December 2010 Blog Posts (29)

In last week’s blog, I wrote that I would use this space to share my journey to develop the courses and curricula I’m teaching at Purdue. To begin, I thought I might explore some fundamental questions about theatre instruction: what is the place of realized productions in an academic program? What is the relationship between academic coursework and production work? How do you balance the academic needs of students involved in productions with the production needs for a…

Pierre's Costumes is currently working on Hunterdon Central's show of "Little Women" and we couldn't be more excited! Who doesn't love the characters Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy?! Such a strong bond between sisters and family. As soon as we started pulling the show I had to go home and watch the Wiona Ryder & Susan Sarandon movie version. Such a heart warming movie and perfect for this time of year. Now I'm itching to read the book again, one of my childhood…

For those of you that missed it in the news – A major Broadway Musical production of SpiderMan suffered a serious publicity snafu last week when the aerialist playing Spidey took and unexpected 30 foot dive off of the scenery. (…

About a month and a half ago, I was part of a long discussion on Twitter about whether MFA programs were any good for playwrights. My strong opinion then, as it is now, is that I wish they would just go away. As we all know from Outrageous Fortune -- or if you don't, where have you been? -- there are now a small number of MFA programs that are producing, one way or another, many…

Royal Caribbean International's Oasis Class of Ships - including the Oasis of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas - offer a host of features new to the cruising world with twin height loft cabins, a Boardwalk full of attractions, the Royal Promenade with a wide variety of shops and restaurants, Central Park with living grass and trees and a travelling bar!

SERAPID worked with the UK architect W S Atkins to develop the concept for the vertical movement of the…

I’m sitting to write this blog between projects – cleaning up holiday gunk and writing a strike list. When this blog posts, the ASF Christmas musical, Peter…

Vocal health is a crucial topic for anyone who makes their living with their voice. From actors…

Hey, everybody!

I sat down to write my first official blog post for TheatreFace.com, but I had too many ideas come to mind --- "How to Protect the Voice During Cold Months," "College Audition Prep" (lots of colleges have auditions in the Spring), or maybe "How to Stay Sane When the Show is Going Crazy." But I can't decide!

If you have a specific question or situation you'd like me to address, please let me know! The TheatreFace.com community is a great group…

Meet the new TheatreFace.com blog team!

Thank you everyone who offered to blog for TheatreFace.com! I was blown away by the enthusiasm, experience and skill of all our members. After a lot of reading, and even more deliberating, I’ve selected the winning bloggers. Without further ado, I give you the new blogging cast on TheatreFace.com!

Trish…

I'm a theatre professional - mostly sound. I write. I spend a lot of time on the net. So I'm going to combine the three, and write about theatre sound via a TheatreFace blog. To introduce myself (in a nutshell): My bachelor's is in technical theatre from Southern Utah University with emphasis in sound, electrics, and stage management. I joined the Alabama Shakespeare Festival as resident sound designer in 2007. I've designed sound for over 20 productions in my tenure at ASF, and have also…

I've been a writer now, working in one genre or another, for more than (ulp) 20 years. I began my career as a poet, wandered through fiction, and even made my way for a while as a journalist, reviewing both books and restaurants and even covering sports for a while. It wasn't until I found playwriting, however, that I really felt like I'd genuinely come home. The genre fit me -- like it had always been there, just out of my line of sight, waiting for me to realize it was my one true love.…

As you may have heard / read, TheatreFace has asked us few of us to blog on a regular basis about what we think, do, and see as a part of our involvement in the performing arts. As an introduction, I'd like to provide you with a bit of information about my background, so you might better understand where my blogging perspective is coming from.

I've always been a big fan of storytelling of many forms - be it books, movies, or live presentations. As a child, my…

That question dominated my life when I was hired to head the MFA program in Technical Direction at Purdue six years ago. I certainly thought it often, and without a doubt it formed the subtext for nearly every conversation I had with my new colleagues, my students, the support staff, my (then-soon-to-be) wife, even my dog. I couldn't quite allow myself the vulnerability of confessing I didn't have the slightest clue what I was doing, of course; but, nevertheless, I fretted over the…

Hi, everybody!

My name is Trish Causey, and I will be writing about Performing, Stage Management, Vocal Training, and Audition Techniques.

BIO:

Trish Causey is a multi-faceted performing and creative artist. Currently, she is the Theatre Guide for About.com, a New York Times company. Trish is a professional Production Stage Manager of Theatre, Opera, and Ballet, and teaches Voice, Scene Study, and Audition workshops. She has performed in…

While I was finishing up one of my interviews I thought of one more question that had had me wondering for a while. Without thinking about where I was I blurted out the question, “Why is every one so crazy about the word Macbeth?” Thru-out my short experience with the theatre I was told that Macbeth is the last thing you want to say in the playhouse. In fact my friends had gone so far as to make me run and knock on the nearest piece of…

Did I miss something? Who won Theatre Blog-a-palooza? OMG-LOL-WTF! Studio Mike-OUT!

Alright, I know some of you may be sick of my flogging for bloggers, so here's some fun theatre videos for your weekend enjoyment!

First up, Avenue Clue. Over on Playbill.com the cast of Avenue Q have cooked up a murder mystery sketch comedy called Avenue Clue. Here's Part 1. You can check out Part 2 on the Playbill.com site.

I haven't been…

Very interesting argument about the use of scenic design onstage or spilling into the audience. Is environmental theatre the wave of the future?

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/theater-talkback-the-exploding-art-of-set-design/?hpw

You pull your self apart. Just a bit. Not to where you are no more, but to where you are not your own person. You become some sort of clone. You look alike but your not. Your two people, yet your one person. You just hide part of yourself. You modify every part of who you once were. You lie, sneak, fly, cry, win, and fail. Welcome to acting. It's the dangerous business of Theatre. Now all you do is pray that your not lost somewhere in this completely different dimension.