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 17701333; Mon, 07 Feb 2005 17:05:47 -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 #288 Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 17:05:25 -0800 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Disposition: inline X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.2 (2004-11-16) on prxy.net X-Spam-Status: No, score=-5.4 required=5.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, DRUGS_PAIN autolearn=ham version=3.0.2 X-Spam-Level: X-TFF-CGPSA-Version: 1.4f2 X-prxy-Spam-Filter: Scanned For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- Stagecraft Digest, Issue #288 1. Re: A bad show day by "Kevin Hardy" 2. Re: Bad day at the theater by "Lee A. Saylor" 3. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Paul Schreiner" 4. Re: Censorship by "C. Dopher" 5. Introduction by "C. Dopher" 6. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by Jim Ream 7. Wire Lamp Gaurds (thanks) by "Michael Wade" 8. Re: Bad Show Days by Pat Kight 9. Re: Bad R & R Days by IAEG [at] aol.com 10. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by Mick Alderson 11. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "LES LIND" 12. Re: We Ride!! Gas Mileage by "Wayne Rasmussen" 13. Source 4 Lamp Socket Assembly by Mark Harvey 14. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "jknipple" 15. Re: Censorship by "Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson" 16. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson" 17. Re: Bad day at the theater by "Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson" 18. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by IAEG [at] aol.com 19. Re: Welding Shop Equipment by Shawn Palmer 20. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by Mark O'Brien 21. Orchestra Acoustic Barrier by "Eccleston, Mark" 22. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by "Joe Golden" 23. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by Stephen Litterst 24. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Tony" 25. Re: Orchestra Acoustic Barrier by "LES LIND" 26. Re: Source 4 Lamp Socket Assembly by "Curt Mortimore" 27. Re: Orchestra Acoustic Barrier by "Jon Ares" 28. Re: You know it WAS a bad show day when.... by Greg Bierly 29. Re: Censorship by "Jack Morones" 30. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by "ladesigners [at] juno.com" 31. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by "Curt Mortimore" 32. Re: Censorship by "Jon Ares" 33. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by Greg Bierly 34. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by "ladesigners [at] juno.com" 35. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Jack Morones" 36. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by Jerry Durand 37. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by Wood Chip-P26398 38. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by Jerry Durand 39. Re: Source 4 Lamp Socket Assembly by "Curt Mortimore" 40. you know it's a bad show day when by Judy 41. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 42. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Jason" 43. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Jason" 44. Super Bowl Intermission by Stephen Litterst 45. Re: Super Bowl Intermission by IAEG [at] aol.com 46. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 47. Re: Super Bowl Intermission by "Scott C. Parker" 48. Re: Super Bowl Intermission by Stephen Litterst 49. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Matthew Breton" 50. Re: Source 4 Lamp Socket Assembly by Bill Peeler 51. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Michael Finney" 52. Re: Super Bowl Intermission by "Jon Ares" 53. Re: Super Bowl Intermission by IAEG [at] aol.com 54. Re: Super Bowl Intermission by IAEG [at] aol.com 55. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Jonathan S. Deull" 56. Re: Super Bowl Intermission by Wood Chip-P26398 57. Re: Super Bowl Intermission by Jerry Durand 58. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Paul Schreiner" 59. Re: Why not use single phase for stage lighting by Jerry Durand 60. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by IAEG [at] aol.com 61. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Paul Schreiner" 62. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by IAEG [at] aol.com 63. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Paul Schreiner" 64. Re: Orchestra Acoustic Barrier by Fred Fisher 65. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by David Duffy 66. Re: Bad Show Days by MissWisc [at] aol.com 67. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by Greg Bierly 68. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by "Flowers, Curtis" 69. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by David Duffy 70. Re: Proper sizing of neutrals by "Kevin Linzey" 71. Re: Slightly OT: Insurance and the freelancer by Theatre Safety Programs 72. Re: Super Bowl Intermission by MissWisc [at] aol.com 73. Re: Super Bowl Intermission by IAEG [at] aol.com 74. Re: Super Bowl Intermission by gregg hillmar 75. Re: Super Bowl Intermission by Mark O'Brien 76. Re: Why not use single phase for stage lighting by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 77. Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 78. Re: Bad Show Days by "Pamela Abra" 79. Bad Show Days by "Pamela Abra" *** 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Reply-To: From: "Kevin Hardy" Subject: RE: A bad show day Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 08:21:59 -0500 Organization: CBI Lighting In-Reply-To: Message-Id: Ok, we are doing a live broadcast for a beauty pageant. As the Mc announces the finial 4 ladies the entire stage goes black, nothing (live TV) we all scramble no one can figure it out the board is fine the dimmers are hot its just getting no signal. The dimmers were the old 12kw style with the two banana plug test ports on the front to check the signal voltage. Nothing is working... (live TV) all of a sudden it hits me I turn to the producer and ask him to get me every 10v battery that the sound man has and some wire. Before I know it I have 15 people behind me putting wire leads on the 10v batteries and shoving them into the banana ports GIVING the dimmers 10v of signal. Well I wouldn't exactly call it a look but there was enough light to finish the show. Then as a final goodnight number is finishing all the batteries slowly die and the entire stage faded to black...curtain go. The producer says good night to me and as he is walking away I hear "fucking MacGyver" true story... Kevin Hardy CBI Lighting 309 East 108th St, #5C New York, New York, 10029 (917) 287-4220 Cellular (212) 369-7510 Studio ------------------------------ From: "Lee A. Saylor" Subject: RE: Bad day at the theater Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 08:11:30 -0600 Organization: Lawrence Arts Center Message-ID: <001301c50d1e$ef021c00$6801a8c0 [at] Tech> In-Reply-To: I was once a production manager/lighting designer for a small US dance company that was doing a small tour in Europe. We were part of a festival in then eastern Czechoslovakia. When I arrived at the theater at the 8am call, the interpreter/tech from the promoter was nowhere to be found. The local stagehands had some beef with the promoter and would not work without his rep present. Interpreter shows up at 9:00. However, the dance floor that we are supposed to have is in the other theater across town. So he leaves to go roll up the floor and bring it over. 11am, the floor is installed. When I ask for blue lighting gel for the shins, I get 5 different shades for the eight instruments. 11:45am, I ask the interpreter to ask the crew if they want to work until 1pm and be finished with hang and focus, or take a noon lunch and finish up after. A long argument ensues and then he tells me that they were only planning on working until noon, never mind that they'd only actually worked for an hour. Later, to call the show, I would give the cue to the interpreter who was on headset and he would then relay it to the crew. Needless to say, there were a lot fewer lighting cues in the dance concert that night! Lee A. Saylor, Technical Director Lawrence Arts Center 940 New Hampshire Lawrence, KS 66044 (785) 843-2787 www.lawrenceartscenter.org ------------------------------ Subject: RE: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 09:25:58 -0500 Message-ID: <6E497ADB607656479C24E6D7BF6B505A0196C6F9 [at] exchange.rmwc.edu> From: "Paul Schreiner" Picture it...Savannah, January 1997. Beginning week 3 of 5 (it was a series of short tours) on the road with a 2-bus-and-truck opera tour. I'm the tech guy, and driving the truck. After an evening performance, departure time is set for 9 am. Overnight, the power goes out. Something happens to the automated front desk wake-up-call system or somesuch, and neither my alarm clock nor my phone make a bit of noise all morning. When I finally wake up, it's 8:53. Not the best way to start the day, but not one usually wouldn't think of it as a particularly bad portent. Fast forward... After a moderate drive (about four hours, IIRC), we get to a small college in SC for our next performance. I was a bit worried when I walked in and saw the house crew just starting on the hang, but I gotta hand it to them, they were tight. We were set and focused within 45 minutes or so...and all is well with the world. About twenty minutes to curtain, I'm hanging out backstage working on mapping out the next week or so, when in through the stage door someone comes calling for help, saying, "A lady's fallen down the stairs and we need some help." I figure, it's January, someone slipped, no biggie, and go outside to see if there's anything I can do. At the bottom of the (mostly unlit) ~13' concrete stairwell leading to the basement rehearsal room, lies a very elderly lady. On top of a collapsed wheelchair. Her face is split open, she's incoherent and shocky and showing signs of a possible fractured skull, and the temperature is hovering around freezing. About a half dozen people are standing around looking at her, and it's obvious I'm the only person around with any sort of first aid training. And then it takes twenty minutes for the police and ambulance to arrive. It turned out that the equally-elderly husband didn't see the stairwell, and pushed his wife in. It also turns out that he was injured as well, having dove into the stairwell to try to stop the chair...but we (the two singers who were off that night and I) didn't see his injuries until he took his hat off and sat down. Eventually, we loaded the two of them up on the ambulance just as the house TD came out for an update. We brought the curtain up only about 15 minutes late... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 09:38:23 -0500 Subject: Re: Censorship From: "C. Dopher" Message-ID: In-Reply-To: Dawn Ashley wrote: >> So this doesn't have much to do with stagecraft, necessarily, >> but it would be very helpful to me... >> >> I'm writing a research paper on censorship in the theatre >> (all around the world, any time), so I thought I'd ask...has >> anyone ever run into problems? Any feedback would be greatly >> appreciated and I promise if I use your comments I will >> properly cite you! >> >> Dawn Ashley >> TD student >> College-Conservatory of Music I was in school at Southwest Missouri State University in the early 1991 when they mounted The Normal Heart. That production made national headlines. Before it was all over, there were two dead cats, an actor in the hospital, a house burned down, metal detectors at the entrances to the building for a few weeks, daily bomb-sniffing dogs, armed guards, bodyguards for the director and cast...and packed performances for an extended run. All of this because a local "coalition for family values" didn't like the gay content. This was at a time, remember, when the gay rights movement was sreally getting started and that didn't sit well with a lot of people in mid-Missouri. If you would like further details and contact information for the then-Chair of the theatre department, please contact me off-list. Cris Dopher ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 09:42:03 -0500 Subject: Introduction From: "C. Dopher" Message-ID: In-Reply-To: Hello everybody. At the request of other members here, and in support of the LRLR riders, I've joined the list for now. I'm a NY-based LD, currently working on four shows, one of which is with a fellow list-member. Nice to meet you all. Cris Dopher ------------------------------ In-Reply-To: References: Message-Id: <2d446a54cdca38d2855192d288f1082a [at] uindy.edu> From: Jim Ream Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 09:47:41 -0500 At a production of a new musical, written by a University of Indianapolis faculty member and some students (sort of Godspell and Superstar combined, if you can imagine) an audience member suddenly jumped from his seat, ran onto the stage and started beating an actor, who he had never met before. Apparently he hadn't taken his medicine and didn't like the performance. The other actor on stage was a former U.S. Marine prison guard, who subdued our patron before any serious harm was done. It took two police and two EMT's to get him out of the building. The performance continued after the 20 minute interruption. Jim Ream ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: "Michael Wade" Subject: Wire Lamp Gaurds (thanks) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 09:49:56 -0500 Message-ID: <000301c50d24$4e416720$6600a8c0 [at] Mike> In-Reply-To: Thanks for all of the help on trying to find these things. In the end we found some premade units that we are hoping to use. http://www.colelighting.com/pdf/grouppdffiles/commercialappssection.pdf Thanks again. Mike Wade ------------------------------ Message-ID: <42078251.7030003 [at] peak.org> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 06:59:29 -0800 From: Pat Kight Subject: Re: Bad Show Days References: In-Reply-To: The Worst Show Day at our theater, bar none, was the one in December 1986 when an actor dropped dead of a massive heart attack while waiting for the curtain to go up on a Christmas-season one-act. And the show still went on. There was nothing funny about it, needless to say, but certainly changed my own standard for "how bad can it get?" We've had shows since then where the power failed or the light board went insane; we've had pieces of the set fall off and costume malfunctions galore. But if the answer is "nobody died," we figure we're doing OK. -- Pat Kight kightp [at] peak.org ------------------------------ From: IAEG [at] aol.com Message-ID: <30.6baa0ec1.2f38de60 [at] aol.com> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 10:08:16 EST Subject: Re: Bad R & R Days In a message dated 2/7/05 9:58:35 AM, kightp [at] peak.org writes: >The Worst Show Day at our theater, bar none, was the one in December 1986 > >when an actor dropped dead of a massive heart attack while waiting for >the >curtain to go up on a Christmas-season one-act. in my Rock and Roll days ( keyboards) a 1973 Christmas Eve in rough night club / bar Lakeland FL, , guy pulls out a gun and shoots five (killing one) while we are on stage, runs out front door as my girlfriend and another band girlfriend walks in. We think the "pop, pop, pop pop pop" are fire crackers going off, , I stand on stage for an hour keeping everyone calm as police wouldn't let anyone leave until crime scene investigation and witness interviews were complete b 1974 I- 75, northbound near Macon, , 24 ' U Haul truck burns to the ground with all our band gear (considerable for the day ,, this was a Saturday afternoon, , we were due on stage on Monday eve in now defunct Hot Lanta Club (on Ponce de Leon around the corner from FOX) we made it but I had to threaten U Haul representative that I wasn't going to leave his office without Police Escort until he gave me enough money (about $4,000 on a $38,000 claim) to get us on stage that night by the way, , the Capacitors on a Crown DC 300A REALLY explode when exposed to enough heat. best, Keith Arsenault IAEG - International Arts & Entertainment Group Tampa, Florida ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 09:22:46 -0600 From: Mick Alderson Subject: Re: Proper sizing of neutrals Message-id: >> Because of the way that power is distributed throughout the US, >> heavy power hookups come only in three phase. Yes, there is no >> reason three phase is any better for lighting, but since that >> is what is economically available, that's pretty much what gets >> used. > murr rhame wrote: >Three phase is very economical for long distance transmission >lines and for large electric motors. Even so, nearly every home >in the USA is wired with a 240V single phase service. Three >phase makes a lot of sense in typical industrial settings where >most of the large loads are electric motors. Most theatres >probably need some three phase power for air conditioning and >other mechanical systems. > >I'm still curious about the practicality of an all single phase >state lighting system. Even if you were limited to 200 amp 240V >services, you could use multiple clusters of dimmers as needed >for a larger house. Single phase would eliminate harmonics and >excessive neutral loading issues with unbalanced loads. I don't >know if single phase supply is cost effective for typical >theatres. It does seem like it would be worth exploring. > OK, for each individual lighting circuit, single phase would be fine, but consider the "larger picture". US power, as indicated, is distributed 3-phase. What single phase means is that you-the-consumer are supplied with one of the three phases. There are still two other phases out there. In residential use they are distributed to two of you neighbors, and since it's likely all three dwellings are similar in power usage, the loads stay roughly balanced. Now consider a theatre. As far as the power company is concerned, even if the loads aren't balanced in a given dimmer rack, the "unbalance state" on three phase will be less than if the entire rack is single phase, i.e. on only one phase of the local substation's three phases. It is highly unlikely they can find two other single phase customers nearby to balance a theatre's amperage draw. So you end up with one heavy load phase and two lightly loaded phases at the substation, and as others have pointed out, that can be bad. As I re-read your suggestion, you may be suggesting splitting the three phase into single phases inside the rack before deriving your neutrals on each single phase. Besides adding the weight of a transformer, that would give you three separate "neutrals" that would have to be KEPT separate, because if you tied into the wrong neutral, i.e. one from an adjacent single phase, well, I don't know what would happen. It probably wouldn't be good! ;-) At the very least, these neutrals would be "floating" as you should bond neutral and ground only at the service entrance to the building (the Code says so), and these would therefore be unbonded neutrals by definision. I have discovered the hard way why floating neutrals are bad things. A neutral floating at 90 v. above ground can at the very least make sound guys very unhappy! Wouldn't be good for anything with a computer in it, either. That's how I would analyze it as a thought experiment. But I'm not an engineer, so I could be confused. It's Monday! Mick Alderson TD, Fredric March Theatre University of Wisconsin Oshkosh alderson [at] uwosh.edu ------------------------------ Message-Id: Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 10:12:33 -0500 From: "LES LIND" Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Not as dramatic as other stories but... On our high school stage we had a set piece on a rather large wagon with a castered extension. One of the wheels of the caster under the extension literally broke apart and the whole unit rotated on the left over "fork" that was dug into the deck. Luckily it was near the end of act one. During intermission we levered up the wagon just enough to inspect...not good. I grabbed a metal four gang electrical box and put it under the broken caster. That got us through the rest of our shows. Les Lind, TD NHS Dramatics Northeastern High School Manchester, PA ------------------------------ Message-ID: <003801c50d2a$c84b9030$0617000a [at] blair.edu> From: "Wayne Rasmussen" Subject: Re: We Ride!! Gas Mileage Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 10:36:24 -0500 >>now, ya see? If that had been one of us LRLRiders, we'd of stopped, whipped out a roll of gaff tape and viola'. Problem solved. Fortunately, we never had to pull out the 12 volt compressor last year. Let's hope we stay as lucky on the way to the Black Hills and back! Wayne Rasmussen Join the Long Reach Long Riders--Out of the Wings and Into the Wind. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 09:43:52 -0600 From: Mark Harvey Subject: Source 4 Lamp Socket Assembly Message-ID: <2147483647.1107769432 [at] umd52-36.d.umn.edu> In-Reply-To: References: Does anyone have a suggestion for how I might repair a Source 4 lamp socket without breaking the lamp retainer spring? I've had to replace two of the Ni-gold contacts in a couple of Source 4 (no complaint there, since the fixtures are over 10 years old), but can't find an easy way to get the lamp retainer spring off without damaging it. There must be a simple solution, but it's evaded me so far. Thanks for the input. ____________________________________ Mark Harvey Associate Professor, Theatrical Lighting and Sound Design University of Minnesota Duluth http://www.d.umn.edu/~mharvey ------------------------------ Subject: RE: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 11:15:41 -0500 Message-ID: From: "jknipple" How about this. It's Tuesday of tech week for an east coast premiere. We're set to go up on Thursday for an audience. Tuesday morning the production manager comes down to let us know that the show has been canceled because the playwright pulled out and was threatening to sue if we did the show.=20 It sucks to cancel a show after about 5 weeks of building a really cool set.=20 James Knipple =20 Technical Director REP Stage - www.howardcc.edu/repstage Student-Alumni Arts - Howard Community College=20 - www.howardcc.edu/studentarts jknipple [at] howardcc.edu 410-772-4451 ------------------------------ From: "Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson" Subject: RE: Censorship Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 08:16:37 -0800 Message-ID: <000501c50d30$693ace20$8d90fea9 [at] DrDoomsComputer> In-Reply-To: And this from the school very famous for such good work and where the excellent actress Katherine ? oops, came from. I will remember soon. Sorry. doom -- Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson, Risk International & Associates, Inc. - www.riskit.com Latest workshops for Educational and Entertainment Industry Performing Arts Personnel (Riggers, and Public Assembly and Educational Technicians) www.riskit.com/workshops International Secondary Education Theater Safety Association (ISETSA) - www.isetsa.org -----Original Message----- From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net] On Behalf Of C. Dopher Sent: Monday, February 07, 2005 6:38 AM To: Stagecraft Subject: Re: Censorship For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- Dawn Ashley wrote: >> So this doesn't have much to do with stagecraft, necessarily, >> but it would be very helpful to me... >> >> I'm writing a research paper on censorship in the theatre >> (all around the world, any time), so I thought I'd ask...has >> anyone ever run into problems? Any feedback would be greatly >> appreciated and I promise if I use your comments I will >> properly cite you! >> >> Dawn Ashley >> TD student >> College-Conservatory of Music I was in school at Southwest Missouri State University in the early 1991 when they mounted The Normal Heart. That production made national headlines. Before it was all over, there were two dead cats, an actor in the hospital, a house burned down, metal detectors at the entrances to the building for a few weeks, daily bomb-sniffing dogs, armed guards, bodyguards for the director and cast...and packed performances for an extended run. All of this because a local "coalition for family values" didn't like the gay content. This was at a time, remember, when the gay rights movement was sreally getting started and that didn't sit well with a lot of people in mid-Missouri. If you would like further details and contact information for the then-Chair of the theatre department, please contact me off-list. Cris Dopher ------------------------------ From: "Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson" Subject: RE: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 08:16:37 -0800 Message-ID: <000d01c50d30$775b9890$8d90fea9 [at] DrDoomsComputer> In-Reply-To: Good luck. Take off work. doom -- Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson, Risk International & Associates, Inc. - www.riskit.com Latest workshops for Educational and Entertainment Industry Performing Arts Personnel (Riggers, and Public Assembly and Educational Technicians) www.riskit.com/workshops International Secondary Education Theater Safety Association (ISETSA) - www.isetsa.org -----Original Message----- From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net] On Behalf Of Ronnie Thevenot Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2005 8:43 PM To: Stagecraft Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- I was a lighting technician on a show. The week prior to the show I had a root canal. When the show opens my gum slowly started to swell... after a few days, it swelled more and more. By the last night of the show it looked like I had a grapefruit in my mouth and I was vomiting my anti-biotic in the booth's bathroom. Had my mom bring my some vicodin... but couldn't keep that down either. Halfway through the show someone gave me a ride home... Almost went to the ER. Missed strike though... Kind of a mixed blessing. The worst part is it just started swelling up again when I was working another show... I was worried about a repeat. Having surgery soon. Ronnie Thevenot ------------------------------ From: "Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson" Subject: RE: Bad day at the theater Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 08:16:37 -0800 Message-ID: <001001c50d30$79e1a730$8d90fea9 [at] DrDoomsComputer> In-Reply-To: Oh, yes, been there, Wonderful, or Vunderbar. Doom -- Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson, Risk International & Associates, Inc. - www.riskit.com Latest workshops for Educational and Entertainment Industry Performing Arts Personnel (Riggers, and Public Assembly and Educational Technicians) www.riskit.com/workshops International Secondary Education Theater Safety Association (ISETSA) - www.isetsa.org -----Original Message----- From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net] On Behalf Of Lee A. Saylor Sent: Monday, February 07, 2005 6:12 AM To: Stagecraft Subject: Re: Bad day at the theater For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- I was once a production manager/lighting designer for a small US dance company that was doing a small tour in Europe. We were part of a festival in then eastern Czechoslovakia. When I arrived at the theater at the 8am call, the interpreter/tech from the promoter was nowhere to be found. The local stagehands had some beef with the promoter and would not work without his rep present. Interpreter shows up at 9:00. However, the dance floor that we are supposed to have is in the other theater across town. So he leaves to go roll up the floor and bring it over. 11am, the floor is installed. When I ask for blue lighting gel for the shins, I get 5 different shades for the eight instruments. 11:45am, I ask the interpreter to ask the crew if they want to work until 1pm and be finished with hang and focus, or take a noon lunch and finish up after. A long argument ensues and then he tells me that they were only planning on working until noon, never mind that they'd only actually worked for an hour. Later, to call the show, I would give the cue to the interpreter who was on headset and he would then relay it to the crew. Needless to say, there were a lot fewer lighting cues in the dance concert that night! Lee A. Saylor, Technical Director Lawrence Arts Center 940 New Hampshire Lawrence, KS 66044 (785) 843-2787 www.lawrenceartscenter.org ------------------------------ From: IAEG [at] aol.com Message-ID: <146.3e17757b.2f38eed6 [at] aol.com> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 11:18:30 EST Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... In a message dated 2/7/05 11:16:28 AM, jknipple [at] howardcc.edu writes: >Tuesday morning the >production manager comes down to let us know that the show has been >canceled because the playwright pulled out and was threatening to sue if >we did the show. sounds like someone didn't have a very good contract in place to produce the play in the first place ! best, Keith Arsenault IAEG - International Arts & Entertainment Group Tampa, Florida ------------------------------ Message-ID: <420796B7.6000904 [at] northnet.net> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 10:26:31 -0600 From: Shawn Palmer Subject: Re: Welding Shop Equipment References: In-Reply-To: One other quick thing I'll say regarding the original question about MIG vs. TIG... I'd probably remember that MIG is easier and quicker to learn than ARC or TIG. TIG is probably the most difficult of the three. Here we do MIG and ARC. I've got all three types in my own metal shop, but I don't think I'd need the TIG here in the small theatrical scene shop we have. The little Millermatic 135s can do up to just shy of 1/4" steel. FWIW, Shawn Palmer Neenah, WI USA ------------------------------ In-Reply-To: References: Message-Id: Cc: marko [at] email.arizona.edu (Mark O'Brien) From: Mark O'Brien Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 09:31:55 -0700 I remember working on a show in town here, and one of the guys in the show was a son of a VERY well known actor, who is is the son of a VERY VERY well known actor. Opening night was coming, and apparently a good bit of Hollywood. That is all fine and good, except that in secret, we are rehearsing a new actor to fill his shoes. It was really creepy, REALLY CREEPY. Mark O'Brien Opera Technical Director University of Arizona, School of Music Tucson, AZ 520/621-7025 520/591-1803 Mobile On Feb 7, 2005, at 9:15 AM, jknipple wrote: > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > > --------------------------------------------------- > > How about this. It's Tuesday of tech week for an east coast premiere. > We're set to go up on Thursday for an audience. Tuesday morning the > production manager comes down to let us know that the show has been > canceled because the playwright pulled out and was threatening to sue > if > we did the show. > > It sucks to cancel a show after about 5 weeks of building a really cool > set. > > > James Knipple > > Technical Director > REP Stage - www.howardcc.edu/repstage > Student-Alumni Arts - Howard Community College > - www.howardcc.edu/studentarts > jknipple [at] howardcc.edu > 410-772-4451 > ------------------------------ Message-ID: <029D880648EA1D49BC9016D1FCAB288001392560 [at] cosmo.pei.com> From: "Eccleston, Mark" Subject: Orchestra Acoustic Barrier Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 10:52:01 -0600 I need some ideas on how to construct an Orchestra Acoustic Barrier for one of the local high schools. The orchestra space is 40" below the stage level and approximately 17' from the front row and around 50' wide. The concern is that the orchestra will over power the first few rows of the audience and they won't be able to hear the performers. I have a few ideas, but thought I'd ask the list of there recommendations. Any ideas on what to use for sound absorption? How high should I make it? Ultimately it will be portable and be able to be put in storage when not in use. Thanks in advance... Mark S. Eccleston Huntsville, Alabama 256-694-8575 ------------------------------ Subject: RE: Proper sizing of neutrals Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 08:56:51 -0800 Message-ID: From: "Joe Golden" You can't do that with the rack electronics. >=20 > Not if you have them on a UPS, or put the control electronics=20 > on the same back-up generator that feeds the exit lights and=20 > fire annunciator. /s/ Richard >=20 > Unless of course Murphy's law applies and 9 times out of ten you lose=20 > the phase with the control electronics on it. Then you still=20 > lose all=20 > your lights anyway. > Greg Bierly >=20 >=20 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 12:02:10 -0500 From: Stephen Litterst Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Message-id: <42079F12.AE038C4A [at] ithaca.edu> Organization: IC-Dept. of Theatre Arts References: > --------------------------------------------------- Well, there was the time when the cast showed up at half hour talking about how they seen one cast member getting into a police car at a local block party. He played several minor characters but wasn't important enough to rate an understudy other than the stage manager. (me) Then there was the time I lost the keys to the truck on the morning of load-out. Or the time my truck developed an oil leak and we had to add about a gallon of oil per hour to get to a town that could fix it. We followed the same tour route the next season and could still see the trail of oil on the pavement. But I think the best was the load-in morning when we went to get the trucks from the parking lot and found that someone had stolen the batteries. Steve Litterst -- Stephen C. Litterst Technical Supervisor Ithaca College Dept. of Theatre Arts 607/274-3947 slitterst [at] ithaca.edu ------------------------------ Message-ID: <037601c50d36$eee7f060$0800000a [at] Tony> From: "Tony" References: Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 17:03:18 -0000 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Litterst" > > Or the time my truck developed an oil leak and we had to add about a > gallon of oil per hour to get to a town that could fix it. We > followed the same tour route the next season and could still see the > trail of oil on the pavement. > Erm, should you really have been driving on the pavement???? Wouldn't it have been safer on the road.....?!! 8-)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) Ynot ------------------------------ Message-Id: Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 12:20:25 -0500 From: "LES LIND" Subject: Re: Orchestra Acoustic Barrier We have this problem too. Our "pit" is from the apron of the stage to the first row of seats, Appx 12' and about 40" below stage level. A typical high school auditorium. We've tried building a support around the orchestra and draping an extra teaser curtain over it, limiting it to a height that the 2nd row can see the stage. Also draping the front of the stage with material to help deaden sound. Ultimatly, It comes down to having the orchestra play quieter. A typical conversation: Director- Les I can't hear "the lead" when she sings. Can you turn up the mics? Les- Sorry that won't help. (yelling to the front of the house) Frank! Can you please have the orchestra play quieter. Frank- If they play any quieter you won't be able to hear them. Les- (under my breath) Yeah that's what we're looking for... Choreophager- I noticed the orchestra is awful loud. Anything you can do to hear "the lead" better? Les- Yeah, go down there and ask Frank to turn it down a little. and on and on and on... Les Lind, TD NHS Dramatics Northeastern High School Manchester, PA >>> MEccleston [at] DRS-TEM.com 2/7/05 11:52:01 AM >>> For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- I need some ideas on how to construct an Orchestra Acoustic Barrier for one of the local high schools. The orchestra space is 40" below the stage level and approximately 17' from the front row and around 50' wide. The concern is that the orchestra will over power the first few rows of the audience and they won't be able to hear the performers. I have a few ideas, but thought I'd ask the list of there recommendations. Any ideas on what to use for sound absorption? How high should I make it? Ultimately it will be portable and be able to be put in storage when not in use. Thanks in advance... Mark S. Eccleston Huntsville, Alabama 256-694-8575 ------------------------------ Subject: RE: Source 4 Lamp Socket Assembly Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 11:27:49 -0600 Message-ID: From: "Curt Mortimore" Mark, In my experience the spring in question is one that degrades over time and can need replacing anyway so it may be good to have a few replacements on hand anyway. Also, depending on when your fixtures where produced they may not have the lamp retainer wire which, in my experience, is quite nice and if given the chance I would upgrade all of my fixtures to include the retainer. That being said, it is possible to remove and replace the spring without damaging it or the socket. In my opinion ETC has done a very good job of describing this process in their publication titled "Source Four Lamp Retainer Upgrade" so I won't try and re-invent the wheel here. Some, all or none of the other information in the publication may be of use to you but step five specifically addresses the removal of the spring. The web address is as follows: http://www.etcconnect.com/docs_downloads/miscdocs/S4%20Lamp%20Retainer%2 0Upgrade.pdf I hope this helps. Curtis L. Mortimore Graceland University 1 University Place Lamoni, IA 50140 (641) 784-5265 ------------------------------ Message-ID: <000d01c50d3a$f47e0150$0600000a [at] BRUTUS> From: "Jon Ares" References: Subject: Re: Orchestra Acoustic Barrier Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 09:32:10 -0800 > A typical conversation: > Director- Les I can't hear "the lead" when she sings. Can you turn up > the mics? > Les- Sorry that won't help. (yelling to the front of the house) Frank! > Can you please have the orchestra play quieter. <> Yup. Pretty typical. Trouble is, often high school orchs aren't skilled/experienced enough to be able to play softly with support. Can't hit notes without using lots of air. :) Tangently related: a local theatre, which just opened their new mainstage with orch pit and all the trimmings just over a year ago has only done ONE show with the pit open - the first show - and even that one they opened up about 8' of it. Every show since they've covered over the whole thing and mic'd the heck out of the pit. Sounds like the actors are performing to a recording now. Very sad. (They have a nice pit/trap room.) -- Jon Ares Program Director, West Linn HS Theatre Arts www.hevanet.com/acreative www.wlhstheatre.org ------------------------------ In-Reply-To: References: Message-Id: From: Greg Bierly Subject: Re: You know it WAS a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 12:35:38 -0500 Pulling the first of 3 trucks into the single truck loading dock to unload in the middle of the night. The airbrakes decide to freeze up as it is halfway into the dock thus blocking all of the trucks from unloading (along with the side street we are on). This of course happens with 8 guys on the crew at 2:30am on what is now New Years Day. We all hang out in the warm shop while calling every emergency truck service in the book. Finally after about 15 phone calls we convince one guy to come out but he said we need to pay in cash. We all start checking our pockets and pool our money till the guy gets there. He looks at the truck and says "Oh its a Ryder, I have a contract with them. I'll bill them way more than I would have charged you anyway" Greg Bierly Technical Director Hempfield HS ------------------------------ From: "Jack Morones" Subject: RE: Censorship Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 09:36:54 -0800 Organization: Saddleback College Message-ID: <008401c50d3b$9d8974f0$6500a8c0 [at] SCJACKLT> In-Reply-To: Of course, there is my favorite example of the musical "Grease". The owners that show rewrote the script down to softer language (almost no swearing) in order to better promote the play to be produced at community theatres and high schools. You can even see the white out markings on the rented scores. Jack R. Morones Production Manager McKinney Theatre -----Original Message----- From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net] On Behalf Of Stuart Wheaton Sent: Friday, February 04, 2005 2:55 PM To: Stagecraft Subject: Re: Censorship For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- Dawn Ashley wrote: > I'm writing a research paper on censorship in the theatre > (all around the world, any time), so I thought I'd ask...has > anyone ever run into problems? Any feedback would be greatly > appreciated and I promise if I use your comments I will > properly cite you! I recall a case where we had to soften some language in a Mamet play. The sponsoring company was invited to Final Dress (sponsor preview) and without asking the theatre, and without being warned, decided it was perfect family fare and told everybody to bring the kids! We did put the real words back for the opening and all the shows! Walk up to your Staff scenic artist and say, "Poor Superman" Stuart ------------------------------ From: "ladesigners [at] juno.com" Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 17:36:43 GMT Subject: Re: Proper sizing of neutrals Message-Id: <20050207.093645.23070.33038 [at] webmail04.lax.untd.com> I somehow suspect that if it was specifically spec'd and paid for, any dimmer manufacturer could properly engineer and perform the modification for the right customer. You could even get an automatic switchover to a standby power supply unit. I also feel that for a sufficiently healthy premium, ELS's rental dept. could do it, too. /s/ Richard You can't do that with the rack electronics. > Not if you have them on a UPS, or put the control electronics > on the same back-up generator that feeds the exit lights and > fire annunciator. /s/ Richard ------------------------------ Subject: RE: Proper sizing of neutrals Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 11:39:23 -0600 Message-ID: From: "Curt Mortimore" All, Wow! This has been an enlightening ride! Thank you all so much for all the input. I have taken bits and pieces, well, maybe more like stacks and volumes, of all of this and shared it with our guys here on campus and they were very receptive. When I left them there were several guys pouring over the NEC so I am fairly confident we are headed down a good road. Again, thank you all for your assistance! Curtis L. Mortimore Graceland University 1 University Place Lamoni, IA 50140 (641) 784-5265 ------------------------------ Message-ID: <001701c50d3c$c85ec4e0$0600000a [at] BRUTUS> From: "Jon Ares" References: Subject: Re: Censorship Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 09:45:16 -0800 > Of course, there is my favorite example of the musical "Grease". > > The owners that show rewrote the script down to softer language (almost > no swearing) in order to better promote the play to be produced at > community theatres and high schools. There was a HS production in this area a number of years ago I walked away from, because the director had taken it upon himself to 'fix' the problematic show. Softened the language and cut the smoking/drinking stuff, and also rearranged some songs, added some, and (as I keep hearing about) added some from the movie. (Blech.) Rewrote the ending, too. A friend of a friend of a friend of Jim Casey (author) found out and he and Sam French issued a "Cease and Desist" against the school and director. From what I'm told by friends in NYC and at the big licensing houses, they all know this director's name and school. Which is sad, because although he's now gone (thankfully) the new guy is having a hard time getting the trust back with the licensing houses. I'm not wild about the 'Junior' or school-sanitized versions of shows that MTI and others are making available. At my school, though I won't go so far as to say we'll NEVER use one, we generally won't give it much consideration - we want the 'real' one, and never have a problem with audiences accepting our choices. (Well, we won't do Marat/Sade, but you get my point.) -- Jon Ares Program Director, West Linn HS Theatre Arts www.hevanet.com/acreative www.wlhstheatre.org ------------------------------ In-Reply-To: References: Message-Id: From: Greg Bierly Subject: Re: Proper sizing of neutrals Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 12:46:21 -0500 > I somehow suspect that if it was specifically spec'd and paid for, any > dimmer manufacturer could properly engineer and perform the > modification for the right customer. Anything is possible for a price. I can't see anyone paying a dimmer manufacturer to add this modification on an existing three phase dimmer rack. Instead of a UPS capability on the control circuit they may make it so it could be powered off any of the three phases and auto switch if one leg went down. Even so I don't see how for the few times this would be helpful that it would cost effective. ------------------------------ From: "ladesigners [at] juno.com" Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 17:48:05 GMT Subject: Re: Proper sizing of neutrals Message-Id: <20050207.094809.23070.33147 [at] webmail04.lax.untd.com> Great! After digesting the thousands of words posted to the list on this subject, what do YOU consider to be the FINAL consensus recommendation, and what AWG does the campus intend to run that 170'? /s/ Richard Wow! This has been an enlightening ride! Thank you all so much for all the input. I have taken bits and pieces, well, maybe more like stacks and volumes, of all of this and shared it with our guys here on campus and they were very receptive. When I left them there were several guys pouring over the NEC so I am fairly confident we are headed down a good road. Curtis L. Mortimore ------------------------------ From: "Jack Morones" Subject: RE: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 09:53:27 -0800 Organization: Saddleback College Message-ID: <008501c50d3d$ed909990$6500a8c0 [at] SCJACKLT> In-Reply-To: I had a touring company come through where the truck driver refused to pull into our loading dock. He said the turn was too tight. The other driver (the show had 2 trucks) got up to the dock just fine. We had to unload the first truck from the front of the theatre the roll the set units over cobblestones (really fun...). The same show had a sound guy who did not know how to use his own equipment. Always an adventure. Jack R. Morones Production Manager McKinney Theatre ------------------------------ Message-Id: <6.2.0.14.0.20050207095537.040aed50 [at] localhost> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 09:58:19 -0800 From: Jerry Durand Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... In-Reply-To: References: In high school (yes, I know that was back in Greek times), I was in a production that had some religious themes. There was some famous actor (who I'd never heard of) coming in to play Jesus. Well, turns out he LOOKS 2000 years old and has a mouth that would make a dock worker blush. The show closed on opening night. ---------- Jerry Durand Durand Interstellar, Inc. 219 Oak Wood Way Los Gatos, California 95032-2523 USA tel: +1 408 356-3886 fax: +1 408 356-4659 web: www.interstellar.com ------------------------------ Message-ID: <014D202957F6D8118924000F20D7342B021F92C0 [at] az33exm01.corp.mot.com> From: Wood Chip-P26398 Subject: RE: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 10:59:03 -0700 We were doing "Diary of Anne Frank". We were all on stage and smelled smoke, then heard firemen behind the flats discussing whether to evacuate the theatre. All the time trying to maintain character. One of the floor power traps had too much dust and had started to smolder. The show went on. Not exactly performance, but our last dress had to be postponed because our Matt in "Fantasticks" had been gored by an elephant. He worked as a handler at the local Africa Safari. Chip Wood ------------------------------ Message-Id: <6.2.0.14.0.20050207100041.040ba918 [at] localhost> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 10:07:40 -0800 From: Jerry Durand Subject: Re: Proper sizing of neutrals In-Reply-To: References: At 07:40 AM 2/6/2005, you wrote: >I'm still curious about the practicality of an all single phase >state lighting system. Even if you were limited to 200 amp 240V >services, you could use multiple clusters of dimmers as needed >for a larger house. Single phase would eliminate harmonics and >excessive neutral loading issues with unbalanced loads. I don't >know if single phase supply is cost effective for typical >theatres. It does seem like it would be worth exploring. What I could see happening in the near future to meet power factor requirements, etc. is to have the three phase power rectified to DC and switched back to AC to run the lights. You can run something like that very close to a 1.0 power factor, it doesn't care about line frequency, and automatically compensates for voltage changes. It could also easily run lamps on DC and/or various voltages. Not long ago this would be horrendously expensive but now it's getting feasible. I just saw a power fail backup ("battery backup") that's completely capacitor based. Holds several kilowatt-minutes worth of power in a standard rack-mount box (looks about 6U high)! ---------- Jerry Durand Durand Interstellar, Inc. 219 Oak Wood Way Los Gatos, California 95032-2523 USA tel: +1 408 356-3886 fax: +1 408 356-4659 web: www.interstellar.com ------------------------------ Subject: RE: Source 4 Lamp Socket Assembly Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 12:08:49 -0600 Message-ID: From: "Curt Mortimore" Okay, The link I sent in my previous post didn't come through for me. I'm leaping to the assumption it didn't come through for anyone else either. An alternative: Go to the ETC homepage. http://www.etcconnect.com/default.asp Click on Literature and search fixtures then Source four. Scroll down to "Source Four Lamp Retainer Upgrade" which should open a PDF which will solve all your problems!! Cheers! Curtis L. Mortimore Graceland University 1 University Place Lamoni, IA 50140 (641) 784-5265 ------------------------------ Message-ID: <4207B237.9020805 [at] post.tau.ac.il> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 20:23:51 +0200 From: Judy Subject: you know it's a bad show day when you arrive at a stadium to do a super-spectacular show you've prepared for a whole year. The audience is ready, the show starts, and then the bridge leading into the stadium collapses and five people die. This really happened to me! It was the worst moment of my entire professional life! (well, it was worse for the five people of course.) ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 13:36:55 EST Subject: Re: Proper sizing of neutrals In a message dated 07/02/05 15:11:17 GMT Standard Time, alderson [at] uwosh.edu writes: > As I re-read your suggestion, you may be suggesting splitting the three > phase into single phases inside the rack before deriving your neutrals on > each single phase. Besides adding the weight of a transformer, that would > give you three separate "neutrals" that would have to be KEPT separate, > because if you tied into the wrong neutral, i.e. one from an adjacent > single phase, well, I don't know what would happen. It probably wouldn't be > good! ;-) In the early days of remote control, you rather had to do it this way. This is going back to thyratrons (big tubes) as the power control elements. This results in the TOTAL load current flowing in the neutral. At the very least, these neutrals would be "floating" as you > should bond neutral and ground only at the service entrance to the building > (the Code says so), and these would therefore be unbonded neutrals by > definision. I have discovered the hard way why floating neutrals are bad > things. A neutral floating at 90 v. above ground can at the very least make > sound guys very unhappy! And others. In the Minack open-air theatre in Cornwall, the luminaires were fed down permanent tie-lines from the control room. Many years ago, I was doing a show there, and decided to fire some pyros down unused lines, live-to-earth and neutral-to earth. Unfortunately, the theatre lies at the end of a long, thin cable. When I faded up the main load (only 15KW), half the pyros went off, and the GFCI went out. Fortunately, it was an afternoon rehearsal. When I checked it out, the neutral was 90V in the air, and could supply sufficient current to set off the pyros. OT, but amusing. Another show I did there had the sub-station go on fire, so no electricity. But, a magic night. The audience pulled out its pocket torches, and shone them on the action on stage. 200 tiny follow spots. We got through Act I that way, and by the start of Act II, the power was back. Frank Wood ------------------------------ Message-ID: From: "Jason" References: Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 21:23:05 -0800 Here is a good one from early 80's Jefferson Starship was going to play a one off to near sold out crowd 14k people. Starship people wanted to show up at 10am on a sunday. When they did show with their gear. First question that comes up where is the house lighting rig ( first 2 years we had house system that wasn't used enough in the past to rent it another season or store it when not in use). And this on a weekend too. At 2pm they found a rig that was warehoused for week off still in one piece (it was Ted Nugent's) then to find trucking as it was 60 miles away. It arrived at 5:30pm Figuring out to assemble the rig so that the cabling fit and other made some kind of since it was up by 7:30 then a seat of the pants focus by a very troubled LD by 8pm as the house watched. Time to climb out of the truss get a drink of water and run spotlight as the show started 10 mins late. I worked my off that more mental than hard work running the crew and figuring the stuff out. There were a few funny looks as the board was program for a different focus, the LD didn't his colors as the rig stayed as it was colored but it worked lots of flashy lights and I don't anyone in the house even knew the difference as for the aroma in the out venue was. ------------------------------ Message-ID: From: "Jason" References: Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 21:23:05 -0800 Here is a good one from early 80's Jefferson Starship was going to play a one off to near sold out crowd 14k people. Starship people wanted to show up at 10am on a sunday. When they did show with their gear. First question that comes up where is the house lighting rig ( first 2 years we had house system that wasn't used enough in the past to rent it another season or store it when not in use). And this on a weekend too. At 2pm they found a rig that was warehoused for week off still in one piece (it was Ted Nugent's) then to find trucking as it was 60 miles away. It arrived at 5:30pm Figuring out to assemble the rig so that the cabling fit and other made some kind of since it was up by 7:30 then a seat of the pants focus by a very troubled LD by 8pm as the house watched. Time to climb out of the truss get a drink of water and run spotlight as the show started 10 mins late. I worked my off that more mental than hard work running the crew and figuring the stuff out. There were a few funny looks as the board was program for a different focus, the LD didn't his colors as the rig stayed as it was colored but it worked lots of flashy lights and I don't anyone in the house even knew the difference as for the aroma in the out venue was. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 14:02:32 -0500 From: Stephen Litterst Subject: Super Bowl Intermission Message-id: <4207BB48.9F6082B5 [at] ithaca.edu> Organization: IC-Dept. of Theatre Arts So, I have to confess I wasn't paying close enough attention. Did anyone see how they got that piano in place so quickly? I didn't see a forklift nearby. :) My wife pointed out what looked like a large steel piston underneath the piano (just behind the action). Steve Litterst -- Stephen C. Litterst Technical Supervisor Ithaca College Dept. of Theatre Arts 607/274-3947 slitterst [at] ithaca.edu ------------------------------ From: IAEG [at] aol.com Message-ID: <7a.6c83ada2.2f391630 [at] aol.com> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 14:06:24 EST Subject: Re: Super Bowl Intermission In a message dated 2/7/05 2:03:31 PM, slitterst [at] ithaca.edu writes: > >So, I have to confess I wasn't paying close enough attention. Did >anyone see how they got that piano in place so quickly? I didn't see >a forklift nearby. :) My wife pointed out what looked like a large >steel piston underneath the piano (just behind the action). didn't see how it was put into position, , but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a hollow shell of a studio grand with a electrons / midi keyboard in place of the real action not unusual and probably reccomended under this conditions as per all of the TUNING notes that we have already covered on the list, best, Keith Arsenault IAEG - International Arts & Entertainment Group Tampa, Florida ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 14:06:35 EST Subject: Re: Proper sizing of neutrals In a message dated 07/02/05 18:08:27 GMT Standard Time, jdurand [at] interstellar.com writes: > What I could see happening in the near future to meet power factor > requirements, etc. is to have the three phase power rectified to DC and > switched back to AC to run the lights. You can run something like that > very close to a 1.0 power factor, it doesn't care about line frequency, and > automatically compensates for voltage changes. It could also easily run > lamps on DC and/or various voltages. It can certainly be done, at high efficiency. This is how things like the Interstate Tie and the France-England power links work. It saves having to synchronise far apart systems. But, it's expensive. Frank Wood ------------------------------ Message-Id: <6.1.2.0.2.20050207140622.02774ec0 [at] mail.hstech.org> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 14:07:19 -0500 From: "Scott C. Parker" Subject: Re: Super Bowl Intermission In-Reply-To: References: And I was wondering about the floor: was it a drop in computer image? Or some sort of live video that the local audience could see? Scott At 02:02 PM 2/7/2005, you wrote: >For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see >--------------------------------------------------- > >So, I have to confess I wasn't paying close enough attention. Did >anyone see how they got that piano in place so quickly? Scott C. Parker Production Designer/Technical Director High School Tech Production Web Site hstech~AT~hstech.org High Schoolers: come visit the HS Tech Web Site... http://www.hstech.org Our Mission: To assist High School Technical Theater students in their desire to learn about, create, and execute theatrical productions. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 14:10:06 -0500 From: Stephen Litterst Subject: Re: Super Bowl Intermission Message-id: <4207BD0E.3628B207 [at] ithaca.edu> Organization: IC-Dept. of Theatre Arts References: IAEG [at] aol.com wrote: > --------------------------------------------------- > didn't see how it was put into position, , but I wouldn't be surprised if it > was a hollow shell of a studio grand with a electrons / midi keyboard in > place of the real action That would explain the difference in finish/gloss between the body and the action. Steve Litterst -- Stephen C. Litterst Technical Supervisor Ithaca College Dept. of Theatre Arts 607/274-3947 slitterst [at] ithaca.edu ------------------------------ Message-ID: In-Reply-To: From: "Matthew Breton" Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 14:11:30 -0500 >I don't anyone in the house even knew the difference as for the aroma in >the out venue was. Some strong "aroma" there: it's lasted about twenty years! ;) -- Matt ======= _________________________________________________________________ Don’t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <4207BE36.4030204 [at] txstate.edu> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 13:15:02 -0600 From: Bill Peeler Subject: Re: Source 4 Lamp Socket Assembly References: In-Reply-To: >The link I sent in my previous post didn't come through for me. I'm >leaping to the assumption it didn't come through for anyone else either. > Worked for me. It was probably because the URL was too long to fit on one line and was divided. Try cutting and pasting into your browser location window. Bill Peeler Texas State University ------------------------------ Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 11:20:01 -0800 Message-ID: From: "Michael Finney" ...The Beverley Hills police show up in your lobby complete with dogs, drawn guns, and men dressed in bomb disposal suits to inform you that Moluccan Separatists (huh?) have phoned in a bomb threat because several Dutch "royals" are attending the performance that evening. And the police need you to show them pretty much everything in the theatre that might disguise an explosive device...and explain everything to them as you go. ...and, an hour later, when you ask when the supposed device was scheduled to go off, respond (way too casually for *my* tastes): "oh, about a half hour ago!". (from a gala performance of the late, lamented LA Ballet at the late, sort-of-lamented Beverly Theatre)... ...and then there's the elephant "accident" in Chicago from the Harry Blackstone tour... ...or the tiger incident from a Washington DC stop with Doug Henning... Michael Finney Thinkwell Design & Production mfinney [at] thinkwelldesign.com www.thinkwelldesign.com ------------------------------ Message-ID: <004d01c50d4a$5d90aa30$0600000a [at] BRUTUS> From: "Jon Ares" References: Subject: Re: Super Bowl Intermission Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 11:22:29 -0800 > And I was wondering about the floor: was it a drop in computer image? Or > some sort of live video that the local audience could see? > Scott I was looking closely at the gig... looked to me that under the piano it was projected from underneath, but on the ramps it was projected from above. I could see flotsam and wires resting on the ramps that were projected on, so it wasn't from 'inside,' like under the piano. I was mighty impressed with how bright the projections on the ramps were! I heard scuttlebutt on the radio this morning as some were wondering if Sir Paul was lip-syncing some or all of his performance. I don't believe he was, but some say it was 'too' perfect. (I would like to think that rehearsal had something to do with that, eh?) I missed the very beginning, so I didn't see the monster come out - caught it during the second song. -- Jon Ares Program Director, West Linn HS Theatre Arts www.hevanet.com/acreative www.wlhstheatre.org ------------------------------ From: IAEG [at] aol.com Message-ID: Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 14:23:42 EST Subject: Re: Super Bowl Intermission In a message dated 2/7/05 2:09:19 PM, stagecraftlist [at] hstech.org writes: >And I was wondering about the floor: was it a drop in computer image? Or > >some sort of live video that the local audience could see? >Scott I would imagine it was the same sort of panels that serve as the back wall for the Celine Dion show in Vegas, , , a high res, portable Diamond Vision sort of thing, , best, Keith Arsenault IAEG - International Arts & Entertainment Group Tampa, Florida ------------------------------ From: IAEG [at] aol.com Message-ID: Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 14:25:40 EST Subject: Re: Super Bowl Intermission In a message dated 2/7/05 2:11:09 PM, slitterst [at] ithaca.edu writes: >> didn't see how it was put into position, , but I wouldn't be surprised >if it >> was a hollow shell of a studio grand with a electrons / midi keyboard >in >> place of the real action > >That would explain the difference in finish/gloss between the body and >the action. if you saw the TONY award show two years ago, , it started with BILLY JOEL playing NEW YORK STATE of MIND on a studio sized grand right in Times Square ( this was a segue into the cast of MOVIN' OUT on stage at Radio City ) as the crane shot moved around to his side of the piano you could see that it was just a shell and that there was an 88 key electronic keyboard in place of the real action, , best, Keith Arsenault IAEG - International Arts & Entertainment Group Tampa, Florida ------------------------------ From: "Jonathan S. Deull" Subject: RE: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 14:27:14 -0500 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Speaking of oil. remembering the day in the early seventies when a bleary-eyed novice (me), on his first mainstage production for notoriously temperamental director, was told to splatter paint on the entire deck for texture on the morning of dress rehearsal. I did a very thorough job. With oil paint. The rest of the story is as you might imagine it. Jonathan Deull ------------------------------ Message-ID: <014D202957F6D8118924000F20D7342B021F93F2 [at] az33exm01.corp.mot.com> From: Wood Chip-P26398 Subject: RE: Super Bowl Intermission Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 12:37:51 -0700 Now they're lip-syncing the piano? -----Original Message----- From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net] On Behalf Of Stephen Litterst > if it was a hollow shell of a studio grand with a electrons / midi > keyboard in place of the real action That would explain the difference in finish/gloss between the body and the action. ------------------------------ Message-Id: <6.2.0.14.0.20050207113544.040d3e50 [at] localhost> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 11:38:45 -0800 From: Jerry Durand Subject: Re: Super Bowl Intermission In-Reply-To: References: At 11:02 AM 2/7/2005, you wrote: >So, I have to confess I wasn't paying close enough attention. Did >anyone see how they got that piano in place so quickly? I didn't see >a forklift nearby. :) My wife pointed out what looked like a large >steel piston underneath the piano (just behind the action). Piano? They had a piano on the field (I assume a large one, not a small one on a truck like Monty Python did)? Gee, if all this half-time stuff keeps happening I might have to remember when the game is. Of course by this time next year I'll have forgotten again. ---------- Jerry Durand Durand Interstellar, Inc. 219 Oak Wood Way Los Gatos, California 95032-2523 USA tel: +1 408 356-3886 fax: +1 408 356-4659 web: www.interstellar.com ------------------------------ Subject: RE: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 14:45:05 -0500 Message-ID: <6E497ADB607656479C24E6D7BF6B505A0196C6FB [at] exchange.rmwc.edu> From: "Paul Schreiner" While my earlier post on this thread gave the absolute worst I've experienced, here's a couple others for the halibut... --Day 1 of the tour (same company as the original, different tour), travel day, carrying sets for two different shows. Traveling from Raleigh to Breezewood, PA for the night when the (recently-serviced) truck develops a transmission leak. Truck out of commission, had to swap as much of the first set as we could out of a 22-footer into a 14' U-Haul. After we spent three hours waiting on I95 for a tow. Instead of making it to the hotel at dinnertime, it was 12:30am before we hit the showers...with a return trip to Maryland now on the schedule for the day after tomorrow to repack with a new truck. --Same tour, but near the tail end. Pull into a high school on a Sunday afternoon, expecting a small crew to help. Find one lonely guy with no keys who had been given instructions to show us where to go. The control booth and dressing rooms are all locked, the local producer is nowhere to be seen, and none of the plot has been touched. Find out later in the day that I had a grand total of six dimmers (and a single-scene board) with which to try to light La Boheme. --Different tour, different company, still bus-n-truck. It's mid-December, and even though it's Mississippi, it's cold. Truck refuses to start when we're supposed to be heading to a 10am matinee, so we toss all the props into the van and the rest of the gang head out to the school to do a minimalist show. I get the truck working, but only well enough to get about two miles down the road. It takes two hours to get a tow, three to get to the closest open Ryder hub, and 90 minutes to transfer all the stuff out of the first truck into the replacement. And then we are scheduled for nearly 1000 miles of driving in the next 36 hours, from Jackson MS to Fort Lauderdale. We had planned to arrive at the midpoint (Pensacola) around 8pm; as it was, we didn't hit the hotel until nearly 3am. Anyone noticing a common theme through all these posts? Why do most of them seem to involve truck issues? ------------------------------ Message-Id: <6.2.0.14.0.20050207115123.040e2830 [at] localhost> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 11:55:02 -0800 From: Jerry Durand Subject: Re: Why not use single phase for stage lighting In-Reply-To: References: At 09:20 PM 2/6/2005, ladesigners [at] juno.com wrote: >And that is one of the reasons that the Pacific Intertie was built to send >800,000 volts of DC from Washington State to northern Los Angeles. >The 238,000 volt 3 phase AC feed from Hoover Dam just wasn't enough. >/s/ Richard And more importantly, sending DC removes the very strange zero-beating seen in power systems, especially the central US. These phase problems can shut down entire sections of the grid if they get out of hand. DC also has lower losses en-route and also doesn't give off the 60Hz fields that some people panic about. The higher voltage is just a plus (W = V * A so higher voltage means lower current and that means lower voltage loss over the length of the wire). ---------- Jerry Durand Durand Interstellar, Inc. 219 Oak Wood Way Los Gatos, California 95032-2523 USA tel: +1 408 356-3886 fax: +1 408 356-4659 web: www.interstellar.com ------------------------------ From: IAEG [at] aol.com Message-ID: <12e.57112ecf.2f3922af [at] aol.com> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 14:59:43 EST Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... In a message dated 2/7/05 2:46:11 PM, pschreiner [at] rmwc.edu writes: >grand total of six dimmers (and a >single-scene board) with which to try to light La Boheme. six more dimmers than the original production had, , so there was a problem? : - ) best, Keith Arsenault IAEG - International Arts & Entertainment Group Tampa, Florida ------------------------------ Subject: RE: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 15:16:39 -0500 Message-ID: <6E497ADB607656479C24E6D7BF6B505A0196C6FC [at] exchange.rmwc.edu> From: "Paul Schreiner" > >grand total of six dimmers (and a > >single-scene board) with which to try to light La Boheme. >=20 >=20 > six more dimmers than the original production had, , so there was a=20 > problem?=20 Touche...but I didn't have gaslight for front fill. :P ------------------------------ From: IAEG [at] aol.com Message-ID: <1e6.3493a129.2f392ae9 [at] aol.com> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 15:34:49 EST Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... In a message dated 2/7/05 3:17:20 PM, pschreiner [at] rmwc.edu writes: >> >grand total of six dimmers (and a >> >single-scene board) with which to try to light La Boheme. >> >> >> six more dimmers than the original production had, , so there was a > >> problem? > >Touche...but I didn't have gaslight for front fill. :P just think though, , with the greenish glow of Lime Light, , Mimi looks REALLY ill ! best, Keith Arsenault IAEG - International Arts & Entertainment Group Tampa, Florida ------------------------------ Subject: RE: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 15:38:28 -0500 Message-ID: <6E497ADB607656479C24E6D7BF6B505A0196C6FD [at] exchange.rmwc.edu> From: "Paul Schreiner" > just think though, , with the greenish glow of Lime Light, ,=20 > Mimi looks=20 > REALLY ill ! It'd sure cut down on the makeup budget... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 14:49:35 -0600 From: Fred Fisher Subject: Re: Orchestra Acoustic Barrier In-reply-to: Message-id: <5.2.1.1.2.20050207144500.01965388 [at] wiscmail.wisc.edu> Our orchestra pit just has a railing along the front. We drape a border over it to help absorb the sound. You might want to put carpeting under the orchestra too. Fred Fisher At 10:52 AM 2/7/2005 -0600, you wrote: >For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see >--------------------------------------------------- > >I need some ideas on how to construct an Orchestra Acoustic Barrier for one >of the local high schools. The orchestra space is 40" below the stage level >and approximately 17' from the front row and around 50' wide. The concern >is that the orchestra will over power the first few rows of the audience and >they won't be able to hear the performers. I have a few ideas, but thought >I'd ask the list of there recommendations. Any ideas on what to use for >sound absorption? How high should I make it? Ultimately it will be portable >and be able to be put in storage when not in use. Thanks in advance... > >Mark S. Eccleston >Huntsville, Alabama >256-694-8575 ------------------------------ Message-ID: <4207E0B8.6080406 [at] audiovisualdevices.com.au> Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 07:42:16 +1000 From: David Duffy Subject: Re: Proper sizing of neutrals References: In-Reply-To: >Not if you have them on a UPS, or put the control electronics >on the same back-up generator that feeds the exit lights and >fire annunciator. /s/ Richard > >Unless of course Murphy's law applies and 9 times out of ten you lose >the phase with the control electronics on it. Then you still >lose all your lights anyway. >Greg Bierly > > Don't all dimmer larger packs derive the power for the electronics from all three phases for redundancy anyway? My Jands ones do. David... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 17:08:13 -0500 From: MissWisc [at] aol.com Subject: Re: Bad Show Days Message-ID: <76B86B12.6A8D9FCB.007B9F2A [at] aol.com> Middle of "They're Playing Our Song" and the power goes out. I'm on a platform back of house about 12 feet in the air running a follow spot. (Sorry, Dr. Doom.. no railing nor escape stair... I've learned since then!!) The board op thinks he kicked the plug out of the wall. Nope. We realize the entire place is dead - including the emergency lights which are supposed to be battery powered. Smart TD grabs a couple of flashlights and announces from the booth "Sit tight folks, we'll be right with you." I finally can see enough to climb back in through the window and grab my flashlight too. A quick glance outside shows no power anywhere. We let the audience use the restrooms via flashlight and then close the house. Turns out a critter had gotten zapped in the local power sub-station. Power was out for over an hour. The emergency lights were replaced that same week. Kristi ------------------------------ In-Reply-To: References: Message-Id: From: Greg Bierly Subject: Re: Proper sizing of neutrals Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 17:17:32 -0500 > Don't all dimmer larger packs derive the power for the electronics > from all three phases for redundancy anyway? My Jands ones do. > David... None of the ones I have worked with when I have lost a phase. Greg Bierly Technical Director Hempfield HS ------------------------------ Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 16:19:56 -0600 Message-ID: <71D0296313DCB24C93FE62A0CA7B49CA3A3201 [at] adminmail4.ui.uillinois.edu> From: "Flowers, Curtis" Just yesterday!=20 We were doing a very short (3 minute) skit before the sermon at our church services. We've been doing skits to support the sermon for years - about one every other month. This one was a spoof on the super bowl hype 'sports desk'. About two thirds of the way through, I was interviewing a few comical characters when I heard a voice out in the audience. It got louder...I stopped. Here was a guy shouting ".... get off the stage and quit making a fool of yourself. I came here to worship God and not look at this...."=20 I tried to stay in character and made a comment and went back to the script. Seconds later there's another out burst and this guy is threatening to punch out the deacons escorting him out. This is in Sunday Services at church! Odd. I never had _that_ happen to me before.=20 Curt, Illinois ------------------------------ Message-ID: <4207EB34.6040103 [at] audiovisualdevices.com.au> Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 08:27:00 +1000 From: David Duffy Subject: Re: Proper sizing of neutrals References: In-Reply-To: Greg Bierly wrote: >> Don't all dimmer larger packs derive the power for the electronics >> from all three phases for redundancy anyway? My Jands ones do. >> David... > > > None of the ones I have worked with when I have lost a phase. Bummer! At least two of the Jands ones I have use 3 power transformers for the electronics. (one for each phase) They all power the electronics at the same time but can run with only 1 or 2. These packs are ones that were made in the 90's too. (12 channel Roadpacks) David... ------------------------------ From: "Kevin Linzey" Subject: RE: Proper sizing of neutrals Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 17:27:11 -0500 Message-ID: <003801c50d64$2afd4820$1101a8c0 [at] KLinzeypc> In-Reply-To: I know the ETC 48 Touring Rack drives electronics only from the A phase. When the A phase distro fuse blows you go dark! Trust me I know. Don't ask how I know. ;-) Kevin > -----Original Message----- > From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net] On Behalf > Of David Duffy > Sent: Monday, February 07, 2005 4:42 PM > To: Stagecraft > Subject: Re: Proper sizing of neutrals > > > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > > --------------------------------------------------- > > > >Not if you have them on a UPS, or put the control electronics > >on the same back-up generator that feeds the exit lights and > >fire annunciator. /s/ Richard > > > >Unless of course Murphy's law applies and 9 times out of ten you lose > >the phase with the control electronics on it. Then you still > >lose all your lights anyway. > >Greg Bierly > > > > > > > Don't all dimmer larger packs derive the power for the > electronics from all three phases for redundancy anyway? My > Jands ones do. David... > ------------------------------ Message-Id: <6.2.0.14.2.20050207153212.01f9e8c0 [at] mail.earthlink.net> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 15:36:16 -0700 From: Theatre Safety Programs Subject: Re: Slightly OT: Insurance and the freelancer Just a reminder that for those of you who can get to Phoenix on March 5, Neil Huff of PRISM, the ESTA insurance person, will be one of the featured speakers at "Cover Your Behind -- Legal, Contract, and Insurance Issues for the Theatre,: co-sponsored by Desert States USITT, IA 336, Theatre Safety Programs, Barbizon Phoenix, Ackermann Lighting, and Hoffend. It is free, if you can get here and all list members are welcome. I will be happy to e-mail the flyer to anyone who e-mails off list. A lawyer, an insurance person, etc all in one place, along with continental breakfast what more could you ask for. Jerry Gorrell ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 17:39:37 -0500 From: MissWisc [at] aol.com Subject: Re: Super Bowl Intermission Message-ID: <42705028.23F3EE29.007B9F2A [at] aol.com> Given the acoustical challenges of playing in the midst of a stadium that size, I'd HOPE he's lip synching. Imagine having the live sound plus all the echos. UGH. Bring on the University of Wisconsin Marching Band for a REAL half time show!!! Kristi ------------------------------ From: IAEG [at] aol.com Message-ID: <97.589d0891.2f39493f [at] aol.com> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 17:44:15 EST Subject: Re: Super Bowl Intermission In a message dated 2/7/05 5:40:39 PM, MissWisc [at] aol.com writes: >Given the acoustical challenges of playing in the midst of a stadium that >size, I'd HOPE he's lip synching. Imagine having the live sound plus all >the echos. UGH. actually, , I feel pretty confident in watching and listening that he was in fact singing, , , could be wrong, , but that's my educated observation i think lip syncing should be banned, , , if I was the Exec Producer of SNL, , i would remind musical guests that the name of the show is SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, , emphasis on the LIVE ( yeah yeah, , some of the comedy is pre recorded ) arrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh, , best, Keith Arsenault IAEG - International Arts & Entertainment Group Tampa, Florida ------------------------------ In-Reply-To: References: Message-Id: <8211e6c25b799fd676fa6cfffeb01242 [at] hillmardesign.com> From: gregg hillmar Subject: Re: Super Bowl Intermission Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 17:48:53 -0500 On Feb 7, 2005, at 2:02 PM, Stephen Litterst wrote: > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > > --------------------------------------------------- > > So, I have to confess I wasn't paying close enough attention. Did > anyone see how they got that piano in place so quickly? I didn't see > a forklift nearby. :) My wife pointed out what looked like a large > steel piston underneath the piano (just behind the action). > > Steve Litterst > -- > Stephen C. Litterst > Technical Supervisor > Ithaca College > Dept. of Theatre Arts > 607/274-3947 > slitterst [at] ithaca.edu Funny, I had exactly the same question, and my wife had exactly the same answer... hmmm may just be the Richmond connection. still interested in how they pulled it off tho!~ g. _____________________ gregg hillmar scenic & lighting design portfolio & life as we know it: http://www.hillmardesign.com "Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like no one's watching." Satchel Paige > ------------------------------ In-Reply-To: References: Message-Id: Cc: marko [at] email.arizona.edu (Mark O'Brien) From: Mark O'Brien Subject: Re: Super Bowl Intermission Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 16:06:01 -0700 I worked on a Super-bowl with Diana Ross about 9 years ago, and she had a voice track going for the entire show, HOWEVER, she sang most of the show, and the track was used for when she dropped out during shifts & costume changes. Essentially, it was a live show, and I'd expect that is what happened with Paul. Mark O'Brien Opera Technical Director University of Arizona, School of Music Tucson, AZ 520/621-7025 520/591-1803 Mobile ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: <1e4.3466ba7a.2f3952e3 [at] aol.com> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 18:25:23 EST Subject: Re: Why not use single phase for stage lighting In a message dated 07/02/05 19:55:57 GMT Standard Time, jdurand [at] interstellar.com writes: > And more importantly, sending DC removes the very strange zero-beating seen > in power systems, especially the central US. These phase problems can shut > down entire sections of the grid if they get out of hand. DC also has > lower losses en-route and also doesn't give off the 60Hz fields that some > people panic about. The higher voltage is just a plus (W = V * A so higher > voltage means lower current and that means lower voltage loss over the > length of the wire). With really long distance transmission, there are problems with synchronisation. The time delays from one end of the network to the other can be significant, especially at intermediate points. While the three-phase-to DC and reverse converters are expensive, they may justify their expense. I should like to know, though, how you get 800KV DC down to something reasonable. Interestingly, motor generator sets are very efficient, but I don't see an 800KV DC motor. Frank Wood ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: <12c.56fad5fc.2f395411 [at] aol.com> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 18:30:25 EST Subject: Re: You know it's going to be a bad show day when.... In a message dated 07/02/05 22:20:41 GMT Standard Time, cjflower [at] uillinois.edu writes: > We were doing a very short (3 minute) skit before the sermon at > our church services. We've been doing skits to support the sermon for > years - about one every other month. This one was a spoof on the super > bowl hype 'sports desk'. About two thirds of the way through, I was > interviewing a few comical characters when I heard a voice out in the > audience. It got louder...I stopped. Here was a guy shouting ".... get > off the stage and quit making a fool of yourself. I came here to worship > God and not look at this...." > I tried to stay in character and made a comment and went back to > the script. Seconds later there's another out burst and this guy is > threatening to punch out the deacons escorting him out. > This is in Sunday Services at church! I can't condone his conduct, but I sympathise with his sentiments. Frank Wood ------------------------------ Message-ID: <004901c50d6d$61f268c0$fedcb440 [at] pamscomputer> From: "Pamela Abra" References: Subject: Re: Bad Show Days Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 15:33:09 -0800 I was hired to do the lighting for "The Music Man" in 2003.They had an OLD Strand board.( I didn't know about that). I programmed all the cues and saved it to the memory, turned off the board, closed my binder with all of the info written down, and went home. I returned to see nothing, not even one cue. I then reprogrammed everything in record time and wrote down every level and number and light...etc.etc. etc. in my book on a fresh sheet, as there were new changes ..of course. . They supplied discs for me and I prepared the discs and saved the new show to the disc. I turned off the board and went home. I returned again to see only a few cues recorded on the disc. I had no idea why it only saved a few cues, but I went with it and reprogrammed the show as they were rehearsing. I took out a new disc and saved it to that. I returned the next day for the opening night 1.5 hours early expecting that it wouldn't work and I would have to reprogram the show. It didn't save to the disc entirely and I had to reprogram the second half once again. I was getting good as reprogramming now and I cut the length of time to reprogram by 10 minutes ...same cues etc. I brought new discs with me and I saved the show to the new disc. This time it worked!! I was quite happy as the shows were on Friday, Saturday and Sundays for another 3 weeks and I didn't really want to reprogram all the cues and fade times etc over and over and over again! Lesson learned.. bring my own discs always! Pamela ------------------------------ Message-ID: <004f01c50d6d$bcc8a6b0$fedcb440 [at] pamscomputer> From: "Pamela Abra" References: Subject: Bad Show Days Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 15:35:41 -0800 I forgot to mention, the actor starring in "The Music Man" was an absolute joy to work with. He was incredibly talented and a nice guy too! The sets, singing etc etc etc were wonderful. This made up for the challenges that I had. Pamela ------------------------------ End of Stagecraft Digest #288 *****************************