The first North American Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference convened in the Michael Schimmel Performing Arts Center on the campus of Pace University in downtown New York City on July 20 and 21. More than 250 people from nine countries attended the conference and participated in a total of 18 panel discussions covering such topics as “The Future of Stage Machinery,” “The Greener Theatre,” “Design for Value” and more. In addition, keynote addresses were given by Richard Brett and Hugh Hardy and the Plenary Session was led by Steven Ehrenberg and David Taylor.
Brett created the concept of Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conferences, after which NATEAC was modeled, and organized two conferences in London in 2002 and 2006. He is a partner in Theatreplan LLP, an international theatre consulting firm.
The conference kicked off on Saturday night with a three-hour harbor cruise, complete with a close-up view of the New York City Waterfalls exhibit and an impromptu fireworks display. It ended on Tuesday with backstage tours at Lincoln Center and Radio City Music Hall. Ron Austin, executive director of the Lincoln Center Development Project, showed his intimate understanding of the vagaries of the industry at the conference dinner at Sardi’s on Monday night and left the audience in hysterics.
Bill Sapsis, conference director, noted, “The Conference exceeded my wildest expectations. It ran smoothly and we accomplished our main objective — communication. Attendees and panelists wanted to continue discussions long after the session closed and moved the dialog into the corridors and courtyard as we made ready for the next session. Breakfast and lunch had groups of people talking about the issues brought up in the previous panel or what they were hoping for from the next one. It was a remarkable information gathering and networking experience. We’re already working on the next one.”
Conference Director Bill Sapsis (at podium) introduces Richard Brett (seated left) and Hugh Hardy, who gave the keynote addresses at the start of NATEAC
View from the panelist’s side of the table
Full house in the “Project Commissioning: Issues, Attitudes and Strategies” panel discussion led by Adam Shalleck, AIA and founder of Shalleck Collaborative (left), Alexis Kurtz, Senior Consultant with Arup Acoustics (center), and Bob Murphy, President of Occam’s Razor Technical Services
Seated at the table are, from left to right: Eddie Raymond, VP of IATSE Local 16 in San Francisco, Monona Rossol, chemist, artist, and industrial hygienist, Drew Landmesser, production director of San Francisco Opera and Darrell Ziegler of Westlake Reed Leskosky in Phoenix.
David Taylor of Arup helped closed the Conference in the plenary session.
Richard Brett delivers the keynote address with a point regarding the role of experience in the programming of a performing arts project.
The panel for “Inspections and Maintenance: Sustaining Safety in the Factory” included Charles Swift, ASTC, Bill Sapsis, president of Sapsis Rigging and Conference organizer, and Tom Young, VP of marketing for J.R. Clancy, Inc.
Panelists Juhi Shareef, Sustainable Business Management for Arup, Scott Georgeson, AIA, Andy Hayles, Managing Director of Charcoalblue, Ltd., and David Taylor, Performing Arts Business Management for Arup, lead the discussion on “The Greener Theatre.”
View from the back of the panel discussion on “Designing a Safe Workplace: Thoughts on Backstage Careers Without Injury.”
The interactive nature of the Conference led to many exchanges between the attendees and the panels.
View from the panelist’s side of the table.
“Technical Standards: Rules? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Rules” was a lively panel discussion moderated by Karl Ruling of ESTA (right). Panelists included Jim Niesel, Senior Theatre Consultant with Arup, Ron Bonner, Technical Resources Manager for Professional Lighting and Sound, and Bill Conner, Principal of Bill Conner Associates, LLC.
