Being your own boss (or lack thereof) is everyone’s dream: Working for yourself with only you telling yourself what to do and where to go. No reporting to someone, turning in those damn TPS reports. Ah, the ultimate American dream, it is what this country of ours was founded on.
The recent revival of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man features a stellar cast performing a 52-year-old political drama that is as relevant and important today as when it first emerged. The compassionate Secretary William Russell (John Larroquette) and his less experienced, cutthroat competitor Senator Joseph Cantwell (Eric McCormack) play political rivals in the same party seeking the endorsement of former President Arthur “Artie” Hockstader (James Earl Jones). The escalating drama echoes the dirty tactics being used in modern politics, and the witty, often biting dialogue really transports audiences into this intense race that unfolds primarily in two hotel suites during convention time.
Given the general state of the economy, these are hardly the best of times. But when you take a close look at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Annual Festival, which was held in Indio, CA over two consecutive weekends in mid-April, it’s pretty obvious that they aren’t the worst of times, either.
Broadway Revives Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell
He’s baaack …
Broadway revivals of the Messianic musicals, Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell, are helping The Great White Way find religion, once again. Although this is the fourth time Superstar has been staged on Broadway (it’s only the Second Coming of Godspell), the music and grand story arcs of these Jesus sagas remain as gripping and powerful as ever.
Although she’s not really made of gunpowder and lead, Miranda Lambert is comfortable around firearms. But if lighting and production designer Chris Lisle jokingly claims to be “legitimately afraid of her,” the country singer who first gained national attention as a finalist on TV’s Nashville Star in 2003 can bank on her talent, and not just fearsomeness, for her fans and critical acclaim.
“We are busting at the seams,” says Doug Murray, who founded the Pottstown, PA-based Upstage Video in 2005.
To better serve its growing roster of clients, the company is expanding on three fronts. Along with the move from its current 8,000-square-foot home base to a 50,000 square foot building in the Philadelphia area later this year — “that should hold us for another year or two,” Murray laughs — the company recently expanded into a 10,000-square-foot facility in Boulder, CO, near Denver, and also acquired Los Angeles-based JumboScreen Co. (JSC) in April. Operations there will soon move from Thousand Oaks, CA to a 10,000-square-foot warehouse just 10 blocks from Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.
The DLV, the newest fixture in High End Systems’ line of digital lighting fixtures, combines media server technology with a 4,000-lumen projector in a compact yoke luminaire designed for small venues like clubs and theatre. Based on the same software platform as the larger DL.3, the DLV programs and operates with very few differences from the DL.3.
The Japanese Band’s big show at MSG got an assist from PRG
The Japanese group L’Arc-en-Ciel is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a world tour and making some concert history along the way. They became the first Japanese band to ever headline at New York’s Madison Square Garden (MSG) with their sold-out performance on March 25, 2012. Starting off the final leg of their world tour at MSG is a daunting undertaking — doubly so when you are starting off your first show with a brand new set, lighting, and video. The group decided to bring in concert touring production manager Tom Hudak to handle the Garden performance as well as the subsequent European dates and some of the Asian tour stops. PLSN spoke with Hudak about the MSG show.
Bamboo Group, known worldwide for its trend-setting 100,000-square-foot nightclub in Bucharest, Romania, recently opened the doors to a 27,000-square-foot, 950-capacity nightclub in the space previously occupied by the Paris Theater in Miami Beach. (The capacity, limited by a layout dominated with VIP tables and couches, will expand when additional seating areas open with the second floor mezzanine and patio later this year.)
Lighting Helps Turn Bayfront Restaurant into Hot Nightclub
It still is what it is — a neighborhood spot were Miamians can hang out in a family-owned restaurant, which it’s been since 2007. But expansion and a big vision fueled an evolution for the owners of Off the Hookah where the dinner plates are put away and hot nightclub is revealed — all in plain sight.In my day-to-day world, I teach some fairly high-tech classes in the digital projection realm, and the students who take these classes come from a wide range of technical backgrounds. For the most part, it’s a very tech-savvy group — eager to learn, and highly skilled in networking, troubleshooting, preventive maintenance and operations. This group is also very comfortable with new concepts and the methods required for setting up digital equipment.