Return-Path: X-Processed-By: Virex 7 on prxy.net X-Real-To: stagecraftlist [at] theatrical.net Received: by prxy.net (CommuniGate Pro PIPE 4.2.6) with PIPE id 4996468; Sat, 13 Nov 2004 03:01:31 -0800 X-ListServer: CommuniGate Pro LIST 4.2.6 List-Unsubscribe: List-ID: Message-ID: From: "Stagecraft" Sender: "Stagecraft" To: "Stagecraft" Precedence: list Subject: Stagecraft Digest #194 Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 03:01:16 -0800 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Disposition: inline X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.1 (2004-10-22) on prxy.net X-Spam-Status: No, score=-5.0 required=5.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.1 X-Spam-Level: X-TFF-CGPSA-Version: 1.4f2 X-prxy-Spam-Filter: Scanned For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- Stagecraft Digest, Issue #194 1. Re: Rigging System Standards by Bill Sapsis 2. Historical Lights by "Stephen E. Rees" 3. Re: Gam Roller on Source 4 Bad Luck by RHolen [at] vinu.edu 4. MINI wireless dimmer by "James Smith, Soundsculpture Incorporated" 5. Re: Black Box Seating by Michael Powers 6. Re: Gam Roller on Source 4 Bad Luck by Greg Bierly 7. Re: Gam Roller on Source 4 Bad Luck by Richard Niederberg 8. Re[2]: RE What light by "Frank E. Merrill" 9. Re: Magic of Light by "Paul Guncheon" 10. Re: Magic of Light by Mike Brubaker 11. Re: Black Box Seating by Stephen Litterst 12. Re: Magic by "Paul Guncheon" 13. Re: scenic painting by Scott Spidell 14. Parellipsphere in perspective by "RICHARD FINKELSTEIN" 15. Re: scenic painting (brushes) by Claire Dana 16. Re: Re[2]: RE What light by Richard Niederberg 17. Re[2]: What's that light? by "Frank E. Merrill" 18. Re: scenic painting (brushes) by "Jon Ares" 19. Re: Magic of Light by Richard Niederberg 20. Re: RE What light by "John Penisten" 21. A Question by Danielle Maul 22. Re: A Question by "Jeffrey E. Salzberg" 23. Re: Black Box Seating by "Scott Boyle" 24. Re: A Question by Steve Larson 25. Re: A Question by Kevin Lee Allen 26. Re: Gam Roller on Source 4 Bad Luck by John McKernon 27. Re: A Question by "Steven Haworth" 28. Re: Projection by Danielle Maul 29. Vassar Powerhouse (was: Re: What's that light?) by "Bryan H. Ackler" 30. Re: Re[2]: What's that light? by "Michael S. Eddy" 31. Re: What's that light? by Stephen Litterst 32. Re: The magic by Bruce Purdy 33. Re: Projection by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 34. Re: What's that light? by Steve Larson 35. Re: Re[2]: What's that light? by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 36. Re: What's that light? by Stephen Litterst 37. Varivocal (Frank's word) Parellipsphere by Paul Puppo 38. zooms (was Re: What's that light?) by Shawn Palmer 39. Sound workshop by Jason Romney 40. Re: zooms (was Re: What's that light?) by Stephen Litterst 41. Re: Kristi's "The Magic" by 42. Magic Followup by Stephen Litterst 43. Re: Rigging System Standards by "James, Brian" 44. Re: The magic by David Marks 45. Re: Magic Followup by "Stephen E. Rees" 46. Re: Rigging System Standards by Bill Sapsis 47. Re: What's that light? by Greg Bierly 48. Historical trivia about theatre by "Frank E. Merrill" 49. Re: Magic Followup by Wood Chip-P26398 50. Re: Historical trivia about theatre by IAEG [at] aol.com 51. Re[4]: What's that light? by "Frank E. Merrill" 52. Re: Rigging System Standards by Mike Brubaker 53. USITT Toronto: Where to stay.... by Scott Parker 54. Re[2]: Historical trivia about theatre by "Frank E. Merrill" 55. Re: Varivocal by Dale Farmer 56. Scenic Design position available. by Joseph Champelli 57. Re: Magic Followup by "Tony" 58. Re: Varivocal (Frank's word) Parellipsphere by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 59. Re: What's that light? by "Marc Palmer" 60. Re: zooms (was Re: What's that light?) by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 61. Re: Re[4]: What's that light? by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 62. Re: Sound workshop by MissWisc [at] aol.com 63. Re: Re[2]: Historical trivia about theatre by IAEG [at] aol.com 64. Re: Polite request by Sean Evans 65. Re: What's that light? by "Don Taco" 66. Re: Theatrical architecture by Sunil Rajan 67. Re: Magic Followup by "Andy Leviss" 68. Re: Rigging System Standards by Bill Sapsis 69. Re: Historical trivia about theatre by Eddie Kramer 70. Re: Sound workshop by Greg Persinger 71. Movin' Out Tour at the National Theatre by Mike Benonis 72. Re: Rigging System Standards by "James, Brian" 73. Fine arts center management by "James, Brian" 74. Re: Fine arts center management by "Chris Warner" *** Please update the subject line of your reply to use the subject *** line of the message you are replying to! Please only reply to *** one message subject in each reply. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 06:29:00 -0500 Subject: Re: Rigging System Standards From: Bill Sapsis Message-ID: In-Reply-To: on 11/12/04 3:02 AM, James, Brian at bej [at] vt.edu wrote: > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > --------------------------------------------------- > > Does anybody know if there are counter weight rigging system standards or > guidelines published any where by anybody? > > I went to the USITT website and ETSA and did not see anything, I could have > over looked them though. > > Any help is appreciated! Rigging standards are in the process of being developed by the Rigging Working Group, a part of the Technical Standards Program at ESTA Proposed standard E1.4 Manual Rigging has just completed a public review and the responses from that review are being evaluated. It is not a Standard yet but it's getting closer. (If you have any questions regarding the standards program at ESTA you can give me a shout privately. I'm one of the co-chairs of the Rigging Working Group.) Manufacturers develop equipment specifications, not standards. These specifications relate to the fabrication and installation of their hardware and equipment. They are not standards not are they design criteria. To get the right equipment for a particular space, a consultant or designer or architect is needed. Zat help? Bill S. www.sapsis-rigging.com 800.727.7471 800.292.3851 fax 267.278.4561 mobile We stand behind, and under, our work. ------------------------------ Message-ID: <4194B825.5060805 [at] fredonia.edu> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 08:18:29 -0500 From: "Stephen E. Rees" Reply-To: Rees [at] fredonia.edu Subject: Historical Lights References: Well, speaking of historical lighting fixtures, does anyone know if the "museum" fixtures that once existed at Penn State in State College, PA still is there? Charles (Levy? Faculty member) had stated it in the '70's as I recall. (vaguely, it seems) Steve Rees Michael S. Eddy wrote: > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > --------------------------------------------------- > > > Noah Price wrote: > > >>On Nov 11, 2004, at 9:45 AM, Michael Eddy wrote: > > >>>I had not seen the ellipsoidal version. >> > >>I can get you a great deal if you'd like one :-) > > > Saw right, but no thanks. If I bring one more piece of theatrical history > home, my darling wife has threatened to club me to death with it. In other > words, I have enough anchors. > > Michael Eddy ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Gam Roller on Source 4 Bad Luck Message-ID: From: RHolen [at] vinu.edu Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:25:15 -0600 I did a production of "Honk" the musical last week. I rented four Gam Rollers with the Flame/Water roller gobos. They lasted four performances. The Gobos were wonderful until they hooked up in the rollers and stopped rolling. Has anyone else had this problem? I trimmed the torn parts of the gobo, but they hooked up someplace else and stopped again. For $69.95 a piece I would think they would work more than four performances. Richard D. Holen Professor Dept. of Theatre Vincennes University 1002 N. 1st Street Vincennes, IN 47591 Office: 812 888 5339 Home: 812 886 9135 Cell: 812 760 8000 rholen [at] indian.vinu.edu ------------------------------ From: "James Smith, Soundsculpture Incorporated" Subject: MINI wireless dimmer Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 08:29:37 -0500 In-Reply-To: Message-Id: <20041112132940.LSGR1899.tomts13-srv.bellnexxia.net [at] p3m866> Hey Folks -- Just letting you know I now make a new smaller dimmer for my RC4 wireless lighting system. The San Francisco Opera just picked up 4 of them. More info at www.theatrewireless.com. There's no mention of it on our website, but we offer a substantial discount to educational and small house purchasers. Trying to help out wherever we can. Give me a call if you're interested. My apologies for the shameless promotion! James Smith Soundsculpture Incorporated 1-866-258-4577 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 08:37:25 -0500 From: Michael Powers Subject: Re: Black Box Seating Cc: mengler [at] d.umn.edu Message-id: <4194BC95.1020708 [at] theater.umass.edu> Mark Engler Wrote: <> Mark, Check out the Wenger "Portable Audience Chair". http://www.wengercorp.com/wenger/wengerhome.nsf/MainFrameset!OpenFrameset I saw them at USITT last year and was very impressed. They Lock together or stand alone, the seat folds up like permanent seating for easier access past unoccupied seats. I sat in them and though the padding is thin compared to permanent seating, they seemed quite comfortable. Unlike Wenger's "Killer" Orch. Shells, these seem to be well thought out, designed and constructed. And no, I'm not employed by Wenger or any of their partners, though I wouldn't return a check if they sent one :-) Michael Michael Powers, Technical Director UMass Amherst 112 FAC West Amherst, Ma. 01003 413-545-6821 Voice 413-577-0025 Fax mfpowers [at] theater.umass.edu mptecdir [at] aol.com ------------------------------ In-Reply-To: References: Message-Id: <929D90B6-34B3-11D9-9F35-000D936BFA94 [at] dejazzd.com> From: Greg Bierly Subject: Re: Gam Roller on Source 4 Bad Luck Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 09:03:04 -0500 > I rented four Gam > Rollers with the Flame/Water roller gobos. They lasted four > performances. > The Gobos were wonderful until they hooked up in the rollers and > stopped > rolling. Has anyone else had this problem? > I purchased a film/FX loop and rented two additional units specifically to do the "large ripples" but upon ordering was told they had too many problems with that pattern and would only sell it to be used in the SX4. I haven't tried the fire/waves but I had good luck with the diamonds and someone else just used the rain without issue. The issue is with the small diameter of the rollers and the tight bend the loop has to make. Did it look like the loop was starting to heat up and warp? If that was the issue try a well trimmed source four as the instrument to keep gobo temps down. Greg Bierly Technical Director Hempfield HS Greg Bierly Technical Director Hempfield HS ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 06:10:43 -0800 Subject: Re: Gam Roller on Source 4 Bad Luck Message-ID: <20041112.061053.2888.2.ladesigners [at] juno.com> From: Richard Niederberg All four? I have never had this problem with GAM's quality control. Call them at (323) 935-4975 and you should get an explanation, then tell us... /s/ Richard > I did a production of "Honk" the musical last week. I rented > four Gam Rollers with the Flame/Water roller gobos. They > lasted four performances. The Gobos were wonderful until > they hooked up in the rollers and stopped rolling. Has anyone > else had this problem? I trimmed the torn parts of the gobo, > but they hooked up someplace else and stopped again. For > $69.95 a piece I would think they would work more than > four performances. > Richard D. Holen ________________________________________________________________ Juno Platinum $9.95. Juno SpeedBand $14.95. Sign up for Juno Today at http://www.juno.com! Look for special offers at Best Buy stores. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 09:29:27 -0500 From: "Frank E. Merrill" Reply-To: "Frank E. Merrill" Message-ID: <208295655.20041112092927 [at] TCON.net> Subject: Re[2]: RE What light In-Reply-To: References: Your message of Thu, 11 Nov 2004 09:09:34 -0700 Howdy! Thursday, November 11, 2004, Steve Backus wrote about the waning days of Electro Controls: SJB> Remember those plastic laminated labels they put on everything? SJB> For a small bribe the lady who made them would make some for you. Okay, I confess. The door to the office where I now sit bears a very nicely engraved nameplate that cost me a cheeseburger, fries and a shake. Best regards, Frank E. Merrill MERRILL STAGE EQUIPMENT Eastablished 1946 Indianapolis 317: 255 4666 Running The Bat! Natural e-mail system v3.0 mailto:Lamplighter [at] TCON.net ------------------------------ Message-ID: <005501c4c8c6$c68ac700$0202a8c0 [at] MyLastPC> From: "Paul Guncheon" References: Subject: Re: Magic of Light Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 04:49:12 -1000 <> I have sold a couple copies to list members over the years... I thought I'd see what it brings from the general public. I am going to be seriously culling my design reference library but I don't know if I have any other "rare" design books. I'll make a list of what I'm getting rid of if anyone is interested. Two books are going that I have right at hand: Great Stars of the American Stage - Daniel Blum World Theatre in Pictures - Tom Prideaux Laters, Paul Someone removed all the twos from this deck," Tom deduced. ------------------------------ Message-Id: <6.1.2.0.0.20041112094956.01ba8470 [at] mail.insightbb.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 09:52:05 -0500 From: Mike Brubaker Subject: Re: Magic of Light In-Reply-To: References: Is this a bad time to mention that I purchased my (very good condition) first edition of this book for 12.50 plus book-rate shipping just a few years ago? It is a book well worth the 100+ that it commands now. Mike At 11:32 PM 11/11/2004, Richard Niederberg wrote: > So, you are going to make some poor list member go through what I >did to mentally to justify to myself the spending of well over $100 plus >shipping for the book, just as I did when I bought a copy of 'The Magic >of Light' from you a few years ago. It remains my most expensive ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 09:53:25 -0500 From: Stephen Litterst Subject: Re: Black Box Seating Message-id: <4194CE65.AB307293 [at] ithaca.edu> Organization: IC-Dept. of Theatre Arts References: Michael Powers wrote: > --------------------------------------------------- > > Mark Engler Wrote: > < this point are that they be stackable, lock together, and are > comfortable. Cost will come into the equation a little later. Any > suggestions would be appreciated. >> > Check out the Wenger "Portable Audience Chair". > > http://www.wengercorp.com/wenger/wengerhome.nsf/MainFrameset!OpenFrameset > > I saw them at USITT last year and was very impressed. They Lock together or stand alone, the seat folds up like permanent seating for easier access past unoccupied seats. I sat in them and though the padding is thin compared to permanent seating, they seemed quite comfortable. Unlike Wenger's "Killer" Orch. Shells, these seem to be well thought out, designed and constructed. We looked at these when we replaced our black box seating a few years ago. Our main objection to them was their size, as our seats are struck and stored when the space is not in production. If you leave them in place all the time it's a good unit. Steve L. -- Stephen C. Litterst Technical Supervisor Ithaca College Dept. of Theatre Arts 607/274-3947 slitterst [at] ithaca.edu ------------------------------ Message-ID: <005901c4c8c7$7a852610$0202a8c0 [at] MyLastPC> From: "Paul Guncheon" References: Subject: Re: Magic Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 04:54:14 -1000 Great post Kristi. My children enjoyed opera... We would get tickets to dress rehearsals and would sit in the balcony. The boys were totally enthralled with the production. Even my 2 year old daughter was captivated until she realized that there was someone in her vicinity who had the audacity to believe they could be louder than she. Had to take her out before she started to "sing" as well. Laters, Paul Those ants will never get in here," Tom said defiantly. ------------------------------ Message-Id: <5.1.0.14.0.20041112095527.0204a3e8 [at] watarts.uwaterloo.ca> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 10:00:38 -0500 From: Scott Spidell Subject: Re: scenic painting Cc: jerrard [at] uoguelph.ca In-Reply-To: At 06:00 AM 11/12/2004, Jerrard wrote: >Greetings from someone new to the list. >I am teaching a course in scenic painting next semester and am planning >to assemble a kit of brushes for the students to purchase. I would love >to know your thoughts on favourite brushes, manufacturers and suppliers >(Canadian sources are particularly helpful). >best, >Jerrard Smith >Drama >University of Guelph Jerrard, Call Steve Spendiff or Brian Cloutier at Rosco 888-767-2686, or better still email Bill Chesney here at wchesney [at] uwaterloo.ca he teaches our scenic painting and has painted or designed for just about everybody north of the 49th. Scott ------------------------------ From: "RICHARD FINKELSTEIN" Subject: Parellipsphere in perspective Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 10:06:51 -0500 Message-ID: I'll make lots of enemies probably with this post but what the hey! First indeed the fixture in question became an albatross but that is not how the story started and I think that it might be beneficial for folks to learn a tad more about the history of this development. In 1976-7 while a grad student (Lighting Assistant) at Carnegie Mellon U, we were one of those who participated in the testing of the prototype of the Parellipsphere. At the time there were only 3 in existace, sand casted. At the same time, Colortran was bringing out their own new lines of light and they too sent a prototype to us. This made for great comparisons. At the prototype level the Parellipsphere was actually astonishing believe it or not. I would not only call the design revolutionary but I also suspect that a lot of what makes ETC's stuff so great today actually was pioneered in the Parellipsphere. Here is the science behind the unit as I recall. Since 1911 (by my own lighting history research) optical engineers knew what theatre lighting profs still don't teach: That the diagrams of reflectors and beams from them only apply in theory to point sources, something that doesn't actually exist, especially in incandescent theatre lights! Rather theatre filaments form a line or a plane, and there the ol' diagrams and geometries totally break down. Manufacturers attempted to compensate for the REAL shape of filaments with designs like the flatted and double flatted reflectors that are still out there. But one of the scientific publications (I have it somewhere) of 1911 proposed a different solution, the hybrid reflector whereby two or more curves are combined to make the reflector. If properly engineered the optics are far superior to single curve reflectors like an ellipsoid or parabola. The Perellipse folks also redesigned the lenses making them more optical and less like "coke bottles". I BELIEVE the lenses may have also been plastic which may too have transmitted more light. Again in the prototype form the units were amazing. It would be fun to compare to a modern S4! I did a show at The Kennedy Center's Terrace Theatre soon after and their Parellipspheres seemed to do well but by the 1980s when I was at The State U of NY at StonyBrook with their hundreds of units things had changed. THESE Parellipspheres were....crap! What the TD there discovered which would explain most if not all of the problem is that the lamp manufacturers changed the design of the lamp while keeping the same ANSI code. The light center length of the lamp was now different and totally wrong for this instrument which required precise centering of the lamp due to the advanced reflector design. The effect was like night and day. Even what adjustments the instrument allowed would make a tremendous difference but the new lamps just made the light fixtures largely unusable. So while it is true that the instruments ended up being largely useless in practice I do not think it is actually the fault of the units themselves but of the lamp manufacturers! HEY FOLKS WHO DEVELOP LIGHTS....THE MORAL....IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU....and then on some list of the future the participants might be calling YOU names! As the pioneer of lighting, Fred Bentham told our CMU class.... "one designer LIVES to destroy the work of the previous designer" Richard Finkelstein http://www.rfdesigns.org/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: From: Claire Dana Subject: RE: scenic painting (brushes) Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 10:12:14 -0500 Jerrard Smith said: "I am teaching a course in scenic painting next semester and am planning to assemble a kit of brushes for the students to purchase. I would love to know your thoughts on favourite brushes, manufacturers and suppliers (Canadian sources are particularly helpful)." What will you cover in your course and what is the total cost range that's appropriate? Practically speaking, running a professional theatre-based shop, though I'm glad to have a couple of full sets of fitches and liners, I don't use them nearly as much day-to-day as I do a lot of other tools... If you're going to teach faux techniques like marble and wood, you need lay-in brushes, and cheap "chip" brushes you can modify for a particular purpose, but otherwise your tools might be different kinds of rags, tape, scissors, fluffy wool rollers, feathers, sponges, squeegees, and manufactured rockers and combs among other things. Many of those things you can get at reasonable (to a professional shop)at either specialty stores, hardware or a good house paint store. If you'll be working on landscapes: again, some different sizes of lay-in brushes, a hand-held sprayer (like a 1-litre hand pump from the gardening section), sawdust or kitty litter for skies, and now maybe the fitches for foliage. If you're introducing them to trompe l'oiel, now you really need to add the full range of scenic brushes, though if your "ground" is marble, you might use some of those other things and a few "artist" size brushes and possible some sharpies in different colors for cut lines. If you're teaching people how to copy stuff like distinctive artistic styles, you want them to be able to manufacture stuff like cut or otherwise modified rollers, or identify what they need from a completely different source( I used Milk Duds to fake a rope detail in a sculpture project when I was a student at Cobalt). That's pretty cheap. But since that's not what you really asked for, here are some web addresses that came up on the Scenic Artist Forum recently (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Scenic_Artist_Forum ) www.rosebrand.com 8-piece set of fitch/liners $119.65 in 2004 catalog www.paintbrushes.com/whrtoby.htm this is for Best Liebco/Symphony brand www.Mannbrothers.com California, but they're good. www.Savittbrothers.com Minneapolis www.Janovic.com New York City E-mail me off-list or phone if you wish. Claire Dana Charge Scenic Artist Indiana Repertory Theatre (317) 916-4855 ------------------------------ Cc: Lamplighter [at] TCON.net Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:05:48 -0800 Subject: Re: Re[2]: RE What light Message-ID: <20041112.070556.2888.4.ladesigners [at] juno.com> From: Richard Niederberg Say it isn't so! We can not suborn Corruption on this list. /s/ Richard > Okay, I confess. The door to the office where I now sit > bears a very nicely engraved nameplate that cost me a > cheeseburger, fries and a shake. > Frank E. Merrill ________________________________________________________________ Juno Platinum $9.95. Juno SpeedBand $14.95. Sign up for Juno Today at http://www.juno.com! Look for special offers at Best Buy stores. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 10:11:21 -0500 From: "Frank E. Merrill" Reply-To: "Frank E. Merrill" Message-ID: <902741222.20041112101121 [at] TCON.net> Subject: Re[2]: What's that light? In-Reply-To: References: Howdy! Thursday, November 11, 2004, Brian Aldous wrote about the Noah Price's mysterious Major EXAL series ellipsoidals and fresnels: BA> Now, maybe Major got Electro Controls to actually manufacture the units BA> (as suggested by others) but that does not ring a bell with me. Surely BA> there is someone on this list older in the lighting biz than myself who BA> recalls these? At least I hope so. I hope to quell the palpitation in Mr. Aldous' heart over this matter, with apologies to Michael Eddy's preference to keep further historical commentary to a minimum...Hahaha! I do not have the ambition to rummage through the back room to find the exact dates, but IMNAAHO Major stopped building the EXAL instruments before the merger with Electro Controls in the early 1980's, although EC did explore using extruded aluminum panels in a few of their luminaires sometime after 1975. Best regards, Frank E. Merrill MERRILL STAGE EQUIPMENT Eastablished 1946 Indianapolis 317: 255 4666 Running The Bat! Natural e-mail system v3.0 mailto:Lamplighter [at] TCON.net ------------------------------ Message-ID: <002701c4c8cb$0dc950b0$0600000a [at] BRUTUS> From: "Jon Ares" References: Subject: Re: scenic painting (brushes) Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:19:50 -0800 > source( I used Milk Duds to fake a rope detail in a sculpture project when > I > was a student at Cobalt). That's pretty cheap. I want to hear more about the Milk Dud technique. :) -- Jon Ares Program Director, West Linn HS Theatre Arts www.hevanet.com/acreative http://www.wlhs.wlwv.k12.or.us/aresj/theatre/index.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:19:54 -0800 Subject: Re: Magic of Light Message-ID: <20041112.071959.2888.5.ladesigners [at] juno.com> From: Richard Niederberg YES, but I still do not feel foolish for paying ten times more, even though the dust jacket has $15 printed on it... /s/ Richard > Is this a bad time to mention that I purchased my (very > good condition) first edition of this book for 12.50 plus > book-rate shipping just a few years ago? > It is a book well worth the 100+ that it commands now. > Mike ________________________________________________________________ Juno Platinum $9.95. Juno SpeedBand $14.95. Sign up for Juno Today at http://www.juno.com! Look for special offers at Best Buy stores. ------------------------------ Message-ID: <4194D6B7.6000502 [at] fullcompass.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 09:28:55 -0600 From: "John Penisten" Subject: RE: RE What light References: In-Reply-To: I have to step out of lurk mode for this. Michael, the thought of Kathy hitting you over the head with an ellipsoidal is just too much. If you change your mind and want an EC unit, there are still several sitting at the high school I would be more than happy to send you. I hope both you and your darling wife are doing well. John >> Saw right, but no thanks. If I bring one more piece of theatrical history home, my darling wife has threatened to club me to death with it. In other words, I have enough anchors. Michael Eddy -- John Penisten Full Compass Systems Rental, Production, Design http://www.fullcompass.com Phone: 800-356-5844 Ext. 1355 Fax: 608-831-6330 ------------------------------ Message-Id: In-Reply-To: References: Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 10:53:33 -0500 From: Danielle Maul Subject: A Question Hi y'all- Now I have a slightly odd situation and question. Through years of the both of us freelancing, and buying gear for a job that ended up not being used. Or the group you're working for decides to throw something away that you believe can be fixed. Or you don't think it's as obsolete as they do, when they're throwing it out, and retrieve it. Now that was all OK when we lived in a house with lots of room. Now we've moved to a place where storage space is at a premium. I'm feeling inundated. Other than Ebay, where can I sell this stuff? (It's all lighting and audio gear.) And I'd prefer not to ship it across the country or to europe. (Which has been proposed through mandy.com.) I'm in NYC. Any good ideas or websites? -- ------- Danielle Maul ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: "Jeffrey E. Salzberg" Subject: RE: A Question Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 10:58:15 -0500 Message-ID: <000001c4c8d0$82d8de20$6601a8c0 [at] Dell> In-Reply-To: What kind of stuff have you got? I'm right outside NYC, and I have lots of room. > Now that was all OK when we lived in a house with lots of room. Now > we've moved to a place where storage space is at a premium. I'm > feeling inundated. Other than Ebay, where can I sell this stuff? > (It's all lighting and audio gear.) And I'd prefer not to ship it > across the country or to europe. (Which has been proposed through > mandy.com.) > > I'm in NYC. Any good ideas or websites? ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: "Scott Boyle" Subject: RE: Black Box Seating Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 10:02:26 -0600 Organization: Carroll College Message-ID: <001201c4c8d1$011c2bc0$73db688c [at] cc.edu> In-Reply-To: Mark Engler Wrote: <> Michael Powers wrote: >>Check out the Wenger "Portable Audience Chair". http://www.wengercorp.com/wenger/wengerhome.nsf/MainFrameset!OpenFramese t<< I can vouch for these chairs I just bought 200 of them for our theatre. They are very comfortable. Even with my bad back I was able to sit in the demo version they sent me through two 10/12 tech rehearsals without compliant. They aren't very stackable, but they are built really well and as Michael mentioned very well thought out. HTH, Scott M. Boyle Technical Director Carroll College ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 11:02:40 -0500 Subject: Re: A Question From: Steve Larson Message-ID: In-Reply-To: As a technical director for a not-for-profit theatre we have lots of inquiries about various things people want to donate. We take most clothes, what we can't use we give to thrift stores we frequent. We also post on our website, items we would like donated, i.e., wood, etc. Everything donated to a not-for-profit can be deducted on your taxes. Often the value you set for the item is more than you are going to actually get selling it on eBay. If you do sell on eBay, the buyer should pay for the shipping. I prop shop on eBay all the time. Perhaps you can find a not-for-profit theatre in your area that could use it. Perhaps a local high school, junior college, etc. You would make a great friend for some needy organization. Steve on 11/12/04 10:53 AM, Danielle Maul at dmaulny [at] earthlink.net wrote: Other than Ebay, where can I sell this stuff? > (It's all lighting and audio gear.) And I'd prefer not to ship it > across the country or to europe. (Which has been proposed through > mandy.com.) > > I'm in NYC. Any good ideas or websites? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 11:07:52 -0500 From: Kevin Lee Allen Subject: Re: A Question In-reply-to: Message-id: <01926AD1-34C5-11D9-A3EB-003065D2C502 [at] klad.com> References: craigslist.org On Nov 12, 2004, at 10:53 AM, Danielle Maul wrote: > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see=20 > > --------------------------------------------------- > > Hi y'all- > > Now I have a slightly odd situation and question. > > Through years of the both of us freelancing, and buying gear for a job=20= > that ended up not being used. Or the group you're working for decides=20= > to throw something away that you believe can be fixed. Or you don't=20 > think it's as obsolete as they do, when they're throwing it out, and=20= > retrieve it. > > Now that was all OK when we lived in a house with lots of room. Now=20 > we've moved to a place where storage space is at a premium. I'm=20 > feeling inundated. Other than Ebay, where can I sell this stuff? (It's=20= > all lighting and audio gear.) And I'd prefer not to ship it across the=20= > country or to europe. (Which has been proposed through mandy.com.) > > I'm in NYC. Any good ideas or websites? > --=20 > > ------- > Danielle Maul > > > ----- Kevin Lee Allen Production Designer http://www.klad.com 973.744.6352.voice 201.280.3841.cell klad [at] klad.com =F0 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 11:18:12 -0500 Subject: Re: Gam Roller on Source 4 Bad Luck From: John McKernon Message-ID: In-Reply-To: > All four? I have never had this problem with GAM's quality control. Call > them at (323) 935-4975 and you should get an explanation, then tell us... Were you by chance using them with 750w Source Four's? GAM recommends them only for use with 575w. - John McKernon ------------------------------ Subject: RE: A Question Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 10:50:55 -0600 Message-ID: <721DC9EE550F834A92EC08BDC332B0EE01608384 [at] trader.river.idm.com> From: "Steven Haworth" I've got a list of used lighting places on my page: http://www.stagelights.info Some of these are dealers selling old equipment, but others actually = buy/sell used gear. Look thru the list, and perhaps try contacting some = of them. - Steven (sjh [at] idm.com) --------------------------- http://www.stagelights.info ------------------------------ Message-Id: Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 11:53:43 -0500 From: Danielle Maul Subject: Re: Projection Hello again- Ah yes, projection. It has to do with breathing from your diaphragm. (I had singing lessons when I was younger.) It's very useful to be able to be heard all over the arena when you want to. ("BREAK!") Or not use it, to quietly speak backstage. Glad Mom did that for me. At 3:00 AM -0800 11/12/04, Frank Wood wrote: >But, at the same time, hundreds of opera singers can do just that. It's a >skill called 'projection'. I'm no singer, but I can do it with my >speaking voice, >although I can't tell you how I do it. It's not shouting, it's somehow adding >intensity, as in a stage whisper. -- ------- Danielle Maul ------------------------------ Message-ID: <4194EA78.8040400 [at] ix.netcom.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 08:53:12 -0800 From: "Bryan H. Ackler" Organization: Va. Tech - Vassar - USITT - NTHP Subject: Vassar Powerhouse (was: Re: What's that light?) References: In-Reply-To: Brian et. al. The fixtures in the Hallie Flanagan Powerhouse Theater were indeed provided by Major Controls. The ellipsoids used the 1kW SRC dual ended DWT lamp. State of the art for 1972 when it was speced. However, the fixture mounted dimmer was specific to the Powerhouse and specifically to Ned Lustig, who was the consultant, along with Vassar's own Tad Gesek. They were indeed analog 0-10v DC. The fixtures and dimmers were manufactured by Major in Illinois. Ned and Tad were only about thirty years ahead in their technology scheme, and it wasn't until this year that another fixture mounted dimmer appeared, ET's Bak-Pak. For a Black Box theatre the fixture mounted dimmer (FMD) made a great deal of sense and was very successfully used for years until a fire and "wear and tear" took their toll. Bryan H. Ackler Powerhouse (1973-1977) ===================================== From: Brian Aldous Subject: Re: What's that light? Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 22:50:28 -0500 Wow! I have seen these bad boys before. I was working as M.E. / ALD for a summer outfit called NY Stage & Film, using the Powerhouse theatre at Vassar College in the summer of 1988. Because the designer was Don Holder, I was of course using every available unit and then some. I found a mouldering pile these buried in storage and did my best to get them rolling. As I recall, the ellipsoidals were not worth the bother, but the fresnels turned out to be pretty good - bright, nice fields (better than a ParNel ? who can say.) The manufacturer was in fact Major Controls (as the cut sheet you posted indicates), long defunct even then. Their schtick was an early form of distributed dimming. The idea was to place a dimmer on the yoke of each unit. You were supposed to run 120v AC AND a control cable (3-pin xlr) to each unit. I don't recall the nature of the controller - it had been replaced by a Colotran Prestige 2000 (!) shortly before I arrived. Now, maybe Major got ElectroControls to actually manufacture the units (as suggested by others) but that does not ring a bell with me. Surely there is someone on this list older in the lighting biz than myself who recalls these? At least I hope so. Anyway, i would suggest scrapping the lekos and salvaging the fresnels, although you might want to be careful with the asbestos leads on them. BA Brian Aldous Lighting Design brian [at] tany.com On Nov 11, 2004, at 6:00 AM, Stagecraft wrote: ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: "Michael S. Eddy" Cc: Lamplighter [at] TCON.net ('Frank E. Merrill') Subject: RE: Re[2]: What's that light? Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 12:06:15 -0500 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Frank Merrill said: >with apologies to Michael Eddy's preference to keep further historical >commentary to a minimum...Hahaha! Frank, You misunderstand my point; I actually love the history and have archived your well written e-mails, as well as some of the others recently about this thread. No my point was that I have a number of historical lighting items, catalogs, etc, and I have worn-out my welcome with my wife in terms of storage. She has accused me of operating a museum of theatrical lighting history and has curtailed my acquisitions. The stories and the history are great and fill in a lot of blanks. The recent history (70s - 80s) as well as much of our history of the lighting industry are being lost and forgotten. I am a participant in the ESTA History Project because I love the history of our industry and want to see it preserved for future generations. You also said: >although EC did explore using extruded aluminum panels in a few of their >luminaires sometime after 1975. I believe that EC worked on the extruded aluminum units in the early 80s. I worked at Kliegl Bros at that time and we had a development project along the same lines to play catch up with EC. This project was scrapped when Kliegl picked up the US distribution of CCT fixtures from London with its cutting edge modular construction. The downfall of the Kliegl/CCT deal was that the Kliegl line would assemble the CCT units in the US to save on import duty, but they didn't know anything about metric tools and fasteners, so the assembly was not pretty! Also, we could not figure out how to sell a Cadillac fixture in a Chevy marketplace that was at that time dominated by Altman 360 ERS fixtures. It would take ETC's Source Four to clear that hurdle. Also we could not overcome the US market's lack of interest in zoom profiles. So, to make a long post longer, please keep up the stories and the history lessons. They are appreciated. Michael Eddy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 12:10:27 -0500 From: Stephen Litterst Subject: Re: What's that light? Message-id: <4194EE83.3CC1B3D8 [at] ithaca.edu> Organization: IC-Dept. of Theatre Arts References: "Michael S. Eddy" wrote: > --------------------------------------------------- No my point was that I have a number of historical lighting items, > catalogs, etc, and I have worn-out my welcome with my wife in terms of > storage. She has accused me of operating a museum of theatrical lighting > history and has curtailed my acquisitions. The museum is open to the general public from 10-3 on weekdays and closed on weekends for Tech rehearsals. Steve L. -- Stephen C. Litterst Technical Supervisor Ithaca College Dept. of Theatre Arts 607/274-3947 slitterst [at] ithaca.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 12:36:19 -0500 Subject: Re: The magic From: Bruce Purdy Message-ID: In-Reply-To: > One of the biggest irritations I find with our town is the regular comment > from members of the public - "Oh! I didn't know we had a theatre! And I've > lived here all me life!!" > We've had a theatre here since 1969, and whilst the marketing hasn't always > been ideal, it's been there! The Smith Opera House has stood here since 1894, and yet I often hear the same comment from lifelong residents of the surrounding region when they finally "discover" us: "I didn't even know you were here!" And this is in a small town where everyone seems to know or be related to everyone else in some way! I refer to our theatre as "The best kept secret of the Finger Lakes". -- Bruce Purdy Technical Director Smith Opera House ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 13:25:35 EST Subject: Re: Projection In a message dated 12/11/04 16:54:45 GMT Standard Time, dmaulny [at] earthlink.net writes: > Ah yes, projection. It has to do with breathing from your diaphragm. > (I had singing lessons when I was younger.) It's very useful to be > able to be heard all over the arena when you want to. ("BREAK!") Or > not use it, to quietly speak backstage. Glad Mom did that for me. I learnt it as a (very bad) schoolmaster some 40 years ago. It meant that I could easilt superimpose my displeasure over that of my classes. Frank Wood ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 13:27:45 -0500 Subject: Re: What's that light? From: Steve Larson Message-ID: In-Reply-To: Somehow, a museum having tech rehearsals strikes me a somewhat humorous. I suspect that it's not the museum, but the neighboring theatre that is having the techs. Steve on 11/12/04 12:10 PM, Stephen Litterst at slitterst [at] ithaca.edu wrote: > The museum is open to the general public from 10-3 on weekdays and > closed on weekends for Tech rehearsals. ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: <1a7.2ada7cdd.2ec65bdf [at] aol.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 13:33:03 EST Subject: Re: Re[2]: What's that light? In a message dated 12/11/04 17:07:58 GMT Standard Time, mseddy2900 [at] hotmail.com writes: > This project was scrapped when > Kliegl picked up the US distribution of CCT fixtures from London with its > cutting edge modular construction. The downfall of the Kliegl/CCT deal was > that the Kliegl line would assemble the CCT units in the US to save on > import duty, but they didn't know anything about metric tools and fasteners, > so the assembly was not pretty! Also, we could not figure out how to sell a > Cadillac fixture in a Chevy marketplace that was at that time dominated by > Altman 360 ERS fixtures. It would take ETC's Source Four to clear that > hurdle. Also we could not overcome the US market's lack of interest in zoom > profiles. I have often wondered about this, myself. Apart from a few antiques, and follow-spots, our whole stock of profiles is varivocal, to give it the right name. Given a skilled focusser, the versatility pays for the extra time, and may allow a reduction in the lantern count. Does anybody know why? Frank Wood ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 14:11:19 -0500 From: Stephen Litterst Subject: Re: What's that light? Message-id: <41950AD6.D89A7628 [at] ithaca.edu> Organization: IC-Dept. of Theatre Arts References: Steve Larson wrote: > > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > --------------------------------------------------- > > Somehow, a museum having tech rehearsals strikes > me a somewhat humorous. I suspect that it's not > the museum, but the neighboring theatre that > is having the techs. I deliberately left it ambiguous. Right! That's it, I did it on purpose, so people would think the museum loaned its collection out for tech rehearsals. :-D Steve L. > on 11/12/04 12:10 PM, Stephen Litterst at slitterst [at] ithaca.edu wrote: > > > The museum is open to the general public from 10-3 on weekdays and > > closed on weekends for Tech rehearsals. -- Stephen C. Litterst Technical Supervisor Ithaca College Dept. of Theatre Arts 607/274-3947 slitterst [at] ithaca.edu ------------------------------ In-Reply-To: References: Message-Id: From: Paul Puppo Subject: Varivocal (Frank's word) Parellipsphere Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 11:26:45 -0800 All things being equal, I've always liked the Parellipspheres we had when I was at SDSU (a thousand years ago). Except when I was calling the focus for my design and I was short crew and I had to send some in experienced people up to the catwalk. (In college theatre crew there were 2 types of people, "theatre people" and "people taking extra credit".) When I asked for a hard edge on the light (a Parellipsphere), the "crew member" asked from the catwalk, "how do I do that?" I sighed, then explained how to focus a zoom instrument from 40' away, starting with "O.K. find the knob on the right hand side closest to you, no, not the yoke knob...", but i was more than mildly annoyed, they should have learned that in lighting lab by now and "on the job" was not the place to learn basics. (yes, yes, yes, I know it was "school", but it was my show. They didn't want to be there, and I didn't have the time for it.) Just one of the charming little anecdotes that linger from my college days. (I got a million of 'em, anecdotes and days...) Paul Puppo ILLUMINEERING 547 Green Street San Francisco, CA 94133-3905 (415) 397-8776 phone/fax http://www.Nifty-Gadgets.com mailto:Paul [at] Nifty-Gadgets.com ------------------------------ Message-ID: <419510E1.1070000 [at] northnet.net> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 13:37:05 -0600 From: Shawn Palmer Subject: zooms (was Re: What's that light?) References: In-Reply-To: I have often wondered about this, myself. Apart from a few antiques, and > follow-spots, our whole stock of profiles is varivocal, to give it the right name. > Given a skilled focusser, the versatility pays for the extra time, and may > allow a reduction in the lantern count. > > Does anybody know why? > > > Frank Wood Excellent question. Cost? There is a beautiful small space near me (an old opera house) where the vast majority of the on-stage ERS fixtures are zooms. They are Altman 4.5 inch zooms, so they are not the "Cadillac," but the space always struck me as having quite a versatile lighting inventory. FOH stuff was (is) Altman 6" and 8" 1K zooms. To be fair it was reopened just before all the latest and greatest fixtures (S4 zooms, Selecon, etc.) I really liked all the zoom ERS, though. Shawn Palmer Neenah, WI USA ------------------------------ Message-Id: From: Jason Romney Subject: Sound workshop Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:09:49 -0500 Hello Everyone, Here at North Carolina School of the Arts we're planning a summer course that I'd like to request some feedback for. We're going to host a workshop in theatre sound. The North Carolina School of the Arts offers one of the top theatre sound training programs in the country. We have top notch facilities with experienced and knowledgeable faculty who specialize in theatre sound design. Currently, the direction we're planning to take this is as a continuing education course for high school teachers and college instructors who find themselves teaching sound with little to no formal training in sound beyond that Intro to Technical Theatre class they took years ago in college. We could also make it available to technical directors and production managers of community theatre or small professional theatre who don't have a house sound person and need to brush up their sound chops. So right now we're trying to gauge interest and find out what things to include. My thoughts now regarding content are SFX training, computer audio editing using Pro Tools, wireless mic mounting, etc. What other topics would be useful? How much time would you be willing to commit to this? 1 week? 2 weeks? How much would you be willing to pay for a workshop like this? We want this to be interesting and useful to people so any feedback you can offer as we begin planning things would be greatly appreciated. Please reply on or off-list with your ideas or comments. Thanks! Jason Romney Sound Design Instructor North Carolina School of the Arts jason [at] cd-romney.com romneyj [at] ncarts.edu http://www.ncarts.edu/ncsaprod/designandproduction/ http://www.cd-romney.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:12:49 -0500 From: Stephen Litterst Subject: Re: zooms (was Re: What's that light?) Message-id: <41951941.EC5993C5 [at] ithaca.edu> Organization: IC-Dept. of Theatre Arts References: > --------------------------------------------------- > > I have often wondered about this, myself. Apart from a few antiques, and > > follow-spots, our whole stock of profiles is varivocal, to give it the right name. > > Given a skilled focusser, the versatility pays for the extra time, and may > > allow a reduction in the lantern count. > > > > Does anybody know why? I have always considered it a matter of cost. Using zooms would not reduce the number of fixtures we own, as every show manages to use every fixture. (ok, the 6x22s have never been used I'll admit) So we can buy fixed focus Source 4s at $250 ea or Source 4 Zooms at (checks price online) $385, and teach student designers to do the worksheets to determine the right angle for the right position. Second to cost is size. Until the Strand SL zooms came out, the zoom fixtures were substantially larger than their fixed focus cousins. That reduces the number of fixtures you can pack onto an electric or a boom. I've yet to meet a designer who prefers fewer options. :) Finally, I have to admit to inertia. That's the way we've been trained over here and that's what we pass on. It's not a very good reason, I admit. But it is easily overcome if the first two reasons can be dealt with. Steve L. -- Stephen C. Litterst Technical Supervisor Ithaca College Dept. of Theatre Arts 607/274-3947 slitterst [at] ithaca.edu ------------------------------ From: Subject: Re: Re: Kristi's "The Magic" Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:21:22 -0500 Message-Id: <20041112202122.BLFH5535.lakermmtao06.cox.net [at] smtp.east.cox.net> I've also sent it to one of the dressers. > > From: Brendan Quigley > Date: 2004/11/11 Thu PM 05:36:24 EST > To: "Stagecraft" > Subject: Re: Kristi's "The Magic" > > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > --------------------------------------------------- > > heythere Kristi ... so your message has been forwarded to the Head > Electrician for the show. > > On Nov 11, 2004, at 5:00 AM, Stagecraft wrote: > > > From: MissWisc [at] aol.com > > Message-ID: <157.43647700.2ec461a5 [at] aol.com> > > Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 01:33:09 EST > > Subject: The magic > > > > Tonight, I took my son to see Big River at the Weidner Center in Green > > Bay, > > WI. For those not familiar with this production, it's completely > > signed in ASL > > (thanks to Linda Bove of Sesame Street fame) as well as spoken/sung. I > > saw it > > in Dallas last summer from the nose bleed section and was hoping to > > get closer > > seats this time to see more of the action. Mission accomplished. > > > I just tucked in one very tired 10 year old with a huge smile on his > > face. If > > someone on this list has connections with Big River (and I'd bet there > > is!) > > please pass this on as a letter of thanks from a greatful mom, drama > > teacher > > and theatre lover. > > > > Kristi R-C > > Kind Regards, > > Brendan C. Quigley > Vari*Lite Technician/Electrician > WICKED - A New Broadway Musical > > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:37:11 -0500 From: Stephen Litterst Subject: Magic Followup Message-id: <41951EF7.6A7B0CE0 [at] ithaca.edu> Organization: IC-Dept. of Theatre Arts This morning we hosted 500+ elementary school children for a special performance of Seussical. I've done school matinees before (at other companies) and didn't have fond memories. High school kids get bored by Shakespeare and I didn't remember much magic happening. This morning was magical even for me. By show of hands, most of the kids had not been to a live performance (they're on the younger end of elementary school). When the house lights went down there was the usual tittering and giggling. When the stage lights came up you could see the jaws dropping. At the first scene change I saw the winches moving and drops flying out, but the "Wows" and "Ooohs" from the audience reminded me that all they saw were trees moving by themselves and a stage transforming. Backstage, every performer had a huge grin on whenever they came offstage. Despite getting up early, the cast and crew was energized by the wonder happening in the audience. It's good to see what we do through fresh eyes every now and again. Steve L. -- Stephen C. Litterst Technical Supervisor Ithaca College Dept. of Theatre Arts 607/274-3947 slitterst [at] ithaca.edu ------------------------------ Subject: RE: Rigging System Standards Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:39:02 -0500 Message-ID: <89DE71075FCD6E44A4D117FBFBBD801C04D3EC94 [at] fangorn.cc.vt.edu> From: "James, Brian" Just what you want, a rigging system installed by the lowest bidder! :-0 Exactly, that's is what I am trying to avoid. I appreciate everyone's input. With any luck (and maybe the odd prayer) = I can get a good bidder. -----Original Message----- From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net]On Behalf Of Greg Persinger Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 3:28 AM To: Stagecraft Subject: Re: Rigging System Standards Greg Persinger Vivid Illumination Greg [at] Vividillumination.com ------------------------------ Message-ID: <4195222E.3010600 [at] davidmarks.cc> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:50:54 -0500 From: David Marks Subject: Re: The magic References: Bruce Purdy wrote: >And this is in a small town where everyone seems to know or be related >to everyone else in some way! I refer to our theatre as "The best kept >secret of the Finger Lakes". > You mean that big building up the street from Guard's Cards and down the street from the old YMCA is a theater?? I'll be darned! Dave Marks, former Finger Lakes lad (and related to people in Geneva) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <419521DA.4000707 [at] fredonia.edu> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:49:30 -0500 From: "Stephen E. Rees" Reply-To: Rees [at] fredonia.edu Subject: Re: Magic Followup References: As part of our educational outreach, we have been doing a High School Drama Day for many years. We see students from a ten county area at least twice a year for a morning of workshops and an early matinee. As much as we complain sometimes about the extra work, we all [fac and students] come away feeling as if we've brightened a few lives, judging by their responses. Steve Rees Stephen Litterst wrote: > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > --------------------------------------------------- > > This morning we hosted 500+ elementary school children for a special > performance of Seussical. > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:55:22 -0500 Subject: Re: Rigging System Standards From: Bill Sapsis Message-ID: In-Reply-To: on 11/12/04 3:39 PM, James, Brian at bej [at] vt.edu wrote: > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > --------------------------------------------------- > > Just what you want, a rigging system installed by the lowest bidder! :-0 > > Exactly, that's is what I am trying to avoid. > > I appreciate everyone's input. With any luck (and maybe the odd prayer) I can > get a good bidder. > Greg Persinger > Vivid Illumination > > Greg [at] Vividillumination.com > > Me! Me! Pick me! I'm a good bidder. Really! Have a good weekend, folks. Bill S. www.sapsis-rigging.com 800.727.7471 800.292.3851 fax 267.278.4561 mobile We stand behind, and under, our work. ------------------------------ In-Reply-To: References: Message-Id: <1D956BD6-34ED-11D9-9F35-000D936BFA94 [at] dejazzd.com> From: Greg Bierly Subject: Re: What's that light? Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:54:59 -0500 > Somehow, a museum having tech rehearsals strikes > me a somewhat humorous. I suspect that it's not > the museum, but the neighboring theatre that > is having the techs. I am sure there are more than a few of us on the list that either have or are presently working in a theatre outfitted with "museum" fixtures on a daily basis. Greg Greg Bierly Technical Director Hempfield HS ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 13:11:35 -0500 From: "Frank E. Merrill" Reply-To: "Frank E. Merrill" Message-ID: <1537508475.20041112131135 [at] TCON.net> Subject: Historical trivia about theatre Hello! Michael Eddy explained that he likes the historical stories but has called a halt to accumulating hardware. Here's a great li'l tidbit for you young'uns: Before the days of ellipsoidals (A tip of the Stetson to Chuck Levy and Eddie Kook) and scoops, there were Plano spots and Olivettes, and my story is about the Olivette. To enable young'uns to visualize an Olivette, think of a scoop floodlight viewed through a wildly astigmatic lens so it appears to be shaped rather like a football. A high wattage mogul screw based inside frosted lamp bulb (a 1500IF or so) is standing proudly upright from the bottom of the football. Got the picture? Father Roscoe Major presided over the unveiling of that new instrument in the early 1950's and hosted a cocktail party in its honor. He raised his martini glass in a toast to the un-named instrument's success and immediately knew the name, inspired in the bottom of his glass, impaled upon a little plastic sword. With a flourish worthy of our industry, he drew the little green fruit from his martini, held it up towrd the instrument on display, and proclaimed "I dub thee Olivette!" Best regards, Frank E. Merrill MERRILL STAGE EQUIPMENT Established 1946 Indianapolis 317: 255 4666 Running The Bat! Natural e-mail system v3.0 mailto:Lamplighter [at] TCON.net ------------------------------ Message-ID: From: Wood Chip-P26398 Subject: RE: Magic Followup Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 14:04:51 -0700 There is a difference between Elementary and High School audiences however. We gave up on high school matinees a few years ago because of their disruptive and often out-spoken behavior. While maybe 75% said "Ssshh" to the disruptive 25%, it just was not happening. When we changed to Elementary matinees the difference was remarkable. The main problem is to get the teachers to allow the kids to enjoy themselves. Most read them the riot act before coming over and the kids were afraid to breathe. BTW, I never go to a movie anymore where the predominant audience demographics are teenagers. Even if I see that a small group are teens, I will head for another show. -----Original Message----- From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net] On Behalf Of Stephen E. Rees As part of our educational outreach, we have been doing a High School Drama Day for many years. We see students from a ten county area at least twice a year for a morning of workshops and an early matinee. As much as we complain sometimes about the extra work, we all [fac and students] come away feeling as if we've brightened a few lives, judging by their responses. Steve Rees Stephen Litterst wrote: > This morning we hosted 500+ elementary school children for a special > performance of Seussical. > ------------------------------ From: IAEG [at] aol.com Message-ID: <15d.439f2f73.2ec680a1 [at] aol.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 16:09:53 EST Subject: Re: Historical trivia about theatre In a message dated 11/12/04 4:01:23 PM, Lamplighter [at] TCON.net writes: << To enable young'uns to visualize an Olivette, think of a scoop floodlight viewed through a wildly astigmatic lens so it appears to be shaped rather like a football. A high wattage mogul screw based inside frosted lamp bulb (a 1500IF or so) is standing proudly upright from the bottom of the football. Got the picture? >> Frank, , to me an OLIVETTE was a large, , usually floor stand mounted rectangular shaped light, , took about a full sheet of gel, , with straight sloping sides (not curvilinear) of a non or barely reflective material, , with a usually clear, un frosted mogul screw base lamp. Don't ever recall a football'esque shape, , very best, Keith Arsenault International Arts & Entertainment Group Tampa, FL ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 16:20:18 -0500 From: "Frank E. Merrill" Reply-To: "Frank E. Merrill" Message-ID: <658511306.20041112162018 [at] TCON.net> Subject: Re[4]: What's that light? In-Reply-To: References: Howdy! Friday, November 12, 2004, Frank Wood wrote concerning variable focus instruments: Fac> our whole stock of profiles is varivocal, to give it the right name. I'll step right up and admit that I hadn't encountered the word "varivocal" before, but wouldn't it more appropriately be "Varifocal?" I would think that "Varivocal" would more appropriately refer to a singer with an unusually wide range. Best regards, Frank E. Merrill MERRILL STAGE EQUIPMENT Eastablished 1946 Indianapolis 317: 255 4666 Running The Bat! Natural e-mail system v3.0 mailto:Lamplighter [at] TCON.net ------------------------------ Message-Id: <6.1.2.0.0.20041112164056.01bab3f8 [at] mail.insightbb.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 16:45:16 -0500 From: Mike Brubaker Subject: Re: Rigging System Standards In-Reply-To: References: A minor correction: "lowest qualified bidder."  There's a big difference, there.  Presumably, then, you are getting the best value for your dollars by setting minimum acceptable qualifications--meaning that any of your bidders would be a good contractor, the only difference then is price.

It should not be a matter for luck or prayer.  Specifications set the standards by which the contractor is judged.  You may even be able to "prequalify" an acceptable set of contractors, who will then competively bid for your dollars.

Mike

At 03:39 PM 11/12/2004, James, Brian wrote:
Just what you want, a rigging system installed by the lowest bidder! :-0

Exactly, that's is what I am trying to avoid.

I appreciate everyone's input. With any luck (and maybe the odd prayer) I can get a good bidder.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <90d9c9980411121349255e963a [at] mail.gmail.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 16:49:48 -0500 From: Scott Parker Reply-To: Scott Parker Subject: USITT Toronto: Where to stay.... So, where's the party?!? Where are people staying? I'm looking at the hotels for March and the price range for the USITT hotels run from around $150 for the Holiday Inn to around $250 for the Intercontinental. The third falls in between. Amounts are in Canadian. -- Take care, Scott Scott C. Parker ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 16:50:40 -0500 From: "Frank E. Merrill" Reply-To: "Frank E. Merrill" Message-ID: <63978981.20041112165040 [at] TCON.net> Subject: Re[2]: Historical trivia about theatre In-Reply-To: References: Howdy! Friday, November 12, 2004, Keith Arsenault wrote: Iac> an OLIVETTE was a large, usually floor stand mounted rectangular Iac> shaped light, took about a full sheet of gel, , with straight Iac> sloping sides (not curvilinear) of a non or barely reflective Iac> material, with a usually clear, un frosted mogul screw base lamp. Well dang. It SOUNDED like a great story.... Best regards, Frank E. Merrill MERRILL STAGE EQUIPMENT Eastablished 1946 Indianapolis 317: 255 4666 Running The Bat! Natural e-mail system v3.0 mailto:Lamplighter [at] TCON.net ------------------------------ Message-ID: <419531CD.D5CBC936 [at] cybercom.net> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 16:57:33 -0500 From: Dale Farmer Subject: Re: Varivocal References: A friend of mine used to have a varivocal cat. Siamese. One night it was so loud that he put it out into the garage so he could get some sleep. The police woke him up shortly thereafter. The neighbors had called the police to report a malfunctioning car alarm. --Dale ------------------------------ From: Joseph Champelli Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:13:31 -0500 Reply-To: Subject: Scenic Design position available. Message-ID: Hello all, The University of Tennessee in Knoxville has an opening for head= of Scenic Design. I am new to this faculty, but I've found it to be a great place= to work. Of the many benefits is the ability to do work outside= the department. In fact, you are not only encouraged and= supported in professional development, it's a requirement for= tenure. All department shows are produced by the Clarence Brown= Theatre, a fully staffed LORT theatre. If you have any= questions, please email me off-list. Thanks, Joe Here's the official listing: ---- Head of MFA Scene Design The Department of Theatre at The University of Tennessee seeks= applications for the position of Head of MFA Scene Design. The= department is located in Knoxville, the flagship campus of the= University of Tennessee, near the Smoky Mountains. The= department is associated with the Clarence Brown Theatre (CBT),= a LORT theatre which presents six professional and student= productions per season, offering substantial opportunities to= work with national and international directors, actors,= designers, and dramaturgs. The department offers a BA on the= undergraduate level and an MFA in performance, set, costume, and= lighting design. Responsibilities: The successful candidate= will design professional shows for the CBT in Knoxville, teach= scene design on the graduate level with limited responsibilities= on the undergraduate level, work in a collaborative environment= with design faculty in costume and lighting, supervise the= design work of the graduate students for the CBT, recruit strong= students for the design program, and organize and coordinate= design workshops with national and international artists in= Knoxville and Salzburg, Austria. The department also strongly= encourages and supports designing at other national or= international theatres. Qualifications and desirable skills:= The successful candidate should have an MFA in Scenic Design or= equivalent professional experience, a demonstrable record in the= professional theatre, teaching experience at the graduate level,= skills in scene painting, hand and computer rendering, and= membership in United Scenic Artists. The successful candidate is= expected to stay active professionally to be considered for= tenure and promotion. Rank: Assistant Professor. Salary:= competitive. Application: send letter of application,= curriculum vitae, and portfolio to Klaus van den Berg, Design= Search Committee Chair, Department of Theatre, 206 McClung= Tower, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996. Digital= portfolios are welcome. Review of applications will begin= January 3 and continue until the position is filled. ---- end listing Joseph Champelli University of Tennessee Department of Theatre Professor of Entertainment Technology 865.974.7069 office 702.429.5859 cell 775.206.6078 fax champelli [at] knology.net - home = jchampel [at] utk.edu - office ------------------------------ Message-ID: <002c01c4c904$f8d7a230$011c2ad9 [at] Tony> From: "Tony" References: Subject: Re: Magic Followup Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 22:14:18 -0000 I've done a couple of simple tech demo's for junior school kids over here - nothing amazing - colour washes, UV, strobe, show them a few lights with a bit of hands-on, sound effects, pyro etc etc. Usually only around 40 or so max, but they all went out raving about the fact that they'd seen something different and actually TOUCHED a lighting/sound desk and MADE something HAPPEN!!! Spoilt rather, though, on one of them when a bright spark piped up saying "Ere - my mum went to school wiv you!!" And sure enough, there waiting at the door to collect the darling was a face I'd not seen for years - made me feel a bit old, tho!! 8-))) Ynot ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Litterst" To: "Stagecraft" Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 8:37 PM Subject: Magic Followup > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > --------------------------------------------------- > > This morning we hosted 500+ elementary school children for a special > performance of Seussical. > > I've done school matinees before (at other companies) and didn't have > fond memories. High school kids get bored by Shakespeare and I didn't > remember much magic happening. > > This morning was magical even for me. By show of hands, most of the > kids had not been to a live performance (they're on the younger end of > elementary school). When the house lights went down there was the > usual tittering and giggling. When the stage lights came up you could > see the jaws dropping. At the first scene change I saw the winches > moving and drops flying out, but the "Wows" and "Ooohs" from the > audience reminded me that all they saw were trees moving by themselves > and a stage transforming. > > Backstage, every performer had a huge grin on whenever they came > offstage. Despite getting up early, the cast and crew was energized > by the wonder happening in the audience. > > It's good to see what we do through fresh eyes every now and again. > > Steve L. > -- > Stephen C. Litterst > Technical Supervisor > Ithaca College > Dept. of Theatre Arts > 607/274-3947 > slitterst [at] ithaca.edu > ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: <1dc.2fe83ce5.2ec69108 [at] aol.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:19:52 EST Subject: Re: Varivocal (Frank's word) Parellipsphere OK, I should like to meet the guy who designed the QWERTYUIOP keyboard layout. It is all too easy to perpetrate typos. Despite the frequency tables for English, it is surprising how many of the less common letters get used often, and how close some of them are together. Which of us has not typed 'teh' for 'the'; 'uoy' for 'you'; and 'ans' for 'and'? I try to eliminate them, but I don't always win. For "varivocal" read "varifocal". It's a more accurate description of their properties. A pukka zoom lens, such as you may find on a camera, maintains its focus while changing focal length. Those on stage lanterns don't. Frank Wood ------------------------------ Subject: Re: What's that light? Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:37:38 -0500 Message-ID: <35F89F34F3823843AC908D726CB64F2735A1DC [at] EXCHANGE2.prg.com> From: "Marc Palmer" Ok, now I have to jump in. The only reason (other than being a geek) I = recognize these units is because I was ME at the Powerhouse at Vassar = for NY Stage & Film ten years after Brian. Sad to say, the Major = fresnels and the Prestige 2000 were still in use. The accessory size is = something like 9-3/4" or 10-1/4". Something just close enough to the = other house fresnels to be aggravating. Decent light though. Now that I = think of it, the Major fresnels performed better than the Colortran = board. The college used two of the ellipsoidals to hold open the theatre = lobby doors, which seemed like a pretty good use to me. Marc ------ Brian Aldous wrote: I have seen these bad boys before. I was working as M.E. / ALD for a=20 summer outfit called NY Stage & Film, using the Powerhouse theatre at=20 Vassar College in the summer of 1988. Because the designer was Don=20 Holder, I was of course using every available unit and then some. ... it had been replaced by a Colotran Prestige 2000 (!) shortly before I = arrived. ... Anyway, i would suggest scrapping the lekos and salvaging the=20 fresnels, although you might want to be careful with the asbestos leads=20 on them. ------ ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: <80.1aa131d1.2ec6968a [at] aol.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:43:22 EST Subject: Re: zooms (was Re: What's that light?) In a message dated 12/11/04 20:13:46 GMT Standard Time, slitterst [at] ithaca.edu writes: > Second to cost is size. Until the Strand SL zooms came out, the zoom > fixtures were substantially larger than their fixed focus cousins. > That reduces the number of fixtures you can pack onto an electric or a > boom. I've yet to meet a designer who prefers fewer options. :) Interesting. In the UK, varifocal lanterns caught on, to the extent that you would have had to work at it to find anything else, to be bought new. And they are little, if any, bigger than their fixed focus friends, when these exist. A basic Strand Prelude 16/40 is 4" square and 2' long, about. 650W. It's big brother, the 1KW Harmony, was much less satisfactory. 6" square, 2'6" or more long, and weighing, figuratively, half a ton was bad news. CCT got it right, in general. There were a few problems with the lens locking screws, and with the big lamphouse. But, in terms of what came out of the front, they worked well. > > Finally, I have to admit to inertia. That's the way we've been > trained over here and that's what we pass on. It's not a very good > reason, I admit. But it is easily overcome if the first two reasons > can be dealt with. We all suffer from this. Lantern design was static for a good while, and we knew how to use the gear we had learnt our trade on. Frank Wood ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: <129.4fcb19cd.2ec69741 [at] aol.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:46:25 EST Subject: Re: Re[4]: What's that light? In a message dated 12/11/04 21:21:20 GMT Standard Time, Lamplighter [at] TCON.net writes: > I'll step right up and admit that I hadn't encountered the word > "varivocal" before, but wouldn't it more appropriately be "Varifocal?" Yes, it would. Typo! Frank Wood ------------------------------ From: MissWisc [at] aol.com Message-ID: <1d9.2fb18003.2ec69a9f [at] aol.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 18:00:47 EST Subject: Re: Sound workshop Cc: jason [at] cd-romney.com In a message dated 11/12/4 2:10:49 PM, jason [at] cd-romney.com wrote: <> If you're talking to HS teachers, I'd start very simple. Basics of acoustics... i.e., how the sound path happens from your mouth to my ear from your mouth through the PA to my ear from your mouth to the tape then from the tape to my ear. Microphone type/selection (how to make sense of the data from manufacturers re: direction and response. wired vs. wireless... commonly used mics) Mic placement (e.g. by the mouthpiece rather than the far end of the flute) Care of cables/plugs, how to coil correctly, storage, common connector names Care of equpment (when to turn on what and why) Speaker placement, delays, feedback, what an "audio standing wave" is Board operation... pan, echo, running playback while doing PA, etc. Stick to options common to all sound boards. Define all terms. Demo both right and wrong so they can hear the differences. I'd also suggest some print info on copyrights/securing grand rights for play back. Total time: 4 days - Monday through Thursday with an optional workshop on Friday for the software editing. (Add $100 for Friday AM editing software tutorial with the lab open Friday afternoon for people to play). Cost would depend on undergrad/graduate credit (please DO offer it if you can!) and room/board/etc. I'd expect it to run $250 workshop fee plus $100-300 per credit for 2-3 credits plus $150-250 room & board. Could do 1 credit - work shop only, 2 credit workshop plus Friday lab, 3 credit workshop, lab, and independent project. So, with 3 graduate credits and the lab, total cost would be around $1,500. Might be able to get the software manufacturer to sponsor part of the cost - or give a copy of the software to attendees. Your non-profit theatre folks can get the knoweldge for about $100 a day ($250 fee, plus room/board) and that's CHEAP for a seminar like this. HTH Kristi ------------------------------ From: IAEG [at] aol.com Message-ID: <1e.384d83b9.2ec69c25 [at] aol.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 18:07:17 EST Subject: Re: Re[2]: Historical trivia about theatre In a message dated 11/12/04 4:51:38 PM, Lamplighter [at] TCON.net writes: << Howdy! Friday, November 12, 2004, Keith Arsenault wrote: Iac> an OLIVETTE was a large, usually floor stand mounted rectangular Iac> shaped light, took about a full sheet of gel, , with straight Iac> sloping sides (not curvilinear) of a non or barely reflective Iac> material, with a usually clear, un frosted mogul screw base lamp. Well dang. It SOUNDED like a great story.... Best regards, >> frank, , not saying your wrong, , , we all know that different pieces of equipment can be called different things around the globe, , very best, Keith Arsenault International Arts & Entertainment Group Tampa, FL ------------------------------ Message-ID: <35e1805a0411121550621bab07 [at] mail.gmail.com> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:50:16 -0600 From: Sean Evans Reply-To: Sean Evans Subject: Re: Polite request In-Reply-To: References: On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 23:01:42 -0000, Tony Deeming wrote: > I don't keep, as a matter of housekeeping, all messages on the list - if I > did I'd have thousands of e-mails sitting clogging up the folder here.This > means that if someone posts without some reference, it's darned hard to > sometimes see what the devil they're on about, especially if time has passed > since the original topic was raised. > I've moved most of my subscriptions to high-traffic lists over to G-mail. That way I can, in fact keep all the old ones to refer to in the future. They don't fill my "regular" mail box, and I get all that lovely Google search power if I want to look for stuff mentioned previously. I've got a few invites if anyone wants one. --Sean T. Evans ------------------------------ Message-ID: <01f601c4c91f$dc2073e0$d39e1518 [at] DonTaco> From: "Don Taco" References: Subject: Re: What's that light? Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:26:53 -0800 > > I am sure there are more than a few of us on the list that either have or > are presently working in a theatre outfitted with "museum" fixtures on a > daily basis. > Greg Bierly My favorite of our (too numerous) museum fixtures is a lumpy ellipsoidal that sits over in the corner, where it has resided unused for 20 years or more. In faded black marker on a strip of masking tape, it proclaims, 'STRANGE LENS.' And, indeed, upon inspection, it has a strange lens. And an unknown quantity of missing parts. All the designers just refer to it as 'strange lens,' as if it were a mascot or exotic pet, and occasionally push it into a different corner. Our fondest dream is that someday we might own enough useful equipment that we would be forced to junk it, to reclaim the storage space it occupies. _____ I can't guarantee that this will stop terrorism, but whatever you're doing now isn't working. ------------------------------ In-Reply-To: References: Message-Id: From: Sunil Rajan Subject: Re: Theatrical architecture Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 04:47:05 -0800 On Nov 11, 2004, at 3:00 AM, Stagecraft wrote: > Moore, Martin W. wrote: > >> Prestigious architects etc. continue to screw up theatres. There's a >> new one round the corner from me - Skirball in NYU's Kimmel Center, >> where, for one example, the front of house circulation is a nightmare. >> >> I have the good fortune to be working in new theatre (Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, 3 yrs old) that looks, acts, and feels like a theatre that was actually purpose built!! Lots of little touches, like independent power tie lines (w/or w/o Camlock tails) SR and SL for electrics, USR for audio (isolated), a tie in for mobile/broadcast trucks, multiple camera positions, a real "Media Pit" for FOH, that is recessed from the main seating banks, all backstage hallways are lined to about 4' high with painted plywood with reinforced corners (anyone played 'roadbox shuffleboard'?). Giant hydraulic doors that open the backwal/loading dock, the secondary back wall, as well as an additional 4 covered truck docks. a freight elevator with double-wide doors that will fit almost any roadbox. And that's just backstage/stage production issues that normally hose you on load-in. Kudos to the companies that did this place! Cheers, Sunil Rajan Freelance Audio Mercenary ------------------------------ From: "Andy Leviss" Subject: RE: Magic Followup Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 21:15:47 -0500 Organization: Duck's Echo Sound Message-ID: <000001c4c926$b302ec70$a19afea9 [at] AndyLeviss> In-Reply-To: Steve Litterst wrote: > I've done school matinees before (at other companies) and > didn't have fond memories. --snip-- > This morning was magical even for me. --snip-- > When the stage lights came up you could see the jaws dropping. At > the first scene change I saw the winches moving and drops > flying out, but the "Wows" and "Ooohs" from the audience > reminded me that all they saw were trees moving by themselves > and a stage transforming. --snip-- > It's good to see what we do through fresh eyes every now and again. I know exactly what you mean, Steve. I've been out with one of the Sesame Street Live shows for just over two months now, and some days it still surprises (and pleases) me how a show that to my jaded eyes is so low tech is pure magic to the kids in the audience. I see a black and white scrim getting pulled off stage right to reveal a colored drop; the kids see Sesame Street magically get it's color back. Today we had a morning show that was packed with 3500 people, mostly young school and daycare groups, and the screams and cheers were absolutely incredible. It was readily apparent how much added energy that gave to the performers (both Muppets and human ;o) even those who were up at 4 in the morning along with a few of us on the crew for a live feed to a local morning show. It's times like that when I realize that just because this tour isn't a major Broadway musical, it isn't just as important and special to the audiences who come to it. --Andy Leviss Sound Engineer, Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Coloring Book This week: Columbia, SC Next week: Dekalb, IA and Green Bay, WI --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.786 / Virus Database: 532 - Release Date: 10/29/2004 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 22:07:27 -0500 Subject: re:Rigging System Standards From: Bill Sapsis Message-ID: on 11/12/04 4:45 PM, Mike Brubaker at mdbrubaker [at] insightbb.com wrote: A minor correction: "lowest qualified bidder." There's a big difference, there. Presumably, then, you are getting the best value for your dollars by setting minimum acceptable qualifications--meaning that any of your bidders would be a good contractor, the only difference then is price. It should not be a matter for luck or prayer. Specifications set the standards by which the contractor is judged. You may even be able to "prequalify" an acceptable set of contractors, who will then competively bid for your dollars. >> Yeah, but when the project comes in over budget (and what one doesn't these days) the architect, who gave them a too low budget in the first place, re-opens the bid to anyone and everyone. And *that's* when you tend to get the junk equipment. Bill S. www.sapsis-rigging.com 800.727.7471 800.292.3851 fax 267.278.4561 mobile We stand behind, and under, our work. ------------------------------ Message-Id: In-Reply-To: References: Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 23:20:26 -0500 From: Eddie Kramer Subject: Re: Historical trivia about theatre On 11/12/04 Frank E. Merrill sent: >To enable young'uns to visualize an Olivette, <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> >Father Roscoe Major presided over the unveiling of that new instrument >in the early 1950's On page 69 of _Theater Lighting; A Manual of the Stage Switchbord_ is a Light Plot (called a light diagram) for act I of _The Rose of the Rancho_, (Produced and Written by David Belasco the show opened on 12/30/1907 at the Academy of Music on 14th St.) that shows 4 Olivettes up stage of the set. A list of equipment used in act I of this show is on page 68 and lists; "Back of wall Right two olivettes to light drop." and "Back of wall Left two olivettes to light drop.". Mr Hartmann also writes about olivettes in other places in the book. He was "Chief Electrican to David Belasco since 1901" and talks about the out of town try-outs in Boston for The Rose of the Rancho. Figure 3.41 in Izenour's _Theater Technology_ is of an "open electric carbon-arc olivette" "(Drawing from Theater Lighting Past and Present, Ward-Leonard, 1923)" Eddie -- -------------------- Eddie Kramer IATSE #1 Member NEC Panel 15 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 22:55:49 -0600 Subject: Re: Sound workshop From: Greg Persinger Message-ID: In-Reply-To: > Hello Everyone, > > Here at North Carolina School of the Arts we're planning a summer > course that I'd like to request some feedback for. > > We're going to host a workshop in theatre sound. I'm a lighting guy so I'm sure if you put me behind a sound console I could provide a lot of feedback. Let me know if you need my help. Sincerely, Greg Persinger Vivid Illumination Greg [at] Vividillumination.com P.S. Best wishes to you in your endeavor! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 00:15:01 -0500 Subject: Movin' Out Tour at the National Theatre From: Mike Benonis Cc: theatre-sound [at] listserv.aol.com (Theatre Sound) Message-ID: Is anyone involved with, or does anyone know someone involved with the Movin' Out tour that will be at the National Theatre this November/December (specifically the sound folks)? I will be going to the December 5th matinee show with our school drama department and would be interested in meeting the sound crew if possible. Thanks, -Mike Benonis Senior and Sound Designer/Technician Stone Bridge High School 43100 Hay Road Ashburn, VA 20147 (703) 779-8900 ------------------------------ Subject: RE: Rigging System Standards Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 01:18:54 -0500 Message-ID: <89DE71075FCD6E44A4D117FBFBBD801C04D3EC98 [at] fangorn.cc.vt.edu> From: "James, Brian" That's the approach I am hoping to take. Just have to figure out which = red tape to cut to get where we need. Should be amusing for whoever gets the bid, and hopefully educational = for me! -----Original Message----- From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net]On Behalf Of Bill Sapsis Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 10:07 PM To: Stagecraft Subject: Re: Rigging System Standards For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- on 11/12/04 4:45 PM, Mike Brubaker at mdbrubaker [at] insightbb.com wrote: A minor correction: "lowest qualified bidder." There's a big difference, there. Presumably, then, you are getting the best value for your = dollars by setting minimum acceptable qualifications--meaning that any of your = bidders would be a good contractor, the only difference then is price. It should not be a matter for luck or prayer. Specifications set the standards by which the contractor is judged. You may even be able to "prequalify" an acceptable set of contractors, who will then competively = bid for your dollars. >> Yeah, but when the project comes in over budget (and what one doesn't = these days) the architect, who gave them a too low budget in the first place, re-opens the bid to anyone and everyone. And *that's* when you tend to = get the junk equipment. Bill S. www.sapsis-rigging.com 800.727.7471 800.292.3851 fax 267.278.4561 mobile We stand behind, and under, our work. ------------------------------ Subject: Fine arts center management Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 01:29:14 -0500 Message-ID: <89DE71075FCD6E44A4D117FBFBBD801C04D3EC9A [at] fangorn.cc.vt.edu> From: "James, Brian" Greetings all. I have been given a new and exciting task today, and = hoped maybe I could cheat a little by collecting some information from = here. The university I work for is in the process of determining a management = structure for a new proposed fine arts center on campus. Currently we = know there is a proscenium theatre and some art galleries, and not sure = what else (often times the wish list is bigger than the budget). Does any one on this list happen to work for a university (or non-profit = organizations) with a fine arts center that may be able to provide some = insight about how your venue is managed, what works, what doesn't etc? I deal strictly with production issues on campus, however I have been = asked to look into the entire structure and make recommendations about = the booking of the venue, as well as the more day to day operational = issues associated with the venue.=20 If possible I would love to get my hands on some current organizational = charts, basic job descriptions and other such fun stuff Any and all help is appreciated, if you would prefer to email me = directly please use bej [at] vt.edu Thank you ahead of time! ------------------------------ Message-ID: <021401c4c958$e6eb6cb0$6501a8c0 [at] chris> From: "Chris Warner" References: Subject: Re: Fine arts center management Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 00:15:13 -0800 > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "James, Brian" > To: "Stagecraft" > Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 10:29 PM > Subject: Fine arts center management > Does any one on this list happen to work for a university (or non-profit > organizations) with a fine arts center that may be able to provide some > insight about how your venue is managed, what works, what doesn't etc? In the community theatre I work in, there is an attached Art Galary managed by a seperate group, while the theatre itself is managed by the theatre troop. Of course there is no internal common area between the theatre and the art galary, the theatre built circa 1940's, didn't require that especially in Southern California. You milage may very. Good luck Chris ------------------------------ End of Stagecraft Digest #194 *****************************