LONDON—The Society of London Theatre has announced the nominees for the 2010 Laurence Olivier Awards. Due to the strength of the productions this year, three categories have been extended to include six nominations each. The Royal Court received the most nominations this year, including multiple ones for their productions of Enron—a co-production with Headlong and Chichester Festival Theatre—and Jerusalem, which gained six nominations each. The Court’s quota was pushed up to 15 with two nominations for The Priory and one for Mike Bartlett’s Cock. The Donmar Warehouse’s strong year, both at its home venue and at the Wyndham’s theatre, was also recognised, with 10 nominations spread across five different productions, while the National Theatre received nine nominations across six productions.

BERKELEY, CA—California Shakespeare Theater is now accepting registrations for students between the ages of 8 and 18 for its 2010 Summer Shakespeare Conservatory. This year, in addition to the regular 5-week and 2-week sessions in Lafayette and Oakland, the Conservatory is branching out to include its first-ever, 4-week session at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco, alma mater of Cal Shakes Artistic Director Jonathan Moscone.

NORTHFIELD, OH—Stage Research teamed with Romeo Music in Dallas to supply 162 fully-equipped computer workstations for the fine arts programs at the Garland Independent School District (Garland ISD).  Stage Research provided a wide array of software, including its best-selling Light Factory, SFX, Soft Plot, TDI-Sound and TDI-Lighting, for the Omnirax computer workstations, which Romeo outfitted with scanners, monitors and desks.

COSTA MESA, CA – Forty-six years after founding South Coast Repertory, David Emmes and Martin Benson will step down. They have given a green light on a detailed leadership transition plan that is set to culminate later in the year with the naming of a new Artistic Director to join the leadership team. Emmes, the producing artistic director, and Benson, the artistic director, will continue to serve in their current capacities until a new artistic director is in place, at which point they will assume the titles of founding directors. In their new roles they will serve as counselors and advisers to their successor. They will continue to play an active role in assisting the new artistic director in the finding and development of plays, and they will continue to direct productions.

BOSTON –– StageSource, the Greater Boston Theatre Alliance, has announced that the  Huntington Theatre Company has named its 2010 class of Huntington Playwriting Fellows: Patrick Gabridge, Martha Jane Kaufman, and Ryan Landry. This artistically diverse group of writers will be in residence at the theatre for two years. They follow in the footsteps of renowned past Huntington Fellows Lydia R. Diamond (Stick Fly), Melinda Lopez (Sonia Flew), Ronan Noone (The Atheist, Brendan), and Sinan Ünel (The Cry of the Reed).

BERKELEY, CA—California Shakespeare Theater has received a 2-year, $160,000 grant from the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation, which was awarded to support of the Theater’s on-going operations, plus a capital investment of $100,000 toward Phase I of their plans to reinvigorate the Bruns Amphitheatre as a permanent, sustainable and welcoming home for the Theater’s artists and audiences.

The new Serapid trap lift at a trade show last fall.

STERLING HEIGHTS, MI—Serapid has introduced the Trap Lift—designed to be the fastest trap lift known to the market today—and will demo it at the USITT show in March. Built with their Rigid Chain Technology the Trap Lift can be used to carry scenery, objects and actors from areas under the stage up to stage level. The Trap Lift is already in use at the First Stage Children’s Theater in Milwaukee, where Production Manager Jared Clarkin purchased a Serapid Trap Lift to move scenery and other props as well as for use during productions.

A moment from the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre's production of Scrooge, which used a Meyer sound system.

HONG KONG—This winter, the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre performed 20 shows of Leslie Bricusse’s Scrooge, a musical based on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Staged at the Hong Kong City Hall’s 463-seat proscenium theatre, the presentation marked the christening of HK Rep’s new Meyer Sound system.

NEW YORK—March 1 is the deadline for submitting applications to sit for the paper and pencil examinations to be given at USITT. All three ETCP examinations will be offered at USITT in Kansas City, MO.  All applications must be submitted to the ETCP office no later than March 1, 2010. Schedule and more info on how to test after the jump.

QUEENSBURY, NY—Cynthia L. Barber, President and CEO of BMI Supply, has announced the promotion of Steve Roudebush to the position of Vice President of Sales, Marketing, & Development.  In his new position, Roudebush will continue directing sales for New York State, in addition to coordinating overall sales efforts for BMI Supply and BMI Supply South.