Theatre is back and so is the podcast! This week, we return from a long hiatus to cover a topic that is being discussed in theatres around the country: the elimination of 10 out of 12 tech rehearsals and the move to a 5 day work week. Cory sits down with organizers from nomore10outof12s.com to…

This week we've got another band of awesome designers for Happy Hour #9 as we discuss the one-year anniversary of the pandemic. We are joined by Scenic Designer Rachel Hauck, Lighting Designer Amith Chandrashaker, Scenic & Costume Designer Jacob Climer, and Scenic Designer Amy Rubin. The gang talks about how they are feeling emotionally and physically and the toll the past 12 months has had on their lives as well as their take on streaming/filmed theatre, the newly energized union membership, whether audiences will want escapism or not after this time, and how designers may return to projects that were designed pre-Covid with their new post-Covid personalities and world views. Before that, Cory sits down with podcast host Ethan Steimel to talk about his podcast, Artistic Finance, and why artists talking about money is such an important topic. It may feel like a depressing week, but there's a lot of laughs and fun in this episode so blow off some steam and know everyone is feeling the same way you are!

The podcast is back with another Happy Hour and we are hopping over the Atlantic this time to chat with some amazing designers based in the UK. Before that, however, Howell Binkley's long-time associates Ryan O'Gara and Amanda Zieve join us to talk about the newly created fellowship in Howel's name and the upcoming March 1st deadline to apply. Then it's on to the roundtable with Lighting Designer Tim Deiling, Scenic & Costume Designer David Farley, Lighting Designer Lucy Carter, Scenic Designer Chiara Stephenson, and Scenic Designer Andrew Edwards. They share with us how the Covid pandemic has affected the UK theatre community, the difference in governmental responses between the US and UK, how British designers are coming together to support each other, and what the long-term effects may be. Tim tells us about the Broadway shutdown which occurred mere hours before the opening night of Six and what happened when they attempted to reopen a socially distanced version of the show last year. The gang also discusses the NHS and how that has impacted the vaccine rollout, why theatre still isn't considered essential in either country, how the lack of a designer's union in the UK has forced more individuals to take action and what silver linings may come out of this time. Grab a pint, fry up some chips, and enjoy this bloody good new episode!

Today’s very special guest is technically not a designer, but she brings together ALL the design elements which makes her the perfect person to talk to. For Episode 103 we are hanging with Production Stage Manager, Anna Robb! Anna’s most recent job before Covid was wearing multiple hats on the 250 million dollar extravaganza The House of Dancing Water in Macau where she served as Production Artistic Coordinator, Technical Manager, And PSM, which involved calling 500 cues and managing 83 backstage crew member and 91 onstage performers, not to mention copious amounts of flying, diving, scuba, fountains, and motorbikes. Working with Franco Dragone from its inception, she’s sharing stories of how the project came together, what a 3-month tech process looks like, and the specifics of how a show of this size is run night after night. But there’s more! Anna also tells us about her time as Stage Manager on Cirque du Soleil’s LOVE, how Covid has affected the arts both where she’s from (Australia) and where she lives (Hong Kong), how she manages it all as a working mother, and the genesis of the website she created, TheatreArtLife. Anna has so much fascinating info to share and such a unique perspective and we’re thrilled to have her!

2020 was a wack year for all of us. On top of a pandemic sweeping the globe, the United States was finally forced to reckon with the racism entrenched in its heritage, ignited on May 25, 2020 with the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police. Rocked by a firestorm of protests, and with little entertainment or escape due to Covid-safety protocols, a group of theatre designers, directors, actors, managers and technicians, produced an open letter titled 'We See You White American Theatre', and laid it square in the public eye. The letter detailed the many transgressions accumulated toward theatre-makers identifying as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, by the predominantly white American theatre in the United States, and has reverberated through management structures, teaching institutions and theatre producing organizations at all levels prompting a new, thorough, unavoidable level of public conversation and accountability. Joining Alan to discuss these topics is award-winning Scenic & Costume designer and activist Clint Ramos, Assistant Dean and Assistant Professor Adjunct in Theater Management for Yale School of Drama and General Manager of Yale Repertory Theatre Kelvin Dinkins, Jr, and Managing Director of the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts at Northwestern University Al Heartley.

This year will be one for the history books for all of us, but it will be of particular significance for our guest today, Scenic & Lighting Designer Edward Pierce. He is joining Cory and Jen in this brand new episode to break down his roller coaster of a year. It began with his design and involvement in the one-night-only presentation of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ at Madison Square Garden for 20k NYC public school students, but quickly took a turn in March when Eddie contracted a serious case of Covid19 which left him in a medically induced coma for five weeks and the recipient of an experimental treatment that may have saved his life. Thankfully, fully recovered and healthy again, he was elected the new President of United Scenic Artists, now tasked with leading the approximately 5k union members through this unprecedented time and into the uncertainty of 2021. Eddie is breaking down all of it from what he hopes to bring to the industry in his new leadership role, how his brush with death has affected his outlook on life and the necessity of art, and other wonderful stories and anecdotes from ‘Wicked’, ‘Angels in America’ and how he essentially created the role of Scenic Supervisor. Eddie has a great outlook on life, on theatre, and what’s in store for all of us beaten down by this year and we are thrilled to bring you this Christmas gift!

Before we take 2020 out and bury it in the backyard, we can’t let the year go by without checking in on one of our favorite guests, Lindsay Jones! For a guy who spends most months away from home, this year has been a major adjustment for our resident travel expert. He is chatting with Cory (and Jen!) about what it’s been like being home for 9 months, how his relationship with his family has changed during this time, how he’s embraced LA as a walking city, what he misses most about travel, and what traveling may look like when we eventually go back to work. We are also talking about Lindsay’s recent Tony Noms for ‘Slave Play’, and his designs for the podcast ‘The Imagine Neighborhood’, and a radio play version of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.’ Also, Lindsay teaches Jen about uber eats, Cory talks about finally having lounge access in a year where no one is flying, and Jen regales us about getting takeout from New York’s famed restaurant Rao’s. AND we premiere new theme music written by Lindsay in honor of crossing 100 episodes!

Barriers to entry are everywhere, from grade school, to college, and beyond. How can we change that? What we’ve been told is that hard work and elbow grease are all you need, but the actual fact is that it takes much more than that to reach “success”. With this in mind, it was a privilege this past summer to have a candid conversation with 3-time Tony Nominated Costume Designer Toni-Leslie James. With credits ranging from Footloose to Come From Away, Jelly's Last Jam to Bernhardt/Hamlet, and The Wild Party to The Scottsboro Boys, hear about her decades-long journey from young, bright-eyed student at Ohio State in the late seventies, to multi-award nominated costume designer. Get your notebooks ready… class is in session.

The podcast is back this week with Changing the Landscape-Episode 4: Barrier to Entry. There’s a lot of discussion about barriers to entry later in the journey toward success as a designer, but really, the most basic entry point, grade school, has some pretty high barricades of its own. In this episode, Alan Edwards speaks with three high school arts teachers in Rochester, New York: Christine Sargent, Trish Annese and Marcy Gamzon. These educators share what they’ve seen in their decades of experience, what they know now that they didn’t know then, and what we can do to make this career more available to people of color, and young people in general.

The COVID-19 crisis has forced so many designers into an unpredictable and scary situation, but it’s especially difficult for artists living in the states who are not US citizens. Today on episode 100, we are sitting down with 4 immigrant designers to discuss how they have been affected by the shutdown and about the formation of the See Lighting Foundation to help artists in need. Cory and ‘Changing the Landscape’ producer Alan Edwards chat with Cha See, Rodrigo Muñoz, Yee Eun Nam, and Ntokozo Fuzunina Kunene about the difficulties non-citizens are facing including the inability to collect unemployment, the rules surrounding work visas that prevent them from seeking out other work which could lead to possible deportation, and how this administration’s callous and hostile behavior towards immigrants has affected their lives. The group also reexamines the idea of the American dream and the notion that this is a country built by (and made great by) immigrants, whether that America still exists, why they persevere in the face of such adversity, and why, ultimately, calling America their home is important in their journey as an artist. The contribution of artists from all over the world is critical to the theatre community to ensure we keep telling stories that reflect our diverse makeup and give voices to other cultures. Please enjoy this important conversation and then visit seelightingfoundation.com to learn more and help in any way you can.