NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ON—IATSE has released a statement in response to the Shaw’s Fest lockout and the union’s subsequent strike. The IA’s statement said the sticking point in the contract was “the Festival’s desire to have the ability to replace, in whole or in part, union employees with others who would work under a contract service” and Local 461 President Doug Ledingham criticized the Fest’s “misleading” statements about its position that there would be no loss of jobs during the contract. According to Ledingham “The actual offer was to suspend any contracting out until after Dec. 31, 2011, after which they would again have the ability to replace these employees at any point.”

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario—The Shaw Festival announced today that it is implementing a lockout of the employees represented by IATSE, Local 461 in the Shaw’s Facilities Department. These are the 16 employees that provide maintenance, grounds crew and housekeeping services. The lockout is effective at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 and is limited to the Facilities Department. The employees of the Production and Audience Sales and Services departments, whose contracts expired November 30, 2008, are not included in this lockout. The Shaw fest provided a statement surrounding the lock out. A representative for IATSE Local 461 could not be reached for comment, efforts are ongoing to get a statement from IATSE.

LAS VEGAS—TheatreFace.com, a Stage Directions Web site, has started a new feature to give its members an even deeper look at the backstage world, interactive product reviews. Rather than simply report on gear for its readers, members of the Gear Review group on TheareFace.com (http://www.theatreface.com/group/gearreviews) can become a part of the process of reviewing a piece of gear, to make sure that it passes all their tests and giving everyone a greater sense of what the equipment can do.

The American DJ P64 LED Plus

LOS ANGELES—American DJ has added Master/Slave capabilities to its popular P64 LED par can and is now introducing the P64 LED Plus. A 3-pin XLR cable can link multiple units of the fixture together, and they will all follow a "master" program—allowing users to produce a synchronized light show. Like the original, the new P64 LED Plus also operates in stand-alone configuration if preferred. Also like its predecessor, it features full RGB color mixing.  The DMX-compatible par can comes equipped with 151 bright 5mm LEDs (51 red, 49 green, and 51 blue).

Albert Wolsky will receive the 2010 TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award for costume design

NEW YORK—Legendary costume designer Albert Wolsky and world-renowned scenic designer Ming Cho Lee are among the 2010 TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards recipients. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on Friday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Hudson Theatre (145 West 44th Street).  Two-time Academy Award-winner Albert Wolsky will receive the 2010 TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award for costume design, and Tony Award-winning scenic designer and educator Ming Cho Lee will receive the TDF/Irene Sharaff Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design. In addition to Wolsky's TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award and Lee's Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design, costume designer Alejo Vietti will receive the TDF/Irene Sharaff Young Master Award, and famed theatre craftsman/designer John David Ridge will receive the TDF/Irene Sharaff Artisan Award.

NEW YORK, NY — Apollo Design Technology recently made the first donation to Behind the Scenes from first year sales of the winning templates in their annual Design-A-Pattern Contest. Each year, Apollo is committed to adding new gobo designs to their library of standard patterns but they wanted to get the actual users more involved so in 2008 they created the Design-A-Pattern Contest. Anyone can submit a design and those entries that meet Apollo’s basic criteria for what makes a good standard pattern are posted on Apollo’s website and the public votes for their favorite.

NEW YORK—The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation, the organization dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, is now accepting applications for the the 2010 Honorary Awards. Ben Hodges (editor, Theater World) and Abby Marcus (managing director, Vampire Cowboys) are the new co-chairs of the Honorary Award committee, filling the vacancy left by Leonard Jacobs (Clyde Fitch Report). The Innovative Theatre Foundation recognizes and appreciates the five years of service and dedication by Mr. Jacobs.

LOS ANGELES—The Francesca Ronnie Primus Foundation and the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) have awarded playwright Jamie Pachino of Los Angeles the 2009 Francesca Primus Prize for her play Splitting Infinity. Pachino will receive her $10,000 award immediately but will be celebrated in person at this summer’s ATCA conference at the O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut. The Primus Prize is given annually to an emerging woman theatre artist, including playwrights, artistic directors and directors.

We at Stage Directions made an error that we would like to correct immediately. In the process we hope to open new portals of discovery for the practicing theatre electrician or technician. Richard Cadena, editor of PLSN magazine and an ETCP Certified Entertainment Electrician and an ETCP Recognized Trainer, explains more below. —Jacob Coakley, editor, Stage Directions

Arcola Theater donated 18 PixelRange Micro E fixtures to light a street fest.

LONDON—The Arcola Theatre donated use of its PixelRange Micro E’s for the Ashwin Street Christmas Street Party. The party was part of a £750,000 London Development Agency funded project to revitalize parts of central Dalston. Organized by project architects MUF and J&L Gibbons the event brought together local youth, community, performing arts, visual arts and creative industry organizations to create a snapshot of how the presently run-down area could look. Arcola Theatre provided 18 PixelRange Micro Es and eight 50w birdies for the architectural lighting of the Colourworks and Print House buildings designed by Haberdashery London.