An attack marlin from the "Everything Is a Weapon" panel.

This morning at 11 a.m. EST, the Stage Expo portion of the USITT trade show opened, and like the return of the swallows to Capistrano (though a few days earlier this year), attendees flocked to the show floor, searching for swag. Texas Scenic Co. gave out its famous (in USITT circles) tote bags, ETC handed out t-shirts, and Seachanger gave out more than 500 rubber ducks in less than 45 minutes. Of course, other things happened as well. Robert Juliat showed off a prototype for their Aledin series Fresnel unit (RJ has promised me a video tour before the weekend ends), and Ultratec demo’d their hand-held fogger (video shot, just has to be edited/uploaded). There were also more panels and sessions than one person could possibly attend. Notes on the panels I could attend, and some video of the show after the jump.

One thing USITT likes to do is provide entertainment for the crowds as they wait to get into the show floor. This year was no exception as opera singers roamed the Charlotte Convention Center, singing for the attendees. Sponsored by Random Acts of Culture (working on getting the name of the actual troupe/performers), the singers performed for approximately 15 minutes before the gaff tape “ribbon” was cut, and the show floor opened. Video of all that follows.

Before the opening ceremony though, I was lucky enough to attend the Costume Design and Technology poster session. This is actually a smart idea. Rather than have many people reading paper after paper, USITT holds educational sessions where presenters set up “posters” that demonstrate their work. The presenters stand next to their work, hand out supplemental materials for their posters, and answer questions. It’s a fabulous way to get a quick hit of what other people are up to, and then follow up at your leisure. I’m still sorting through all the materials I got from the session this morning, but here’s a slideshow of the pics I took at the session.

I also managed to attend the Everything Is A Weapon props panel for a period this afternoon, and got to hear Tom Fiocchi and Wayne Smith expound upon rehearsing with weapons, scheduling your build around weapons, the pros and cons of making your own breakaway bottles, and more. You can check out my notes from the session on TheatreFace.com here.

USITT continues until Saturday, March 12. You can follow my tweets from the show floor at www.twitter.com/stagedirections, or my live-blogs on TheatreFace.com.