TCI articles from May 1997

TCI archives from May 1997

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.(American Repertory Theater, Cambridge, MA)
May 1, 1997... Ain't Gulgnol Grand? Take a film classic. Add a pinch of carney sideshow theatrics. Mix in some Grand Guignol horrifics, and make the audience feel a little too much a part of a show with magic that is itself illusory. Here, when a...

Radio days.(sound designer Tod Matland's 'Private Parts')(Interview)
May 1, 1997... There aren't very many films about radio--let's face it, it's not a subject that is easily translated to a visual medium--but production sound mixer Tod Maitland, CAS, has worked on two of the biggest. His first foray was Talk Radio, the 1991...

Garden variety.(designing the 1997 Grammy Awards show in Madison Square Garden)
May 1, 1997... In a bold move by producer Pierre Cossette to achieve the vibrancy and electricity of a stadium show, this year's star-studded Grammy Awards moved to Madison Square Garden, shunning such traditional venues as the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and...

One Flea Spare.(Joseph Papp Public Theater, New York, NY)
May 1, 1997... The Body Politic In Naomi Wallace's new play One FIea Spare, produced in March at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre in New York, political structures are toppled by the demands of the body. The action is set in 1665 London, where the plague...

Good as New.(Manhattan Class Company, New York, NY)
May 1, 1997... Good & Plenty Audiences at Good as New at New York's Manhattan Class Company who step out for an intermission drink do so at their own peril; step out for even a few minutes and you risk missing one of the most complete design transitions...

love jones.
May 1, 1997... Chicago New Wave "Ted's first statement to me was that he wanted to do a French New Wave movie set in Chicago," says Roger Fortune, production designer of the Theodore Witcher film love jones. "He said, `I want to make Chicago look as...

The Wilma Theatre.(Philadelphia, PA)(Architecture)
May 1, 1997... Giant pink and blue neon letters tumble across the facade to herald the presence of The Wilma Theatre at the corner of Broad and Spruce Streets in central Philadelphia. The city's first new theatre to be built since The Forrest went up in 1928,...

Strand Lighting Inc.(Business Report)(Company Profile)
May 1, 1997... It would be easy to take a company like the Rancho Domingo, CA-based Strand Lighting Inc. for granted. After all, they're part of a global company that's been around since the dawn of time, or at least since Strand Electric was founded in the UK...

Beowulf Boritt.(set, costume designer)(Interview)
May 1, 1997... For set and costume designer Beowulf Boritt, a single fax brought him from the Village to the Bronx and back down again, with stops in pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg and war-torn El Salvador in between. In New York City for all of nine months...

Ericsson Stadium.(Charlotte, NC)(Special Report - Architecture - Sports Venues)(Cover Story)
May 1, 1997... By serving as home to the NFL Panthers expansion team, this Charlotte venue has set a new standard for stadium construction Charlotte, NC, is one of the fastest-growing cities in the South--one sign of its increasing urbanity is the recent...

Turner Field: the site of last year's Olympic glory is revamped as a home for the Braves.(Atlanta, GA)(Special Report - Architecture - Sports Venues)(Cover Story)
May 1, 1997... The site of last year's Olympic glory is revamped as a home for the Braves It might sound like an obscure late movie on Ted Turner's TNT cable channel, but the story of his new namesake sports venue really is "A Tale of Two Stadiums."...

CoreStates Center: the new home of the Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers mixes sports and entertainment in a high-tech setting.(Philadelphia, PA)(Special Report - Architecture - Sports Venues)(Cover Story)
May 1, 1997... The new home of the Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers mixes sports and entertainment in a high-tech setting Philadelphians are great sports fans. They've got those winning home teams--the Flyers (NHL), Eagles (NFL) and Phillies (MLB)--who have...

Sports of all sorts: a roundup of building projects underway across the country.(Special Report - Architecture - Sports Venues)(Cover Story)
May 1, 1997... From showplaces for new expansion teams to aging venues ripe for rehabilitation, the sports sector of entertainment design is enjoying a building boom. In a special TCI sports report, here's a roster of recently completed facilities plus...

Robert Brill: a set designer with a strong architectural sense untangles the mysteries of 'God's Heart.'(Interview)
May 1, 1997... Here are some of the things that happen in Craig Lucas' new play God's Heart: The wife of a Manhattan physician investigates the murder of her neighbors; her search leads to a crack house, where she and her husband are held at gunpoint by an...

Super is as Super does.(production of the 1997 Super Bowl Game halftime show)(Events)
May 1, 1997... The Super Bowl is, as everyone knows, something of a misnomer. The games themselves are traditionally one-sided affairs, and this year's NFL championship, held January 26 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, was no exception (Green Bay beat...

Another opening, another ShowTrans. (theater audience translation receiver)
May 1, 1997... The hottest thing on Broadway these days isn't a show, an actor, or a song. It's a device. It's ShowTrans, folks. The ShowTrans system, created and manufactured by the New York-based company of the same name, provides a multilingual synopsis...

Kitchen voodoo: Dayton Ballet's new recipe for 'Cinderella'.(Designer Sketchbook)
May 1, 1997... A girl, a fireplace, a godmother, a ballgown, a pumpkin, a carriage, a slipper: These are the basic ingredients every Cinderella must have. Dayton Ballet has mixed these with a dash of Creole seasoning in its new full-length production. The...

The Fifth Element.
May 1, 1997... Those looking forward to driving air taxis in 25th-century New York may be surprised to learn that they sound not so very different from the earthbound versions of today. At least that's the scenario in director Luc Besson's futuristic movie The...

Kick out the jams.(production of the National Basketball Association's All-Star Game weekend)(Special Supplement: Film and TV Sound)
May 1, 1997... One game is not enough. These days, the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star game has turned into an entire weekend of activities designed to celebrate both the league and the game of basketball. This year's event, which marked the...

FOBs: friends of Baltzell.(sound production of the '97 Presidential Inaugural Gala by Patrick Baltzell)(Special Supplement: Film and TV Sound)
May 1, 1997... The 1997 Presidential Inauguration Gala celebrating the beginning of the second term of President Bill Clinton, broadcast live by CBS the night before the official inauguration, boasted an entertainment lineup of everything from duets to rock...

Soundelux.(film sound designers)(Special Supplement: Film & TV Sound)(Company Profile)
May 1, 1997... Poring through the credits list of Soundelux, the Hollywood, CA-based motion picture sound design and editorial facility, is a bit overwhelming. Currently clocking in at over six pages, the list includes films that go back to the company's...

tomandandy.(film composers/sound designers)(Special Supplement: Film & TV Sound)(Company Profile)
May 1, 1997... In the late 80s, the commercial industry was buzzing about these two guys named Tom and Andy. Enrolled in Princeton's Ph.D. program in music composition, these guys--Tom Hajdu and Andy Millburn--were not your average Ivy League grad students....

Star Wars: a new sound.(Ben Burtt on re-processing the sound of the Star Wars trilogy)(Special Supplement: Film & TV Sound)(Interview)
May 1, 1997... Ben Burtt returns to the Jedi to blast the trilogy's audio into hyperspace for 90s audiences When Ben Burtt picked up his undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Southern California, he dreamed of joining the space program....