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Stage Directions

Return to the Stage Final Survey now open until July 14th

RETURN TO THE STAGE, a study of the impact of COVID-19 on Performing Arts workers, is conducting its third and final survey July 1-14. The study authors of the survey, Meg Friedman and David J. McGraw, note that over 4,700 workers participated in the first two surveys. For this final survey they have added some new questions as venues begin to reopen.

If you worked or volunteered in the Performing Arts in the United States from March 2019 through March 2020, please make your voice heard and participate in this study. To read previous reports and to participate in this final survey, visit  www.returntothestage.com. Read More »Return to the Stage Final Survey now open until July 14th

Alliance Theatre Names Shaina Pierce the First Stage Management Fellow

After conducting a thorough national search, the Alliance Theatre is pleased to announce that Shaina Pierce has been chosen as the inaugural Stage Management Fellow for the Alliance Theatre, beginning August 1, 2021, and continuing until the end of its 2021/22 Season. Pierce is a recent graduate of the University of Alabama and has worked with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Cloverdale Playhouse, the Montgomery Ballet, and Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre.

Pierce received her MFA in stage management from The University of Alabama. While at UA, some of her credits included The Merchant of Venice, Intimate Apparel, and Legally Blonde (int. COVID). She has taught and mentored undergraduate stage managers and enjoys learning as much as she does sharing her artistry. Previous credits include Comedy of Errors, Cinderella, and Disney’s The Little Mermaid at The Alabama Shakespeare Festival. She stage-managed The Last Five Years and The Boys Next Door at the Cloverdale Playhouse. She has also worked for the Montgomery Ballet’s The Nutcracker and stage-managed Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre at UA. Pierce has been a part of numerous staged readings as well as zoom recorded readings.Read More »Alliance Theatre Names Shaina Pierce the First Stage Management Fellow

Yale’s Drama School Goes Tuition-Free and is renamed David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University

A scene from Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, directed by Carl Cofield, Yale Repertory Theatre. Photo by Joan Marcus, 2019.

June 30, 2021—Present and future students at Yale University’s drama school will no longer pay tuition, thanks to a landmark $150 million gift from entertainment executive and philanthropist David Geffen, the university announced today. The donation—the largest on record in the history of American theater—makes the school the only institution of its kind to eliminate tuition for all degree and certificate students, removing financial barriers to access. In recognition of the gift, Yale School of Drama is now the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University.Read More »Yale’s Drama School Goes Tuition-Free and is renamed David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University

Eileen Garcia Appointed Properties Director at the Santa Fe Opera

Eileen Garcia on Hat Spirit Day

 

The Santa Fe Opera has appointed Eileen Garcia as its new Properties Director. Garcia had returned earlier this year as the Interim Properties Director to take the place of longtime SFO Properties Director Randy Lutz, who died on January 12, 2021. Stage Directions sends its sincere congratulations to Garcia and look forward to hearing all about her next act!Read More »Eileen Garcia Appointed Properties Director at the Santa Fe Opera

NEA News | Releases New Report on Artists’ Use of Technology as a Creative Medium

The National Endowment for the Arts announces the release of the report Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium, the result of a two-year field scan, an initiative of the Arts Endowment in collaboration with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The field scan and report explore the multi-faceted practices of artists who engage with digital technologies in both the creative and functional aspects of their work. The report also looks at the training and exhibition infrastructure that tech-centered artists have developed to pursue their creative practices and diagnoses a critical need for funding to advance the field. Here’s a video of the work of 3-Legged Dog on Designer, Writer, and Director Kevin Cunningham’ work on Losing Something and its work with technology:

Read More »NEA News | Releases New Report on Artists’ Use of Technology as a Creative Medium

S*P*A*Minar Replay | How to Build Safe Stage Combat Weapons with Thomas Fiocchi

 

In this month’s Society of Properties Artisan Managers’ S*P*A*Minar, S*P*A*M welcomed Thomas Fiocchi of Ohio University who provided an introduction on how to build safe stage combat weapons in your prop shop. Fiocchi is the resident Props Technologist at Ohio University as well as creator at Fiocchi Swords. This S*P*A*Minar took place on Sunday, June 20, 2021. In case you missed it the first time, or would like to go back and re-watch it, here is a video replay of this S*P*A*Minar:

Read More »S*P*A*Minar Replay | How to Build Safe Stage Combat Weapons with Thomas Fiocchi

Backstage Video | Arts Centre Melbourne’s State Theatre Upgrades its Flying System

 

Hidden behind the State Theatre’s famous hand-painted curtain at the Arts Centre Melbourne, is the flying system – a crucial component of any theater. Made up of a system of battens, wire rope lines, pulleys and computer-controlled electric hoists, the flying system enables the stage crew to lift or “fly” components of a production on and off stage. Here’s an inventive backstage video of this new flying system:

Read More »Backstage Video | Arts Centre Melbourne’s State Theatre Upgrades its Flying System

Lisa Burger, National Theatre Executive Director and Joint Chief Executive to Step Down in Summer 2022

 

Lisa Burger. Photo by James Bellorini Photography

The National Theatre has announced today that Lisa Burger, Executive Director and Joint Chief Executive, will step down in Summer 2022. Burger’s career at the National Theatre has spanned 20 years. She joined the NT as Finance Director in 2001, before becoming Chief Operating Officer in 2010. Burger took on the role of Executive Director in 2015 and became Joint Chief Executive alongside Director Rufus Norris in 2019.Read More »Lisa Burger, National Theatre Executive Director and Joint Chief Executive to Step Down in Summer 2022

Black Theatre United Hosts Industry-Wide Commercial Theatre Summit

As Black Theatre United (BTU) marks its first year since the organization’s creation, the Founding Members announce they held a three-month Commercial Theatre Summit from March to June 2021 to establish industry-wide standards around Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility & Belonging (EDIAB) with a focus on Black individuals in theatre as we move into the future.Read More »Black Theatre United Hosts Industry-Wide Commercial Theatre Summit