Around the theatre web for Wednesday, Sept 3rd
Tuesday was the first day of school for many, including my son. First day of kindergarten! He says he very excited about recess, and that they don’t have nap time…
PBS evicts a good neighbor, after only allowing him outside when no-one was around: Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood has now been removed from regular broadcast on most PBS stations. While it was one of the few shows that didn’t use a new edit every 6 seconds and actually spoke to the child rather than at them, PBS claims low ratings as the reason for it’s demise. Oddly enough, most shows that were originally broadcast during daylight hours seem to get lower ratings when they are moved to a 6:00am or earlier time-slot. No pledge from me this year…
Labor Day has come and gone. To learn more about the entertainment unions that this site usually covers, check out the following: IATSE (Stagehands, Scenic Artists, Designers), USA 829 (the union, now within IATSE, specifically for Scenic Artists and Designers), AEA (the union for Stage Managers and actors), and SSDC (union for stage Directors and Choreographers). Learn more about the foundation for the 8 hour day, and Labor Day in general, here. Many of the laws that protect workers in the US, regardless of union membership, are the result of the work of the unions.
ESTA has extended the deadline for ordering Behind the Scenes holiday cards to Sept. 4th. Help support your fellow entertainment professionals and get your holiday cards at the same time. I’ve bought mine, don’t wait to buy yours.
Great White has offered to settle its role in the tragic 2003 fire at The Station for $1 million. The fire was started when the band’s manager fired pyro effects that had been aimed at a wall, which just happened to be covered in highly flammable foam. Overcrowding and poorly marked fire exits added to the tragedy, which left 100 people dead. So continues the great cash-in from this completely preventable fire, as victims and victims families have sued pretty much everyone that ever set foot in The Station, including a beer vendor, the audio supply company, and the state of Rhode Island: none of whom set up or fired the pyro in violation of existing laws and basic pyro safety rules.
When storms come in, get the hell off the stage: singer and stage crew injured when stage systems collapse.
The Bulgarian singer Elitsa Todorova (ESC 2007) survived by miracle Saturday, after hundreds of kilograms of iron crashed down, on top of her during a concert rehearsal.
A sudden storm had caused a scaffold from the concert’s stage to crash down on performers and the technical team. Two other individuals have been injured, however, Elitsa’s condition is the most serious one because the singer had sustained head trauma
Finally, English-Test.net explains what a stagehand is:
A stage hand is someone who does small jobs in the theatre – helping with the scenery, making tea for the cast and cleaning the place. Hand in this sense represents the person – an employee doing manual work.
I guess I’ve been doing it wrong all these years. I’ve never made tea, or anything else, for the cast as part of my job. I also need to tell everyone to stop doing any big jobs, as apparently stagehands should only do small ones. I wonder who is going to build the set…?
There would be more, but this week has been insane. My son starting school; needing to find new childcare; a giant load-in for a giant show (whose gear managed to shock me twice in the space of an hour due to poor maintainence. Prior to that I had not gotten bit in at least a year… grrrrrrr!); plus life in general.
Hudson & Gaines
