TCI articles from November 1996

TCI archives from November 1996

Full Gallop.(Westside Theatre, New York NY)
November 1, 1996... Clothes Horse Normally, a one-person show is not the greatest of challenges for a costume designer. But when the show is based on the life of fashion doyenne Diana Vreeland - well, that's another matter. The show in question is Full...

Grace of My Heart.
November 1, 1996... States of Grace In scene after scene of Allison Anders' Grace of My Heart, a movie which charts the life and career of a Carole King-ish pop songwriter (Illeana Douglas) from the late 50s to early 70s, one not only delights in Susan...

Baby Doe re mi.(set design of remake of 'The Ballad of Baby Doe' in Colorado)
November 1, 1996... Baby Doe Re Mi Watching The Ballad of Bah Doe at Colorado's Central City Open is like watching a slice of local lore spring to life. Based on the true-life love triangle of Colorado silver king Horace Tabor, his loyal wife, and the...

20-ton house tour.(national tour set for 'Sunset Boulevard')
November 1, 1996... 20-Ton House Tour Simplifying the scenery for the national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard meant transposing a monumental set into a movable format without losing the integrity of the musical's design. Much of this task...

Aronoff and running.(new Aronoff Center for the Arts, Cincinnati, OH)
November 1, 1996... Marking the first anniversary of the Aronoff Center for the Arts this fall, Cincinnati's theatre scene has plenty to celebrate. Designed by architect Cesar Pelli & Associates (New Haven, CT) in collaboration with local associate architects...

Beautiful Thing.(production designer Mark Stevenson)(Interview)
November 1, 1996... When the time came to make the film version of the popular British play Beautiful Thing, it was decided to shoot in its actual setting, the Thamesmead Estate. Writer Jonathan Harvey had lived in this southeast London housing project, working...

Shlemiel the First.(American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco, CA)
November 1, 1996... The bed stands vertically while the door, windows, and walls are different heights; everything tilts, toward and away from each other. One flat doesn't quite touch the floor, which dips and rises. To be as level as anything can in the wacky...

Beastly hydraulics.(Walt Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' stage automation - Australia)
November 1, 1996... To the general audience, the Australian production of Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast looks much like the New York and Los Angeles productions, but technically it is significantly different. "We did things differently in the stage control...

Chad McArver.(lighting designer)(TYRO Talent)(Interview)
November 1, 1996... Armed with his light plot, gels, and templates, a lighting designer entering the theatre on the first day of tech can, from Chad McArver's viewpoint, be compared to a painter equipped with brushes and paint approaching a blank canvas: "You...

Scharff Weisberg.(rental and service firm)(Company Profile)
November 1, 1996... Every year, Broadway serves up something you wouldn't normally expect to see on The Great White Way, be it a show, a star, an event, an effect, whatever. And yet, despite the oddity of such a thing, sometimes it actually clicks. Think The...

Alvin Colt.(costume designer)(Interview)
November 1, 1996... Among the long runs of Broadway history, one of the least celebrated is the career of Alvin Colt. The costume designer made his Broadway debut in 1944; 52 years later, he's still going strong, with an extraordinary list of theatre and...

AT&T.(Olympic Pavilions)(Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta, GA)(set design and lighting)
November 1, 1996... It stands to reason that a technological giant like AT&T would make sure that its Olympic entry stood out from the crowd. With kinetic colored light and giant images projected onto soaring tensile structures, the 95,000-sq.-ft. AT&T Global...

Swatch.(Olympic Pavilions)(Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta, GA)(set design and lighting)
November 1, 1996... At Centennial Olympic Park, Swatch was a pavilion to watch. Designed by Peter Pfau, principal of San Francisco-based Pfau Architecture, in collaboration with associate designers Bob Shepherd and David Yama of the firm eyecandy, the...

Nike.(Olympic Pavilions)(Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta, GA)(set design and lighting)
November 1, 1996... Just do it. At its Atlanta Olympics venue, Nike took its slogan to heart with a facility that engaged visitors in sports activities ranging from long jumping and shooting hoops to spiking volleyballs and maneuvering through a soccer obstacle...

GM. (General Motors)(Olympic Pavilions)(Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta, GA)(set design and lighting)
November 1, 1996... Featuring a Motor City Ballet that sent replica classic cars flying 80' in the air amidst a laser and pyrotechnics show, General Motors' entry in the Olympic field of corporate contenders could safely be called over the top. To create a...

The Cure: Roy Bennett & Gary Westcott swing high on The Cure's 'Wild Moods.'(Concerts)
November 1, 1996... Comprised of songs that swell up to the heights of giddy romance and crash down to the tortured depths of despair, Wild Mood Swings couldn't be a more appropriate title for The Cure's most recent album. Though their current expedition to...

Romeo & Juliet.(Film/Production Design)(Cover Story)
November 1, 1996... With each new project that Australian director Baz Luhrmann and his long-standing design collaborator Catherine Martin commit to, they embark on famously long research journeys, kind of pre-pre-pre-production approach that leads eventually to...

Jurassic Park: a ride with bite.(Universal Studios Hollywood)(Themed Entertainment)
November 1, 1996... IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, TRY, TRY AGAIN. Sure, things got a little out of hand at Isla Nublar a few years ago - you know, that island off the Costa Rican coast where tycoon John Hammond began cloning dinosaurs, to create the ultimate...

PLASA.(Professional Lighting and Sound Association exhibition)(Trade Show Report)
November 1, 1996... It was another big year for PLASA, the London entertainment technology trade show, sponsored by the Professional Lighting and Sound Association. This year, the show moved from Earl's Court to the main Earl's Court venue, a sign of its...

Period Costumes for Stage and Screen: Patterns for Women's Dress, Medieval-1500.
November 1, 1996... Period Costume for Stage & Screen: Patterns for Women's Dress, Medieval-1500. By Jean Hunnisett. Illustrations by Kathryn Turner. Studio City, CA: Players Press, Inc., 1996. 186 pp. Hardcover: $50.00. ISBN#0-88734-653-7 Jean Hunnisett is...

Traditional Textiles of Central Asia.
November 1, 1996... Traditional Textiles of Central Asia. By Janet Harvey. New York, NY: Thames n Hudson Inc., 1996. 160 pp. Illustrated. Hardcover: $40.00. ISBN#0-500-01670-4. Several years ago, I climbed into a nomad's tent and found myself surrounded by...

LDI 96: Lighting Dimensions International - North America's largest entertainment design and technology show.(Orlando, FL, Nov. 21-24, 1996)
November 1, 1996... INNOVATION EVERYWHERE YOU TURN. You're out there on the cutting edge. Surrounded by technology, great new gear and exciting new options. LD196 brings it all together for the largest North American trade show dedicated to design and...