There’s no WiFi in the arena where the award winners are in conversation, so I won’t be live-blogging this, just blog-blogging this.

The Distinguished Award Winners and moderators, from left to right are: Susan Threadgill, Shirley Prendergast, Kevin Rigdon (moderator), Jim Bakkom, Eugene Lee, Ann Roth, Michael Mayer (moderator), Dana Taylor, and Bob McCarthy.

From the USITT brochure about these fine folks:

Susan Threadgill - Director of Production for University Events at the University of Texas at Austin. In her 30-year career in the arts, she has been an actor, playwright, technician, stage manager, production manager, producer, director, combat choreographer, and librettist. She has worked with most of the major performing arts organizations in Austin, including the Austin Lyric Opera, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Shakespeare, and the singing group Conspirare. As an educator, she has a reputation as a generous mentor to young technicians, managers, and performers as they took their first steps to their own careers. She now oversees giant events including an annual UT open house for 45,000 students and a Commencement ceremony for 8,500 graduates, 350 faculty, and 25,000 guests.

Shirley Prendergast - Pioneering LD. The first African-American woman lighting designer to gain admittance to the United Scenic Artists in 1969 and the first to design for a Broadway show in 1973. She has worked for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Negro Ensemble Company, and Crossroads Theatre, among others.

Jim Bakkom – Scenic design, props. '65-'74 propsmaster for Guthrie. Then freelance set designer. More than 500 freelance credits.

Eugene Lee – Legendary scenic designer. Broadway: Wicked, You're Welcome America: A Final Night with George W Bush, The Homecoming, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Pirate Queen. He has been resident designer at Trinity Repertory since 1967. He holds BFA degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon, an MFA from Yale and three honorary doctorates. He has been the production designer at Saturday Night Live since 1974. He has received the Tony Award, American Theatre Wing's Design Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, Lucille Lortel Award, Elliot Norton Award and Pell Award. He was recently inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame. An adjunct professor at Brown University, he lives with his wife Brooke in Providence, where they raised their two sons. Mr. Lee has won Tony Awards for Candide, Sweeney Todd and most recently, Wicked.

Ann Roth – Tony- and Oscar-winning costume designer and the subject of a new USITT monograph, The Designs of Ann Roth. Her credits include, Broadway: The Nance (Tony winner), Death of a Salesman, The Book of Mormon (Tony winner), The Odd Couple, The House of Blue Leaves, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; Film: Midnight Cowboy, Klute, Day of the Locust, Places in the Heart, The Goodbye Girl, Working Girl, The Birdcage, Silkwood, The English Patient (Oscar winner), Cold Mountain, Mamma Mia, Julie and Julia, many more. She was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2011.

Dana Taylor – Served as director of Vocal Music and Technical Theatre instructor at Mt. Vernon Senior High School for twenty-three years. Mr. Taylor is a member USITT, PLASA, and the Educational Theatre Association. Mr. Taylor has contributed articles to PL&SN, Dramatics magazine and Teaching Theatre Journal. He is the Technical Editor of Dramatics magazine and Teaching Theatre Journal. Mr. Taylor is an adjunct faculty member teaching secondary theatre methods at the University of Evansville’s Dept. of Theatre. Dana has been honored as the 2005 Technical Theatre Educator of the Year by Stage Directions magazine and has received the Educational Theatre Association Founders’ Award for significant contributions to theatre education in the United States and he serves on the board of directors for The ESTA Foundation.

Bob McCarthy – a pioneer in the development of Meyer Sound’s source independent measurement system (SIM). Mr. McCarthy has helped push the science of tuning sound systems from laboratories into the practical world of theaters, arenas, and stadiums. He is recognized worldwide as a specialist in sound system design and optimization and has shared his experience throughout his career.

First question: Who was your mentor?

Shirley: Tom Skelton. Tom made her take the exam to be a lighting designer for USA829. “Tom said it was a great traumatic experience, and he was right.”

Ann Roth: Irene Sharaff. Painting scenery at Bucks County Playhouse and Gene Rosenthal said you ought to meet Irene. She said “How’d you like to work for no money.”

“I wanted to wear a big hat and a cigarette holder and she looked like she could make that happen.”

Joined her in Calif to work on Brigadoon as 2d or 3d assistant. There she started having the discussion with Sharaff: Who makes best costume designers? Those who want to be assistants, or designers? She’s just learning answer now. Asked the answer, and she said “I don’t want to divulge that. If you are all designers, it’s something to think about.” Sharaff said 5 movies and 5 Broadway shows, then cut the apron strings.

Susan: Attending SMU training to be playwright. No program. Had to work in each tech discipline, met the TD. He directed her to stage management. She went to grad school at UT, started as assistant, then in 5 years became production SM.

Dana: “There’s no specific person in theatre that inspired me.” Because he has no background in theatre. A professor encouraged him, and Paul Swanson let him play on all of his productions and just let him try things and spend money.

Jim: A quite long list… “Lou and Tanya turned me around and sent me into the world of theatre. I was so desperate to please that everything was right.” Funniest story of a mess up – not at the time: The Way of the World was in rep at the Guthrie, and he was assigned to build an Italianite wheelbarrow. He got it done, but not very good. “Dr. Guthrie was going to come into the shop and look at how things were going. He ended up by wheelbarrow. There was a wreath on the wheelbarrow and he said “Cut that.” That was my beginning.”

Bob: Paul McCartney had a band before Wings. The Beatles on Ed Sullivan inspired him with magic of live event. Part of improv music groups and wanted to be a part of something happening in real time. Recording never as great as in a room with audience and performers onstage. The scientific side-John Meyer. Bob thought he was smart until he walked into Meyer Sound.

Eugene: I don’t know. I just make it up as it goes along. “I get up out of bed every morning and try to have a new idea.”

Michael asked: Where do you think you became yourself, and found your own identity as an artist. When do you find a production is most enjoyable?

Shirley: It’s really good when it all comes together. This is a cooperative art and if you can’t work with other people, you’re in trouble. Anything I do I try to make not just bearable, but enjoyable for me and if the director likes it too, that’s fine.

How do you overcome a difficult situation?

Shirley: Ignoring it.

Jim: Asked if the audience was familiar with the Julius Caesar fire onstage at the Guthrie. Aztec motif in scenery. Previews , everyone thought was great because when roman soldiers made a rebellion, a series of flash pots went off. And stagehands threw chunks of “body parts” into audience of a 20-foot-tall staute into crowd. The show had been running for a week, past opening night. Got home, was told to call the Guthrie. On this night, the cue went along, the flash pots went up, smoke was hanging in the house and everyone thought “What a great effect” Because it was not a fog machine. Then stage manager noticed the smoke wasn’t getting thinner. It kept going. And pretty soon the audience is getting out of their seats, and someone says “the head’s on fire.” The flash pots were uncapped, and the white foam caught “on fire” and produced a gas that exploded. In the shops. Peter Zeller, a founder of the Guthrie and the administrators were down there. They got the piece of scenry out of the play, and the fire deparmtnet had to chop up the Styrofoam head so it wouldn’t re-ignite. Zeller looked at Jim and said “We have a matinee in two days.” Subtext: No head, no Jim. Jim and one stagehand worked overnight for a couple days and everyone came by to make snarky remarks about them trying to blow up the theatre.

Question: What happens if you burn Styrofoam?

Jim: “You die eventually.” (It creates cyanide.)

Eugene: Finally came up with someone who inspired him: “My English teacher in Deloitte Wisconsin.”

Bob: When you are on a winning team. Coming together with good art and great science and not having i-beams blocking your speakers.

Ann: Sharaff told me a long long time ago if you get 70% of what you want you’re doing great. Know what little fights you don’t need to have. “The ideal thing is that you are the support of the director. He wants it to look like he designed it.” She’s caught a lot of flack for that comment/philosophy. She works with a lot of the same people over and over. She’s working with three new directors this year. (Takes a deep breath.) “If I can walk out of stage door and say ‘If they don’t touch that I’m happy.’ If I get paid, I’m happy. I’m very very particular about my crew. That comes first for me. The contract is when they hate you the most. You must insist on all the things you want and that includes the crew.” During Raisin in the Sun, she designed, they made it, the actors were happy. She started bagging on lighting designers. Because they come in last and directors feel the LD’s are their only support, and that costume designer is abandoning them…

Susan: “Happy people make better art.” Used to be teased that she kept the cleanest floor in opera. Which might seem excessive, but when you see a diva get up from the floor in disgust and wipe hands on clothes “You make a clean stage.” Other best moment is in performance, when you can make designer and director happy and ride the moment.

Eugene: I’m always happy. Stage design is highly overrated. “I’m always a little suspicious of sound people” They tell you have to have this piece, and here’s how much it costs. Why? Who knows. You just have to have it. “Sometimes it actually works. And that makes me happy.”

Bob: (evil laugh as he accepts the role of a villainous and mysterious sound designer). Then he told the story of putting Constellation system into Jimmy Fallon’s studio for the Tonight Show. The room is very very dead, but then you turn on the system and you can change the acoustics in the room to whatever you want it to be. “It’s the future of acoustics.” Any time you build a room “you’re stuck with the walls you got.” But if you can make the room anything you want, that’s great. Speakers have to get integrated with design.

Ann: This is a costume hint. With a costume not necessarily made to order. Half and half. Familiar with Midnight Cowboy? Ann convinces Dustin that they’re going to create a character together. She had his costume in a closet, that she’s decided what its’ going to be. Dustin comes into fitting room, and they’re going to create a character, but she knows its’ already created. “Just be a dummy for a minute and just let me play.” Actor goes with it. She gave him weighted shoes to make him walk funny, then stolen glass rings, then a badly dyed ugly suit. Many shirts for him to try and more. They start trying things on, and in the room comes someone from company to do a hem. She asked for rotten suspenders. The place was a disaster. And suddenly you look in mirror and there’s someone in the mirror that’s not Dustin and not Anne. It’s a character and it’s very exciting. As that happens, you just keep going. The right shirt and the right shoe and it all falls into place. That happens on every single thing I’ve ever done.

Michael asked Dana about risk. What is important, what risks have you taken? How do you encourage young budding artists to take risks and fail.

Dana: “Biggest risk you take every day is just showing up.” Teaching is reactive. Whatever you thought you were getting ready for is not what you’re going to do that day. Have to meet kids where they are. Personal risk taking: he doesn’t think what he does is risky. Worst that happens is that it won’t work, and that will be OK. Failure is OK. He’s a bit of a micromanager with students because he wants them to succeed. So this year he’s staying out of booth more to give them more room to encourage artistry and let htem play.

Bob: “I do puzzle solving and there’s always a risk because you might not do well.” Sound is challenging because it’s invisible, which means everyone has an opinion on it. The risk you take is to push yourself not to get into habits and pioneer past what you know and see if you can do it better.

Shirley Prendergast: “Biggest risk I ever took was to use just one nightlight onstage. The director liked it, so it worked.”

Question from audience: How do you fulfill yourself artistically outside of theatre?

Ann Roth: She likes working out of the country.

Eugene: “I have the best time. Then it’s not like work.”

Q from Audience: How’d you learn where you wanted to specialize?

They pass the mic over to Susan, who has had a tremendous amount of jobs…

Susan: Started in Shakespeare and straight plays, then was asked to fill in as SM for opera. Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring. A very difficult musical opera. Her worst rehearsal ever. But she learned it, and got tagged as someone who could do opera. Then she went back to Shakespeare to see if she really wanted to do opera. The part of show she like most was the live guitar underscoring soliloquies. So yeah, she decided music/opera was where she was at.

Dana: Try to find a way to do more of what excites you. “Bloom where you’re planted.” It’s not just he skill you’re learning, but the skill of knowing how to be a colleague.

Bob: Start off with as general a platform as you can, then see what doors open, and go there.

Q from audience: Most terrifying experience?

Eugene: My first B’way show. “Dude.” The first thing we do is we take out all the seats. Extende the mezzanine. Then put in a lighting grid by destroying plaster ceiling. Then Local One brought in a bunch of dirt and put it all over. No one liked the dirt, it had to all be taken away. “Not good for one’s first show. Funny now, but not at the time.” Stagehands called him “Helen Keller” because he didn’t speak at the time. He didn’t walk into Broadway theatre for years.

Q from audience: How do you deal with collaborators who think they’re experts in something?

Bob: Learned a trick in Japan, which has a culture of “Face saving” You don’t want to make anyone look bad. He’s adapted an approach like that. If he sees something’s not going to work, but the designer and his crew is there, he tries to make the guy look good. You bring the person in, and let the person discover it. Lead them to a point where they discover it for themselves. Then ask them what they think they should do. Then they still get to be in charge of the show. Find a way to keep everybody looking and feeling good. You’ve made a friend for life. Don’t play the “I’ve been through these many productions… blah blah blah. The puff up thing is very ugly.”

One last announcement from Richard Pilbrow. Reminding the audience who Wally Russell was and the Wally Russell Foundation. He’s giving the lifetime distinguished achievement award. And the award goes to Jules Fisher. Jules can’t be there, so they played a short video.