Skip to content

Designing ‘New York, New York’

‘New York, New York’ is a big, spectacular Broadway musical with stunning designs that saw Scenic Designer Beowulf Boritt win a Tony Award and Lighting Designer Ken Billington get a Tony nomination. They tell us about how their designs evoke 1940’s New York and interpret it for a musical theater stylized staging.

Willa Kim Scholarship & Exhibition; News from Perdue and USITT

The Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has announced the recipients of 2023 The Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarship, honoring costume designer Willa Kim’s legacy and her life’s work as a pioneer, legend, and inspiration for many of today’s theater artists. Kim’s iconic work in ballet, theater, opera, and television is also the subject of a career spanning retrospective at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts as noted in this month’s theater news, along with a new online course in Structures for the Stage from Purdue University. We also look at USITT’s Gateway Program and USITT’s 2023 Joel E. Rubin Founders Award honoree, Elynmarie Kazle.

Remembering Nook: Family, Friends, and Colleagues Gather for a Celebration of Life in Minneapolis

The crowd gathered to Celebrate the Life of Richard “Nook” Schoenfeld with LD & MC John Featherstone leading the remembrances. Musicians Tom Liebermann on guitar, and Tim O’Keefe on percussion and harmonica added some live music to the evening.

Taking place after a sun-drenched April Fools Day that followed a surprise late-winter blizzard, the memorial service for Richard (a.k.a. Rick, a.k.a. Nook) Schoenfeld, packed the third floor event space above Brit’s Pub in Minneapolis with family, friends, and colleagues gathered to celebrate the former editor of PLSN’s life.Read More »Remembering Nook: Family, Friends, and Colleagues Gather for a Celebration of Life in Minneapolis

Elynmarie Kazle Honored with the USITT Joel E. Rubin Founders Award at USITT23

At the USITT 23 Conference in St. Louis, USITT honored Elynmarie Kazle with The Joel E. Rubin Founder’s Award, which is presented to a USITT member in recognition of outstanding and continued service to the Institute. This award was named in honor of Dr. Joel E. Rubin, co-founder and the second president of the Institute. Given to USITT members in recognition of extraordinary and continued service to the Institute, the award is presented as an important highlight of the Annual Conference & Stage Expo.Read More »Elynmarie Kazle Honored with the USITT Joel E. Rubin Founders Award at USITT23

Nook’s Lasting Legacy

Richard “Nook” Schoenfeld, noted Lighting Designer, Writer, and Editor Emeritus of PLSN, died Dec. 14, 2022 at age 65. In addition to his writing, editing, and designing, Nook joined the board of directors of the Parnelli Awards, where he created the NextGen category to highlight the work of up-and-coming people in the business. His career was marked by his generosity and mentoring. He always looked to shine the spotlight on people newer to the industry, helping their career take off. As a result, Nook’s true impact on the entertainment lighting field was not limited to his own accomplishments but can also be seen today in the work of the many designers he influenced and nurtured in their careers.

Filament Eleven 11 Gets Creative with Astera

The costume/set piece from ‘Scenes from a Yellow Peril’. Photo by Andi Crown

Auckland, New Zealand-based design studio Filament Eleven 11 is a creative tour de force combining the talents and imagination of lighting and visual artists Rachel Marlow and Brad Gledhill. Working across multiple genres – theatre, opera, dance, rock ‘n’ roll’ live events, installation, and light art – and embracing a mix of media and light forms, the company is known for its innovative and fun approach to enhancing storytelling with this unique form of expression.Read More »Filament Eleven 11 Gets Creative with Astera

Nook Schoenfeld: A Great Character

Remembrances of PLSN’s late Editor Emeritus Nook Schoenfeld from Terry Lowe, President of PLSN publisher Timeless Communications along with PLSN Editor Michael S. Eddy and Managing Editor Frank Hammel

In Memoriam: Richard ‘Nook’ Schoenfeld

A remembrance of Richard “Nook” Schoenfeld, 65. Editor Emeritus of PLSN magazine and a noted Lighting Designer and Writer, Nook died on the morning of Dec. 14, 2022. Though he had beaten pancreatic cancer this past year and was cancer-free, complications from that fight resulted in liver failure. He was a legend for his wit and kindness and his loss is felt by family, friends, colleagues, and the industry as a whole.

CHAUVET Professional Maverick Silens 2 Profile Makes Quiet Contribution to Concertgebouw Brugge

Music critics can be blunt, some might say even brutal, when expressing their opinions. So, concerts at any venue do not always receive rave reviews when it comes to their musical virtuosity. However, there is one thing that virtually every writer praises about every performance at Concertgebouw Brugge – the quality of the acoustics! Completed in 2002, the Paul Robbrecht and Hilde Daem designed venue has been hailed the world over for, as one critic wrote, “its acoustic wizardry,” the result of a series of technological innovations that reduce the length of reverberations.Read More »CHAUVET Professional Maverick Silens 2 Profile Makes Quiet Contribution to Concertgebouw Brugge