Stage Directions

The University Resident Theatre Association's board of directors announces the appointment of Tony Hagopian to the position of executive director. Joining Hagopian on the new leadership team will be Christy Hamilton as managing director. The team will work to drive the organization's continued growth.

Hosted by Full Sail University, the inaugural SoundGirls Expo was presented at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida on July 14 and July 15, 2018. Organized by the local Orlando SoundGirls Chapter, the event featured a number of panel discussions, seminars and audio manufacturer demos and training sessions. Allen & Heath was a featured expo vendor alongside companies such as Analog Way, Clear Tune Monitors, and Shure.

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi holds a theatre summer camp each year and this year Elation Professional was proud to have been a sponsor by making available both LED and discharge-based moving heads that allowed students the hands-on opportunity to work with state-of-the-art lighting gear. Camp on the Coast: Creating Leaders in Life and on the Stage is a theatre camp that teaches more than acting, lighting, props, and costume design. Here's a video on Texas A&M University-Corpus Chriti's Camp on the Coast program: {youtube}v=YFbKqOiUb04{/youtube}

Philips Entertainment Lighting released a statement: It is with great sadness that we report the passing of former Selecon Lighting Managing Director and owner, Jeremy Collins, following a long battle with cancer.

The newly-opened Nevill Holt Opera House, universally acclaimed as ‘a superb new venue’ by the London Times and ‘an indisputable triumph’ by the Telegraph, is located in the elegantly converted 17^th century stable block of the Nevill Holt Estate, Leicestershire. Its official inauguration took place on 14 June for the start of Nevill Holt Opera’s annual season, which this year ran from 14-30 June. Here’s a video of the new opera house: {youtube}v=lhcwT3R-sb8{/youtube}

Sound Productions, an ALV retailer located in Texas, is known industry wide for its workshops and for its support of the industry. SoundPro customers across the U.S. can enter its Trip and Training Contest, where a winner will be chosen at random to fly to the Dallas area and attend a workshop for free.

Oversized flowers bloom, waiflike stalactites fly, and the leaded-weight of “adult” concerns lifts like the morning mist in the final third of Beginners.  A play-within-a-play featuring 4-10-year-olds, this memorable passage opens a window into the boundless and colorful imaginative powers of childhood. Adding impact to this wondrous play, and making its fantastical characters come to life even more vividly during a production at London’s Unicorn Theatre, is the rich assortment of colors created by Zoe Spurr. Here's a 360-degree video tour of The Unicorn Theatre: {youtube}v=u3qdQHXc0TQ{/youtube}

Opera America has put out an Arts Advocacy Alert. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted against the Grothman amendment, which would have drastically cut the NEA budget, and voted for an Interior bill that provides an additional $2 million to the agency, which would bring the NEA budget to $155 million for FY2019.

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Stage Directions feels it’s important for any theater production that safety is the primary consideration. Perhaps no one speaks as well to the myriad of considerations to hosting a safe entertainment event than Steven Adelman, principal of the Adelman Law Group, PLLC. Rather timely as we are well into the summer theater season with outdoor festivals, amphitheater productions, and theatre tourists that Adelman today posted a video on The Evolution of Crowd Management. I highly recommend you take the time to watch it. It applies whether outdoor or indoor theater, as understanding audience dynamics is essential to a safe event.

To learn more about Steven’s extremely important work and to get further information from the Adelman Law Group: http://www.adelmanlawgroup.com/

Wenger and J.R. Clancy’s Dan Culhane has been appointed to the role of President of USITT, effective immediately. USITT promotes dialogue, research, and learning among practitioners, educators, and students of theatre design and technology. Culhane replaces outgoing president Mark Shanda, a long-time colleague and friend.