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Illustration by Andy Au

Taking What They’re Giving

I successfully spent the summer as a fill-in LD. Running shows for various friends who couldn’t cover their own gigs during a particular time period. The size or particulars of the gig don’t really matter to me. What I found amazing was this turn-around cycle I am experiencing. Many of my friends that I had hired at some point during their careers were suddenly calling me up, looking for somebody to cover for them. This is nothing new, except this summer I took these gigs myself.

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PLSN editor Justin Lang

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

This summer, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge created a sensation on the Internet and social media. The ALS Association, which works to spread awareness of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a.k.a. Lou Gehrig’s disease, and raise funds for research in hopes of reducing its impact, perhaps even finding a cure, launched the campaign. By late August, the association noted that total donations had topped the $100 million mark.

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311 in 2014 photo by Joe Paradise

LD Joe Paradise and 311

Tour Dates: June 26-Aug. 16, 2014

Describe your approach: “For this run, the majority of the gear is provided locally. Because of 311’s large, diverse song catalog there is quite a bit of punting or busking going on. One of the most important tasks was to make sure that every cue and palette would translate properly and could be “cloned” easily from day to day without a lot of extra programming.”

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Hedwig and the Angry Inch photo by Joan Marcus

Designing the Hurt for “Hedwig”

The acclaimed, Tony Award-winning revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which originally debuted off-Broadway in 1998 and then became a cult film in 2001, has been fueled by the punk-ish charisma of its star Neil Patrick Harris. (The show now stars Book of Mormon’s Andrew Rannells.) A story that was too controversial for the Great White Way 16 years ago — a rocker flees East Berlin by becoming transgender and marrying a U.S. military officer, comes to America, and falls for future rock star Tommy Gnosis, who eventually takes their songs and abandons her for a life of fame and fortune — is very timely now.

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