#26 The Bellows: Friendship Is Magic by Michael Kruse

This special The Bellows episode features carpenter Kevin Hutson, our moderator, joining writer/director Kat Sandler, technical director Dean Johnson,  independent producer Aislinn Rose, technician and stage manager Pip Bradford,  and designer and technician Rebecca Vandevelde discussing how to work with your friends while remaining professional.  It was recorded live at Theatre Passe Muraille on January 18th.  The first 10 minutes of the introductions was lost because SOMEone forgot to hit record: it happens.  This audio starts with with Rebecca Vandevelde introducing herself. As well, the audio has been panned in order to facilitate the identification of the speaker with the audio field being layed out as they presented: Kevin, Kat (who joins later), Dean, Aislinn, Pip, and Rebecca.

Episode #26 The Bellows Friendship is Magic
Michael Kruse

Bios

Kevin Hutson

Kevin is the head carpenter at The Tarragon Theatre in Toronto and one of the founders of The Bellows.  Kevin has also performed as a production manager, technical director, lighting designer and general technician in Toronto for may years.

Dean Johnson

Dean is a technical director, carpenter and technician in Toronto.  He freelances as a technician at Theatre Passe Muraille, Theatre Direct, Roseneath Theatre, St. Michael’s College.   He has worked as production stage manager for Theatre Brouhaha for Punch-Up, We are the Bomb, The Unseen Hand and has also lent a hand on a few other Brouhaha productions.

Kat Sandler

Kat is a writer/actor/director working in Toronto.  She is the Artistic Director of Theatre Brouhaha, and has staged six or her original plays; LOVESEXMONEY (Next Stage Festival), Help Yourself (Best of Fringe, winner of the Fringe New Play Contest), Delicacy (Summerworks), Rock (Storefront Theatre), We Are the Bomb (Toronto Fringe, Sucker (Storefront Theatre) and directed Twenty-Seven Wagons Full of Cotton, and The Unseen Hand (Playwrights Project). As an actor she has appeared onstage with Theatre Gargantua in the world premieres of FiBBer and Imprints. She is a graduate of Queen’s University. Kat will be writing Retreat while in Tarragon’s Playwrights Unit.

Aislinn Rose

Aislinn is an independent producer, theatre maker, member of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts’ Board of Directors, and Co-Chair of TAPA’s Indie Caucus. She recently joined the producing team for Luminato’s 2013 festival as Associate Producer, and produced the festival’s L’Allegro by the Mark Morris Dance Group, Feng Yi Ting directed by Atom Egoyan, and Ronnie Burkett’s The Daisy Theatre. This year she will be guest curating Harbourfront Centre’s HATCH 2014 season along with her Praxis Theatre colleague, Michael Wheeler.

As the Artistic Producer of Praxis Theatre & Co-Editor of praxistheatre.com, she led the Open Source Theatre Project for Section 98 at Harbourfront Centre, created the experimental Dungeons & Dragons (not) The Musical, was Artistic Producer of You Should Have Stayed Home, and Producer for Jesus Chrysler in Association with Theatre Passe Muraille. She will be producing their upcoming cross Canada tour of You Should Have Stayed Home in Whitehorse, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. She and Michael Wheeler were named Theatre VIPs for 2012 by Toronto paper, The Grid, after having been named “People to watch” that year by Torontoist.

Last year she produced Aluna Theatre’s inaugural PANAMERICAN ROUTES Festival of Theatre for Human Rights, and was Co-Producer with Fides Krucker on the electroacoustic opera Julie Sits Waiting (nominated for 5 Dora Awards including Outstanding Production – Opera/Musical). Other recent projects include producing The Lesson For Modern Times Stage Company (nominated for 8 Dora Awards, including Outstanding Production).

Social media experiments include working as a consultant & online creator for the sold-out run of Michael Healey’s Proud and developing “The Brain”, the online counterpart for Liza Balkan’s Out The Window for The Theatre Centre’s biennial Free Fall Festival.

Aislinn is the recent recipient of a Canada Council for the Arts Professional Development grant as an Independent Theatre Producer.

Sarah ‘Pip’ Bradford

Pip has lived and worked in the Toronto theatre community for the past five years. She freelances as a technician and stage manager for many companies in Toronto, including The Randolph Academy of the Performing Arts, Aluna Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Factory Theatre, Steady State Theatre, and the Toronto Fringe. Pip has a BA in Technical Theatre and Scenography from The University of King’s College in Halifax, is the founder of Art Is Hard, a grassroots arts philanthropy project, and sits on the board of Steady State Theatre Project.

Rebecca Vandevelde

Rebecca is a designer, technician, and anything-manager based in Toronto. Career highlights include creating interactive installations like Flip the Table with Art is Hard, PM/TD with Theatre Columbus/Common Boots, lighting design for Broadfish (Hatch at Harbourfront Centre), production SM for You Should Have Stayed Home (Praxis) video co-design for Red Snow (Red Snow Collective at the Shanghai International Contemporary Theatre Festival & Theatre Passe Muraille); an apprenticeship in lighting/video design with Trevor Schwellnus; and production work for many festivals. She holds a BA in Drama, History and speaking French sometimes from Glendon College at York.

#25 Steve Lucas by Michael Kruse

Steve Lucas is a designer based in Creemore Ontario.  Steve and I have known each other for years as the familiarity will show in this 2 hour interview.  Steve and I talk about his early career at Alberta Theatre Projects and Buddies in Bad Times Theatre as well as his development of the "symphony of lights" with Hillar Liitoja at DNA Theatre.  We also cover his work on the hit play 2 Pianos, 4 Hands and the work on his newest incarnation of Breath[e] a play made of design.

Steve's Studio

Steve's Studio

The score for the Symphony of lights for a DNA Theatre production

The score for the Symphony of lights for a DNA Theatre production

In One with  Beverly Emmons and Tharon Musser and the choreographer Martha Graham 

The Last Supper by DNA Theatre

This Is What Happens in Orangville

Theatre Passe Muraille

The proscenium at Theatre Passe Muraille

The proscenium at Theatre Passe Muraille

Breath[e] by Steve Lucas

Breath[e] by Steve Lucas

Steve Lucas

Steve Lucas

Episode #25 Steve Lucas
Michael Kruse

The Bellows and The Title Block LIve on Periscope by Michael Kruse

On February 22 2016, at 19:45 EST The Title Block will be broadcasting its recording session of The Bellows live on the mobile app Periscope.  This month's talk will be Why You Need to Hire a Production Manager. it is sure to be an enjoyable and informative discussion. Instructions to join us live are below:

1. Download the app on ITunes or your android device.

2. Sign in using your Twitter account or your phone number (it is easier with a twitter account). Make sure to enter your confirmation code in order to complete the sign in procedure.

3. Create your Periscope name and you are good to go!

4. Search for @thetitleblockCA or The Title Block in periscope and join the session after 19:15 EST.  You can add comments and I will be monitoring the broadcast throughout the session and will replay when I can.

For more detailed instructions see this link.

To listen to the first episode of The Bellows, go here.

 

#24 The Bellows: How To Get Hired in Theatre by Michael Kruse

The Bellows founders Kevin Hutson and Sarah "Pip" Bradford

The Bellows founders Kevin Hutson and Sarah "Pip" Bradford

This week a special episode recorded on November 16th, 2015 at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto.  The Bellows is a monthly panel discussion on the art and business of theatre production which promises to create "a place for artists in performance to get together, share information, and get to know more about the production side of the business."  Created by Sarah "Pip" Bradford, Kevin Hutson and Christopher Ross, the discussion is curated by working professionals and should appeal to newcomer's and veteran's alike. 

From L to R: Jason Golinski, Shanna Miller, Kevin Hutson, Ray Salverda

From L to R: Jason Golinski, Shanna Miller, Kevin Hutson, Ray Salverda

The Title Block has teamed up with The Bellows to record and broadcast live via Periscope these panels so that they reach a wider audience and every working or aspiring production person can benefit.  In this episode the panel, made up of Kevin Hutson, Jason Golinksi, Shanna Miller, and Ray Salverda, discuss how to get hired and stay working in the theatre. Ever wonder how to set and negotiate your fee?  The panel may have your answer.  This is the first in many recordings and the next one will be broadcast live via Periscope on January 18th 2015, so don't miss it!

Episode #24 The Bellows How To Get Hired In Theatre
Michael Kruse

#23 Bonnie Beecher by Michael Kruse

In 1996 I started my career as an assistant to lighting designer Bonnie Beecher working on Frida K, a vibrant and challenging play staring Allegra Fulton and directed by Peter Hinton.  I was struck by Bonnie's use of colour and the way that she embraced expressionism.  Since then, Bonnie has become a top tier designer in Canada and started in the past several years working in France and Germany on ballet and opera.  With over 250 productions under her belt she has a very interesting story to tell about Canadian theatre and how she works abroad.  Bonnie joined me at Soulpepper Theatre in May of 2015 to chat about her life and style.

Links

University of British Columbia

John Lazarus

Banff Centre for the Arts

Adam Stewart

Chris Popowich

Neil Peter Jampolis 

Jane Reisman

Harry Frehner

Neptune Theatre (Halifax)

Tom Kerr

Richard Ouzounian

Brass Rubbings

Shaw Festival

Stratford Festival

Robert Thompson

Beth Kates

Andrea Lundy

Glen Davidson

Mirvish Theatre Productions

Frida K

Peter Hinton and Here

The Duchess of Malfi

Cabaret

Joe Ziegler

The Conjuror by David Ben

Dominique Dumais

FIDa festival

Desrosier Dance Theatre

Kevin O'Day

Mannheim National Theatre

Bridget Briner  and Ballett im Revier

Stuttgart Ballet

Dortman Ballet

Royal Flanders Ballet

Beleuchtungsmeister

InOne by Cory Pattak

Beverly Emmons (designer for Martha Graham Dance Company who speaks of face lighting in dance)

Sweet Charity

Morris Panych and Ken MacDonald

Cameron Davis

Charlotte Dean

Rosco I-cue

The Dybbuk

Opera Atelier

Gerard Gauci

Versailles Opera House

Episode #23 Bonnie Beecher
Michael Kruse
Bonnie Beecher.  Photo by David Cooper

Bonnie Beecher.  Photo by David Cooper

#22 Michael Gianfrancesco by Michael Kruse

Michael Gianfrancesco, Photo by David Cooper

Michael Gianfrancesco, Photo by David Cooper

In this long belated episode I speak to designer Michael Gianfrancesco.  Michael and I worked on his second production after he was out of Concordia University in 1998 and since then he has become one of the top designers in the country, working on new works, opera, ballet and now appears yearly at the Stratford and Shaw Festivals.  Michael and I spoke in the design office at Shaw in May 2015 about his show there this summer.

Links

Concordia University

Pat Flood

Banff Centre for the Arts

Terry Gunvordahl

Stratford Festival

Patrick Clark

Peter Hartwell

Debra Hanson

Ann Curtis

Richard Monette

Ted Dykstra

Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre

Canadian Stage Company

Des McAnuff

The Shaw Festival

The Divine: A Play for Sarah Bernhardt by Michel Marc Bouchard

Christine, la reine-garçon

Tom at the Farm

Jackie Maxwell

Bonnie Beecher

John Gzowski

Peter Hinton

Episode #22 Michael Gianfrancesco
Michael Gianfrancesco



#21 Fina MacDonell by Michael Kruse

Fina Macdonnel.  Photo by Michael Kruse

Fina Macdonnel.  Photo by Michael Kruse

Fina MacDonell is a founder of and partner in Toronto props house Rabbit's Choice, but her early career included collaborating with Paul Thompson with the seminal Farm Show in Clinton ON.  In this this interview we talk about her early life in Manitoba and southwestern Ontario and the building of one of the most important props houses in Canada.  Fina was also honored this summer with the Dora Mavor Moore Silver Ticket award.

Links/Keywords

Manitoba Theatre Centre

Rainbow Stage

Fina's desk at The Rabbit's Choice

Fina's desk at The Rabbit's Choice

FLQ October crisis

Opportunities for Youth Grant Manitoba

The Patchwork Players

Paul Thompson

The Farm Show

Theatre Passe Muraille

Miles Potter

The prop shpo at The Rabbit's Choice

The prop shpo at The Rabbit's Choice

Episode #21 Fina MacDonnell
Michael Kruse

#20 William Schmuck by Michael Kruse

William Schmuck, photo by David Cooper

William Schmuck, photo by David Cooper

William Schmuck is the head of design at the Shaw Festival. We spoke in May of 2015 before the first opening of the season about his life and the Moss Hart play Light Up The Sky which William designed this year.  We dig into what you need to know before you apply to apprentice at a festival like the Shaw and what it was like to transition between artistic directors in his 20 years as head of design.

Links

The Shaw Festival

University of Waterloo

1980 Quebec Referendum

National Theatre School

The Grand, London ON

Jack King

Leslie Hurry

Kelli Fox as Frances Black, Shawn Wright as William H. Gallegher and Laurie Paton as Stella Livingston in Light Up the Sky. Photo by David Cooper. Set and Costumes by William Schmuck, Lighting Design by Louise Guinand, Direction by Blair Williams, Projection Design by Beth Kates and Ben Chaisson

Episode #20 William Schmuck
Michael Kruse

#19 Michael Laird by Michael Kruse

Sound Designer Michael laird

Sound Designer Michael laird

I had the pleasure of interviewing our first sound designer.  Michael Laird is a sound systems designer rather than a composition designer and we discuss the difference between these two disciplines in the context of live theatre.  Michael is an established designer and operator but he is early in his career so we focus less on his resume and more on developing a base for future discussions with senior designers about sound.  Michael also focuses on live musical theatre reinforcement rather than scoring behind acoustic voices in small theatre so there is still a large world of sound design to explore: this episode has really given me a vocabulary to speak to other sound designers and I am sure you will feel the same.  We also have a discussion about sound designers as collaborators and the removal of the sound design award from the 2014-15 Tony Awards.

This episode is also the debut of both a new theme, composed by sound designer Verne Good with voice over by lighting designer Gabriel Cropley, and the start of our Patreon campaign.  If you like what you hear, go the Patreon Page and find out why it is a good thing to become a patron of the show!

sound design materials

Episode #19 Michael Laird
Michael Laird

#18 Sue LePage by Michael Kruse

Sue LePage, Photo by David Cooper

Sue LePage, Photo by David Cooper

Episode notes

Sue LePage is a set and costume designer based out of Toronto. She joined me at the Shaw Festival to talk about her early career and Top Girls, her design at the Shaw in 2015. This was a short interview, only 45 mins, so we could not talk much about many of the milestones in her career, but it is an interesting talk none-the-less!

Links

University of Guelph Theatre Dept.

Neptune Theatre

NDWT (Ne'er Do Well Thespians)

Keith Turnbull

Jerry Franken

The Donnallys

James Reaney's "The Donnallys: a Trilogy"

           David Ferry talks about the 1973 production of The Donnallys

The Cast of Top Girls at the Shaw Festival 2015. Set and Costumes by Sue LePage and Lighting by Louise Guinand. Photo by David Cooper.

Laurie Paton as Jeanine in Top Girls at the Shaw Festival 2015. Set and Costumes by Sue LePage and Lighting by Louise Guinand. Photo by David Cooper.

Episode #18 Sue LePage
Sue LePage

#17 Christina Poddubiuk by Michael Kruse

This week I spoke to set and costume designer Christina Poddubiuk at the Shaw Festival on a whirlwind trip down there.  We speak about her early training and career, as normal here, but we also go in depth about her designs for Pygmalion, directed by Peter Hinton and opening on June 5th 2015.  As well, be sure to check out Christina's portfolio at punchandjudy.ca . There are a few links below that I could find no information about - if you have any information about the people below, please email at thetitleblock@gmail.com.

Links

National Theatre School

François Barbeau

The Shaw Festival

The Straford Festival

Carol Holland

Gayle Tribick

Polly Bohdanetzky

John Hirsch

Susan Benson

Richard Cotrell

The Chocolate Soldier

The Royal George Theatre at The Shaw Festival

The Royal George Theatre

The Royal George Theatre

Episode #17 Christina Poddubiuk
Michael Kruse
Christina Poddubiuk.  Photo By David Cooper.

Christina Poddubiuk.  Photo By David Cooper.

#16 Ronnie Burkett by Michael Kruse

Provenance: Design: Ronnie Burkett, Lighting: Bill Willams, Photo by Trudie Lee

Martin Stevens said "Style is not something you set out to get it is something you get when you set out".  These are the words that inspired Ronnie Burkett as a teenager to continue his pursuit of a unique voice with which to tell stories through puppetry.  He has spent the last few decades realizing this voice and I had the pleasure to speak with him last February about it.  In this 2 hour interview we discuss his early career and development, his approach to story-telling and his fastidious attention to the details of design.

Links

Schnitzell from The Daisy Theatre, Design by: Ronnie Burkett, Photo by Alejandro Santiago

Schnitzell from The Daisy Theatre, Design by: Ronnie Burkett, Photo by Alejandro Santiago

Episode #16 Ronnie Burkett
Michael Kruse

#15 Edward Kotanen by Michael Kruse

Edward Kotanen in his Studio in Hamilton Ontario

Edward Kotanen in his Studio in Hamilton Ontario

This episode, I speak with set and costume designer Edward Kotanen.  Ed was around at the start of the rebirth of Canadian theatre in the 1960's and managed to navigate a successful career until his retirement recently.  Ed has a great perspective on the relationship between amateur and professional theatre and how groups like the Sunparlour Players and London Little Theatre helped to launch his career in the 1970's.  We also talk about the meetings in Frances Dafoe's basement and how they spawned the Associated Designers of Canada.  

Ed's painting of his partner scenic artist David Rayfield

Ed's painting of his partner scenic artist David Rayfield

Ed also recounts the story of Jack Shapira and his conviction of embezzlement at the Rainbow Stage.  I have gone over the press clippings, one which is found in the links below, and all of what we talked about though it may sound just a little bit like gossip occurred as Ed told it, so rest assured, we are not making this stuff up!  

A bit more on the apocryphal side is my telling of a controversial set design that I attribute to Michael Levine at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.  Hard as I try, I could not find reference to it online, so I may indeed have my facts all backwards - if you listen and know the real story let me know and I will post an update!  

Episode #15 Edward Kotanen
Michael Kruse

#14 Disappearing Act: A Public Forum on Canadian Theatre and Toronto Audiences by Michael Kruse

From Left to Right: Sheila Sky, Sue Edworthy, Derrick Chua

From Left to Right: Sheila Sky, Sue Edworthy, Derrick Chua

This episode started with a random conversation on Facebook in December of 2014.  Three weeks later, on January 11, 2015, a forum on the crisis of audience building was held at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto, Ontario.  The organizers were Sheila Sky, a talent agent and the executive director of the Associated Designers of Canada, Derrick Chua a prolific theatre producer and Sue Edworthy a marketing and communications director.  The audience was made up of artists, producers, board members, patrons, critics and creators, and the format was to pose questions that were collected and collated by Sue and Sheila to the audience and have those stakeholders try to come up with answers to the question of how to save the modern theatre audience. 

Theatre critic and founding editor of Mooney on Theatre, Megan Mooney

Theatre critic and founding editor of Mooney on Theatre, Megan Mooney

This conversation will delight some, confound many, and anger others.  There are no answers here, but there is the start of a much needed conversation about how we make theatre relevant in a world that is dominated by me-too stars of YouTube and entertainment-at-your-fingertips on Netflix. However, before you listen, I would like to add my two cents to the conversation first.

Most theatre artists in English Canada (and here I am ignorant of the amateur theatre scene in Quebec so I will not even try to characterize it) first engaged with live performance at the local amateur level.  Be it in a stuttered, naive scene study in grade 10 drama, or a lavish musical theatre society production, most of us reveled in the thrill of stepping, painting, plugging, or barking for the first time in front of our peers and family in the community: and we could not get enough of it.

This theatrical movement in many communities is decades older than the modern professional theatre in Canada that I am trying to document here on The Title Block.  This movement, which includes operetta groups and Sears Drama Festival retinues, is still a strong and vital part of many smaller communities, while us here in the big smoke of Toronto make have forgotten it. In North Bay or Nanaimo, community theatre not only attracts all ages and talents, but it sells; boy does it sell. Community theatre continues to sell and draw in volunteers and talent because the stakes are high and the thrill is palpable, for both the performer and the audience.

Professional theatre audiences have changed; I think we can agree on this.  There is the dying breed of "blue hairs" as we dismiss them, callously.  They are aging, and soon we will be left with a hole.  "We need to attract the youth!" is the cry but no one, or most, have not a clue on how to do so. This forum will show that.  But there is hope, and here is my proposition.

Today's 30 year old does not engage in entertainment passively.  They want to be active participants. Maybe not in the original creation, but they tweet, post, blog, heckle, flame, praise, text, and all in a media cycle that pushes each of them further and further apart.  There are fewer people attending church; it is a wonder that we make any connection at all given that there are more ways than we have ever thought of to "other" and push people away.  More than anything, your 30-year old wants to be in a community.  They want to feel a part of it. More importantly and specifically, they want to be in on the joke.  

No one likes to be left out of the joke, even if they are the butt of it, everyone wants to have the inside skinny, the special treatment.  YouTube, if it has done anything, it has sold us the idea that anyone can have a special talent and be popular; that stardom or fame is accessible.  That may be fantasy, but that does not mean that your 30-year old stops wanting it: they even expect it.

Is this right? I have no idea, but this is the case, and we can take advantage of it while creating at the same time.  There were several hints about this possibility in the forum. Some of successes spoken about in Disappearing Act are those that built an audience from scratch and have succeeded by building a community around their art.  Some let the audience guide the choice of season, some create spaces in which the audience can interact with artists to share ideas and connect on a human level with the ideas presented in the play.  Exit subscribers. Enter subsumers.  Build community.

We cannot continue to remain a viable entertainment option, or heaven forfend a machine of change, if we continue to ignore the audience and see them as passive consumers let alone have contempt for them when they "don't get my art".  Another common theme in the forum was "make good art!" and that is important, but we cannot "make good art" to serve our own egos, we have to do it for our audience, our conspirators: our community.

Until this forum, I thought that "boutique" theatre may be an answer.  An exclusive and expensive, as well as an expansive, evening that used the art as a centre-piece, but that added extras in to make it special.  Well, now I think that was naive: we have to use the art as a way of talking to one another, and let the poetic conversation bleed into the before- and after-time of the experience and blend with the prose of our audience. We need to create community.

Remember that thrill of stepping onstage for the first time?  You thought that either you were going to pass out or persevere, but either way you were going to get the lines out in front or your friends and try to tell them why you love this so much.  We need to keep that feeling inside of us when we create theatre.  We have to stop being the weird cousin of Canadian culture and show our community that we matter, that art matters, and that theatre is not our own little, elite toy that the audience "can play with when we are done with it" but rather that it is how we tell our stories, and "won't you come along and tell me yours."

We need to build community.  Our livelihood depends on it, and our audience is waiting.

Rant over, audio below.

Episode #14 Disappearing Act
Michael Kruse

#13 Sholem Dolgoy by Michael Kruse

In this episode, I interview my old mentor Sholem Dolgoy about his history and career.  We met at Ryerson Theatre School in Toronto, Ontario, where he is the head of the production program. Sholem, like many senior designers in Canada, entered the profession through the school of hard knocks and has risen to be a leading designer and educator in Canada.  In this chat we talk about his successes and failures in the 1970's and 80's and his awakening in terms of the use of colour while learning from great lighting designers like Nicholas Cernovitch and Thomas Skelton.

Episode #13 Sholem Dolgoy
Michael Kruse

#12 Jim Plaxton Part 2 by Michael Kruse

Show Notes

This is the second half of my chat with Toronto-based production designer Jim Plaxton, and we cover his introduction of cardboard into theatre design in Toronto through Michael Hollingsworth's Strawberry Fields, his monumental work on Videocaberet's History of the Village of Small Huts and his retirement from theatre.

One small correction, it appears as if there was a small confusion regarding the first time use of cardboard by Jim.  It is not very clear in the interview, but Jim speaks about a 40' (actually 36') cardboard bridge he had designed in 1981 for Picnic in the Drift by Tanya Mars and Rina Fraticelli which, according to Scenography in Canada, consisted of cardboard glued together to a thickness of 6" and supported by two vertical truss towers.  The bridge supported both artists and furniture during the production.  The drawbridge, designed in 1973 for Hollingsworth's first play, Strawberry Fields, had been his first foray into the use of cardboard.

Links

Strawberry Fields, Michael Hollingsworth

Bill Lane

Cardboard Scenary

Videocaberet

Michael Hollingsworth

The Hummer Sisters run for Mayor in 1982

History of the Village of Small Huts

BeamStop

Astrid Jansen

Shadowland

Native Earth Performing Arts

The Global Village Theatre

Elizabeth Swerdlow (nee Szathmary) 

Robert Swerdlow

Michelle DuBarry played in Facade (gay caberet/ drag troupe at The Global Village Theatre)

Associated Designers of Canada

Nothing Sacred

Jim Plaxton Part 2
Michael Kruse




#11 Jim Plaxton Part 1 by Michael Kruse

This episode features Toronto based designer Jim Plaxton.  Jim's 30 year career oversaw the start of many important Toronto theatre companies, including Toronto Workshop Productions, Theatre Passe Muraille as well as the start of Toronto Dance Theatre.  In this first half we speak about Jim's early career in architecture and his transition first to film and then to dance and live performance.  We also speak about his influence on the renovations of Theatre Passe Muraille in 1982-3 and his stint there as its co-artistic director with Layne Coleman and Clark Rogers.

Moody and Moore Architects

Wartime Housing by Wimpey

Cinecity Theatre and Film Canada

Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre

Willem Poolman

Lorne Michaels

Film Co-ops

LIFT

Toronto Dance Theatre

Peter Rendazzo

David Earle

Patricia Beatty

Toronto Workshop Productions

Gérard Pelletier

School of Toronto Dance Theatre

Theatre Passe Muraille

O.D on Paradise

Hrant Alianak

I Love You Baby Blue and Paul Thompson

Baby Blue II

Lucky Strike

The Blues

Layne Coleman

Clarke Rogers - could find nothing - please send links!

Crackwalker and Judith Thompson

Episode #11 Jim Plaxton Part 1
Michael Kruse

#10 Projection and the Future Part 2 by Michael Kruse

This episode picks up at the second half of the panel discussion about projection and the future of design at the Canadian Institute of Theatre Technology's annual conference, Rendez-Vous 2014.  I am once again joined by Scott Spidell, Eric Mongerson, Beth Kates, and Ben Chaisson (bios can be found at episode #9).  

We started the talk about the unique funding challenges of buying or renting equipment that advances so quickly, move on to talk about the language of video in a production and end with a discussion about copyright and planning for the future.

Links

Canada Council Grants

Necessary Angel 

Cahoots Theatre

ETC Source Four LEDs

Toronto Association for the Performing Arts

LED video component walls - Barco

Summerworks Festival

D3 Servers

National Arts Centre

Carousel Players

Episode #10 Projection and the Future Part 2
Michael Kruse

#9 Projection and the Future Part 1 by Michael Kruse

This is a long one, but well worth it.  On August 16th, 2014, I traveled to Ottawa, Ontario for the Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology's annual trade show Rendez-Vous 2014.  There, I led a panel discussion about the use of projections in theatre design with Scott Spidel, Eric Mongerson, Ben Chaisson and Beth Kates.  Thankfully, CITT had booked our discussion for 3 hours and despite the fact that we thought we would be done early, we went right to the 3 hour mark.  It was a very comprehensive discussion as you will see (this is part 1 of 2!).  Bios and links for the show are below.

Bios

Scott Spidell

Scott Spidell, is an assistant professor in production design and technical direction at Texas Lutheran University. He has been a professional theatre artist and craftsperson for over thirty years. Over that time, he has worked in almost every aspect of theatre, film and television—from driving and loading tour trucks, writing scripts for TV shorts, working sound on a Papal tour, serving as a tailor's apprentice, performing as an Equity actor, and getting shot by Charles Bronson— to working as a professional carpenter, scenographer, video designer, camera assistant, lighting designer, props master, producer, and union stage manager.

He has been an active director of the Ontario Section of the Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology (CITT) and the president of the board of Inter Arts Matrix, a non-profit that fosters the development of integrated art. Scott has also taught at the Universities of Waterloo, Guelph, Windsor, Ryerson and Fanshawe College.

He last designed the lights, set, and video for The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht for the red light district theatre in Toronto and the lighting for Mirror – a chamber opera for soprano and visual artist for the Open Ears Festival in Kitchener.

Scott has a Diploma of Applied Arts in Technical Theatre from Niagara College, a Bachelor of Environmental Studies with a minor in Drama from University of Waterloo, and an MFA in Performance Design from York University in Toronto.

Eric Mongerson

Eric Mongerson worked in and studied theatre in the United States for ten years before moving toMontréal in 1980. In addition to serving as full professor at Concordia University he works as set/lighting designer and technical director outside the university. He received his MFA from Humboldt State University in 1978. 

He received Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) funding as a co-investigator with Dr. Stephen Snow on “Performance-based Research: Changing Perspectives on Developmental Disabilities through Ethnodrama”. 

He has taught set and lighting design, stage management, theatre administration and theatre technology. 

He has consulted for Scénoplus and Cirque du Soleil on equipment installation and theatrical problem solving. He has designed lighting for many productions across North America. At Concordia he has served as Technical Director, Theatre Manager, Production Coordinator, Design for the Theatre Coordinator and Chair of the Department from 1993 - 2002. 

His students have designed for, Broadway, Cirque du Soleil and Stratford. He has been on the board of directors of the Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology / L’Institut Canadien des Technologies Scénographiques (CITT / ICTS) and is currently on the board of the Centre Québécois de L’Institut Canadien des Technologies Scénographiques (CQICTS). He is a member of the Association des Professionnels des Arts de la Scène du Quèbec (APASQ). He received the Dieter Penzhorn Award in 2011 from CITT and the MECCA award for best lighting design in Montreal in 2010.

Ben Chaisson and Beth Kates and Playground Studios

Ben Chaisson and Beth Kates are the co-creative directors of Playground Studios, a firm dedicated to creating beautiful productions for the entertainment industry. Beth and Ben are award winning designers of projection, lighting, sound, costume and set for dance, theatre, opera, rock n roll and many other live events.

Most recently their interactive installation The ToyBox was awarded the CITT Award for Technical Merit, their newest installation Night Light Travels saw 1400 participants at this year’s Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, and Ben was awarded the 2010 Pauline McGibbon Award for emerging designers. They and their work have toured the world. Theatrical highlights include MacHomer, Bigger Than Jesus (Dora Award for Lighting), Hardsell, The Highest Step In The World, Anne of Green Gables, Spin, The Synesthesia Project with Steven McCarthy, Brimful of Asha with Ravi Jain and many more.

Beth and Ben lead masterclasses in Projection and Scenographic Design across the country. They are currently in development with Playwrights Workshop Montreal to create a series of in-depth projection workshops geared towards established theatre artists, with the intention of helping them gain a deeper understanding of this growing medium. Beth has lead masterclasses for students at Humber College, Bishop Strachan School and The National Theatre School, and Canadian Stage.

 Check them out at www.playgroundstudios.ca

Links

History of Projection

Pani Projectors

The Banff Centre for the Arts

The Moment Factory

Playground Studios

BlackTrax

Watchout

Q-Lab

Carbone-14

Isadora by Troikatronix

Triple-Head

Edge Blending

Episode #9 Projection and the Future Part 1
Michael Kruse

#8 Allan Stichbury Part 2 by Michael Kruse

 

This is the second half of my conversation with production designer Allan Stichbury via Skype from his home in Victoria B.C..  Among other things we discuss how he builds a relationship with a director, his approach to education, and his experiences as a designer in Thailand.  We also discuss his involvement with the Prague Quadrennial and the Associated Designers of Canada. The audio is a bit better on this one, but still low quality - it will be fixed for future episodes.

University of Alberta Theatre Dept.

Dennis Garnhum

The Wars by Timothy Findley

Theatre Calgary

Scott Killian - Sound Designer

Chulalongkorn University

Ramakien - Thai Ramayana story 

Prague Quadrennial 2015

The Banff Centre for the Arts

UVic - Bangkok University Exchange

Associated Designers of Canada

Episode #8 Allan Stichbury Part 2
Michael Kruse