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Stories can change in an instant. Whether it’s love’s first kiss, or finding out you’ve been kissing your mother, one pivotal moment can change a play completely. And when those moments happen, it’s only natural to want to highlight them—this is theatre after all. Shouldn’t it be theatrical? We spoke to companies that specialize in special effects to find out how they help take things to the next level.
From a heart-stopping knife-throwing sequence to the startling sight of a child moving objects with her mind, Paul Kieve, the only illusionist ever to win a Drama Desk Award, has perfected a deceptively low-tech method for fooling the most discerning theatre-goer’s eye. Currently, his magical SFX grace Broadway in the smash revival of Pippin, as well, as in the captivating adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda. Kieve’s previous theatrical achievements include Ken Hill’s legendary UK production of The Invisible Man, and Matthew Warchus’ moving stage version of the film Ghost. Kieve journeyed from magic-obsessed kid to visual wizard, and credits his truly innovative approach of creating theatrical sleight-of-hand to a mixture of simplicity, ingenuity and collaboration.
He may have started his Broadway career as a performer, but Jerry Mitchell quickly found himself on the other side of the table choreographing Broadway hits like Hairspray, The Full Monty and the most recent revival of La Cage aux Folles, for which he won a Tony Award for best choreography. Now he’s back on the Great White Way as both director and choreographer of the new musical Kinky Boots, with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein.
Ten dead horses, hanging from the fly loft, in forced perspective. A vacuum cleaner that moves around the stage on its own. A giant robot that fights with actors. Sometimes, a props master does not even know where to begin.
Lighting systems are getting bigger. Where a 24-channel console and dimmers would have been sufficient for a regional theatre, now there is talk of multiple DMX universes, protocols and networking. We could spend many pages debating the merits of larger and more complex systems, but with low-cost LED technology, improved processor chips and PC-based consoles, chances are you’ve already experienced part of this growth. Now it’s time to make sense of it.
As soon as Indiana Wesleyan University’s Theatre Guild finalized their 2012-2013 season, with Pygmalion in the fall of 2012 and Secret Garden in the spring of 2013, we started discussing staging. As technical director for the IWU Theatre Guild (Dr. Greg Fiebig), scene shop supervisor for the same (Ryan Akers) and scenic designers for each of the shows, we were both wary of the elaborate scene changes that mark both plays.
Kinky Boots has become a bona fide Broadway hit, complete with 13 Tony nominations. One of those—Best Sound Design for a Musical—recognized the outstanding work that Sound Designer John Shivers contributed to the show. And no wonder, the show covers a lot of audio styles. The pop music score from Composer/Lyricist Cyndi Lauper ranges from synth-driven ‘80s pop to ballads to disco-ish dance tunes. Shivers strikes a nice sonic balance where the dialogue and the music are both heard crystal clear.
Unlike works that exist only in the moment and then are forgotten, those we dub “classics” keep their relevance for decades—even centuries. This month’s roundup of new books and videos focuses on the works of four classic playwrights.
Touring a show can hold many unpleasant surprises. I learned that the hard way one cold January afternoon, my first time on the road as a young TD with the Des Moines Metro Opera’s “Opera Iowa” tour. We pulled into a recital hall to load in our performance of Cosi Fan Tutte and as I walked into the space, my face fell. I turned to the house TD and reiterated the fact that we said we needed a performance space that was 18 feet wide and 15 feet deep. “But it is that big,” the house TD replied—ignoring the fact that the back wall of his stage was semicircular. Sure, at its widest and deepest point the stage was 18-by-15, but that didn’t mean my set was going to fit.
It was a long time coming for Indiana’s Butler University. Talk of building an appropriately sized arts center for Butler’s Jordan College of the Arts has swirled around the campus for decades, propagated by, but also surviving, two school presidents, two Arts College deans, an acting dean and many chairs of departments.
I won’t lie: When I was in my 20s and working in the theatre, I was dirt poor. The type of poor where even Kraft Macaroni & Cheese was too pricy—it was store brand generic all the way. I’m not complaining (though I did at the time), I’m just stating it as a fact, so you can imagine how I laughed whenever the theatres would start their annual fund drives by asking their employees to give a little back to the theatre.
The ADJ WiFly Wireless DMX Transceiver is a wireless DMX transmitter/receiver in one. It operates on a 2.4 GHZ frequency and can be used at distances up to 500 feet with compatible fixtures in ADJ’s WiFly Series. Also featured: the Vizi Beam Hybrid 2R, offering tight 4° beam angles; the Inno Spot LED, powered by a 45W LED source; and the Pixel Pulse Bar, an LED color strobe/wash bar with 5-zone pixel-control.
The Christie InControl projector mobile app for iOS devices helps users manage their Christie 3-chip DLP M Series and J Series projectors. The InControl app provides a responsive user interface to commonly used projector functionality, such as power on/off, shutter control, test pattern selection, and lens zoom and focus, in addition to more advanced projector functionality like 2D keystone and color management. Users can scan for available projectors on their local Wi-Fi network to add them to a group, or to manually type in the IP address of the desired projector. The App based Wi-Fi control provides a flexible alternative to infrared projector remotes, which can sometimes be out of range or misplaced.
Elation Professional’s new Level Q7 and Level Q7 IP LED fixtures are flat, par-style fixtures with RGBW color mixing, a narrow 7° beam angle/13° field angle and a highly efficient optical system powered by a 100,000-hour Quad-Color RGBW 15-watt LED engine from Osram. Both Level Q7s contain seven high-output 15-watt 4-in-1 (red, green, blue and white) LEDs capable of producing up to 3,636 Lux at 5 meters. The fixtures also have a rainbow effect, strobe/pulse effect, 0-100% theatrical grade dimming, and 8 auto program chase macros. The die cast aluminum case features power/data linking via Neutrix 5-pin DMX and power-con in/out connections. They also come with a Gel Frame and Holder Kit for even more flexible options. Additionally the Level Q7 IP model comes with IP67-rated power/data linking cables, and the case is rated at IP65 to withstand dust and rain.
Clear-Com has improved its Tempest Digital Wireless Intercom system to expand its coverage. The new Tempest900 BeltStation comes with an advanced Planar Inverted-F Antenna (PIFA) with an omnidirectional signal pattern that can receive a connection from any direction. Backward compatible with Tempest900 firmware version 3.0, the new BeltStations are fully compatible with both two- and four-channel versions of the Tempest900 BaseStations and BeltStations. The longer wavelengths and wider symbol width of this band allow the system’s signals to permeate dense walls and other structural objects more easily.
LSC Lighting Systems and OpenClear have released version 2.0 of their Clarity lighting control software. Version 2.0 includes a huge array of enhancements, bug fixes as well as updates for full compatibility with the latest versions of the Mac and Windows operating systems. Some new features and improvements include: enhanced dimmer display, the ability to playback audio tracks and fade them in and out, MBox media server integration, a search field in the patch window and more. This release also brings the software in line with the recently released LX range of consoles so that features are common across the software and hardware platforms. The latest software also includes virtual consoles enabling users to operate their software as a virtual LX300, LX600 or LX900.
Apollo Design Technology, Inc.’s new Little Focus 5 Wrench is a closed-end wrench designed to provide easy access to common bolt sizes found in the industry: 3/4", 1/2", and 3/8”. Made from durable stainless steel, the LF5 is a sleek, handy tool for your focusing needs.
The RF-Vue, series, from Kaltman Creations’ Invisible Waves brand, is a line of tablet RF Analyzers. The flagship model is the RF-Vue T10, a 10-inch touchscreen tablet with the full Windows 8 operating system. The RF-Vue T10 covers the standard wireless microphone and IEM frequency range of 470MHz to 700MHz. Additional models are available which offer greater frequency ranges, plus there are standalone RF electronics/software modules for use with user-supplied computers or tablets.
The Messenger from Trinculo’s Attic is a rack-mount device for interfacing show control systems such as Qlab with projector systems, Crestron, and other serial triggered systems. Instead of changing the show control system when upgrading projectors or other devices, The Messenger can be easily reprogrammed to output the correct command strings.
Mehron has redesigned their Mini Pro Kit for individual makeup applications. The Kits now include four foundation colors to choose from, each color has enough product for seven to 10 applications. There are colors for highlight and shadows and separate colors for cheeks and lips. For application, it includes sponges, full-length pencil and brushes, and to finish it off the Colorset Powder and puff. The Kit is complete with an eight page booklet that instructs basic makeup application for male and female.
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