Larry Baker

Baker at Crown
Crown International has named Larry Baker marketing director for portable PA, recording and broadcast. The appointment was announced by Mark Graham, Crown’s vice president of marketing and product development. 

Baker brings diverse experience to the position, with more than a decade of business development and strategic marketing experience with major consumer and high- tech B2B companies. He has spearheaded numerous go-to-market and product line strategies including reestablishing RCA audio products in the U.S. and launching the distribution and sale of GE Communication products internationally. Baker received both his BS in chemical engineering and MBA from Purdue University.

“We are excited to have Larry join our team,” says Graham. “Larry’s extensive skills in market analysis and business development really complement our team and make it much stronger. Larry will be a key asset for Crown going forward, as we continue to strengthen our position within the market segments we serve.”

New U.S. Facility for Selecon
Selecon has moved its warehousing facility to larger premises in Forest Hill, Maryland, run by U.S. regional sales manager Scott Church. “It’s another step made necessary by our success in the U.S. market and therefore very welcome,” says Jeremy Collins, Selecon’s president. “The combination of high-quality, innovative features and leading performance are seeing our Selecon ellipsoidals, fresnels and cyc fixtures being used in an ever-increasing number of colleges, community theaters, schools and churches around the country. We are using this opportunity to integrate our distribution and sales office in Maryland to simplify our dealer and market support.”

Barbizon’s New England facility had previously served as a stocking warehouse for Selecon. “The Barbizon Boston team has done a fantastic job managing our sales orders and dealer shipping for us,” says Collins.“Special thanks to Tom McGrath, who has always made it happen for our dealers around the country. This support service has been a significant factor in building our business and reputation in North America.”

Rob "Lucky" Ludlow

TMB Gets Lucky
TMB announced the addition of Rob “Lucky” Ludlow to the company’s U.K. sales department. Originally from South Africa, Ludlow moved to London and worked for ETC Europe and Whitelight. From this background as both a TMB vendor and customer, Ludlow developed a strong working relationship with TMB European General Manager Paul Hartley. Not put off by hard work and recognizing the inevitable, Ludlow decided to take the TMB challenge. In addition to sales, he will assist in research and developing new and innovative products.

P.J. Turpin

Clay Paky News
Clay Paky America, Inc. has opened an office in Valencia, California, a northern suburb of Los Angeles, with Paul J. (P.J.) Turpin as CEO of the new corporation. Turpin comes to the company with a successful history of sales and management experience in the lighting industry.

“After several slow years, the American market is showing strong signs of recovery,” says Turpin. “Now is the perfect time to launch a project as ambitious as Clay Paky America. This move sends a clear signal to the market that Clay Paky is committed to doing what is necessary to guarantee the success of its products in the U.S. Our mission is twofold. The first goal is to offer top-quality products backed by first-class service and support. The second is to ensure that the current product line and product development both meet the needs and expectations of the market. The creation of a direct link between the U.S. market and the factory in Italy assures this.”

Carol Prins

On the Board
Carol Prins was elected chairwoman of the Goodman Theatre’s board of trustees, along with two new trustees: Joe Calabrese, senior vice president and head of the private wealth group of the Harris Private Bank, and James R. Lewis, president and CEO of CNA Property & Casualty Operations. Prins moves into the role of chairwoman from her current position of vice chairwoman. She is also a founding member of the Goodman Theatre Women’s Board and was its president from 1993 to 1995.

“Carol has been an absolute champion of the work that Goodman produces on its stages and is a tireless fundraiser in supporting that work,” says Goodman Executive Director Roche Schulfer. “I am extremely happy to welcome her as chair of the board and I look forward to working with her in the future.”

Eric Hill

Up A Hill
Brandeis University announced the appointment of Eric Hill to head its department of theater arts. Hill will occupy a newly endowed chair donated by Barbara and Malcolm L. Sherman, longtime friends of Brandeis. Currently the associate artistic director of Connecticut Repertory Theatre and the director of performance studies/professor of dramatic arts in acting at the University of Connecticut, Hill will complete the spring semester at UConn while making weekly visits to Brandeis until he begins his new post in July. Hill succeeds Michael Murray, who stepped down as chairman of the Brandeis department last year and will retire this year.

“Eric Hill is an outstanding artist and teacher who truly understands Brandeis’ commitments to first-class undergraduate and graduate education and scholarship. We know that he will be a marvelous director in every sense of the word,” says Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe.

In Memoriam: Uta Hagen
Uta Hagen died on January 14 at the age of 84 in her Manhattan home. Hagen was a renowned actress, acting teacher and author of two seminal texts for actors, Respect for Acting and A Challenge for the Actor. She was born in Gottigen, Germany, in 1919 and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. Hagen made her professional debut as Ophelia in 1937 in Eva Le Gallienne’s production of Hamlet. A year later, she appeared on Broadway in The Seagull with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Other notable roles included Georgie in Odets’ The Country Girl (Tony Award for Best Actress) and Blanche DuBois in the national tour of A Streetcar Named Desire. Hagen later replaced Jessica Tandy in the role on Broadway opposite Marlon Brando.

In the 1950s, Hagen was blacklisted and had a difficult time finding acting roles. However, she garnered acclaim (and her second Tony) for her role as Martha in the 1962 Broadway production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Although she made a few movies, including The Other and The Boys from Brazil, Hagen’s passion was the stage. In 1947 she founded HB Studio, a training studio for actors, with Herbert Berghof. The school boasts several famous alumni, including Jack Lemmon and Geraldine Page. Hagen was the recipient of a 1999 Tony for Lifetime Achievement and a 2002 National Medal of Arts.

Hagen was married to the actor Jose Ferrer from 1938 to 1948; in 1951, she married Berghof, who died in 1990. Hagen is survived by a daughter from her first marriage as well as a granddaughter and great-granddaughter.

Larry Baker photo courtesy of Crown International
Lucky Ludlow photo courtesy of TMB
P.J. Turpin photo courtesy of Clay Paky America
Carol Prins photo courtesy of Goodman Theatre
Eric Hill photo courtesy of Brandeis University