Bear with me, I’m in the process of forming an opinion. It has to do with authenticity, that is writing from a place of authenticity.

And the opinion I’m forming goes something like this: In order to write from a place of authenticity something about your subject must resonate with you.

I’m not saying one can’t write outside their own experience. For crying out loud that’s what we do whenever we write plays: use our imagination to create a world in of itself. Yes, it’s informed…

Even though it comes every year, some how passing through late November - entering the time of year fondly (?!) known as "The Holidays" always takes me by surprise.

This time can be nuts for the most balanced of people - and for me it's no exception. This time of year is one of the fullest for me at work - this is the middle of our season, which means I have multiple shows on my plate - one in production, one in rehearsal, one entering rehearsal in less than a week, and 4 in design -…

I write this in the wee hours sitting at Indianapolis Airport waiting to board a flight to Newark, New Jersey; I'm revisiting a design for A Christmas Carol at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, whichwe last opened in 2007. This is the Neil Bartlett version, which is interesting for its commitment to the language and darkness of the original Dickens novel, as well as for its ensemble approach, using actors on stage in multiple roles and to create sonic landscapes (as the clerks,…

I have something I really need to apologize for: I've never done a good enough job of thanking the people who've brought my stories to life.

I have, on occasion, written small, personal notes of thanks to cast and director and crew, but it never felt sufficient. I have baked things and brought them to rehearsals, I have bought rounds of drinks, I have sought out each collaborator and offered a few private words of gratitude... but none of it feels like it's enough.

I'm not sure…

The older I get, the more concerned I am about my ears. They're easily half of my skill set, and how many of us know an older rock and roll roadie turned theatre tech doing audio who's lost huge chunks of his/her hearing? Who may or may not recognize this, and may or may not know how to compensate for it. One of my worst nightmares is becoming that tech.

So - the older I get the more I pay attention to taking care of my ears.

The first thing I tell anyone who…

I've rhapsodized in the past about how thankful i am to work at a professional theatre in residence on the campus of a major university, particularly one that functions in part as a teaching lab for production graduate programs, because safety standards and training are so high. Despite having a CV approximately 10x longer than my arm, PlayMakers/UNC-Chapel Hill is the first employer i've worked for…

(Part one can be found here.)

Picking up where we left off...

4) "who what, who…

UPDATE: This afternoon's meeting went without a hitch! The structural engineer had some questions for us about the horizontal lifeline; additionally, he wanted to do some further background reading on the OSHA regulations related to what we're trying to do. But for all intents and purposes, we passed today's test easily. The University safety official we've been working with is ready to move on to developing and approving a training regime and to support us…

Good intentions count very little if your solution doesn’t solve the problem. “I was going to do that”, “It was on my ‘To Do’ List”, and “Well, it was better than nothing” are common phrases you hear for half-assed attempts to resolve an issue. A change of attitude might be to look at Paul McCartney’s theme music lyrics to the James Bond movie ‘Live and Let Die’:…

Feedback is a curious thing. We want it, even when we don’t.

I myself am wrestling with feedback at the moment. Wrestling because the feedback I recently received, while genuinely given to benefit me and my play, was a bit prescriptive in nature. I myself try to avoid telling another playwright how to write/rewrite their play, even when I’m asked to do just that. When it comes to giving feedback I prefer to pose questions, to point out where I might be confused in the narrative, to…

One of the most frequent (and heated) debates with audio folk is the question of using rechargeable batteries in wireless microphones and other gear. With the footprint dead alkaline batteries can make in a landfill, it's a reasonable topic to bring up.

For me personally, I'm a strong advocate of rechargeable for wireless headsets, back-up mics, and for smaller mic numbers or shorter run shows. Long show duration and large numbers of mics, I'm more inclined to want to use a…

A good friend of mine, Dr. Lou Campbell, recently authored a great piece in Texas Theatre Notes that describes the theatre plant features and functions in a context that many administrators may be better equipped to understand. The wording can be interpreted clearly to describe either a football / athletics complex or a fine arts venue.

Read it here:…

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a semester-long project the students in my project planning class are working on: an interactive workshop for a regional Indiana Thespians Festival we’ll be hosting at Purdue in December. The students have been plugging away at the project off and on all semester. (They recently admitted that they had strayed wildly from the project calendar…

Einstein once said “Everything should be a simple as possible, but no simpler.” This works on many levels in life, and Fortune Cookies are a good example. Just a few words can convey a large concept. A recent dining experience lead me to the confection wrapped advice “Don’t find fault, find a remedy.”

When it comes to safety…

If by now you still haven't seen or heard about the film Anonymous, well... click that link and learn all about it. There's a trailer that'll tell you pretty much everything you need to know.

I've been thinking about the film all day today. I happened to be in my car a bunch, which meant I listened to a lot of NPR, and my local affiliate has been airing a sponsorship blurb that calls Anonymous the movie…

A question I often get from fellow audio folks as well as theatre people in other areas, is: where do you buy your expendables? In sound, that means we're usually talking about batteries, condoms, canned air, contact cleaner, medical tape, and various hair clips, as well as cable, connectors, and miscellaneous hardware. With economic conditions such as they are, everyone's looking for a good deal... and audio departments are no exception.

Shopping for batteries or what have…

Another Monday, another blog on the performance side of theater. PS, how is it November already? 2011 Just barely began, how is it almost over?



Last week I talked about the difficulties of memorizing text. This week I want to touch on one of my favorite forms of theater where you don't have to memorize anything (and no, that's not the only reason I like it either.) Improvised theater is an amazing…

This week in my management class, we've been talking about tracking, variance, control and reporting--essentially, how to know when things get off-plan and start to fall behind or rack up costs beyond the expected budget, how to share that information effectively, and with whom you share it.

Easy enough questions, on the surface. But in order to answer questions about reporting, you need to know something about who you report to, and what your "status" relationships are…