The last time I wrote about my Arduino was in January of this year; it's been just about that long since I've even had a chance to play around with it. But microprocessors have never been far from my mind. In fact, I've taken on a research assistant this semester to take a look at if, when, and how theatres and theatre technicians are utilizing microprocessors and microelectronics in…

Last week talked about visual noise in our work environment. One particular work space where we find ourselves working against glare and eyestrain is in the Lighting Control Booth – particularly those with glass windows. The knee-jerk reaction to lighting control booth windows is to open them, or remove them. As tempting as this may sound, it isn’t usually in the best interest of our audience to do so. …

Writing quickly today. Will be writing quickly this weekend.

Last month, the Drama Book Shop hosted 76 playwrights over three weeks in a project called “Write Out Front.” Playwrights worked on scripts in two hour shifts at the store, giving customers and passersby a look inside the writing process. (Or the research process…

Like pretty much everyone I've experienced unexpected tragedy and personal loss - discovering a loved one is very ill or has been in an accident, the death of a family member or close friend. Like pretty much everyone in the theatre business, I've experienced those life events in the midst of a show, during load in, and during tech. And, also…

What kind of paint is the best to use for quality blacklight effects onstage? I've had mixed results over the years.

Inspired loosely by this Oatmeal comic.

No, I'm not REALLY a Directioner. Though the fact that I know One Direction fans are called Directioners doesn't bode well.

I've definitely been guilty of spending too much on…

For our upcoming production of The Understudy at Purdue, we need to create a short (i.e., total height about 5") pallet/wagon to push a table and chairs on stage with. We want to use our stock 2 1/2"-tall triskit panels to save both time and money; unfortunately, this makes using our 4"-tall stock casters impossible to use. What to do?

Rosebrand sells a product they call the "…

The world we live in is becoming increasingly noisy. Our surroundings are sometimes so intense that our senses are overloaded, and the message we are trying to ingest is difficult to retrieve from the overbearing distractions. Sensory input that is buried in disruptive and competing signals is stressful for our minds to analyze, and this seriously affects our ability to communicate effectively. Dynamic Range is…

My last blog post asked you whether, as a playwright, you’ve ever considered putting your work under a Creative Commons license—essentially giving it away for free.

Now, inspired by a recent controversy in the music industry I’d like to talk about the opposite side of that coin.

What controversy? Well, about a week ago a very popular indie musician who has legions of…

As part of my on going detailing of mounting The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee I thought I would bring up a piece of paperwork that I have a love hate relationship with... and that is an audio system's signal path visualized: a block diagram.

When I started in audio, this was the piece of paperwork I believed absolutely…

The worst part of auditioning: the wait to hear back.

A friend and mentor of mine had auditioned for a show, didn't hear back for a year (except a "we'll put you on file"), and then out of the blue got called back in this year for the touring cast of Catch Me if You Can, and is now touring for the…

I was actually the director. I wanted to direct "6 Characters in Search of An Author" at Spokane Community College, but I wanted to update it and make each performance unique. So, I did several things with the actors during the rehearsal process. First, I cast two people in the same role and we had two casts (we called them 'forks' and 'spoons'). So, the actor could have been the Step-Daughter one night and the next she was the Stage Manager. We rehearsed switching actors to rehearse with…

I was talking with some friends this week and conversation turned to headshot trends, audition monologues, and the process of writing a play in the rehearsal room. One of my friends told me about The Anonymous Theatre Company in Portland, Ore. They cast…

Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are a great example of industrial technology that technicians have appropriated for theatre. The first PLC was created at the request of General Motors in 1968 to replace the complicated arrangement of electrical relays and mechanical sequencers used to automate the assembly line at a GM transmission plant. Prior to the installation of the PLC, changing the assembly line processes for each new model year required a team of electricians rewiring the…

Tomorrow is the closing show for LASALLE College of the Art's production of Attempts on Her Life, after having its opening show just yesterday. Well not only was the run short, the entire production period was short too. We had our first meeting with the production and creative team on 1 August, and I had to have a finalised set design two weeks later. Fortunately, this show is not really something complicated (as in this is not supposed to be a very techy kind of performance), so…

Life can change in an instant.

As writers, we try to pay attention to those changes, those instants. We document what came before, we track the change in the present, we hope to inspire the future. One of my favorite quotes, via Harlan Ellison, is from Irwin Shaw.

“The explanations a writer gives himself for having written any particular book are often not the real reasons why that book has been…

From last week's post - I described how I broke down the cast list and orchestra pit line-up to put together a list of what I would need and the number of input and output channels to mix the show.

Here's what my FOH position looked like:…

This year, I'm teaching the Institute Improv class at CalArts. I'm very excited; improv is something I kinda like just-a-wee-bit-…

Basic electricity terms

Voltage: The amount of work required to move electrons along a conductor.

Voltage (V) is measured as a potential difference between two poles, and can be considered analogous to pressure or force.

Current: The movement of electrons along a conductor.

Current is measured in amperes (amps, A), and is analogous to the flow of a fluid through a pipe. The greater the movement, the greater the…

When I got my MFA, I insisted that I go through two programs concurrently - one lighting design, and one sound design. My mentors allowed it, but they thought it almost killed me and they warned me that I would get jobs where the producer would expect me to do both designs.

I found this to be absolutely true. Now that projection has become more affordable, producers are expecting me to do all three for a production. This becomes problematic during tech when there needs to be…