TheatreFace

The Great Outdoors

2016-04-04T19:41:14.729Z

I went hiking in Zion National Park this past weekend, and one of the most popular hikes is the River Walk up to the Narrows, where the Virgin River cuts through sandstone and you feel like you're walking into another world. It's quite beautiful -- even if the Narrows were closed to hikers. (Most of the hike takes place in the water, and right now it's still ridiculously cold from winter snow melt. Hiking in the Narrows for any length of time was a quick trip to hypothermia town this weekend.)

The hike starts at a stone cliff called "The Temple of Sinawava," which is a natural amphitheater. So of course this interested me almost as much as the river did. Could you actually put on a show here? Would the sound carry? What would it be like?

In short, the Temple is not really a bowl amphitheater like you'd expect, but the echoes are pretty amazing. So the sound would be weird, and the sightlines wouldn't be that great for the audience. But hey! Sound like a lot of outdoor theatre!

Outdoor theatre can be endearing with its quirks, or brutal with its schedule and heat. I have never worked summer stock or outdoor theatre, so there are many tales of raccoons, spiders, generators and rain that I simply can't compete with -- so I want you to share them with me! What's the craziest thing that happened to you working summer stock? What was your biggest snafu? How hot did it actually get on the stage deck? What are you most proud of accomplishing? What do you wish you could forget?

Sources for breakable vases etc.

2016-03-16T12:20:17.360Z

Hey folks

Need to locate a source for vases, "glassware", etc that will break on stage but not shatter into dangerous shards. A while ago I asked you guys for edible newsprint and you saved my useless butt, I'm hoping you can do that again.

Thanks

Weasel

Glad to be a member of TheaterFace

2016-02-22T23:54:53.550Z

Hi Friends - I am happy to have found a place to connect with other professionals active in Arts & Entertainment.

As a professional in the business for many years as a performer and educator, I am always seeking to assist others in gaining the information they require to become successful in their area of creative expertise. To that effect I am pleased to share with you my book entitled:

OWN YOUR PROCESS: Key Steps to Creative Success

Success is in the doing and in the planning. For those of you who would like to improve their time management, marketing, and business skills this 99 page guide and journal maps out a methodology for realizing your short and long term goals!

Purchase directly through my website at www.tigerkatpublishing.com/books, learn more about me as an author at www.stefanieaugustwrites.webs.com and view me in action as a performer at www.ahfactorband.com

Purchase of the book entitles you to a free email consultation on a topic therein in.

Here's to your success and thank you Stage Directions for being a great resource for independent artists in all media!

What colors do you use in your moving head lights

2016-02-04T02:18:43.311Z

Hello,

I have a question for the people that use moving lights. When you have fixtures that the colors can be changed out. What colors do you like to use? Do you have a standard go to color wheel?

Thanks

What Grease Got Right

2016-02-01T21:02:04.557Z

So Grease: Live hit Fox last night, and blew away all the ratings for live theatrical events. I'm not surprised -- while I'm not a huge fan of Grease, that production had a great cast, technical wizardry, and one big secret weapon: A live audience.

Grease didn't totally eliminate the awkwardness of having a stage show filmed live, but it was a far sight more relaxed and less clunky-feeling than NBC's live musicals, which have seemed stilted and dated. Having an audience highlighted the sheer theatricality of it all, rather than try and ignore it, and it made it easier to accept the theatricality of it for me.

Playbill has a list of 15 Things Grease: Live did right, and it's worth a look. I completely agree with a few of them, including shout-outs to David Korins' set design and William Ivey Long's costumes. The opening sequence walking through all the set pieces and backstage areas was exhilarating, setting the energy and world of the show, while Long's costumes were dazzling throughout -- and when they worked together, like in the "Freddy My Love" number, it really was some amazing theatrical magic.

Did you catch the show? What do think they got right? What made you cringe?

Create a Hamilton Meme

2016-01-11T20:37:07.934Z

Have you got the perfect theatre text for this image? You could win a copy of The Backstage Handbook.

Theatre memes are a world unto themselves. Whether they're riffing off a popular meme image:

Or taking a more directly theatre bent:

They capture the bathos of working in theatre in a way guaranteed to make you chuckle.

Well we weren't content with just reading them! We want to make some too! At the top of this post is an image from Hamilton. Caption it with your best theatre meme, and then re-upload it! (Or just leave your best meme text as a comment...) We'll gather the best ones next week and let our members choose a winner!

The lucky winner will receive a copy of The Backstage Handbook -- which even if it doesn't have any memes in it certainly will help your backstage skills.

Meanwhile, here are some more memes to get your creativity going! (Or at least make you laugh...)

Athens,GA

2015-12-31T16:40:48.389Z

I have recently relocated to Athens, GA and am seeking a writer's group, theatre discussion, outlet for creativity, etc.

thanks in advance!

Charlene::smile::

Screenplay - Competitions?

2015-12-31T16:38:52.456Z

I am seeking competitions for screenplays. Specifically... I have written several Southern comedies.

Thoughts?

signed-

new to the group

Holiday GIF Party!

2015-12-23T01:07:09.152Z

You know how it goes: Lots of family. Lots of eggnog. Lots of presents. Lots of stress. Lots of shows. It can leave you feeling downright Grinch-ish. And since your aunt Sally got on Facebook you can't complain there about how she chews when she's eating salad anymore, either.

So come here! Share your best animated GIF that explains how you'll be feeling this holiday season. From rocking reindeer to hopeless grinch, we welcome 'em all. Show me how you do the holidays!

Best of 2015!

2015-12-23T00:48:57.341Z

It's the holiday season! Which means relatives, presents -- and lights, lights, lights. And one lucky person will get a present all about the lights. Stage Directions and 4Wall are teaming up to send lighting designer to the USITT expo or the Helmsley portfolio review in New York City. Check out item number one of my year-end "Best of" list below, or just head over to bit.ly/sd4wallcontest to find out the details.

But before we get to the list, here's to all the theatres out there working to bring you A Christmas Carol, Nutcracker, A Christmas Story, or any other holiday show -- and every single New Year's Eve party around. Stagehands, performers, front of house, producers -- whoever you are, thanks for putting in the long hours to make sure we have a good holiday!

End of the year also means "Best of" lists! I can't give away my "Best of" show list yet -- it gets published next week, and I don't want to jump the gun. But I can name a few other bests this year!

1 - Best Tradeshow

USITT continues to be a great show for theatre wonks. The exhibition show floor keeps getting bigger and better, with more manufacturers showing up each year and networking opportunities galore for college, grad school and especially career. Plus the jam-packed session schedule means you can learn a heckuva lot, too. Here's where it gets better! Stage Directions and 4Wall Entertainment are teaming up to send a lighting designer to the show. All you have to do is submit a video of 10 lighting cues in a show (one that reached production, or just one you designed in order to win a contest) to 4Wall by February 26. You can check out all the details at bit.ly/sd4wallcontest. So curl up with some eggnog and get designing!

2 - Best New Stage Management Blog!

Stage management continues to be popular to our members. We're making them even happier with a new stage management blog on Stage Directions. Recent posts include how to handle making theatre in the face of events like the attacks in Paris (bit.ly/sdsmparis), translation sheets to make sure your technical terms are understood in your international shows (bit.ly/sdsmtranslation) and with all the productions of A Christmas Carol happening, we even have a post on ghosts (bit.ly/smghosts).

3 - Best Hints to my Best Shows

OK, so I may not be able to name by "Best of" shows yet, but here's some clues to shows I love this year that were all put on by theatre local to me -- except for one Broadway musical. (And no, it's not Hamilton -- mainly because I haven't seen it yet...) Let me know your guesses for these shows, and let me know what you liked this year!

August: Osage Author's Hemipteric Thriller

The Mouse's Jungle Yodeler

Non-Sentimental Sapphic Sketcher (with Songs)

Punishment that Geo-locks Kids