September Issue - PLSN.com

NEWS
Teaching Theatre Kicks Off New Season
BUNNELL, FL – The 1000-seat Flagler Auditorium,
located on the Northeast coast of Fla., is
a teaching theatre, working in conjunction with
Flagler Palm Coast High School, teaching theatre
tech and acting. Advanced students have the opportunity
to work alongside professionals when
they come to the theatre, in addition to working
shows at other theatres in area. Some even go on
to work with IATSE. In a typical semester, there
are four classes, each with at least 30 students,
and some with even larger classes. The more advanced
students are also taken to LDI every other
year when it’s in Orlando.
The students have the opportunity to work
in a state-of-the-art facility with current lighting
tools. The lighting system included an ETC Insight
console with Emphasis (WYSIWYG), 196 dimmers,
Source Fours, 6” and 8” Fresnels, six High End Systems
Studio Spots 575 CMYs, and two Lycian M2
modular followspots.
According to Bruce Brady, who has been a
tech in the theatre for 13 years, several of the students
have gone on to work in the industry. “One
young lady, Amanda Brown, is working in the
theatres in Branson. Another young man went
into the theatre with a local professional group,
Seaside Musical Theatre, and he’s now in management.
Another is at North Carolina School
of the Arts, Steven Mayhugh, studying theatre.
Another student is at the University of Florida in
Pensacola—Nathan Smith.”
The teaching theatre has also had students
picked up and taken on the road with touring
Broadway shows. “We had one student that
worked with the same Broadway show three
years in a row. The same crew kept coming back,
and they said to her, ‘Come with us now.’ ” She
worked in wardrobe. We turn out some pretty
good kids here. We have a few little budding
flowers here and there.”
Jack Nieberlein, who is the technical director,
has been with the theatre for six years.
Fab Four performing in Flagler Auditorium
In Brief
Angstrom Lighting provided the
lighting equipment for a special concert
performance of Jesus Christ Superstar
at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood,
California to benefit YouTHeatre
America! The Andrew Lloyd Webber-
Tim Rice musical was directed by Gary
Goddard of Gary Goddard Entertainment,
with lighting design by Rick Belzer,
founder of Big Apple Lights and
Belzer Design International... Automation
and control specialists Kinesys
have designed and built a custom control
system for 40 giant streamer cannons
which have been added to the
latest leg of the Rolling Stones Bigger
Bang world tour. Andy Cave is the project
manager for Kinesys in close association
with Andy Edwards from Brilliant
Stages, designer of the hardware,
and in conjunction with the show’s set
designer Mark Fisher.
Article was a Blast
I wanted to take the time to drop
you a line to tell you how much I appreciated
the article on our certification of
pyrotechnics bill in Tennessee (The Biz,
May 2006). I received so many positive
calls and great feedback from technicians
to coliseums. Since your article,
the bill passed overwhelmingly and
was signed by the Governor. We have
interest from several other states at taking
a look at this legislation as a model
for pyro certification. Also, I have been
retained by the Pyrotechnic Guild International
as their lobbyist.
Melissa Bast
Ad info: www.plsn.com/rsc
No Bloopers Here
I enjoyed your story about the Al
Kooper-Mike Bloomfield incident (Hopper,
Kooper, and the Super Duper Blooper,
August, 2006). Good things can come
with persistence. As they say, “It’s sometimes
easer to get forgiveness than permission.”
Looks like it really worked for Al.
I hate to age myself but I have a reel to
reel tape of Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield
“Live” and also “Super Session” with
them and Steve Stills together. I use to
put my albums on tape to keep them
from getting scratched up. Of course the
albums are long gone now (too many exwives),
but I still have my tapes. I enjoy
PLSN; keep up the good work.
Phil Allen
Corrections:
In the Editor’s Note last month we
misspelled Rear Admiral Grace Hopper’s
name. We regret the error.
Also, in the On The Move section,
we neglected to note Matt Pearlman’s
new position in his return to Intelligent
Lighting Creations. He has re-joined ILC
as account manager.