Tag Archive
Stage Lamps: Which kind does each unit take?
Ok, we’ve established that using the wrong lamps in your lighting equipment is bad. But for many of us, we have so many different types and brands of gear, we may not know (without getting a ladder out) what type of lamp is needed for a specific fixture. Well now you can check without... »
Bad idea: wrong lamps in your lights
It’s come to my attention that some people that really shouldn’t be allowed near the lighting gear are actually in charge in some lower quality venues. And by lower quality, I mean of course, the staff. So lets review a basic concept that should keep everyone safer, your lighting gear lasting longer, and your... »
The audience. Part 1: If they tend to be older, why do we get the gray hair?
Many theatre professionals have a love/hate relationship with the audience. On one hand, we want them to enjoy the production. On the other hand, we want them to not disrupt the production with actions normally equated with the maturity of a 13 year-old. Here are just some of the odd and inappropriate behaviors... »
Theatre fire codes must be heeded, but good luck finding them
A BackstageJobs.com user’s e-mail lead me to this discovery. This person had discovered that the theatre they were working in had no fire extinguishers. This would seem odd to pretty much any theatre person in the US, if not the world. The reasoning given by building management was that because the sprinkler system could... »
You’re doing it wrong: Earplugs
Ok, I know we don’t all use earplugs when we should. Usually it’s a convenience problem, as it is rarely convenient to stop what we are doing and go find earplugs. I’m as guilty of this as anyone. But when you do finally put earplugs in, are you doing it correctly? Consumerist and Consumer Reports... »
The obligitory look back at 2009
I tell myself that I’m not going to do one of these, and then remember that they are marginally useful. Here’s just a few of the stories we looked at in the last year. Learn past or repeat… Chicago started off 2009 with the loss of its free downtown trolleys. Tourists (especially those heading to... »
Pic of the Day for December 18, 2009
A stagehand climbs to the front truss at a Bruce Springsteen concert. This great Pic of the Day is from Josefine Stenudd and is posted in her Flickr account. »
Pic of the Day for November 28, 2009
Clipped in, the way they, and you, should be. The IATSE Local 11 riggers of Boston’s FleetCenter (at the time, now the TDBankNorth Garden, or “gah’den”) 98′ above the floor. This Pic of the Day was taken by Peter Homan, and found on his Flickr page. »
Amateur rigging can result in injury, or death.
And I include amateurs operating professionally rigged systems in the above statement. Recently, @thtrbob posted some Youtube videos on his blog “Confessions of a Chicago Theatre Addict.” They were intended to be a followup to his previous post about his love of “Peter Pan” and not being able to get access to the Flying By... »
“improper maintenance, operation, and ill-fitting parts”…
...add up to an eventual breakdown. The bigger the thing your theatre cheaps out on, the bigger the potential consequences. An accident at Russia’s largest hydroelectric power plant back in August killed 75 employees after part of an overstressed turbine broke off, flying into the air at high speed. The huge part careened through more... »
Hudson & Gaines
