The 2022 New World Rigging Symposium, taking place virtually April 5-7, brings together professional riggers, engineers, manufacturers, venue managers, educators, and students to further their rigging knowledge, hear about challenging projects, get up to speed on new technologies, discuss current industry challenges, and get their questions answered.Read More »The 2022 New World Rigging Symposium Announces Sessions
Stage Directions has learned that Technical Director, Lina (Jean) Burch, 47, passed away quietly in her home in Kenosha, WI on December 1, 2021 at the age of 47. She had been working as the Technical Director at Milliken University since August 2020. Burch wrote for her blog Technical Direction Tidbits since 2007 and was very involved with the USITT Midwest Regional Section where she currently served as the Vice Chair of Programming on the Board of Directors and had been a Director at Large. Prior to her position at Milliken, she had freelanced as a project manager and technical director in the Chicago area and worked for a number of years at Chicago Scenic Studios as a project manager. Burch had an MFA in Technical Design and Production from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. We at PLSN and Stage Directions send our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues in the industry. Here is a recent remembrance from USITT, which Burch was very involved over her theater career.Read More »In Memoriam: Lina (Jean) Burch, Technical Director and Project Manager
ETC is expanding its sales team with two new regional managers. Jerry Kraft has been appointed Rigging Regional Manager for the West Coast, and Herman ‘Herm’ Sayre joins ETC as the Rigging Regional Manager for the East Coast.Read More »ETC Hires Two Rigging Regional Sales Managers
Full vaccination to be required for children under twelve beginning January 29
The Broadway League announced today that the owners and operators of all 41 Broadway theatres in New York City are extending mask and vaccine requirements through April 30, 2022, along with the Buy With Confidence program which allows for flexible exchanges and refunds.Read More »Broadway’s Mask and Vaccination Policy Extended to April 30
“For Mischief’s Magic Goes Wrong, it is the show that is comedy chaos on stage,” opens its lighting designer, David Howe. “It must never be the lights that go wrong!”
Co-written by Mischief and international magicians, Penn and Teller, Magic Goes Wrong, first opened at London’s Vaudeville Theatre in 2019 before touring the UK since July ’21. A West End version returned to London in October with a relaunch at the Apollo Theatre that will run until February 2022. The comedy play is presented as a fundraiser and features a string of inept magicians doing their best acts to raise money for ‘disasters in magic’. The result is a fast-paced variety show with high production values and great audience interaction.Read More »Ayrton Diablo—Lights that Don’t Go Wrong
Malcolm McLaren, PE, Founder and Chairman, is pleased to announce the next phase of McLaren Engineering Group’s succession plan with the appointment of Jeremy Billig, PE, current President, to the role of CEO. Billig will be taking the helm of McLaren’s operational structure as Mal shifts into a new strategic position as Executive Chairman of the Board.Read More »Jeremy Billig Succeeds Malcom McLaren as CEO of the McLaren Engineering Group
The UK panto season is back with a big bang after waiting in the wings during 2020 as the country squared up to Covid-19, reigniting all things panto like slapstick comedy, low-brow innuendo, gawdy sets, psychedelic vibrance, and total craziness for which it’s known and appreciated, with lighting designers around the country delighted to be back working on this peculiarly English—and highly expressive genre of performance.Read More »Robe Adds Magic to Cinderella Panto Production
The 1/52 Project is a newly launched financial grant program which will offer $15,000 grants to theater designers. The project hopes to encourage early career designers from historically excluded groups with the aim of diversifying and strengthening the Broadway design community. The 1/52 project is funded by designers with shows running on Broadway who are encouraged to donate one week every year of their weekly royalties to this fund, thus the name of 1/52 Project.Read More »The New 1/52 Project Grant Program Encourages Early Career Theater Designers and Industry Diversity
Joshua Henry Jenkins has been appointed as the new director of marketing of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre. Jenkins will be responsible for creating, implementing, and measuring the success of a comprehensive marketing plan that advances TCG’s mission to lead for a just and thriving theatre ecology. Working with a portfolio that includes individual membership, events, and publishing, Jenkins will raise the valuation of TCG’s programs within the theatre field while championing the not-for-profit theatre to the broader culture.Read More »TCG Appoints Joshua Henry Jenkins as Director of Marketing
The Long Reach Long Riders and Behind the Scenes will host their annual fundraising raffle at the USITT Conference March 3-5 in Baltimore, MD. This year’s raffle will celebrate the 19th Anniversary of the Long Reach Long Riders annual charity motorcycle ride. The Riders, who have raised over $800,000 for charity in their years of touring, will be riding June 18-24 on the “Blue Ridge Ramble” tour through the Appalachian Mountains.Read More »The LRLR Raffle and the BTS Boutique Benefit Behind the Scenes at USITT 2022
Black Theatre Coalition co-founders T. Oliver Reid, Warren Adams, and Reginald “Reggie” Van Lee, announced new leadership within the organization. Black Theatre Coalition (BTC), the organization aiming “to build a sustainable, ethical roadmap to increase employment opportunities for Black theatre professionals” brings on Lico Whitfield as Program Director and Olivia Jones as Executive Director.Read More »Black Theatre Coalition Announces New Executive Director and Program Director
Mental Health First Aid Training Classes for January and February 2022 are now posted on the Behind the Scenes website. Do you know how to respond if you see someone who is deeply depressed, having a anxiety attack, or showing signs of alcoholism? Just as CPR helps you assist an individual having a heart attack, Mental Health First Aid helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis.Read More »Make a Difference in 2022 – Become a Mental Health First Aider