Rwanda Opening Talkback and USITT
First up, i'd like to mention that I'll be participating in the post-show Talkback event for the opening night of I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me By a Young Lady From Rwanda on Wednesday night.
This is a really exciting part of the PRC2 series, our second-stage programming at PlayMakers, because it allows for a conversation between the audience and various people who worked on the production. Sometimes it is the actors, sometimes the designers, director, dramaturg, sometimes people who have real-life experiences similar to those in a given play, sometimes even other interesting professionals, like the "Mindplay" series where psychologists discuss the potential motivations of different characters' behavior. It's really cool "DVD Extras" sort of augmentative event, and i'm very excited to be a part of it for this production as costume designer. This is exactly the kind of stuff i love to read about theatres putting into place as yet another means for connecting with the communities and audiences they serve.
The other topic on the table today is USITT, the national conference for theatre production professionals, held next week in Kansas City, MO, from March 31st to April 3rd. I'm attending (along with many others in our department), and will be blogging from the conference with all kinds of behind-the-scenes pix and info about what goes on at one of these things. If you've never been, it'll be a great way to get a good handle on what it's like, so you can decide whether to attend in future. This year is going to be a particularly big event, as it's the 50th anniversary of the organization, and proves to be a great conference.
There are a couple of events i should mention in advance of particular interest to costumers: the Costume Design & Technology Poster Session, and Portfolio Reviews.
The poster session is a juried presentation of posters that involve innovations and developments in the fields of research, design, production techniques, media, etc. It runs from 1:30pm-3pm on Thursday, April 1st (and that's no foolin'). During that time, you can wander the presentation hall and ask questions of the presenters, who are on-hand to discuss their topics. Most presenters bring handouts of their work for attendees to take home with info on supplies and methods. There'll be three of us on-hand from UNC-Chapel Hill this year--third-year grad student Randy Handley, myself, and second-year Shanna Parks.
Randy will be presenting his costume production management database software, CAPS (Computer Aided Paperwork System), which streamlines management paperwork from measurements to fitting requests to tech notes, allowing for much greater speed and ease of information-sharing.
I'll be discussing the modifications to parasol frame and canopy structure developed for the "Flowers to Apple Trees" illusion created for last season's The Little Prince. Shanna served as my crafts assistant on that production and will also be there to answer questions, as she was directly involved in streamlining the construction of the transformational canopies.
So, if you're at the conference and attend the poster session, look for us and be sure to say hi!
Portfolio reviews are another excellent opportunity at USITT, for which you can sign up in advance or during the conference. They're coordinated by Rafael Jaen, costume director at Emerson College in Boston, and you can contact him via the prior link to reserve a space.
I'm going to be participating in the reviews this year, teamed up with Stacey Galloway of University of Florida. We've got four 3-minute slots scheduled for Thursday the 1st from 11am to 1pm, so hopefully we'll get to meet some great folks and help them with their portfolios!
For now though, it's back to Rwanda for me. Two days til opening and notes yet to be done!
This is a really exciting part of the PRC2 series, our second-stage programming at PlayMakers, because it allows for a conversation between the audience and various people who worked on the production. Sometimes it is the actors, sometimes the designers, director, dramaturg, sometimes people who have real-life experiences similar to those in a given play, sometimes even other interesting professionals, like the "Mindplay" series where psychologists discuss the potential motivations of different characters' behavior. It's really cool "DVD Extras" sort of augmentative event, and i'm very excited to be a part of it for this production as costume designer. This is exactly the kind of stuff i love to read about theatres putting into place as yet another means for connecting with the communities and audiences they serve.
The other topic on the table today is USITT, the national conference for theatre production professionals, held next week in Kansas City, MO, from March 31st to April 3rd. I'm attending (along with many others in our department), and will be blogging from the conference with all kinds of behind-the-scenes pix and info about what goes on at one of these things. If you've never been, it'll be a great way to get a good handle on what it's like, so you can decide whether to attend in future. This year is going to be a particularly big event, as it's the 50th anniversary of the organization, and proves to be a great conference.
There are a couple of events i should mention in advance of particular interest to costumers: the Costume Design & Technology Poster Session, and Portfolio Reviews.
The poster session is a juried presentation of posters that involve innovations and developments in the fields of research, design, production techniques, media, etc. It runs from 1:30pm-3pm on Thursday, April 1st (and that's no foolin'). During that time, you can wander the presentation hall and ask questions of the presenters, who are on-hand to discuss their topics. Most presenters bring handouts of their work for attendees to take home with info on supplies and methods. There'll be three of us on-hand from UNC-Chapel Hill this year--third-year grad student Randy Handley, myself, and second-year Shanna Parks.
Randy will be presenting his costume production management database software, CAPS (Computer Aided Paperwork System), which streamlines management paperwork from measurements to fitting requests to tech notes, allowing for much greater speed and ease of information-sharing.
I'll be discussing the modifications to parasol frame and canopy structure developed for the "Flowers to Apple Trees" illusion created for last season's The Little Prince. Shanna served as my crafts assistant on that production and will also be there to answer questions, as she was directly involved in streamlining the construction of the transformational canopies.
So, if you're at the conference and attend the poster session, look for us and be sure to say hi!
Portfolio reviews are another excellent opportunity at USITT, for which you can sign up in advance or during the conference. They're coordinated by Rafael Jaen, costume director at Emerson College in Boston, and you can contact him via the prior link to reserve a space.
I'm going to be participating in the reviews this year, teamed up with Stacey Galloway of University of Florida. We've got four 3-minute slots scheduled for Thursday the 1st from 11am to 1pm, so hopefully we'll get to meet some great folks and help them with their portfolios!
For now though, it's back to Rwanda for me. Two days til opening and notes yet to be done!