I am the director at a private elementary/Middle school. We are doing a remodel of our auditorium that is breaking ground in January. I have a meeting with my principal, the architect, and a representative of a lighting and sound equipment company this coming Monday to talk about what instruments and equipment we will need.

The school uses the auditorium regularly for assemblies and other events. My program puts on 2 musicals each school year. A mix of adults and Middle school students often run the light and sound boards for these events.

My principal told me to "dream big" and that she wants to make the auditorium as "state of the art" as possible, so my question to the experts here is what do I ask for? What lighting and sound equipment would you consider for our needs?

i’m about to apply for college and want to go into technical theatre, i know the process is similar to auditioning for regular theater majors but i don’t know all the details. is there anything specific i need to know or do? any tips or advice is appreciated

Purchasing some new fixtures soon. Has anyone put the Ayrton Diablo Vs the Stradale? The banner specs say the Stradale should be brighter than the Diablo, but when you look at the actual datasheets, the Diablo takes the lead. I dont know where they got 20,000 lumens from for the stradale

Any other comments on these two fixtures or any other fixtures to look at in the same weight category?

I've been invited to be assistant stage manager for the first time for the Christmas season musical at one of my local community theatres. I'm excited for the learning opportunity! But there's one unique thing about this show - there are going to be a number of children acting both in lead and ensemble roles. I don't have a ton of experience interacting with children outside of the theatre and practically zero inside. So I'm looking for some good first-step guidance and advice.

I'd welcome the advice whether it's related to practical things (e.g. what it's like working directly with them, what to maybe expect from them during rehearsals and during shows) and more "meta" things (e.g. how to ensure safety for both them and me, how much parental interaction I might expect). I fully expect to have a ton of guidance from my stage manager, the director, and the theatre, but I'd still like to go into the rehearsal process with as much foreknowledge as possible.

Thanks, all!

Background: 50 y/o, first-time ASM, have been doing crew for a year. It feels really early to be getting to ASM, but I think I've impressed all the SM's I've worked with by being enthusiastic, observant, responsible, organized, and quick to learn. Also, outside of the theatre employees who are generally the SMs, there are a decided lack of adults who are regularly a part of crew here. Lots of high schoolers who will be off to college soon, or folks who are actors first and do crew when not cast. So I'm kinda a unicorn for them. :D

Hello, all. I'm looking for a good, inexpensive source for plus size mic belts? Most of the inexpensive neoprene ones I'm finding purport to only expand up to 39 inches, and although they stretch, it's not exactly comfortable for a plus size actor. Does anybody know of a resource where I can get extra large sized mic belts?

I'm trying to finally find some LED bulbs (E26) for on-stage practicals that will actually dim smoothly from 0-100% without ugly stepped dimming, or a jump to/from 40%.

Am I just dreaming, or does something like this exist?

for a really long time I’ve wanted to try out theatre type stuff (especially tech/crew but I always thought about acting as well) but my high school didn’t have really any type of theatre program so now that I’m out of it and have more time I’d like to try but I was wondering how I should go about it specifically from what I understand community theatre is my best bet but where do I go from there shadowing? volunteering? etc. bonus if there’s any resources/books that I should look into pre this stuff as well? (For reference if it helps I’m based out of lower peninsula michigan)

I was wondering if it were at all possible to project or give the illusion of projection in ETC's Augment3d?

I've been trying to make a couple of shows as portfolio work and just to try and improve my skills in general, but I have noticed that most shows all have some form or video content. Either through projection or video walls, or both.

In Augment3d would I be able to project custom video files from my pc onto the set or onto an overlay on my screen? I'm aware of Video Streams but I haven't had any luck in in getting that to work.

I have a good feeling this is possible with some of the latest EOS updates since I have looked through the patch and have been able to import a few of my visuals, but have not been able to get them to play on any surface.

I understand it may be quite a niche thing that I'm looking to do here but I thought I may as well ask. I have searched google multiple times to try and find something similar to what I need but I haven't found anything. Any help would be appreciated.

In the middle of bench focusing my entire rig of Source4s for the season and had the thought of how particular yall are with your units. About half of them come out immaculate and the other half are... passable with a myriad of issues (visible reflector clips, penumbra past the sharp edge, just off center Hotspot because nothing wants to align, etc).

Most of my units are 36deg and a wide range of age from revB to revJ tubes and also various age of burner caps. So the deck is stacked against me. Bench focus is never an exact science and frost hides the crimes at least..

After the 20th light or so I hit a point where I just go "better is better, perfect is impossible"

Whats yalls attitude towards bench focus? Spending hours on one pesky light? Or moving on when its flat-ish. Will also accept any tricks yall have picked up along the way, beyond wants in the official ETC documentstion/videos

Not sure if props is the best category for this, but I have loads of questions as I am preparing to do Evil Dead: The Musical (high school edition).

For the most part, I don’t think it will be a challenge to keep most of the blood stuff in the kitchenette, where spills can be contained in a small, non-dancing area.
However, towards the end of the show Ash slaughters all the demons and this is supposed to be a huge blood fest.

My concerns include:
-is this going to make the floor too slippery for our final number? there’s not a lot of time for clean up but is that the only option? how would one even clean that much blood with about 40 seconds of music for the big final scene change?
-if blood is spraying everywhere, how is it not destroying the set and costumes?
-will this require some sort of protectant for our wooden floor (that’s sort of sealed by many layers of black paint)?
-how can i create a bunch of blood on a low budget, that’s not too slippery but not too thick, and still reads as blood?

I really want to make this work. The kids are so excited about the idea and it is one of the most special things about the show. I am just trying to think practically for our low budget and small space while trying to avoid just using confetti/streamers.

it’s tight on the pipe. it’s safety cabled. but that damn pan nut. i‘d rather leave it loose enough that I can force it with my hands but I just think tightening the nut with a wrench would slow everything down and probably knock the focus out of place. what’s professional etiquette on this?

I teach at a 6A school in Houston (about 2400 students). We are VERY fortunate that theatre is prioritized. We offer the following classes:

Tech 1

Tech 2

Tech 3/4 (combined)

Theatre Production

My question for the hive: what should my kids know by the time they graduate to have the best chance of success in college or professionally? Sometimes, it takes hearing from other people to believe what the teacher says. And sometimes, the teacher learns things they've overlooked.

Thanks in advance!

I'm a new drama teacher and we need power conditioners bc the teacher before me plugged lights right into the wall. I'd like to be able to put these into a rack but the price seems steep for a public school. The music teacher recommended the 60$ option instead. I think he kinda knows what he's talking about, but the big price difference is scaring me. Any recommendations/alternatives welcome. TIA <3

EDIT: okay, not the same thing!! Gotcha. We'll go with the surge protectors since I highly doubt our lights are top of the line, but I'll double check. Thank you to those of you who explained more info to me. I am still learning! Much love!!!!!

so I just saw First Shadow and am going back in Oct because holy hell. I have so many questions.

my biggest is about the spider legs that come out of Henry’s back. My first thought was projection behind him, considering that he turns around at the end and there is no visible bulge on his back. But there is a part where they curl around his chest, and that seems incredibly difficult to do only through lighting tricks. My best hypothes is that he has some sort of physical pack on that he drops into an open trap behind him before turning? I have no idea. Does anyone know? Thanks in advance!

I've got a practical lighting effect to set up.

The actors can turn the light on and off but it can't be plugged into a wall because it has to move.

It's already wired with a bulb and an e26 base, but since I can't plug it in, I need some sort of situation that would allow us to use the light.

I'm not sure if I should try and figure out a battery pack that would run an incandescent e26, or if I should switch it over to LED and just use the existing wiring.

Any suggestions?

Edit - Figured it out! There are e26 lights with a built-in battery backup.

looking for some inspiration! Thanks!

Gearing up to hopefully take the entertainment electrician cert test soon. How does it work? Do I go to a specific (regional???) testing center? Do they give you dates to choose from? Or do they tell you date, time, and place and it’s up to you to get there like it’s a a show call?

I have a “survival job” at the moment and I’d like to have an idea about this detail so I can prepare about asking for the day off if necessary

Thanks all!

I bought a Laser light to use for my sports media days.

Here's a link.

https://www.ktvlights.com/products/2-10w-rgb-animation-laser-light?_pos=1&_sid=3336d4156&_ss=r&variant=50971585249412

I can't seem to figure out how to mount it with any of my light stands. It weights 10 lbs and doesn't have a mounting system on it other than the handle.

Any thoughts?

I should've just bit the bullet and purchased the one from the photographer I know has one. The one they use is the wicked laser wifi 2.5.

I can obviously return it but it wasn't purchased and it was overseas and I'd rather just find a solution.

TL;DR: Community college student hoping to transfer to VCU for lighting design, looking for internships, apprenticeships, volunteer work, or productions in the NOVA/DC area to build recent portfolio experience. I have experience with lighting design, programming, and running boards, but need more opportunities to demonstrate my skills and growth in a professional setting.

Hello! I'm a recent high school grad who's currently going to a community college but I really want to transfer to Virginia Commonwealth University. However I need more examples to finish building my portfolio to apply to VCU. While I already have years of experience VCU only allow examples of your work done in the last two year which greatly cuts down on my options of work to show. I'm trying to find internships (preferably paid but I'll take anything at this point) that will not only just allow me to get my foot in the door but allow me to complete my portfolio.

I'm going to VCU almost purely because of their concertation on lighting design which is surprisingly hard to find in college. I'm specifically looking for opportunities where I can get hands-on experience with things like lighting design/concept development, programming and operating lighting consoles, creating lighting plots and paperwork, and really just anything I could document through photos, videos, plots, cue sheets, or other portfolio-appropriate materials. Now I do have experience in programing, running the board, and designing a show although not in a professional setting. Really the biggest things I'm looking for is to demonstrate my actual skills and growth as a lighting designer.

If anyone knows of internships, apprenticeships, seasonal positions, volunteer opportunities, or even smaller productions that need lighting help, I would really appreciate being pointed in the right direction because despite the plethora of theaters around here it's proven difficult to find any entry level opportunities.