We are thrilled to welcome to the show this week Lighting Designer Aja Jackson! This season Aja is the Associate on John Proctor is the Villain as well as keeping a busy design schedule herself. Cory and Aja talk about her Off-Broadway debut, A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, which occurred while still coming out of the pandemic, her time in Boston and her work with the organization Brighter Boston, re-lighting the current Hadestown tour, why there is no secret trick to lighting different colored skin tones, what she’s learned working for Natasha Katz and much more!

Broadway: Fat Ham*, Lempicka*, John Proctor is the Villain*. Off-Broadway: A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, Rock and Roll Man, Monsoon Wedding*. Commercial: Goddess* (Berkeley Rep), Real Women Have Curves* (ART), Queen of Versailles* (Colonial Theatre). Regional: Hear Word (ART);  Sojourners, John Proctor Is The Villain, The Band’s Visit, The Art of Burning (Huntington); Lost In Yonkers, The Art of Burning, Pride and Prejudice, Simona’s Search (Hartford Stage); Alley: Seared, The Nerd; A Doll’s House, Harvey, World Goes Round, Behold, A Negress, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Everyman Theatre); Fences (Shakespeare and Company); World Goes Round (Olney Theatre). Dance: Modern Connections; HoldTight, Ailey 2, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Awards: OEAA Outstanding Lighting Design for Kinky Boots (2022). *Associate/Assistant. Proud member of USA 829.

https://www.ajajacksonlighting.com

This week we are joined by Scenic and Production Designer, Emmy Winner Jason Ardizzone-West! Jason is making his Broadway debut this season with Redwood and he and Cory chat about the evolution of the design from La Jolla to Broadway, the challenge of depicting trees onstage, how video plays a huge role in the design, and he lets us in on some secrets of Stella (she’s the tree). Cory and Jason also chat about his award winning work on Jesus Christ Superstar Live, what is was like designing a new set for the Blue Man Group and his work with renown designer Es Devlin.

https://www.jawstudiony.com

The podcast is back with all new episodes! This week we are joined by Lighting Designer and current Helen Hayes nominee Mextly Couzin who made her Broadway debut this season with Job. Cory and Mextly chat about that show’s journey from a tiny room downtown to the Main sStem, what it means to be an emerging designer, pigeonholing designers into boxes, designing outside at the Old Globe, and the crazy story of the first time Cory and Mextly worked together.

Mextly Couzin’s design credits include, Broadway: JOB. Off-Broadway: N/A, Fiasco Theatre’s Pericles, A Good Day to Me Not To You, Here We Are (ALD), Straight Line Crazy, peerless, Tambo & Bones; Regional: MEXODUS (Berkeley Rep, Baltimore Center Stage/ Mosaic), HENRY 6 (The Old Globe); Das Rheingold (Seattle Opera); Incendiary (Woolly Mammoth); West Side Story (Centro de Bellas Artes Puerto Rico); La Belle et la Bête (Opera Paralléle). International: Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Nuits de Fourvière. 2023 recipient of The 1/52 Project grant. MFA University of California, San Diego ’20

https://www.mextlycouzin.com

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 chat about the questions and concerns many have shared regarding a shift to the way shows have traditionally been created. Joining us for the chat are Rachel Spencer Hewitt, Lindsay Jones, Regina Garcia, Tajh Oates, Bradley King, and Pirronne Yousefzadeh. The group covers a wide range of topics including how many 10/12s are actually allowed for each contract, which kinds of weeks (rehearsal, tech, performance) could benefit the most from a 5 day week, whether fewer hours/days would mean less income, the impact a schedule change could have on out-of-town residencies, how to convince theatres to examine these ideas after 18 months of no ticket sales, and how some theatres are already adopting this changes. It can’t happen overnight, and each theatre needs to examine the needs and realities for each specific production, but hopefully, this episode can help answer some questions you may have and encourage you to continue the conversation. Enjoy!

nomore10outof12s.com

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!

rachelhauckdesign.com
amycrubin.com
jaclimer.com
amith-chandrashaker-an3y.squarespace.com
artisticfinance.com

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!

howellbinkley.com
hemsleylightingprograms.com/howell-binkley-fellowship

timdeiling.com
davidfarleydesign.net
chiarastephenson.com
andrewdedwards.co.uk
loesjesanders.com/lucy-carter

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!

Anna is an experienced Producer/Production Stage Manager based in Hong Kong. Her 20-year work history spans Asia Pacific, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. She has worked for companies such as Cirque du Soleil, Franco Dragone Entertainment Group, Christie Digital Systems and The Sydney Opera House.

Anna was an integral part of the research and development, training and formation, creation and operation of the 250 million dollar aquatic show, The House of Dancing Water in Macau. She also maintained the daily operations of this complex show as the head of Stage Management for 7 years. Other credits include Production Stage Management Consultant for The Han Show as well as a calling Stage Manager at Cirque du Soleil’s LOVE for 2 years.

Anna has been employed on over 70 shows in the areas of concerts, arena events, corporate events, trade shows, musical theatre, plays, dance, circus, outdoor festivals and mega shows. Anna holds a honours degree in Design for Theatre and Television from Charles Sturt University in Australia.

Anna is also Co-Founder and Managing Director for TheatreArtLife, a global platform for live entertainment industry professionals hosting a community of creative and technical professionals sharing their cultures, knowledge, experience, passions and challenges.

TheatreArtLife.com

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.

We See You White American Theatre
https://www.weseeyouwat.com/
We Don’t Want Your Statements
https://howlround.com/we-dont-want-your-statements-american-theatre
Broadway League Pledges Change Amid National Uproar Over Racism
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/28/theater/broadway-league-racial-injustice.html?searchResultPosition=6
Theatre Artists of Color Enumerate Demands for Change
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/10/theater/we-see-you-theater-demands.html

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!

Edward Pierce is a Tony nominated designer and operates a NYC-based design studio specializing in the production design of Broadway, Touring, and International Live Stage productions.

Notable productions include: the Tony-Award nominated scenic design for the revival of Angels in America; the Tony-Award winning scenic design for the hit musical Wicked with Eugene Lee [all Worldwide productions]; international design adaptation and supervision for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera – World Tour and Love Never Dies; international design adaptation and supervision for Billy Elliot. Broadway scenic designs for Amazing Grace, Holler If Ya Hear Me, and The Other Place; lighting design for the Broadway revival of A Streetcar Named Desire; Alice By Heart (Off-Broadway); NBC’s variety show Maya & Marty; the Broadway presentation of Shatner’s World: We Just Live In It; Universal Kid’s Emmy-nominated daytime series Sprout House; the national tour of The Gazillion Bubble Show; Pope Benedict XVI Pastoral Visit to New York – the Mass at Yankee Stadium; To Kill a Mockingbird at Madison Square Garden; NBC’s Primetime Upfronts at Radio City Music Hall; designs at the McCarter Theater for Bathing in Moonlight, Piano Lesson, Baby Doll, Five Mile Lake, and Antony & Cleopatra; The Long Red Road (Goodman Theatre), The Lark (Stratford Festival), Hughie with Brian Dennehy; and Tell Me on a Sunday (Kennedy Center).

Design supervision for the Best Musical Broadway Revival of Pippin; the Broadway scenic design for 9 to 5 – The Musical; the Broadway scenic design for Boublil & Schönberg’s The Pirate Queen; Bright Star; Chaplin; Glengarry Glen Ross; Dead Accounts; The Homecoming; You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush; the TONY® Award-winning lighting design for Disney’s Aida; the lighting design for Ragtime (Tony nomination); the lighting design for Cabaret (Tony nomination); the designs for Bring in ‘da Noise / Bring in ‘da Funk and The Tempest.

Edward represents designers as the President of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, IATSE and supports the industry as a member on the Advisory Board of the American Theatre Wing and the Tony Award Administration Committee.  Edward balances his professional life with the joy of raising three children with his wife in New Jersey.

edwardpierce.com
How Edward Pierce, Broadway ‘Wicked’ Designer, Fought COVID-19—and Made Medical History

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!

Lindsay Jones has designed Sound for the Broadway productions of Slave Play (Tony Nominations for Best Sound Design & Best Original Score), The Nap, Bronx Bombers and A Time to Kill. Recent Off-Broadway credits include Little Rock (Sheen Center), Feeding the Dragon (Cherry Lane), Mankind, Bootycandy (Playwrights Horizons); Smokefall (MCC); Mr. Joy (LCT3| Lincoln Center Theatre); Kings, Privacy, Dry Powder, Barbecue, Wild With Happy (Public Theater); and many others. Regionally he has worked with Arena Stage, Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, Alliance Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater and many others. International credits include Stratford Shakespeare Festival (Canada), Royal Shakespeare Company (England) and many others. His awards include seven Joseph Jefferson Awards and 21 nominations, two Ovation Awards and three nominations, one LA Drama Critics Circle Award and three Drama Desk Award nominations, as well as nominations for Helen Hayes, Barrymore and many others. Film scoring credits include Magnolia Pictures’ The Brass Teapot and HBO Films’ A Note of Triumph (2006 Academy Award—Best Documentary).

lindsayjones.com