the First
Amendment seems far-fetched to me.
As a brittle asthmatic, and a theatregoer who has had to leave performances
where smoking was allowed, I applaud
states that continue to uphold such a
ban on indoor smoking. My rights are
infringed every time I am excluded
because I cannot access a venue. If the
courts allow theatres to be exempt under
First Amendment case law, what will stop
smoking at all indoor concerts or comedy club performances? This is a slippery slope to be on. Knowing what we
now know about the dangers of smoking
and exposure to secondhand smoke, why
would we want to open ourselves up to
potential litigation from performers who
are required to smoke for a role, technicians exposed to secondhand smoke, or,
worse yet, our paying customers who
choose not to come rather than risk exposure to this avoidable hazard?
Shan R. Ayers, MFA
Associate Professor of Theatre
Berea College
Berea, KY
Let us know what you think of a
Stage Directions article or how your
company dealt with a problem.
You can reach us at
311 W. 50th St., #3D,
New York, NY 10019;
or e-mail
[email protected]
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In The Greenroom
By Iris Dorbian
theatre buzz
WINDY CITY HONORS
Adds To Team
for the stage for both children and adults.
The award was presented at a luncheon at the Chicago Hilton and Towers.
mission to use the script and music
of Urinetown, that did not extend to
“reproducing creative decisions made
by the Broadway production’s director,
choreographer and designers.”
The Broadway team is demanding
that both productions provide a “detailed
accounting of all their revenues, from
which an appropriate license fee” would
be determined. They are also asking that
Brian Loeffler, the choreographer of the
Mercury Theater production who won
a Joseph Jefferson Award for his work,
return his award. If these demands are
not met, continues the article, then the
Broadway team will seek damages in
court.
What makes this case particularly
noteworthy for the theatre community is
that although the legal standard of copyright does protect the text and score,
both of which are regarded as intellectual property, that does not necessarily
apply to other elements of production.
Minneapolis-based
Guthrie Theater, one
of the country’s finest
regional theatres, recently
announced a few additions to its management
staff. Joining Artistic
Director Joe Dowling are
Jacques Brunswick as
chief administrative officer
and Trish Santini as director of external relations.
Both fill the void left by
last summer’s departure
of then Managing Director
Tom Proehl.
Brunswick comes to
the Guthrie from Mystic
Seaport in Connecticut,
where for the last 14
years he had been vice
president of finance and
administration. Previously, he held similar duties
at the Brooklyn Academy
of Music for 12 years.
Santini was vice president of the Broadway
Division at the Marketing
Group, a national marketing and press agency for
Broadway and national
tours. She spearheaded the marketing campaigns for more than two
dozen Broadway shows,
including The Drowsy
Chaperone, Mamma Mia!
and Avenue Q.
Exterior view of the Guthrie
COURTESY OF Roland Halbe
(left to right) Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Lifeline
Theatre Artistic Director Dorothy
Milne, Kilmer School
Principal Miguel Trujillo and Chicago Public Schools
CEO Arne Duncan at a luncheon where Lifeline
Theatre and Kilmer School were honored with an
award from Mayor Daley and CPS for Outstanding
School Partnership.
COPYRIGHT BREACH?
The notion of what can be considered intellectual property — or not — is
being given an interesting twist with
copyright infringement charges recently
leveled against two Midwest theatres by
the Broadway producers of the 2002 hit
musical, Urinetown.
According to an article by Campbell
Robertson that appeared in the
November 15, 2006 edition of the New
York Times, letters drafted by a lawyer,
Ronald H. Shechtman, on behalf of the
director John Rando, the choreographer
John Carrafa, and the set, lighting and
costume designers of the Broadway production, were sent to the team involved
in the award-winning production at the
Mercury Theater in Chicago and to the
team behind the Carousel Dinner Theatre
production of the show in Akron.
The letters accused both companies
of replicating the directorial and design
aspects of the Broadway production.
Though both companies did get per-
G u thrie
COURTESY OF Frances Limoncelli
Last November Chicago Mayor
Richard M. Daley, representing the city
of Chicago, presented an award to the
Lifeline Theatre and Joyce Kilmer School
for their long-time educational initiatives.
For over 15 years, Lifeline Theatre has
been involved in an outreach program
with Joyce Kilmer Elementary School as
artists-in-residence. Using their drama
skills, artists from Lifeline Theatre work
with teachers from the Joyce Kilmer
School to teach students from kindergarten to sixth grade.
“We believe that there is no more
important way we can give back to our
community than to help its children get
excited about stories and reading,” says
Lifeline Artistic Director Dorothy Milne.
Lifeline Theatre primarily adapts literature
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industry news
The In-Crowd
courtesy of ESTA
At the recent ETS-LDI
show in Las Vegas, ESTA
(Entertainment Services and
Technology
Association)
announced its 2006 Dealers
and Manufacturers’ Choice
Award winners.
The
Dealers’
Choice
Mike Wood
Customer
Service
category
holds his Swan Award
winners were Doug Fleenor
Design, Inc., Pathway Connectivity Inc. and Apollo Design
Technology, Inc. Recipients of the Manufacturers’ Choice
Dealers of the Year Awards were Indianapolis Stage
Sales & Rentals, Inc., Production Advantage, Inc. and
Stage Equipment & Lighting, Inc.
The Dealers’ Choice Product Award winners for
2005 were Faux Snow from Snowmasters Evaporative
Snow Systems, Inc, Lex Eectrol Plug-in Splitter from Lex
Products Corp and Power Assist from J.R. Clancy, Inc.
ESTA also honored Mike Wood with the 2006 Eva
Swan Award “for the profound impact he has had on
every aspect of the Association through his volunteer
service.” Wood’s service to ESTA includes the Technical
Standards Committee, Fog & Smoke Working Group,
ETCP Council, two terms as president of the board of
directors, and currently as the association’s treasurer.
TOMCAT BOUGHT
The Vitec Group, a UK-based company, recently signed an agreement with TOMCAT Global,
Inc.’s president and CEO Mitch Clark to acquire
its stock and assets. TOMCAT is a manufacturer
of staging and lighting support equipment for the
entertainment industry.
“I am very excited about this acquisition,”
says Clark. “It will not only create a great partnership between two very strong organizations,
but will give TOMCAT greater opportunities
to invest in additional manufacturing technologies, infrastructure and other assets that will
help us continue providing the highest quality
products at the best possible price to our customers around the world. In addition, the acquisition allows us to accelerate our goal of Far
East expansion.”
In addition to its Texas headquarters, TOMCAT
has offices in the UK and Mexico. The company
also has two distribution hubs: one in Las Vegas
and the other in Nashville, where the company
plans to expand its manufacturing capabilities.
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Altman Bulks Up Its Sales
Altman Lighting, Inc., a leading industry manufacturer of theatrical and architectural lighting fixtures
located in Yonkers, New York, is beefing up its sales
team with the addition of Victor Wittman as VP of sales
and marketing.
Says Robert Altman, president of Altman Lighting: “I
believe he will be a great asset to us; he brings with him a
strong background in the architectural lighting market as
well as a wealth of industry experience to our company.
Victor’s appointment is a key step forward as our company continues to grow both in our traditional theatrical
market and our quickly expanding architectural market.”
Wittmann will oversee
both national and international
sales, as well as help to develop Altman Lighting in new
markets. Most recently, he was
VP of sales and marketing for
Heyco Products, Inc.
courtesy of Altman Lighting, Inc.
changing roles
Victor Wittman
USHIO Expands Staff
All photos courtesy of USHIO America
USHIO America is ushering in the new year by increasing its regional sales staff in the specialty lighting products
division. Stephen Mule was recently named Ohio Valley regional sales manager while Kevin Kennelly will cover
Southern California and John Godby has been
tapped for the Northern California and Pacific
Northwest territory. All will be responsible
for the development and execution of sales
initiatives in their respective areas, and all
have experience ranging from 20 to 40 years
in the lighting industry. For 40 years, USHIO
has specialized in developing new and innovative products for a number of markets, among
them theatre.
John Godby
Kevin Kennelly
Stephen Mule
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changing roles
The famous off-Broadway Public Theater has just
named Nicki Genovese to be its new general manager.
The appointment was announced by the Public Theater’s
Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Mara
Manus. Genovese comes to the Public after working as a
general manager for the South Coast Repertory in Costa
Mesa, California. Prior to SCR, Genovese performed similar duties at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.
We are thrilled that Nicki
Genovese will be joining The
Public
Theater,” says Manus. “With her wealth of
theatre
management experience, she is
the perfect candidate for general
manager and will be integral
to the long-term growth of the
institution.”
Eustis con- Nicki Genovese
curs, adding
that “Nicki’s
brains, passion, experience and energy will be a significant
source of
support for The Public’s
mission. We are delighted to have
her on
board.”
Genovese, who has also managed productions on Broadway,
off-Broadway and off-off Broadway,
holds an MFA in Theatre Management
from Columbia University.
courtesy of Jeffrey Weiser
Public Hires New GM
in memoriam
Bob Fennell
Bob Fennell, a co-owner of
The Publicity Office, a well-known
NYC-based theatrical press agency
that handles Broadway and offBroadway shows, died November
12 of liver cancer. He was 48.
Among the shows Fennell, a former actor and carpenter, worked for
as a press representative were Wicked,
The 25th Annual Putnam County
Spelling Bee and last season’s revival
of Three Days of Rain, which starred
Julia Roberts. The Publicity Office also
had other high-profile Broadway clients,
including The Diary of Anne Frank starring Natalie Portman, Putting It Together,
James Joyce’s The Dead, The Green
Bird, Follies, Jane Eyre and the currently
running Grey Gardens. The company
also did press for the Off-Broadway nonprofits Playwrights Horizons and The
Signature Theatre Company.
In addition to his duties at The
Publicity Office, Fennell also worked
as an adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn
College, which has created a scholarship in his name for a first-year management student.
He is survived by his longtime
companion, Stacy Shane, five sisters,
three nephews and six nieces.
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in memoriam
Betty Comden
Legendary, award-winning lyricist and librettist Betty Comden, who
with writing partner, Adolph Green,
created some of musical theatre’s
most unforgettable gems, such as
Bells Are Ringing, Wonderful Town
and On The Town, died November 23
of heart failure. She was 89.
Born Elizabeth Cohen in Brooklyn,
Comden paired up with the late Green
for a collaboration that would endure
for six decades. Their partnership
would begin as part of a sketch comedy group, The Revues, which would
feature the late, Tony Award-winning
Judy Holliday, for whom the duo
would write Bells Are Ringing. From
there, Comden and Green would pen
a number of musicals that were valentines to their beloved city.
With Leonard Bernstein, a good
friend from The Revues days, Comden
and Green created two of their
most celebrated musicals, On The
Town, about three sailors on leave
in Manhattan (which showcased the
tunes “New York, New York” and
“Lonely Town”) and Wonderful Town,
about two sisters from Ohio who move
to Greenwich Village. That tuner introduced songs such as “Ohio,” “A Little
Bit in Love” and “It’s Love.”
Other musicals the team wrote
the book and/or lyrics for include On
the Twentieth Century, Hallelujah,
Baby!, Applause, Peter Pan, A
Doll’s Life, Do Re Mi and The Will
Rogers Follies.
In addition to her dazzling success
as a songwriter, Comden (with Green)
would also write screenplays for several films. Among them were Singin’
in the Rain, Take Me Out to the Ball
Game, Auntie Mame, What a Way to
Go! and The Barkleys of Broadway.
For their theatrical achievements,
Comden and Green were awarded
with numerous laurels. They won multiple Tony Awards (Wonderful Town;
Hallelujah, Baby!; Applause; On the
Twentieth Century; The Will Rogers
Follies), and in 1991 were cited by the
Kennedy Center with special honors.
Comden, who studied drama
at New York University, had early
acting aspirations before switching
over to songwriting.
She is survived by a daughter,
Susanna Kyle.
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Resource Roundup
Photo Courtesy of Ravenswood Studio
photo Courtesy of George & Goldberg
Design Associates
Scenery Central
Staffers at Ravenswood Studio work on scenery for
The Tempest for the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival.
An image of the 2005-2006 tour for Benise that was designed and fabricated by George &
Goldberg Design Associates
From custom-designed, full-scale scenery to set dressing, here are just a
few companies to consider for your scenic needs. For a complete listing,
please refer to Stage Directions’ Theater Resources 2006-2007 Directory.
Academic Production Services
www.academicproductionservices.com
800.837.0005
Based in Merrimack, N.H., this company offers scenic design services and a
complete line of theatrical supplies. Their
highly personalized services, reasonable
fee and quick turnaround have resulted in
solid costumer loyalty. Specialties include
lighting and scenic design, event management and production workshops.
All Access Staging and Productions
www.allaccessinc.com
310.784.2463
Offering set construction and design,
this Torrance, Calif.-based company
serves the theatre, television, film, convention and touring markets. In addition
to custom design, they offer an unlimited inventory for your rental needs.
Clients include Apple Computers, Calvin
Klein, The Dixie Chicks, Dave Matthews
and Elton John.
Center Line Studios, Inc.
www.centerlinestudios.com
845.534.7143
Seasoned craftsmen will build traditional
theatrical scenery here at this Cornwall,
N.Y. company based on your specifications. Serving theatre and opera, Center
Line Studios offers quality woodwork
and state-of-the-art technology. Clients
include Broadway productions, regional theatres, Radio City Music Hall and
Lincoln Center Festival.
Chicago Scenic Studios, Inc.
www.chicagoscenic.com
312.274.9900
A full-scale scenic design studio, this company provides customized designs for
theatres, themed entertainment, exhibits
and special events. With a staff comprised
of top-notch craftsmen and designers,
Chicago Scenic Studios can create anything based on your needs. Examples
of their work can be seen in regional
theatres, toy fairs and the Democratic
National Convention.
Colorado Scenery Entertainment
Construction Services
www.coloradoscene.com
303.394.4857
Located in Denver, Colorado Scenery
provides backdrops, murals, set dressing,
construction and paint restoration services for all of your entertainment needs.
Offering consultations and top-quality,
cost-effective designs, Colorado Scenery
specializes in making sure your expectations are met. Non-profit companies
get special rates. Other services offered
include scenic carpentry, rentals, project
management and backdrop construction
and repair.
Fullerton Civic Light Opera
www.fclo.com
714.879.9761
One of the largest suppliers of sets and
costumes for Broadway musicals, this
Fullerton, Calif. company boasts 20 complete sets for Broadway musicals, plus
over 200 scenic backdrops and a multitude of stage props. With sets for shows
such as Annie, Camelot, Carousel and
Annie Get Your Gun, among others, the
company offers them for rent to high
schools, colleges, community and professional theatres.
Gateway Playhouse
www.gatewayplayhouse.com
631.286.0555
Based in Bellport, N.Y., Gateway Playhouse
has manufactured a large selection of
scenery for shows for rent to schools,
theatres and tours. Many of their sets are
flexible and can be adapted to fit your
theatre’s configurations. Pricing depends
on scenery being rented, length of show
run and distance from New York. All rentals require the services of a Gateway technician for load-in and load-out.
George & Goldberg Design Associates
www.ggda.net
310.632.6300
Located in Southern California, George
& Goldberg Design Associates offers set
fabrication (including CNC machining,
carpentry, metal, soft goods and scenic
art) and rentals (including drapes, platforms, kabuki drops, turntables, special
effects and motion control systems).
Serving corporate events, theatrical tours,
live entertainment, exhibits and themed
environments, the company has been
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in the entertainment production field
since 1988. Clients include Chrysler, Ford,
Boeing, Tom Petty and the Venetian Hotel
in Las Vegas.
Hudson Scenic Studio, Inc.
www.hudsonscenic.com
914.375.0900
One of the top scenic shops in the industry,
Hudson Scenic Studio offers all level of services from pre-production planning and
project management to technical supervision and installation. Located in Yonkers,
N.Y., which is only a short car or bus drive
away from Manhattan, the company has
served more than 300 Broadway shows
and scores of national tours for over 20
years. Clients include Manhattan Theatre
Club, Playwrights Horizons, Lincoln
Center Theatre, New York Shakespeare
Festival, Universal Studios and Walt Disney
Theatrical.
R.A Reed Productions, Inc.
www.reed-usa.com
503.735.0003
This Portland, Ore. scene shop offers comprehensive services that include scenery
fabrication and construction. Past clients
include Nike, MTV Music Awards, the
Michigan Opera Theatre and the Radio
City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.
Whether it’s outdoors or indoors, R.A. Reed
Productions can provide solutions to all of
your scenic needs.
Romeo Scenery Studio
www.scenerystudio.com
845.226.6602
For 30 years, this Hopewell Junction,
N.Y. scenery and set studio has been
supplying theatre, film and television with quality set construction and
design. Client list ranges from IBM to
Procter and Gamble. They can work
with you at whatever phase of production you’re at.
Insight Design, LLC
www.insightdesigngroup.com
212.932.1446
Based in New York City, Insight Design
creates set designs for theatre, corporate
events, trade shows and meetings. Services
provided include renderings in a broad
range of styles; color and white models;
CAD design and technical drawings; color
and 3D presentation; floor plans, flat art
and slide scanning. Whatever you want,
they will execute and deliver it.
Newmark Scenic Productions
www.newmarkscenic.com
941.316.9204
For more than 20 years, Newmark has been
providing first-rate drops and scenery for
theatre, dance, fashion shows, beauty pageants, church groups and film companies.
Based in Sarasota, Fla., Newmark offers a
vast array of themed exteriors and interiors; they also specialize in working with
smaller, financially pinched theatres.
Pittsburgh CLO/Construction Center for
the Arts
www.pittsburghclo.org
412.381.8185
The CLO Construction Center for the Arts
builds quality sets for Pittsburgh Civic Light
Opera as well as other major arts organizations, tours, Broadway and regional theatres. With its staff of proficient designers,
the CLO Construction Center of the Arts
offers theatres a cost-effective option to
set construction. Rental is also available.
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Toys of the Trade
Gear Jubilee
Top industry manufacturers are ringing in the new year with a slew of new products.
F
or many, January is the time when people are not only recovering from the festivities of the holiday season, but are taking stock
of what they want to accomplish in the new year. This might take the form of a resolution, or as applied to a theatre professional, upgrading one’s equipment inventory. Recently, leading manufacturers unveiled a host of new, exciting products. Check
them out below.
Martin Professional’s Stagebar 54 and Martin Professional’s LC 2140 LED curtain
Martin Professional (www.martinpro.
com), the major lighting manufacturer, is currently raising eyebrows with its Stagebar 54,
a bright, high-efficiency LED pixel bar and its
LC 2140 LED curtain. Making great inroads
into the LED world, the lightweight Stagebar
features high-speed video capability and automatic color calibration. It is designed for the
touring market. The LC 2140 curtain also contains a switch mode power supply covering all
voltages, so there is only the need for one unit type when traveling. Like the Stagebar 54, the
LC 2140 curtain is designed for tours.
Avlex Superlux S241/U3 Condenser Mic
The Avlex (www.avlex.com) Superlux S241/U3 Condenser Microphone is a true capacitor condenser microphone with a half-inch gold evaporated diaphragm, a three-position attenuation pad switch, and a three-position
lo-cut filter switch. The microphone’s slight high-end elevation in frequency response enables it to capture acoustic guitar, snare drums, hi-hat and other instruments whose transient frequency characteristics are often difficult
to capture in a noisy pit environment. The S241/U3 ranges from 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response. The Superlux
S241/U3 ships with an HM-40 shock mount clip, S-09 foam windscreen and HM-43 anti-pop screen. For protection
and storage, the S241/U3 is housed in a plastic carrying case. Optionally available is the PS-2B phantom power
adapter. The Superlux S241/U3 Condenser Microphone carries a MSRP of $250.
Look Solutions Touring Power-Tiny
The German-based
Look Solutions (www.
fogspecs.com), a manufacturer of high performance fog machines,
has also jumped on
the new product bandwagon with its latest
addition — the Touring
Power-Tiny. A highly
portable version of
Look’s popular PowerTiny fog generation, the
Touring Power-Tiny features a custom case designed to hold
the Power-Tiny, its fluid, accessories and a spare battery. It is
designed as an alternative to full-size fog generators for live
productions.
ETC’s new Eos lighting control system
Lighting stalwart
ETC (www.etcconnect.com) has been
causing a lot of chatter
with its new Eos lighting control system,
which nabbed the LDI
2006 Product of the
Year Award for best
debuting product in
the category of lighting. Created to handle the most complex and advanced lighting rigs, the Eos lighting control system is suited for Broadway,
opera houses, concert halls and large-scale productions. Its
features and syntax are user-friendly, and its design is the end
result of a great deal of feedback and study.
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Strand’s Light Palette VL
Lighting heavyweight Strand (www.
strandlighting.com) has been very busy
introducing three new models in its Light
Palette control consoles. They are the
Light Palette Classic, which supports
two standard dual playbacks and 12 submaster/playbacks for flexible control and
operation; the Light Palette Live, which
building on the Classic hardware, adds 48
submasters allowing users to efficiently
run a live performance with lots of handson control; and the Light Palette VL,
which extends the power of the Light
Palette control consoles with 24 submasters and a 100-key keypad that allows a quick
usage of moving lights. Also new is the Pocket Palette, a handheld remote for the
whole Palette range that provides users with more portable control.
Entertainment Technology’s
LightLynx Designer Software
Entertainment Technology
(www.etdimming.com) has been
pouring its attention on LightLynx,
a new global lighting control system for both theatrical and architectural applications. Along with
the LightLynx Designer Software
and the LightLynx Rack Mount
Interface, the LightLynx enables
ILS and DMX512 lighting control
devices to be linked together into
one unlimited lighting control system. Also, the LightLynx Designer
Software allows your entire lighting control system to be designed
and edited off-line; it also allows for real-time configuration and revisions.
Color Kinetics’ Color Blast 12 TR
Color Kinetics (www.colorkinetics.com) has
been elevating its ever-increased profile with
Color Blast 12 TR, which is earmarked for the
theatre and touring markets. An addition to the
Color Blast line, the Color Blast 12 TR includes a
replaceable lens, protective cover, standard XLR
connectors and a housing that easily accommodates various truss clamps.
GE Showbiz’s CSR400/SE/HR/75 metal halide lamp
GE’s Showbiz (www.gelighting.com) has
unveiled a new lamp of interest to theatre: the
new SHOWBIZ® CSR400/SE/HR/75 metal halide
lamp. The new lamp’s 1,000-hour rated life is 25
percent more effective than industry standard
CSR400/SE/HR/60 lamps.
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By Ben Pilat
High On Tech
courtesy of Joan Marcus
Light On The Subject
Pictured (in foreground): Jay Klaitz
as Barry, Will Chase as Rob, Christian
Anderson as Dick and Jon Patrick Walker
as Johnny the Drunk in the Broadway production of High Fidelity.
A graduate lighting student gives a first-hand glimpse into working behind the
scenes of a Broadway musical.
W
itnessing the creation of a Broadway musical is a
unique opportunity. With the Boston tryout of High
Fidelity, a musical adaptation of Nick Hornby’s 1995
book and Stephen Frear’s 2000 movie, that opportunity was
exactly what I received at the Colonial Theatre. As part of my
schooling in the MFA Lighting Design program at Boston
University, I spent a month with prolific Broadway designer Ken
Billington and a team of talented theatre artists as I observed the
formation of a new work.
To document a process that is traditionally hidden from view,
I kept an online journal of my experiences from focus to opening night and beyond. Below are excerpts from this journal as
I witnessed the show evolve both artistically and technically in
preparation for the move to Broadway.
Day One: Focus (September 8, 2006)
Today was my first day with High Fidelity. It was an overwhelming experience that confirmed some expectations and
defied others. I initially thought that the theatre would be
chaotic and the pace hectic. The set was surprisingly stress-free.
I don’t mean to imply that no work was being done, but the
carpenters and electricians worked at a steady pace, as if they
all knew what needed to be done, and were confident in their
ability to accomplish all their tasks on time.
Ken was only focusing one position when I arrived. I introduced myself between lights. He, in turn, introduced me to
Anthony Pearson, his assistant, and John Demous, his associate.
After focusing a few more lights, Ken suggested that Anthony
show me a groundplan to get my bearings.
Anthony showed me scene-by-scene model photos, explaining the various automated panels used to create different locations and the hydraulic lifts used to raise and lower scenery from
the traps. I saw [the] light plot for the first time, which, given the
scale of the production, wasn’t as large as I imagined. Seventy
moving lights and a few hundred conventionals isn’t exactly a
small show, but it’s not the extravaganza I created in my mind. As
I imagined, budget is still a primary concern, even for the most
prolific designers in the business. Anthony pointed out the holes
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on pipes and ladders where additional moving lights used to be,
before they were cut. However, it’s likely they’ll be added back in
once the show moves to New York.
Anthony then became my tour guide. We headed onstage
to see the real version of what I saw in pictures and on paper.
He pointed out winches and other gear for automation both
offstage and under the stage. Most of the scenery is automated,
with the exception of an upstage human-powered sliding wall.
Another nearly comical contrast was seeing so much technology and automation in such a low-tech hemp
house like the Colonial Theatre.
At the end of the tour, after a few more
introductions with a variety of crew members,
I was finally put to work entering focus charts
into Lightwright. During my tour, Ken and
John were working onstage. Ken was focusing
while John recorded the details of how each
light was focused. I took this information from
the hard copies John was using and entered it
into the computer. It was a great introduction
to focus charts, which I was familiar with, but
had never needed to use before.
location once again gave Ken ample time to continue focusing
moving lights and begin building basic looks. Although he generally likes to wait until actors are onstage to fully cue the show,
he did begin experimenting with internal cueing for a song or
two. The work we accomplished today is a solid foundation for
later cueing, but, more importantly, it gives Ken a variety of
looks to show director Walter Bobbie when he arrives tomorrow afternoon.
The vital role an exceptional programmer can play in the
Day Three: Dry Tech (September 11, 2006)
Today was an excellent example of how
technology has impacted the way we make
theatre. Teching the automated aspects of the
show, including flying, tracking and revolving
pieces, takes significantly longer than I imagined. After five hours of work, we just barely
completed two scene changes. Ken didn’t
seem to mind, though; he appeared to have
ample time in each set to focus moving lights
and rough-in cues.
I was finally able to read the script for
today. It was interesting, but seeing portions
of a rehearsal-hall video really brought life to
the piece. The show seems to be a mixture
of typical book musical and rock opera. I’m
curious to see what kind of visual interest Ken
brings to the table, how the worlds of song
and dialogue vary.
Day Four: Dry Tech, cont. (September
12, 2006)
Today was another slow-moving, yet productive, day at High Fidelity. A few more
scenes were set and their positions recorded,
in the hopes that future transitions will be
expedient and flawless. The set-up into each
Jon Patrick Walker as Bruce and Will Chase as Rob in High Fidelity
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Light On The Subject
creative process became apparent this
afternoon. Ken introduced programmer
David Arch by saying, “He’s the best,”
but not because he is a wiz on the board.
David and Ken have worked together in
the past, so David has the advantage of
being able to anticipate what Ken will
ask for. David is an artist in his own right
and has a very collaborative relationship
with Ken.
the intention of leaving them unlit during
book scenes. Walter wants to have a tight
focus within the store during dialogue,
but wants the world to open up during
musical numbers. Ken also uses color
within the shop to delineate between
song and reality. Much of the opening
number is inspired by concert-style lighting. Ken and programmer David are aware
of the beams of light in haze as another
element of composition.
Day Seven: Tech (September 15, 2006)
Actors were onstage today for the first
official day of tech. We made progress
slowly, but at a steady pace, stopping
as needed to fix problems. The first two
transitions received a great deal of attention as we adjusted the timing and speed
of each piece. The result is a world that
doesn’t just transition; it morphs itself
into a new location.
Walter and Ken discussed the overall
philosophy of the show. It is important
to Walter that there is a clear distinction
between songs and book scenes in the
record store. One way Ken accomplished
this was in his treatment of the portals: he
lit them with vibrantly colored textured
light to create the world of the song with
Day Eight: Tech (September 16, 2006)
Ken and I had a conversation about
working with directors when a show is still
in the planning phases. Their discussions
aren’t as detailed as I initially imagined.
They talk about the overall look and feeling
of the show, but may not go much more
in-depth than that. As Ken has gotten older,
it’s become rarer that he works with a director that he’s unfamiliar with. Since a working relationship already exists, Ken is usually
on the same page as the director without
the need for a lengthy discussion.
However, Walter and Ken talk frequently
during tech. For example, Ken created a fullstage textured backlight look for a moment
when the show’s main character Rob is
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Light On The Subject
lamenting Laura, his lost love. Walter was
concerned that the look pulled too much
focus and suggested a similar approach
with more isolation on Rob. Ken agreed,
deciding that he was looking at the beams
of light when he should be looking at Rob.
In response, Ken simplified the look by
using fewer lights and focusing them all
on Rob. He then created variations of this
look for the rest of the song. I think Ken and
Walter were both pleased with the result.
Day Eleven: Tech (September
20, 2006)
Christian Anderson as Dick, Will Chase as
Rob and Jay Klaitz as Barry in High Fidelity
We passed a large milestone today:
we finished cueing Act 1. Ken wrote the
final cue within seconds of the end of
the day. Tomorrow we’ll need to clean it
up and run the ending a few times, but
all the cues are in the board. Speaking
of cues in the board, we’ve made the
decision to switch moving light consoles.
All of the raw data from the Hog iPC will
need to be entered manually into the
new Virtuoso console. All of the show
information still exists, but we’ll have a
few days of data entry. Luckily, Act 1 is
only 190 cues, and we have a few days
before we’ll need to run it again.
Day Twenty-Three: Preview #10
(October 4, 2006) and Day Twenty-Four:
Boston Opening (October 5, 2006)
On opening night, it became apparent that the new Act 1 plans were put on
hold in lieu of polishing the existing show
prior to opening. The new upstage drop
was hung, now painted muslin instead of
printed plastic. The new drop takes light
much better and fits the world of the
play by showing adjacent brick buildings
before transitioning to skyline.
Although there were plans to continue
working for the next week, that is no longer the case. Most of the team is back in
New York while Walter and the writers
collaborate on changes. There is a chance
that these changes will be implemented
in the third week of the Boston run, but
they will more likely wait until the show
closes. After a week off, there are two
weeks scheduled for rehearsal before the
show techs in New York.
[Editor’s Note: High Fidelity opened on
December 7, 2006 at Broadway’s Imperial
Theatre and closed December 17. You can
read all of Ben’s blog entries online at
http://www.stage-directions.com.]
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Sound Advice
Photos and Text By Jason Pritchard
Head
Case
Need to know how to attach a mic to an actor’s head and
conceal it from public view? Read on.
H
ow do you attach a microphone
to an actor’s head and make it
invisible? Following is a guide
that will not only answer this common
question, but also help you understand
how mic rigs are built and used.
First, the supply list:
•Your favorite miniature microphone (Sennheiser MKE2, DPA4060,
Countryman B3 or B6 or what have
you). I prefer to start with mics that are
light flesh tone, because it allows the
greatest number of possibilities when it
comes to coloring them to match their
surroundings.
•1/16″ round elastic. Again, I prefer to
start with white and color it as needed.
In lieu of RIT or some other dye, we
have used 10 tea bags (regular Lipton,
not the fancy herb stuff) and a bowl of
hot water to darken the white cord to a
light tan.
•Black and Brown toupee clips,
assorted sizes. (Although we use more
of the small size than any other.)
•Art markers. Assorted skin and hair
tones. It’s usually good to have several shades of brown, black and grey.
We also have some browns that skew
towards red. We use Prismacolor
Art Markers with DPA microphones,
but have found that the Prismacolors
don’t work as well on Sennheiser and
Countryman mics. We have started to
use Zig Paintys on the Countryman
mics. The color is a little shiny compared
to the Prismacolors, but it lasts longer
on the Countryman.
•Flexible super glue. (Miracle Glue,
Foam Adhesive)
•Floral wire — small gauge, solid
wire.
•Moleskin or fabric surgical tape.
•Hellerman Tool and Hellerman
Sleeves or surgical tube. Merithian has
Hellerman tools for sale.
Now it’s arts-and-crafts time. The process can be time-consuming, and probably should be undertaken well before
the half-hour call. As every actor’s hair
and skin color is different, you have to
start with samples of various coloring
options. Colorize a broken mic wire
with all of your art marker colors so
you have a color template to use for
comparison purposes. Take a couple of
minutes with each actor to do a quick
color match using the color template
wire. You can also find out if the actor
has a preference as to using elastic or
clips now, too. (Not that they will always
get what they want, as there are other
factors that determine the form of the
final rig.)
Also try to get some rough measurements. The most important measurement is from the center of the forehead
to the edge of the hairline on the back
of the neck. This may be different for a
clip rig as opposed to an elastic rig. It’s
also easiest to use the actual mic to do
the measurement. Hold the mic in place
on the actor where it needs to be, and
stretch the wire through the path it will
follow. Mark the location of the rear
hairline on the mic; that way you know
how far to color the mic wire to match
the hair.
Elastic Rigs (Halo)
Halo rigs are by far the easiest to
make and the easiest to put on. They can
be hidden quite effectively if colored
and fitted correctly. If done improperly,
they end up looking like the actor is
wearing a hairnet. Halo rigs don’t work
for everyone; the hairline has to be
such that the mic wire and elastic have
a place to hide and aren’t stretched
across the forehead without the cover
of hair. Halo rigs can be difficult to hide
properly if the actor has a receding hairline or a “widow’s peak,” as the wire will
want to run across the forehead. Bangs
are also very helpful in hiding the head
of the microphone.
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Uncolored Halo Rig
The Halo Side View photo shows the
same actor from the side. Notice the mic
wire is colorized to blend in with the
actor’s hair color, making it very difficult
to see — even close up. From stage, this
microphone completely disappears.
Clip Close-up
Halo-Extended
This photo shows an uncolored halo
rig. The elastic is tied to the mic wire just
behind the head of the mic and again several inches down the mic wire, resulting
in a circle that can be placed around the
actor’s head, with the mic in the center of
the forehead at the hairline. Use a bowline knot with a half hitch to secure the
elastic to the mic wire. It holds well, and
before it’s tightened down it can be slid
on the wire to get the position correct.
Care should be taken not to make the
knot too tight, as that can be damaging to
the mic wire. Sometimes a drop of superglue on the knot can save re-tying knots
that have come loose.
A close-up shot of the toupee clip with
the elastic tied between the two holes
on either side, and the mic wire threaded
through and wrapped around the elastic.
Clip In Hair
Here is a shot of another halo rig. This
photo was taken looking at the side of
the actor’s head to show the microphone
head extending down the forehead and
being obscured by the actor’s hair. Notice
the mic wire to the right has not yet been
properly dressed through the hair.
The Clip Method
Halo Mic Front View
The photo above shows a halo rig on an
actor. The photo was taken with a slightly
upward angle to show the microphone.
From a forward angle the mic head hides
behind the actor’s hair. In this instance,
care was taken to arrange the wire in such
a way as to weave it through the actor’s
hair, leaving only the head of the mic protruding onto the actor’s forehead.
Halo Side View
Toupee clip rigs like the one above
can be used to blend into the hair
when halo rigs are not an option.
Some actors prefer them to the elastic rigs; the clips, however, can be
hard on the hair and end up pulling
hair out, leaving thin spots unless
care is taken when removing the rig.
Clip rigs are time-consuming to build.
Attaching the elastic to the clips and
threading the mic wire through, as
well as getting the clip placement
correct for the application, is once
again a trial and error proposition.
In the clip rig pictured above, we
were able to use a black mic and
black clips — no extra color was
used. Notice the head of the mic:
a Hellerman sleeve is placed just
behind the mic head to minimize
any sweat that might run down the
mic wire.
Here is a photo of the rig in the actor’s
hair. The circled clip is hidden in the hair.
Once again, this rig completely disappears when viewed from the stage. This
photo is taken from straight on. This actor
has a hairline that is ideal for this sort of
placement. The mic sits past the crest in
the actor’s brow, placing the mic on the
front of the actor’s face, not the top of
their head.
Clip Back
Here’s a photo of the back of an actor’s
head, showing the mic wire and toupee
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Sound Advice
Head
Case
clip holding the wire in place. In addition
to the clip, a piece of surgical tape is used
on the back of the actor’s neck to provide
additional adhesion.
The Ear Rig
I am not a fan of the sound of the
ear rig, but sometimes it’s the only
option. It is a piece of coat hanger bent into the correct shape. The
mic wire, a piece of floral wire and a
coat hanger are held together with
Hellerman sleeves. A little moleskin
or fabric surgical tape covers the
Hellerman sleeves to provide a little
comfort for the actor.
When painting these rigs to hide
them, there are a few things to keep
in mind. Remember that this is camouflage. In the hair, using color that’s
just a little darker is easier to make
disappear. Military camouflage is
multi-color and multi-pattern. Varying
the color a bit usually gives better
results than solid colors. It’s all about
trial and error to see what works and
what doesn’t. If you’re trying to hide
a wire across open expanses of flesh
(down someone’s back for instance),
generally going just a bit lighter
works best.
You’ll also need to perform routine
maintenance on your rigs. Mics don’t
last forever, and the knots, elastic and
clips get old, and colors fade. Be sure
to write down what works for each
actor and all the parts you need to
build each rig. For the principal roles,
we generally build two for each of
them so that if one breaks, we have
another ready to go. Building a new
rig is just too time-consuming and
tedious to have to do it at the halfhour, or worse, during a performance.
In an ideal situation, the sound
designer would have absolute say
over mic placement, but that’s not
how it works. I prefer the center of the
forehead, provided the shape of ones
brow allows the mic to sit on the front
of the actor’s face and not the top of
their head. Of course, the use of hats
in the production could influence mic
placement, as sound produced with a
hat tends to be hollow and loud. If an
actor has a lack of hair, perhaps the
only option for unobtrusive miking is
the ear rig.
Jason Pritchard is head of audio for
Cirque du Soleil’s production of LOVE. A
version of this article originally appeared
on the Bright and Loud Web site, (www.
brightandloud.com).
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Vital Stats
By Kevin Mitchell
Meet
Robert Christen, Lighting Designer
A Windy City resident makes good.
Current Home: Goodman Theatre,
Chicago, Illinois
About the Organization: Established
in 1925, it has launched the careers as
David Mamet, Sam Shepherd, William H. Macy, Christopher
Walken, John Malkovich, Joe Mantegna and Mary
Zimmerman, among others.
Moonlights At: Steppenwolf, Looking Glass, Northlight
Theater and the Chicago Opera.
Schooling: Graduated from the University of Wisconsin,
and started at Goodman as an assistant electrician.
Recent Work: A Christmas Carol (an annual affair 28 years
young); and a festival of Edward Albee’s work.
Up Next: A festival of David Mamet’s work.
Chicago, My Kind of Town: “The 1960s and 1970s saw a
manifestation of a lot of small theatre companies. We had
more freedom than in New York, where the commercial
aspects put a different kind of pressure on you. In Los
Angeles, the main focus is on TV and film — not that there’s
not good theatre there, too, it just gets a little lost.”
Challenges: Conflicts. “Sometimes I get into productions that I don’t think have a conflict with another,
but then I end up doing a lot of running back and forth
between theatres.”
Upside: “Equipment has become better. More theatres
here seem to have acquired more inventory, and most
have computer-related products.”
What Has Changed: The audience’s expectation.
“Theatregoers are also going to concerts, and are seeing
special live events on TV, and they are experiencing more
elaborate productions.”
Why That’s Good: “Sometimes razzle-dazzle provides a
higher quality product. Ticket prices haven’t gone down,
either! [Laughs.] It’s a matter of trying to give them their
money’s worth.”
Vital Stats
All photos courtesy of Goodman Theatre
Robert Christen
From the recent
Goodman Theatre
production of A
Christmas Carol,
where Christen
demonstrated his
seasoned lighting
artistry
The exterior of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
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It’s All In The Branding
Carol Rosegg
The Off-Broadway production of Altar Boyz (seen
here) owed a great deal of
its success to Nielsen marketing research.
Photo courtesy by Carol Rosegg
A fabled TV market research tool is venturing into legit theatre.
By Lisa Lipkin
S
ay the name “Nielsen,” and television executives around
the country quiver in their boots. Ever since Arthur Charles
Nielsen, Sr., an American market analyst, first developed
a method for measuring the audiences of radio and television
broadcasting programs in the early 1960s, the Nielsen ratings
have been the single most important element in determining
advertising rates, schedules and even program content.
That kind of cold, statistic-driven approach to “art” has always
been shunned by live theatre professionals. Until now, that is.
In an intriguing partnership between Nielsen Research Group
(NRG), an affiliate of the television ratings group, and Broadway.
com, the theatre news and ticketing Web site, a year-old company called Live Theatrical Events is determined to help producers
reap more revenue by using the vast amount of data they collect
to their advantage.
The alliance between the two companies is not only timely;
it’s strategic. While NRG has tremendous expertise in market research for movies and other entertainment properties,
Broadway.com is one of the most comprehensive online ticketing destinations for live theatre, with access to hundreds of
thousands of theatregoers who use the site, and it has an ability
to gather information about their theatre-going habits. If a producer, for example, wanted to know if tourists who have never
been to an Off-Broadway show before will pay full price for their
tickets, or if middle-aged women who have seen Lion King twice
before will respond to a show’s advertising poster, Broadway.
com could quickly find out by reaching out to hundreds of
respondents online.
At the company’s helm is Joseph Craig, an enthusiastic 39year-old with a passion for good theatre and great data, a potent
combination that has some producers hooked. “I will not do
another show without him in my advertising budget,” says Ken
Davenport, a producer of Altar Boyz, who credits Craig’s research
with the show’s turnaround.
After surveying three different Altar Boyz audiences, Mr. Craig
discovered some unexpected facts: first, that the show’s Outer
Circle Critics Award was a big plus, and second, that the description of one of the characters as a “nice Jewish boy” had appeal.
In no time, the advertising incorporated the new information.
Visitors to the Altar Boyz Web site (www.altarboyz.com) will now
see a Star of David dangling conspicuously from the necklace
of one of the animated characters and a large pop-up banner
announcing their award.
Live Theatrical Events is by no means the first group to
use market research in the live performance arena. Theatre
organizations have for years organized focus groups to help
illuminate who their patrons are. The difference between his
company and others, according to Craig, is the sophistication of
its analysis. Formerly an account executive at NRG, whose tasks
included doing studies for movie industry giants like Disney and
Paramount, Craig is adept at uncovering the habits and motivations of the entertainment-going public.
Some of his success lies in his vigilance. “We have a 70percent in-theatre return rate,” he says, referring to the yellow
questionnaires he tapes onto seats at selected shows. “That’s
because we do little things to make sure we get them back.” His
“little things” include pencils stuck to each questionnaire and
a big staff — sometimes seven or eight people, depending on
the size of the house — who constantly circulate and encourage
people to fill them out.
Then there are his questions. After two years of preparation, Craig has designed questionnaires that shed light on the
habits of theatregoers. Take last year’s survey of Off-Broadway
theatres, commissioned by the League of American Theatres
and Producers and the Theatre Development Fund. Among his
findings: men proportionately hit Off-Broadway more frequently
than Broadway, whereas tourists prefer the latter. Craig also targets younger members of an audience. Instead of rating a show
as “excellent” or, “fair,” kids are given a special questionnaire
where they check off words like “Good,” “Okay” or “I don’t like it.”
A smiley face is included as an alternative choice.
Live Theatrical Events will typically survey three audiences —
a matinee, a Friday evening and a weekend — so that they can
get the widest demographic sampling. Primarily, their goal is to
find out what the commonality is among those disparate groups
and what drives ticket sales overall. Although there are always
some surprise responses, there are some predictable responses,
too. Like the fact that tourists usually want to see two things
while visiting New York City: Ground Zero and a Broadway show.
That matinee groups love the swinging chandelier in Phantom
and everyone loves the turning wall in Les Misérables.
In addition to in-theatre focus groups, Live Theatrical Events
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will offer a Hot List, a biweekly survey of
theatregoers who rate which actor they
would like to see onstage; a Tracking
Service, using online polls asking what
shows people are aware of or interested
in; and a Syndicated Service of research
data that will be available for approximately $800 per month.
Not everyone is convinced of the accuracy of such research. Six months after Rent
opened in New York, its producer, Jeffrey
Seller, was told by one such research
group that his show had no brand recognition in Chicago. Subsequently, the
Chicago show sold half a million dollars
in ticket sales within the first day. “Chorus
Line, Annie, Hair, Les Misérables, Rent,” says
Seller, as quoted in a New York Times
article (“Nielsen Brings a New Marketing
Strategy to Broadway” dated August 1,
2006). “Were any of those shows built by
focus groups?”
Craig acknowledges that some theatre
people see his work as cynical and unromantic, a sign that theatre has become
assimilated into the mass culture.
But as content producers like Disney
and Dreamworks are becoming increasingly active on Broadway, the stage is being
set both literally and metaphorically.
Matthew Freeman, a New York-based
playwright who authors a popular theatre
blog (matthewfreeman.blogspot.com),
believes the theatre world can benefit by
using the tools of corporate marketers.
“Because Disney markets Tarzan effectively, does that mean that those who want
to bring a large audience to Waiting for
Godot should attempt to do so with ancient
methods?” asks Freeman. “I’m going to be
straight up about my belief that rebranding
Off-Off Broadway as ‘Indie Theatre’ is a very
good idea.
“There’s no shame in the desire to bring
people in the room to experience what
you have to offer,” continues Freeman. “To
offer it to the right people, to people who
will appreciate it, you need to know where
they are and how to reach them. Let’s
not treat market research as some sort
of untouchable evil. It’s there. Using the
principles of modern media and marketing
(perhaps without using awful yellow checklists) might do us all a bit of good.”
Lisa Lipkin is a professional storyteller
and freelance writer. She is the author of
Bringing the Story Home: The Complete
Guide to Storytelling for Parents (Norton,
2000).
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Theatre Spotlight
By Mary Murfin Bayley
The Artist Is The
Agenda
Pushing the envelope is key to this
award-winning theatre.
From Our Town,
directed by Intiman
Theatre’s artistic
director Bartlett Sher.
“Essentially, I pick interesting artists and I live with them, and the
more obsessed and the more
insane they are, the better I think it
is to work with them.” -Bartlett Sher
renewal rate is more than 73 percent), knowing that whatever the play, it will be an intense
evening of theatre.The work may sometimes
be challenging, but the physical theatre is very
comfortable. With a garden courtyard for sumphotos courtesy of Chris Bennion
mer dining, steeply raked seating and a thrust
stage, the handsome 446 seat theatre was built
eattle’s Intiman Theatre has been making news recently.
originally for the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962
In May it won the 2006 Regional Theatre Tony Award. and renovated for Intiman (cost $1.2 million) in 1987.
In 2005, The Light In The Piazza, a musical developed
The intimate physical space suits the original concept of foundat Intiman, went on to a long run on Broadway, earned six er Megs Booker to make theatre personal and involving when she
Tony awards, and is now touring the country. In 2004 Intiman created the venue in 1972 and named it after August Strindberg’s
received a three-year $400,000 grant from the Doris Duke historic Stockholm theatre, “Intima Teatern.” Starting with a focus
Charitable foundation recognizing the organization as one of on the classics, balanced by staged readings of contemporary
America’s “Leading National Theatres.” What’s happening at plays, Intiman, under Artistic Directors Elizabeth Huddle, Warner
Intiman that’s causing the stir? According to Artistic Director Shook and now Sher, expanded its repertoire to include the proBartlett Sher and Managing Director Laura Penn, the theatre is duction of world premieres.
essentially doing what it has always done: producing both the
These have included Robert Schenkkan’s The Kentucky Cycle,
classics and new works with passion and intensity and making directed by Warner Shook in 1991, the first play to win the
it a priority to connect to the community.
Pulitzer Prize for drama without first having a New York proSher explains Intiman’s agenda and strategy as being built duction. Singing Forest, by Craig Lucas, won the American
on trusting both the artist and the audience.“Essentially, I pick Theatre Critics Association’s annual Steinberg New Play Award
interesting artists and I live with them,” he says, “and the more in 2004. Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich’s bestseller about
obsessed and the more insane they are, the better I think it is to America’s working poor, adapted for Intiman in 2002 by Joan
work with them.”
Holden, went on to become one of the most produced new
Following the impulse of the artist led to one of Intiman’s plays in the country. Intiman mounted Tony Kushner’s Angels in
recent big success stories: The Light In The Piazza by writer Craig America directly after the Broadway production closed, offering
Lucas and composer/lyricist Adam Guettel.“We never expected Part One: Millennium Approaches as the final show of the 1994
Light In The Piazza to be the big success that it was,” admits subscription season and Part Two: Perestroika as the first show of
Sher. “We loved it, but we didn’t expect a 50-week sold out the 1995 subscription season.
run in New York and sold out national tours. We just went with
The type of community outreach surrounding Intiman’s 2003
these two amazing artists. We were very connected to them production of Kushner’s Homebody Kabul is typical of Intiman’s
and we protected their space and let them make something.”
approach. “The more complex and original the piece, the more we
Being guided by the vision of the artist, whether director, do,” says Sher. “During Homebody Kabul, for example, we built a
designer or actor, instead of by market considerations, has built large community structure around the piece, and connected with
an audience that comes back year after year (the subscriber the Muslim community.”
S
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Other community outreach initiatives include
“Living History in Arts,” an educational program that
sends actors into schools where they use improv
techniques to explore historical or social issues raised by the plays.
The program involves some 135,000 students in high schools
throughout Washington State each year.
Audience has also been built through a long-time Christmas
tradition called Black Nativity, a gospel song play by Langston
Suzanne Bouchard as
Queen Margaret with
Stephen Pelinski as
Richard and members of
the company in the 2006
Intiman Theatre production of Shakespeare’s
Richard III, directed by
Bartlett Sher.
Hughes, which has become one of Seattle’s popular holiday
traditions since it opened in 1998. “With 50 people on stage
in a 446-seat house, it can’t be a huge revenue generator,”
concedes Penn. “Still, it does tend to break even. It’s the only
production we have that almost pays for itself, and everything
else is almost 50/50.”
Intiman’s faithful audience and its commitment to
community outreach have created an unusually courageous subscriber base. At Intiman the small comedies
that usually sell out elsewhere can be less popular with
the audience than more trying works. “Last season
Richard III did better than either of the comedies that
were sure-fire elsewhere,” notes Sher.
In addition to its community building and commitment to artists, Sher and Penn attribute Intiman’s success in part to a decision to always move forward with
a certain headstrong hardiness. “We choose to push
through challenges instead of retracting from them,”
relates Penn. “Our response to the economic downturn
of 9/11, for example, was not to cut back but to schedule
some of the biggest American plays ever written in a
cycle extending over five years.”
Myra Lucretia Taylor
as Mrs. Thomas
and Ato Essandoh
as Bigger Thomas
in Native Son at the
Intiman Theatre.
This American Cycle presents one American classic a year,
including Our Town, Grapes of Wrath, Native Son, To Kill A
Mockingbird and All the King’s Men. Intiman directs readings of
the plays with volunteer community members taking parts in
libraries and other public spaces followed by discussions. “I’ve
just come from the readings of Native Son and they have been
intense, angry and fabulous,” says Penn.
The American Cycle plays were chosen, in
part, as a response to the political climate in the
country. “We now have one, narrow, rigid version of America being pumped out. There is a
great tradition of American letters and thought
emphasizing other versions of what it means to
be an American. We wanted to tell the stories
that only the theatre can tell,” explains Sher. “It’s
the artists who can really have an impact, the
artists saying, ‘Knock it off!’”
Always coming back to the artist’s vision is
the baseline for Sher and for Intiman. “We’re
thrilled about the Tony, and we’re thrilled by all
the attention, but the fact is that it still comes
back to the same premises we’ve always followed,” says Sher. “That you have to push it a
little bit out to the edge, and go with what artists have to say, and their capacity to say it will
really make a difference.”
To find out more about the Intiman Theatre, log onto
www.intiman.org.
Mary Murfin Bayley is a freelance writer living in Seattle.
The pre-Broadway
production of the Tony
Award winning The
Light In The Piazza at
the Intiman Theatre.
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School Spotlight
N
By Mary Murfin Bayley
From the University of
Washington production
of Othello
Performance and production values factor equally in student shows at
the University of Washington, such as Suite For Strangers, seen here.
orthwest Bounty
Top-notch training, coupled with artistic riches, are rife at this theatre program.
A
recent production on the historic arena stage of the
University of Washington’s Penthouse Theatre drew from
the many levels of training offered there. Four actors skillfully portrayed dozens of roles in director Mark Jenkins’ tour-deforce version of Mikhail Bulgakov’s Black Snow. Two of the four
were from the master’s program and two were undergraduates.
The beautifully calibrated costumes and lighting were by students
in the master’s design program. An audience question-and-answer
event after the play was led by a UW Drama Ph.D. candidate.
“It’s a research university, but it’s a university that understands that artists’ work is research, that actors are supposed to
act and directors to direct and that their productions are equivalent to publishing,” says Sarah Nash Gates, executive director of
the UW School of Drama.
The University of Washington School of Drama, ranked fourth
in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, is comprised of 230
bachelor’s students, 50 master’s students (30 in acting, four in
directing and 15 in design) and 10 Ph.D.s. The UW’s flagship is
the Professional Actor Training Program, PATP, a rigorous threeyear conservatory leading to a master’s in which actors attend
classes from nine to five every day, and rehearse an additional
25 hours a week. The New York Times described the program
as “…one of the most often mentioned MFA acting programs
by casting and theatrical agencies.” Every year, Jenkins, who
heads up the PATP, chooses 10 actors from national auditions
of approximately 1,000 candidates. Well-known alumni include
film, stage and TV actress Jean Smart, Christopher Evan Welch,
Pamela Reed, Karl and Kyle MacLachlan
The other UW drama programs are equally rigorous. The
master’s directing program is designed so that the four students
who are selected get a variety of opportunities to direct under
the guidance of the PATP faculty. UW admits only two directing
students every other year. These students usually already have
substantial experience.
The high-profile master’s design program is supported by a
staff of professional technical directors, carpenters and drapers.
There are three full-time employees in the costume shop, four
full-time in the scene shop and one master electrician. Design
students focus on one area of interest while becoming familiar with all aspects of production and collaboration. They also
design for the music department’s opera productions. Admission
is based on portfolio and interview. “We achieve a very high level
of finish in our physical production,” maintains Nash Gates.
The Ph.D. program emphasizes theory, criticism and performance history. Applicants usually come with master’s degrees,
but those with bachelor’s are eligible to apply. “Many come into
the program with MFAs and much performing experience and
want to supplement that with a more scholarly study,” notes
Nash Gates. “Here the Ph.D.s also work as teaching assistants to
Drama 101.”
The Bachelor’s program is more broad-based, serving students for whom theatre is a minor as well as a future career,
and offering a well-rounded major within a liberal arts context.
About 40 percent of the courses in the major focuses on history, literature and criticism; the rest of the courses are in all elements of production. No auditions are necessary for admittance,
although auditions are required for classes such as intermediate
and advanced acting.
“Undergraduates do perform and take some classes with
graduate students,” says Nash Gates. “But the undergraduate
program is not a conservatory. It’s more about breadth. We still
cling to the belief that a broadly educated student makes for a
better artist.” Bachelor’s students have opportunities to act in
the Undergraduate Theatre Society, which presents the classics
and contemporary plays and in which students also produce,
write and direct their own works.
The cost of a UW drama education ranges from $5,160 or
$1,720 per quarter for Washington residents and from $19,907
or $6,636 per quarter for out-of-state residents. The School of
Drama offers scholarships of between $100 and $2000.
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To walk through the UW Drama building Hutchinson Hall is
to glimpse all the levels of theatre at once. In the huge costume
shop, staff and students consult around one of the dozens of
large cutting tables. One woman is wearing a huge bustle but
seems to have forgotten about it as they pore over drawings.
There are seven storerooms full of costumes hung from floor to
ceiling, while boot racks line the walls with every possible variation of boot.
In the halls students in a class taught by Jon Jory, both PATP
and undergraduates, are quietly running lines. In another empty
studio students practice a full scene while Jory intently watches
scenes in his classroom. Actors in makeup and costumes wait to
have a scene filmed for an “Acting For The Camera” class.
Students in a greenroom and lounge are using computers. In
the Drama library, some 50,000 plays fill the stacks, and undergrads and Ph.D.s read through scripts and reference books. “All
the Seattle theatres use it,” says Nash Gates. “It’s a great resource
for the city that way.”
The UW’s three main theatres offer three different configurations and atmospheres. The 1930-built Playhouse is a brick buildStudents create a ladder in The Three Birds
ing on busy University Avenue. It is undergoing a $9.5 million
renovation and will open again in late fall 2008. The Meany
Studio is an adaptable endstage (a proscenium without the proscenium arch) in the middle of UW’s leafy campus. At the other
end of the scale is the Penthouse Theatre, which first opened
in 1941. It was the first purpose-built theatre-in-the-round in
the country, showcasing such theatre luminaries as Moss Hart,
Edna Ferber, Agnes Moorehead, Lillian Gish, Betty Compton and
Sinclair Lewis.
Like the Penthouse and Playhouse theatres, the UW drama
program is part of Seattle’s theatre history and has contributed
to Seattle’s identity as a theatre town since its creation. Students
and teachers who have either founded or served as artistic directors of major Seattle theatres include: Gregory Falls (founded
ACT Theatre), Duncan Ross (long time artistic director at the
Seattle Repertory Theatre), Arne Zazlove (Bathhouse Theatre),
Ruben Sierra (Group Theatre) M. Burke Walker (founded The
Empty Space Theatre) and Linda Hartzell (director of the Seattle
Children’s Theatre). The most recent addition is the Washington
Ensemble Theatre founded by 11 UW drama alums in 2004.
Further south, UW alumnus Angus Bowmer founded the enormously successful Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.
As the question-and-answer session ends in the Penthouse
Theatre, the cast and crew of Black Snow are given one more
round of enthusiastic applause. It is applause directed at the
sheer breadth and wealth of training at the UW drama program.
For more information about the UW drama program, visit the
Web site at www.washington.edu.
Gear Alert
115
ETC Source Four Elipsoidals
4
Selecon Pacific 50º ERS
28
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6
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33
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8
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4
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Non Axial 6x9
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28
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3
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28
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High End Technobeam I
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44
300.0701.32-33.indd 33
Check out the lighting inventory used
at UW School of Drama
PAR 64
2
Martin MAC 700
7
L&E Mini Strip
2
Apollo Smart Move Gobo Rotators
8
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3
GAM Film/FX
14
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ETC Express 24/48
12/14/06 12:49:37 PM
SummerSummer
Training
Programs
Training
Programs
Summer Training Programs
Looking to expand your repertoire over the summer? Here are some opportunities.
ARIZONA
CenterStage West
P.O. Box 36688
Phoenix, AZ 85067
Phone: 602.242.1123
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.cstage.com/summer/west/index.html
Mid-June through late-July
CALIFORNIA
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
1336 N. La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Phone: 323.464.2777 or 800.222.2867
Web site: www.aada.org
6 Week Summer Intensive
July 9, 2007–August 17, 2007
American Musical Theatre Artists Institute
Corporate Offices and Studios
1717 Technology Dr
San Jose, CA 95110
Phone: 408.453.1531
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.amtsj.org
Theatre Arts Conservatory, 5-week intensive
California Shakespeare Festival Conservatory
701 Heinz Ave
Berkeley, CA 94710
Phone: 510.548.3422 x127
Fax: 510.843.9921
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.calshakes.org
Dell’Arte International
School of Physical Theatre
P.O. Box 816
Blue Lake, CA 95525
Phone: 707.668.5663
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.dellarte.com
Summer Workshops: June-July
Idyllwild Arts Summer Program
52500 Temecula Dr.
P.O. Box 38
Idyllwild, CA 92549
Phone: 951.659.2171 x2365/2366
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.idyllwildarts.org
Please check the Web site for dates for summer courses.
PCPA Theaterfest at Allan Hancock College
P.O. Box 1700
Santa Maria, CA 93456
Phone: 805.928.7731 x4115
Fax: 805.928.7506
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.pcpa.org
Summer internships available in acting and tech
Fantasy Theatre: mid-July
CONNECTICUT
Yale Univ. Summer Session
P.O. Box 208355
New Haven, CT 06520
Phone: 203.432.2430
Fax: 203.432.2434
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.yale.edu/summer
Session 1: June 4–July 6
Session 2: July 9–August 10
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory
1501 14th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20005
Phone: 202.232.7267
Fax: 202.588.5262
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.studiotheatre.org
ILLINOIS
National High School Institute–Theatre Arts
Northwestern University
617 Noyes St
Evanston, IL 60208
Phone: 800.662.NHSI or 847.491.3026
Fax: 847.467.1057
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.northwestern.edu/nhsi
Rigging Seminars
2416 3rd Ave W
Seattle, WA 98119
Phone: 206.283.4419
Fax: 206.282.9362
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.riggingseminars.com
July 9–12, 2007, in Chicago, IL.
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IOWA
Donna Reed Performing Arts Festival & Workshops
1305 Broadway
Denison, IA 51442
Phone: 712.263.3334
Fax: 712.263.8026
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.donnareed.org
June 19–23, 2007
MAINE
Celebration Barn Theatre
190 Stock Farm Rd
South Paris, ME 04281
Phone: 207.743.8452
Fax: 207.743.3889
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.celebrationbarn.com
Various workshops June 25–Sept.1
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston University, College of Fine Arts
Summer Theatre Institute Office
855 Commonwealth Ave, Room 470
Boston, MA 02215
Phone: 617.353.3390
Fax: 617.353.4363
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.bu.edu/cfa/index.htm
Harvard Summer School
51 Brattle St
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: 617.495.4024
Fax: 617.496.4525
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.summer.harvard.edu
Three acting workshops
One directing workshop
June 26–August 18
Shakespeare & Co.
Training Programs
Summer Training Institute
70 Kemble St
Lenox, MA 01240
Phone: 413.637.1199 x114
Fax: 413.637.4274
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.shakespeare.org
Five-week intensive actor training
in Shakespeare
Williamstown Theatre Festival
Apprenticeship Program
229 W 42nd St Suite 801
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212.395.9090
Fax: 212.395.9099
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.wtfestival.org
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Summer Training Programs
MICHIGAN
Interlochen Arts Camp
P.O. Box 199 (US Mail)
4000 Highway M.137 (FedEx, UPS, Airborne Ex)
Interlochen, MI 49643
Phone: 231.276.7472 or 800.681.5912
Fax: 231.276.7464
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.interlochen.org/camp
/index.htm
All summer programs fall between June 24 and August 7
Michigan Barn Theatre
13351 W M.96
Augusta, MI 49012
Phone: 269.731.4121
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.barntheatre.com
Generally runs May 14–September 14
NEVADA
The National Stage
Combat Workshop
Dept. of Theatre
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
4500 S Maryland Pkwy
Las Vegas, NV 89154
702.895.3666
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.safd.org/NSCW/
NSCW_Main.html
July 9–27, 2007
NEW YORK
American Academy of
Dramatic Arts
120 Madison Ave
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212.686.9244 or 800.463.8990
Web site: www.aada.org
Six-Week Summer Intensive
July 9–August 16, 2007
Circle in the Square Theatre School
Summer Workshop-Acting and Musical
1633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212.307.0388
Fax: 212.307.0257
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.circlesquare.org
July 2–August 17, 2007
Cobalt Studios
Summer Scene Painting
134 Royce Rd
P.O. Box 79
White Lake, NY 12786
Phone: 845.583.7025
Fax: 845.583.7025
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.cobaltstudios.net
Scene Painting: July 23 through August 10
Hangar Theatre
P.O. Box 205
Ithaca, NY 14851
Phone: 607.273.8588
Fax: 607.273.4516
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.hangartheatre.org
Lab Company, summer repertory training program in acting/directing/
design/playwriting
June–August
The New Actors Workshop
259 W 30th St, 2nd Fl
New York, NY 10001
Phone: 212.947.1310 or 800.947.1318
Fax: 212.947.9729
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.newactorswork
shop.com
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Summer Training Programs
Session 1: July 9–27, 2007
Session 2: August 6–24, 2007
Saratoga International Theatre Institute
520 8th Ave, Ste 310
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212.868.0860
Fax: 212.868.0837
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.siti.org
July 22–August 18, 2007
University at Buffalo
The Center for the Arts
Technical Theater Program For High School, College Students
and Adults
716.645.6254
Email: [email protected]
Web site: www.ubcfa.org
August 15–17, 2007
NORTH CAROLINA
Stella Adler Studio of Acting
31 W 27th St, 3rd Fl
New York, NY 10001
Phone: 212.689.0087 or 800.112.1111
Fax: 212.689.6110
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.stellaadler.com
Dates vary depending on program.
East Carolina Summer Theatre
School of Theatre and Dance
Messick Theatre Arts Center
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858
Phone: 252.328.6390
Fax: 252.328.4890
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.theatre.dance.ecu.
edu
New York University
Tisch School of the Arts
721 Broadway, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10003
Phone: 212.998.1500
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.tisch.nyu.edu/page/home
NCSA School of
Drama-Summer Session
1533 S Main St
Winston.Salem, NC 27127-2188
Phone: 336.770.3238
Fax: 336.770.3369
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.ncarts.edu/ncsaprod/ drama
June 25–July 27
OHIO
Porthouse Theatre Company
School of Theatre & Dance
Kent State University
P.O. Box 5190
Kent, OH 44242
Phone: 330.672.2082
Fax: 330.672.2889
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.theatre.kent.edu/
default.htm
PENNSYLVANIA
Camp Ballibay
1 Ballibay Rd
Camptown, PA 18815
Phone: 877.746.2667
Fax: 570.746.3691
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.ballibay.com
All programs take place between June 24–August 25
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Summer Training Programs
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION:
Summer Training Highlights
THE NEW ACTORS
WORKSHOP
259 West 30th St. 2nd Flr.
New York, NY 10001
Phone: 212.947.1310
Fax: 212.947.9729
Email: [email protected]
Three-week Summer
Sessions
Session 1: July 9–27
Session 2: August 6­–24
Tuition: $1,575
Admission is based on
two letters of recommendation or interview.
The New Actors Workshop
features three-week intensives focusing on Acting
Technique, Improvisation, Voice and Movement. Acting
Technique focuses on simple practical exercises that develop an increasing awareness of self in an expanding repertory of choices. Improvisation, based on the contributions
of Viola Spolin, offers a playful and energizing approach to
acting and serves as a refreshing counterpoint to the more
analytical technique class. Classes in movement and voice
round out the curriculum.
www.newactorsworkshop.com
SKIDMORE COLLEGE
815 North Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Phone: 518.580.5595
Fax: 518.580.5548
The SITI Company,
lead by Anne Bogart,
will offer an intensive
workshop at
Skidmore
College
from July 22 - August
18, 2007. Actors,
directors, designers,
choreograhers, writers and dancers are invited to take part in this four-week
training program that will include classes in the Suzuki
Method, Viewpoints, Composition, Voice, Movement and
Dramaturgy. Undergraduate and graduate credit is available. For more information visit the SITI Web site at
www.siti.org, or contact the Office of the Dean of Special
Programs, Skidmore College, 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga
Springs, NY 12866.
Pre-College Programs
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Phone: 412.268.2082
Fax: 412.268.7838
Web site: http://www.cmu.edu/
enrollment/pre-college/
June 30 to August 10
Muhlenberg Summer Music
Theatre Muhlenberg College,
Theatre and Dance Dept
2400 Chew St
Allentown, PA 18104-5586
Phone: 484.664.3333
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.summerbroadway.
org
TEXAS
KD Studio
Summer Camps–Musical
Theatre Camp
2600 Stemmons Fwy, Suite 117
Dallas, TX 75207
Phone: 214.638.0484 or
877.278.2283 E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.kdstudio.com
Texas Tech University
Dept of Theatre and Dance
Box 42061
Lubbock, TX 79409
Phone: 806.742.3601
Fax: 806.742.1338
Web site: http://www.angelfiretheatre.org/index.html
Summer program in partnership
with Angel Fire Mountain Theatre
Three weeks in July
UTAH
Shakespearean Actor
Workshop
Utah Shakespearean Festival
351 W Center St
Cedar City, UT 84720
Phone: 435.586.7880
Email: [email protected]
Web site: www.bard.org
Youth Theatre at the U
University of Utah
Dept. of Theatre
240 S 1500 E, Rm 206
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Phone: 801.581.6098
Fax: 802.585.9863
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.youththeatre.
utah.edu
Washington
Seattle Children’s Theatre
Drama School
201 Thomas St
Seattle, WA 98109
Phone: 206.443.0807
Fax: 206.443.0442
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.sct.org
Wisconsin
CTM Madison Family Theatre
Summer Drama School
228 State St
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608.255.2080
Fax: 608.255.6760
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.theatreforall.com
Canada
Theatre Ontario
Summer Courses
215 Spadina Ave, Ste 210
Toronto, ON M5T 2C7
Canada
Phone: 416.408.4556
Fax: 416.408.3402
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.theatreontario.
org
www.skidmore.edu/summer
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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION: Summer Training Highlights
CIRCLE IN THE SQUARE
THEATRE SCHOOL
1633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212.307.0388
Email: [email protected]
UTAH SHAKESPEAREAN
FESTIVAL
351 West Center Street
Cedar City, UT 84720
Phone: 435.586.7880
Fax: 435.865.8003
Email: [email protected]
Our school provides comprehensive training programs
using the facilities of the Circle
In the Square Theatre complex.
The Acting and Musical Theatre
Professional Workshops are
intensive, fully accredited twoyear programs providing individual attention in small classes with
a faculty of the theatre’s leading
actors and directors. The Acting
and Musical Theatre Workshops
attract students from colleges across the country and
around the world, as well as young professional actors who
are perfecting their craft. These seven-week workshops run
in July and August, providing an introduction to advanced
training and the professional theatre. All admission is by
audition.
Tuition to many of the classes includes tickets to Festival
plays, June 21 – September 1.
www.circlesquare.org
www.bard.org
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
– NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL INSTITUTE
– THEATRE ARTS DIVISION
DELL’ARTE SCHOOL OF
PHYSICAL THEATRE
617 Noyes St.
Evanston, IL 60208
Phone: 800.662.NHSI or 847.491.3026
Fax: 847.457.1057
Email: [email protected]
The Theatre Arts Division (Acting,
Musical Theater or design/
Technology Concentration) is
designed for students between
their junior and senior year of high
school a serious interest in theatre. You will become a part of a
community of talented students and outstanding artists and
scholars from across the country and discover that theatre is an
emotionally, physically and intellectually rigorous collaborative
art. Students take classes in acting, voice/movement, aesthetics
of performance, text analysis, production crew, electives and
will either act in or stage manage one of our highly-regarded
and fully-mounted productions. Dates for summer 2007 are
March 5 for early admission, April 2 for regular admission.
Musical Theater (7 weeks) is June 24 to August 11. Program
dates for Theatre (5 weeks) are June 24 to July 29.
www.northwestern.edu/nhsi
Get in-depth training from
working
professionals!
The festival’s most popular courses include Actor
Training, a 10-day, in-residence class that allows students to work one-on-one
with Festival actors and
instructors, Tech Camp and
a five-day intensive class for
up-and-coming playwrights
where students write and workshop their scenes with
Festival actors. Other Festival classes include Shakespeare
for Junior Actors and Creative Shakespeare for Teachers.
PO Box 816
Blue Lake, CA 95525
Phone: 707.668.5663
Email: [email protected]
Dell’Arte International
School of Physical
Theatre is a professional
actor-training
center
that attracts students
from all over the worldto
our full-time, one-year
Professional
Training
Program, summer workshops and the first accredited MFA in Ensemble-Based
Physical Theatre in the United States. Summer ’07 workshops run in conjunction with Dell’Arte’s annual Mad River
Festival and will include clown coaching, generating new
material, mask and physical comedy. A special Dell’Arte
training intensive will be held in Denmark from July 31
– August 17. Please check our Web site for more information, or write us at [email protected].
www.dellarte.com
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Special Costuming/Makeup Section
By Lisa Mulcahy
Underneath
It All
How to get the right period corset.
M
photo courtesy of Period Corsets
ention the word “corset” in a room full of experienced
actresses, and what’s the reaction you’re most likely to
get? Disdain — to put it mildly. Most actresses who’ve
worked in period productions have had a really tough time
wearing era-specific underpinnings, for a variety of reasons.
Obviously, the most common complaint heard is discomfort;
boned undergarments like corsets can fit in an extremely
restrictive, and even painful, way. Another issue is the fact that
period undergarments can significantly limit one’s range of
motion, and therefore affect a performance adversely. A third
problem involves ongoing wear: Can an actress truly ever get
used to spending long rehearsal days in such a tight, unfamiliar
costume style?
An example of a period undergarment providing the
correct tension (and cleavage) to a character’s look.
Boning Up On The Basics
Construction is a real make-or-break factor when it comes to
ensuring that a period undergarment is going to be wearable.
A costumer’s first task in this regard is to do their production
research as thoroughly as possible, to get the historical details
right in terms of appropriate garment structure and material.
“When choosing a corset, the designer’s first focus is the period in which the production is set,” says Susan Davis, co-owner
(with Becky Kaufman) of the Seattle-based Period Corsets and
costume shop manager at the Seattle Opera. “Within each period, there are some variations to style, but the overall silhouette
is relatively consistent. If the corset is to be seen, then the fabric
color and design are also key. But whether the corset shows or
the corset is truly underwear, a basic coutil fabric—herringbone
weave, usually cotton—works best as the base. Coutil is strong
yet flexible and can be used in either one layer or two, with a
fashion fabric top-layer for a corset.”
Once you have a solid grasp of the shape and specifics of your
costume piece, it’s very helpful to work with a specialty corset
retailer to make sure the fabric you choose will be both flexible
and comfortable for your actress. This is important whether you
are renting, buying or building a corset.
Linda Sparks, the owner of Farthingales Canada and
Farthingales Los Angeles, a highly respected industry corset/
materials supplier, explains how that expert advice should work:
“I deal with the raw materials and help costumers decide which
types of bones to use — there are 11 different possibilities. We
also have six different hoop steels and four different busks.”
Sparks recommends being as hands-on as possible when
evaluating materials for their use and period accuracy.
Choosing sample fabrics and/or corsets and undergarments
in person is ideal even before ordering online, as you want
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Corsets provide an important silhouette to a period wardrobe.
to be as informed as possible about what products you are
getting, and what you can realistically do with them. Study as
many period-correct photos and drawings as you can to visually cement the end result you are looking for. A corset should
smooth the torso and reduce the hips to a certain extent, plus
give the bustline a pronounced lift and shaping.
The Perfect Fit
Once you have the right corset, it’s time to meet with your
performer. Before you attempt a first fitting, talk a bit with your
actress; ask her how much experience she’s had working with
structured costume pieces. If she’s worn a corset onstage previously, even once, it’s likely that your performer will have input
to give you about what type of tension she will prefer when
she’s laced into the garment. She’ll also be able to detail any
specific concerns she might have in terms of movement.
If you’re working with a completely green actress, take time
to assure her that you will both work as a team to make sure the
corset works as comfortably and effectively as possible.
“There is no scientific formula for the right-fitting corset,”
says Davis, “since there are so many variables. How tight does
the performer prefer the corset? How much can the corset be
laced in on that person? What amount of gap at center back
lacing is okay? In general, the corset will measure smaller than
the performer in the bust and waist by
one to several inches, and measure similar to but not larger than the performer’s
hip measurement.”
In terms of the actual corset fitting,
here’s a step-by-step guide to getting the
job done right.
1. Use the Right Foundation. Never
fit a corset on bare skin. For both comfort and sanitary assurance, your actress
should put on a thin T-shirt, tube top
or slip (cotton is best) to serve as the
costume’s base. Keep this base as wrinklefree as you possibly can.
2. Position the Garment. It’s hard
to tell whether some corsets are right
side up or upside down at first. Inspect
the piece to make sure the knot holding
the back laces together is at the bottom
of the corset. Make sure the knot is tied
securely, then open the corset at the back
to maximum width.
3. Lace the Corset Onto the Actress. “Use either two
laces, starting at the waist and lacing up with one lace, and
down with the other; or use one lace and lace from the
bottom up or top down,” advises Davis. “Tighten the laces
gradually, pulling the laces smoothly through the grommets. The hips should not be overly compressed; the laced
corset should smooth the line over the hips, but should not
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Special Costuming/Makeup
Resources 411
create a ridge at the bottom edge of the corset. If there is
a ridge, the corset is laced too tight, or needs more room
through the hips. The waist and bust should be controlled
and shaped by the corset, but again, not laced tighter than
is comfortable for the performer, and not laced so tightly
that the boning cannot control the torso.”
4. Get the Actress’s Feedback. Ask your performer to wear
the corset for a while — say, a half-hour to 45 minutes — and
then ask her how it fits and feels. Let her know that the corset
will give gradually each time she wears it. Still, if she says the
garment is uncomfortably tight, listen to her — she’s the one
who has to breathe in it. Start the re-lacing process, and repeat
until she’s satisfied.
Petticoats are another period garment that will make
wearing a corset easier. These full skirts will help an actress
get used to the feel of wearing a corset with a large amount
of fabric (as her full costume overlay will probably be).
When choosing the proper petticoat, make certain that its
hem doesn’t drag down too far over the actress’s feet, that
its fabric isn’t too stiff or bunchy, and that if it’s a vintage
piece, its seams are durable enough for stage use. Reinforce
all stitching prior to first rehearsal, and again prior to actual
performance use.
Inside Farthingales L.A. shop.
Rehearsal Dos and Don’ts
Your actress should wear her corset and petticoat, with an
overlay rehearsal skirt, from blocking onward, if possible. “A performer will have to wear the corset in rehearsals to understand
the restrictions and limitations of movement,” explains Davis.
“For example, in a 1660-style corset with wide shoulder straps,
the arms cannot be raised above chest height. In all corsets, the
torso is very erect, and the legs become more engaged when
sitting or rising from a sitting position.”
Corsets and Crinolines
29 Lansdowne Grove, Wigston • Leicestershire, UK LE18 4LU
Phone: 0116.224.5361
www.corsetsandcrinolines.com
This online service provides custom-made, historically accurate pieces. The company also offers a selection of vintage
corsets and related garments.
Corset Connection/Cameo Designs
400 E. Evergreen Blvd. Suite 320 • Vancouver, WA 98660
They offer custom-designed corsets of all kinds, from many different eras.
Farthingales L.A.
3306 Pico Blvd. • Santa Monica, CA
Farthingales Canada 240 Wellington Street • Stratford, Ontario Canada N5A 2L6
519.275.2374
www.farthingales.on.ca
The Canadian branch sells a wide range of materials such as corset bones, busks, coutil and hoop steel. The Los
Angeles branch sells these items as well, plus a selection of historical corsets, fashion corsets, waist cinchers and
corset/costume patterns in books.
Originals By Kay
819 Wilt Street • Fort Wayne, IN 46802
260.422.7617
www.originals-by-kay.com
Designer Kay Gnagey specializes in creating 19th century and Victorian corsetry; she also provides period underclothes
and full costumes. A full design/build service.
Period Corsets
10002 Aurora Avenue N. #36 PMB 5584 • Seattle, WA 98133
206.264.0997
www.periodcorsets.com
Makers of custom corsets. Owners Becky Kaufman and Susan Davis also design their pieces with a view toward future
alteration possibilities.
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photos courtesy of Linda Sparks
Corsets on display at Farthingales L.A.
Here are a few solid rules of thumb to
help your performer during the “breaking
in” process:
• Ask her to practice sitting, leaning and
standing up in the corset as much as possible, until these actions flow more naturally
(they will over time).
• Remind her not to get her corset wet,
which will rust its metal. Sweat stains should
be removed with a damp cloth or paper
towel, never with a harsh spot cleaner.
Period garments should be uniformly drycleaned by a professional laundry service at
the end of a show run.
• Eating and drinking in a corset isn't
recommended. If doing so is required
onstage, have your performer drill this business extensively, to be sure swallowing and
digestion is as comfortable as possible.
• Tell your actress not to share her corset
with anyone else, not even for a quick "tryon.” The more she wears a structured period
garment, the more the garment will assume
her specific shape. If someone else slips into
it, even briefly, the "break-in" process could
be compromised.
• Corsets, petticoats and all other period
pieces should be hung up properly when
not in use. Place a corset horizontally over a
chair; do not use traditional hangers or clips
of any kind. This will help avoid damage to
the piece, and will allow sweat and body
odors to dissipate. Gently hang a petticoat
without clips.
If your actress's period underpinnings fit
properly, and once she's had a little time to
work with them, she (and you) may actually
be surprised to find how much these garments can improve her performance. “They
make the wearer feel different — transported to another time period,” says Davis.
“That's the beauty of a corset: Whatever
the era, they change a performer's carriage
and movement.” As a costumer, that's the
best you can hope for — that your work
enhances a performance, and the production as a whole.
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B
Special Costuming/Makeup Section
By Lisa Mulcahy
rush Up Y
rushes
ur
How to choose and use the right stage
makeup brushes for your production.
T
he secret to a great theatrical makeup job
doesn’t just lie in its design, or in the brand
of cosmetics you favor — the tools with
which you apply it are just as important. There
are numerous key factors to consider: which type of brush
serves the application purpose; the correct bristle material
(not only can this affect the look of your finished face, but
you must be sure to avoid allergic reactions in your actors);
ease of use; plus, convenience in terms of care, storage and
durability must be considered. Who knew picking a brush
could be so complicated?
No need to be intimidated, though. The following makeup
brush primer should clearly and concisely outline everything
you need to know. It also contains the advice and opinions
of the best make up experts in the business to give you the
inside skinny.
The Shape of Things
Many experienced thespians (even some makeup artists)
believe that there are really only a few basic options when it
comes to makeup brush types: your standard foundation, blush,
eye and lip models. This is not really the case.
“There’s hundreds of different shapes of brushes out there,”
says Gene Flaharty of Mehron, Inc., a veteran makeup artist,
teacher and designer. In a nutshell, the shape of a brush refers
not to the full width of the bristles, but to its tip, which determines the width and detail of shading, contour and the amount
of makeup that can be deposited on a section of the face.
Three basic types of finished tips are:
• Straight or square tip: ideal for lining the eye, plus using for eye shadow or defining eyebrows.
• Round or tapered tip: an excellent lip brush.
• Chisel tip: great for blending blush and contour makeup,
as well as applying eye shadow.
Within these categories, many, many different size measurements are available. The specifics of the size you choose are
really all about personal preference and the makeup design
you'll be executing. Ben Nye's sales and marketing manager,
Patricia Saito-Lewe, breaks things
down by category: Powder and
Blush Application, Eye Makeup and
Lip Product Application.
For “Powder and Blush”, bigger
is better according to Saito-Lewe.
"Since face powder is applied over
the entire face, a generously-sized
(1.5 to 2 inches or wider) domedhead brush is typically the most efficient," maintains Saito-Lewe.
For her next category, “Eye
Makeup,” Saito-Lewe suggests
using a ¼” to 3/8” wide brush for base
colors. Smaller, more tapered heads
are good for contouring. When it
comes to lining, she recommends a
fine to very fine round brush. The tip
of the brush should be tapered to a
photo courtesy of Graftobian
fine point. A narrow, flat, angle-cut
brush is excellent for application of
dry or wet eye shadow to the lash
Graftobian’s Onyx Brushes
line. The top end of the angle will
easily work well in tight areas such as
the corners of the eyes.
Finally, for “Lip Product Application” Saito-Lewe stresses, “Lip
brushes should be no wider than ¼ to 3/16 of an inch. The brush
head should be flat, with a tapered head suitable for ‘painting in’
the corners of the lips. Turn the brush on its side for lining, use the
flat side for filling in color.”
There are many shape options when it comes to FX design as
well. For example, Mehron offers a three sided brush, “great for
face-painting in shows like Godspell,” says Flaharty. “You can load up
three colors at a time, and do detailed FX like flower petals.” Do your
homework by isolating the steps it will take to create your specific
FX, then browse the Web. You’ll be amazed at the shape range of
FX brush products that all the major theatrical makeup lines offer to
get the job done.
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raftobian
“Good quality synthetic brush
fibers now available replicate
the qualities of natural fibers,
such as sable.” –Dana Nye
Ben Nye’s Lip Brush with Cove
The 411 on Fibers
Top-notch bristle material is an essential component to a
good brush. In the past, this meant you had to buy expensive
natural fibers, but not anymore. “Good quality synthetic brush
fibers now available replicate the qualities of natural fibers,
such as sable,” explains Dana Nye, president of Ben Nye. “They
are delicate, supple, resilient, versatile and often more economical than natural hair bristles. For example, dome brushes
and angle brushes are excellent alternatives for eye makeup
application if cost is a factor.”
Flaharty concurs. “Sable brushes will always be more expensive than synthetic, but nylon brushes are a really good option,
too, and are available at very good prices,” he explains. “The
biggest thing to keep in mind is that quality will last you.” In
numerous application scenarios, synthetics are specifically
preferable. “Synthetic hair fibers provide more body and firmness, which is essential for certain applications such as cream
(oil-based) makeup, including lipstick and water-activated
cakes,” notes Saito-Lewe.
Another important point: ease of use, which some quality
synthetics can more readily provide less experienced customers. “Golden tacklon brushes, designed to be a substitute for
red sable, are easier to clean,” points out Eric Coffman, president of Graftobian. “It’s nice for a young makeup artist to have
brushes that can easily be taken care of.”
Road-test a brush’s bristles before you buy. Here’s how:
swirl the bristles over the sensitive skin on your inner wrist,
the brush should feel soft and plush to the touch. Fan out
the brush to see how sturdily the bristles are attached to the
brush, you don’t want any shedding. Make sure the bristle
head is firmly attached to the brush handle. Also, evaluate the
weight and heft of the handle in your hand while you’re at it.
The brush should feel comfortably light, and the handle length
should ideally fall within the range of seven to nine inches.
Flaharty also recommends choosing a brush with an acrylic
handle; painted handles or regular handles can become damaged when submerged in water, while acrylic can stand up to
the elements. Also, remember to double-check that the brush
bristles are hypoallergenic in every case.
Graftobian’s Brush Set
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Special Costuming/Makeup Section
“The biggest thing to keep in
mind is that quality will last you.”
–Gene Flaharty
photo co
Maintenance Matters
It’s crucial to care for your brushes the right way if you want
them to have a long life. Harsh chemicals, for instance, can
wreak havoc on both natural and synthetic bristles. “Alcohol
can frizz up your brush,” warns Coffman. A mild conditioning
hair shampoo can be used to wash out your brushes safely.
Even better, however, is a professional stage brush cleanser,
which is gentle, but contains ingredients strong enough to
rinse away the toughest makeup residue.
Make sure you wash out your brushes frequently enough.
“Ideally, you want to wash your brushes at the end of each
day, but you can’t wash them if they’re being used between
Makeup Brush Resources
Now that you’ve acquired the know-how you need to choose and care for your makeup brushes, it’s time to
check out some of the products on the market. Check with manufacturers for current pricing and availability.
Ben Nye Company, Inc.
5935 Bowcroft Street • Los Angeles, CA 90016
310.839.1984 x105 • www.bennyemakeup.com
Ben Nye’s product range offers many brush products for any makeup product. The Professional Rouge Brush
(RB-2) offers an alternative to face powder as well, if a smaller brush is what you’re after. The company also makes a
number of Contour Brushes, including models FDB-3 Small Tapered (a pony blend) and FDB-4 Petite Shader (an
ox blend). Ben Nye’s Lip Brush With Cover (FdB-7) is made of dipped taklon and has a finely tapered brush head.
Ben Nye Brush Cleaner disinfects as well as cleans and conditions all types of brushes.
Graftobian
510 Tasman Street • Madison, WI 53714
608.222.9848 • www.graftobian.com
Graftobian: The Masterpiece Set (available this month) was designed by acclaimed makeup artist Suzanne
Patterson. “She gave our customers the benefit of her knowledge by developing this makeup brush set,” enthuses
Coffman. “It’s very affordable, especially for anybody just getting into makeup — we deal with a lot of students.”
A complete set of brushes for every purpose, the Masterpiece offers a variety of natural and synthetic fibers.
Graftobian also offers two standard brush sets. The company’s Onyx and Platinum Series consist of brushes to
meet every makeup need. Additionally, Graftobian offers a brush cleaner fluid, available in both bottle and pump
dispenser form.
Mehron, Inc.
100 Red Schoolhouse Rd. • Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977
845.426.1700 • www.mehron.com
Mehron Stageline Cosmetic Brushes are made with durable “golden nylon” and are designed for resiliency.
The company offers a Fan Duster finishing tool, which smoothes and softens a completed makeup job. Mehron’s
Jumbo Powder Brush is a complexion tool, made extra-large for effective product distribution. Additionally, the
company’s popular Paradise Brush Line is made for face painting. Mehron’s Stageline Brush Treatment cleans
off makeup residue, plus contains a deodorizer as well.
46 January 2007 • www.stage-directions.com
300.0701.44-47.indd 46
12/14/06 12:52:59 PM
photo courtesy of Ben Nye
Ben Nye’s Rouge Brushes
acts or shared by actors every time,”
points out Flaharty. In this situation, you
can use a quick-dry product (usually in
spray form), but don’t make a regular
habit out of it; these products can stiffen
bristles gradually. Instead, Nye advises,
“Pour a brush cleaner into a shallow
dish or small plastic cup (approximately
three ounces) to clean your brushes. A
secondary cleansing and/or final rinse in
clear water is recommended in a second
cup to remove residue.” Saito-Lewe also
notes that brushes should be swirled,
not soaked, in a cleaning solution. She
additionally advises wiping the brushes
dry with a tissue.
A few extra cleaning tips and tricks:
• Keep water temperature about lukewarm to warm for best results.
• Visually inspect your brushes after washing to make sure all
makeup has been removed.
• Never try to speed the drying process by blow-drying your
brushes, which can
be very
damaging. You can, however, air-dry
brushes by laying them on their
sides on clean towel if desired.
•Reshape bristles gently by hand
once your brushes are dry.
•Don't store wet brushes in a sealed
bag or container. Once your brushes
have dried completely, it's okay to
store them in a professional brush
roll or case, or to put them in a
makeup case, drawer or simiar
container.
Using the right brushes and keeping
them well cared for will insure your skill is
reflected on every face they touch.
Lisa Mulcahy is the author of the book
Building The Successful Theatre Company
(Allworth Press).
www.stage-directions.com • January 2007 47
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Special Costuming / Makeup Section
By Fiona Kirk
Down and Out
in the Hamptons
Joan Marcus
For the hit Broadway show Grey
Gardens, costume designer William
Ivey Long explored both the fabulous
and the outlandish.
Mary Louise Wilson as
Big Edie in Grey Gardens.
W
hen William Ivey Long heard rumors of a new musical based on the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens,
about a reclusive mother and daughter living in
squalor in an East Hampton mansion, his first reaction was
dismay. He’d seen the documentary soon after it came out
and found it quite depressing. “I’m from the South,” says
Long, “and old ladies in reduced means — that’s one of our
staple products.”
He reluctantly agreed to take on the project, but was
unsure how to approach it. As one of Broadway’s top designers, Long had worked on several other “previously-owned
vehicles,” including The Producers and Hairspray, which had
been developed from films. He usually tried to avoid seeing
the movie again, so that his approach for the stage would
be fresh. However, Grey Gardens director Michael Greif had
a very different idea. Greif asked Long to watch the documentary over and over, in order to burn the images into his
mind. Long reluctantly agreed. “The first re-watching — again
— was depressing,” says Long. “But by the second and third
time through, I realized that Big and Little Edie were heroes;
they were valiant.”
Little Edie was a well-known socialite in the 1940s, and
Christine Ebersole as Little Edie in the Broadway production of Grey Gardens.
cousin to Jacqueline Bouvier. Little Edie and her mother, Edith
Bouvier Beale (“Big Edie”), shone among the smart set of Long
Island and New York City. But the women’s lives took a turn
for the worse when Big Edie’s husband left her and disowned
Little Edie. By the early 1970s, Big and Little Edie were living in
Grey Gardens in seclusion. The 28-room, dilapidated mansion
was overrun with cats and raccoons, making a filthy mess of
what had once been the scene of many an elegant dinner and
garden party.
Filmmakers Albert and David Maysles spent six weeks
with the mother and daughter, capturing their arguments,
song and dance routines and quirky personalities in the
award-winning documentary. The Off-Broadway production
of Grey Gardens, with a book by Doug Wright, music by Scott
Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie, premiered at Playwrights
48 January 2007 • www.stage-directions.com
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William Ivey Long’s costume
sketches for Grey Gardens.
Horizons in March, 2006, and moved to
Broadway in October.
Act 1 of the play takes place in Grey
Gardens in 1941, with Little Edie played
by Erin Davie and Big Edie played by
Christine Ebersole. Act 2 jumps ahead
to 1973, with Ebersole taking on the role
of Little Edie and Mary Louise Wilson
stepping into the role of the mother.
While the first act is filled with characters wearing glorious dresses and crisp
suits and takes place in an immaculate
grand sitting room, Act 2 is a study in
contrasts: the dingy set is filled with
debris and cans of cat food.
Little Edie, who has gone slightly off
her rocker by this point, amuses herself
by dressing with a flair for the strange.
In the documentary, she covers her bald
head with various sweaters and scarves,
secured with a large brooch. She wears
skirts upside-down, tied at the waist,
drapes scarves around her like a cape,
and often rearranges her outfit as she
speaks to the camera.
“We tried to get inside the brain
of Little Edie,” says Long, “with the
idea that she’s constantly wrapping and
rewrapping garments that once fit, and
pinning them all with that one brooch.
So we tried to do that.” Long made
sweaters and skirts out of cashmere,
then spent hours in a fitting room with
Ebersole attempting to recreate Little
Edie’s idiosyncratic attire.
Long came up with the idea of using
a cardigan instead of a turtleneck as
one of Little Edie’s wardrobe staples
for two reasons: Ebersole wouldn’t be
able to pull a turtleneck over her head
without taking her head mic with it,
and the cardigan could just as easily be
reconfigured into a skirt, headscarf or
sweater (worn backwards, of course).
www.stage-directions.com •January 2007 49
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Joan Marcus
Erin Davie (left) and Christine Ebersole as
Little Edie and Big Edie in Grey Gardens.
After figuring out exactly how Edie had
assembled her outfits, replete with broken zippers and safety pins, Long reinvented versions with snaps that could
easily be removed for Ebersole’s many
quick changes.
The hues of the second act costumes
are bold navies and reds that pop out
against the dinginess of the set. Act 1,
on the other hand, is a vision of pastels. “Ultimately, it needs to feel like a
dream,” says Long. “The room in Act 1
is blue and white. While some ladies
want to match their outfits with their
rooms, Big Edie is bohemian, and she
walks into a room and dominates it. So I
played opposites on the color chart. The
opposite of that turquoise was salmon,
or peach, so I made that the color of the
two ladies, and then it filters out and
harmonizes with the other family members’ clothes. It was a way to say that
Big Edie was out to take no prisoners,
without program notes.”
Big Edie, in the first act, wears palazzo pants, a silk kimono, strings of beads
around her neck and ornaments in her
hair. Her daughter wears flowing dresses
of corals and pinks and a stunning white
engagement dress with an embroidered
tulle skirt. Big Edie’s husband, played by
John McMartin, is a conservative busi-
nessman with no time for his wife and
daughter’s dramatic antics.
“So what does conservative mean?”
Long asked himself when he was contemplating McMartin’s costumes. “It
means that once he got the look of
proper clothing, say in his 20s, he stuck
with it. So you go back to what people
were wearing then and you adapt it.
That’s what the actor does, in researching their characters, and that’s my job
as well.”
Long filled cork boards with different photos and drawings for inspiration. He sketched out scenes from the
play, pasting the subsidiary reference
pages around it. The fabrics for Grey
Gardens included sumptuous cashmere,
silks and pima cotton. It took about
six weeks for the costumes to be built
for the Off-Broadway run, followed by
several fittings (and several more, in
Ebersole’s case).
Before the show moved to Broadway,
Long created doubles for the men’s
shirts as well as costumes for the understudies. He also made ghostly doubles
of the clothes in the first act for the
characters that come back as faded figures of the past in the second. “For the
girl’s party dresses in the Off-Broadway
run, I just went to a ‘partydress.comtype’ Web site, ordered two dresses and
dyed them grey. Done, happy to have
them.” says Long. “But for the Broadway
run we made exact duplicates in grey
because I think the audiences can tell.”
The second act opens with Edie wearing the first of many strange outfits and
singing “The Revolutionary Costume for
Today.” When asked which outfit is his
favorite from the show, Long doesn’t
miss a beat. “I’ve never worked on a project where you make a costume that has
a song written about it,” says Long, “so I
have to say that one is my favorite.”
Fiona Kirk is the former managing editor of
Stage Directions.
50 January 2007 • www.stage-directions.com
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12/15/06 11:46:56 AM
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12/14/06 12:57:53 PM
Off The Shelf
By Stephen Peithman
Musicals
All The
Way
This month’s installment focuses on an indigenous art form.
M
usicals, to paraphrase
comedian
Rodney
Dangerfield, don’t get
much respect. However, several
recent books seek to change
that with thoughtful, insightful
and occasionally quirky analyses of this most American of
performing art forms.
Raymond Knapp’s two-volume analysis of the musical theatre phenomenon begins with The American Musical and the
Formation of National Identity, originally published in 2004 and
now released in paperback. Knapp explores how musicals such
as Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, Show Boat and Oklahoma!
deal with issues of assimilation, ethnic conflict, racism and
manifest destiny. More to the point, he shows that while some
musicals have served to reinforce the way people feel about
America, many others have helped to challenge aspects of our
culture that needed to be changed. [ISBN 0-691-12613-5, $19.95,
Princeton University Press]
In Knapp’s recently published second volume, The American
Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity, the focus
shifts to individual and group expressions of idealism, romance
and sexuality. Musicals discussed range from Annie Get Your Gun
and My Fair Lady to The Rocky Horror Show. [ISBN 0-691-12524-4,
$39.50, Princeton University Press]
In both books, Knapp’s passion for his subject is obvious. He
writes with great passion, energy and a depth of knowledge
that crosses over into classical, jazz and popular music, as well.
At times, his passion gets the better of him. For example, some
opinions are stated as if they were fact, without further explanation. Also, both books tend to wander from the theme expressed
in their title. The result is wide-ranging and intriguing, and if you
don’t mind the occasional detour, you’ll have a good time.
Scott McMillin’s The Musical as Drama takes a narrower
approach, which accounts for its relative brevity at 230 pages.
The focus here is on how the modern musical is structured
and written, with discussions on
the book, musical numbers, character, ensemble, orchestra and
how advances in theatre technology have affected all of these
elements. Using examples from
both recent and classic productions, The Musical as Drama helps
us understand both the continuity and evolution of this distinctively American dramatic form.
[ISBN 0-691-12730-1, $24.95, Princeton University Press]
The evolution of the musical has accelerated dramatically
in the past 30 years. That fact is made clear in a fresh look at
the work of Lehman Engel, whose Words With Music: Creating
the Broadway Musical Libretto was first published in 1972.
The dean of Broadway musical directors, Engel examines how
the book, music and lyrics work together to create such hits as
My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys and Dolls, Hair, Pal Joey,
West Side Story, Company and South Pacific. In the new revised
edition, Howard Kissel, chief theatre critic for the New York
Daily News, brings things up to date with commentary on such
shows as A Chorus Line, Nine, Sunday in the Park with George,
Rent, Working and Falsettos. Chapter by chapter, we first read
Engel’s original words, then Kissel’s thoughtful analysis of both
Engel’s reaction to the changes that were then taking place,
and how those have evolved into the Broadway musical of
today. [ISBN 1-55783-554-3, $17.95, Applause Books]
Performers trying to land a part in a musical often wonder,
“What are they really looking for?” Producer Stuart Ostrow
provides some insight into that question in How to Audition
for the Musical Theater II: Finding the Song. “My purpose is
to give the professional actor, singer and dancer a practicing
producer’s point of view from the other side of the lights,”
Ostrow writes. In other words, this is not a how-to book, but
a glimpse into the mechanism by which casting decisions are
made. It’s good information to have. [ISBN 1-57525-451-4,
$11.95, Smith & Kraus]
52 January 2007 • www.stage-directions.com
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12/14/06 1:16:48 PM
300.0701.ADS.indd 53
12/14/06 1:13:06 PM
The Play’s The Thing
By Stephen Peithman
All Over The Map
Plays on many topics — and making sure they keep coming
W
hile we usually group recently-released plays in terms
of an overall theme, this month’s roundup is a hodgepodge, or as we sometimes say, all over the map.
A good example is Craig Sodaro’s anthology of 12 short royalty-free mystery plays, Make It Mystery, which offers a wide
variety of situations and characters to suit different staging and
casting needs. While targeted primarily at middle grades and
high school, most can be performed by actors of any age. Plays
are frequently laced with comedy — The Mother Goose Mystery,
for example, features a cast of suspicious nursery-rhymequoting characters. In Queen of Hearts, a young Shakespeare
helps solve a crime, while Mommy’s a Zombie! treads the wellworn path of classic farce. [ISBN 1-56608-115-7, Meriwether
Publishing, $19.95]
The only mystery in Maiden’s Progeny: An Afternoon with
Mary Cassatt, 1906, is why it took so long for someone to see
in artist Cassatt the makings of an intellectually entertaining
drama. Set in the artist’s chateau outside Paris in the late spring
of 1906, Cassatt is visited by the controversial English art critic
Wynford Johnston. The two are at odds, but over the course of
his visit, their discussion of art and the place of women in the art
world creates a dramatic shift in the viewpoints of both characters. Playwright Le Wilhelm has created a fascinating portrait of a
woman far ahead of her time — one of the few to become a professional artist, and one of the few Americans of either gender to
be part of the Impressionist movement in France. Two females,
one male. [Samuel French]
In The Magic Flute Reloaded, young Merton is suspended
from school for his constant fighting, and sentenced to time in
the land of Droon. Droon, as it turns out, is really the world of
Merton’s own conscience and imagination, and while doing time
there, he learns about anger management from King Meltdown
and meets the beautiful but rebellious Princess Melody, who
is held prisoner by her mother, Lady Notsofast, a two-headed,
insult-hurling monster, and the cowardly but lovable Grumbo.
For Merton, his visit to Droon provides a valuable lesson that will
serve him well in the future. This musical, with book, music and
lyrics by Frumi Cohen, is indeed inspired by Mozart’s The Magic
Flute, although familiarity with that opera is not required to enjoy
it. With a 75-minute playing time and a flexible cast size of 11-25
(or more), The Magic Flute Reloaded seems a good candidate for a
school or youth theatre production. A music CD is available with
rehearsal tracks (including vocals), as well as instrumental tracks
for performance use. [Anchorage Press]
If the play’s the thing, we must begin with the craft of playwriting itself. Just how do we encourage new playwrights? More
to the point, how do we help them learn to create exceptional
work and advance the development of theatre in general? In
Playwrights Teach Playwriting, Joan Harrington and Crystal
Brian gather essays by well-known playwrights who have also
taught, including Christopher Durang, Marsha Norman, Tina
Howe, Tony Kushner, David Henry Hwang, Maria Irene Fornes,
José Rivera and Romulus Linney, among others. They provide
insight into the unique vision of each playwright, offer wideranging advice and propose courses of study for both students
and teachers of playwriting. A concluding essay by dramaturg
and literary manager Mead Hunter offers career guidance for
aspiring playwrights. Not surprisingly, the volume’s contributors offer no consensus in their approach. Each uses a method
unique to his or her voice and vision. It’s that inner passion, these
dramatists emphasize, that is crucial to producing work of lasting value. [ISBN 1-57525-423-9, $19.95, Smith and Kraus]
54 January 2007 • www.stage-directions.com
300.0701.54.indd 54
12/14/06 1:15:24 PM
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12/14/06 1:27:08 PM
Answer Box
By Dave Williams
A Tree Disappears In Ohio
A college production faces a unique arboreal predicament.
From the 2005
OSU production of
Witchcraze; note
the tree in the
background.
Figure 1
B
ryony Lavery’s 1983 play Witchcraze presents an unusual
challenge to the set designer. Following the entrance of
St. George in Act I, an entire landscape, including a small
tree specified in the script, is supposed to burst into flowers.
The tree is required to transform in full view, and the script
specifies that it has to disappear completely for the second act.
For the American premiere of this play at the Newark branch of
the Ohio State University in March, 2005, solving this problem
presented a considerable challenge to the design team.
Because the tree appeared only in the first act, the first step
was to construct a small rolling platform of two-by-fours and
5
/8-inch plywood. As the play dealt with paganism, it was built
in the shape of a pentagon 18 inches on a side.
On this base, an armature was constructed of small pieces
of two by fours and one-by-twos of varying lengths, screwed
together in an upward, linear, random fashion to approximate
the shape of a gnarled, stunted tree. The height of this structure was about five feet, and it was approximately six feet wide
and three feet deep. Each future branch ended in an eight-inch
length of one-inch dowel, with a 1/4-inch diameter hole drilled
one inch down into the center.
From the bases of these large dowels on down, this armature was completely covered with chicken wire, which was
stapled to the wood at various convenient points. The chicken
wire was covered with papier maché and allowed to dry.
Meanwhile, bright purple artificial flowers were bought
and the stems snipped off one inch from the base. Holes
were drilled 1/2-inch deep into the ends of four-inch lengths
of 1/4-inch dowel, and the ends of the stems were inserted
and secured with Superglue. The 1/4-inch dowels were then
inserted into the holes of the one-inch dowels at the ends of
the branches and secured with wood glue.
Then, 3/4-inch diameter bamboo was cut into two-inch
lengths. A 10-foot long piece of fishing line was threaded
do
w
Muslin boot
1”
1”
do
w
el
el
1
/4 “
1
do
w
/4 “
el
do
w
el
Figure 2
through the bamboo and tied into a tight loop. An isosceles
triangle of muslin eight inches on the short side and 10 inches
on each of the long sides was cut out and sewn into a cone.
The bamboo was pushed into the small end of the cone from
within, and glued down to it with wood glue, with the tail of
the fishline escaping the boot at the joint. The large end of the
cone was placed over the papier maché covering the branch
near where the one-inch dowel was attached to the two by
four. The entire muslin boot was painted the same color as the
tree, a dark brown, and a small plug of muslin of a similar color
was inserted into the open end of the bamboo. The default
position of each branch assembly was that the flower was
compressed within each bamboo tube (see Figure 1).
The final step was to screw small hooks into the tree on
the upstage side, and to run the fishlines from each branch
through them and out the back. Three feet behind the tree,
all the fishlines were ganged together into a one-inch metal
ring. Also attached to the ring was a thick black cord that ran
backstage through hooks screwed into the floor.
For the opening portion of the act, the tree simply
appeared to have many blunt branches, concealed among
the others, which tapered to points. When St. George entered
and tapped his staff on the floor, however, the stage manager backstage pulled the cord, retracting all the bamboo
sleeves simultaneously without disturbing the position of
the platform. Released from the compression, all the flowers
sprang out, driving out the muslin plugs and catching the
attention of the audience both by their movement and by
their vivid color (See Figure 2). On more than one occasion,
the audience gasped at this moment, gratifying the design
team enormously.
Dave Williams is an associate professor at Ohio State University
in Newark, Ohio.
56 January 2007 • www.stage-directions.com
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