I just returned home from an almost two-week jaunt to the south and the mid-west. Occasionally I freelance with an AV production company; last week’s trip to the South was for a US Chambers Convention in Orlando. Almost all of my five days was spent setting up lighting in one of several ballrooms. Following strike I hopped a plane to Chicago and (barely) caught a train to Milwaukee to meet my colleagues and students for a week in Milwaukee to attend the USITT National Conference. Workshop highlights include: ‘Wireless Light and Motion for Propsmasters’ (featuring the RC4 Wireless unit), ‘Reimagining Theatre with Green Ideals’, ‘Grave Matters’ (the creation of death and gore props), and an ‘Arduino Super Session’. Out on the floor I spoke with the Broadway Green Alliance about how to incorporate more “Green” into everyday theatre practices. (More to come on implementation of these into our paint shop.) There was an amazing display of the life’s work of Desmond Heeley, and it was a privilege to hear him speak at the ‘Distinguished Award Winners in Conversation’.
All in all, an excellent excursion. Inspiring to see the level of design and innovation around the country, and internationally. Inspired to draw. Inspired to paint. Inspired to do.
Dyan Burlingame 