NORTH TONAWANDA, NY – Using technology to enrich entertainment is nothing new at the Riviera Theatre. At the time it opened in 1925, the 1000-plus seat venue was outfitted with an early Mighty Wurlitzer “demonstrator,” meaning that the instrument’s manufacturer would take potential customers there to show them how the powerful pipe organ could enhance […]

  PILTON, UK – It’s a common sight outside the Glastonbury Festival Circus Big Top tent: people walking away shaking their heads in amazement at the astounding acrobatic feats performed inside the popular attraction. Less apparent to the casual fan, though equally impressive in its own right, is the way James Loudon and his team […]

PARIS – Words like “magical” and “enchanting” come up often when travel and entertainment writers, not to mention food critics, describe their experiences at Cabaret Du Bout Des Près. Anyone who’s ever visited this pastorally beautiful 17-hectare site in the Chevreuse Valley would readily agree. Although it’s located only 30 minutes from Paris on a […]

NEW YORK – Designed by the acclaimed Frank Gehry, the architect responsible for the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan and Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, among other celebrated structures, the Pershing Square Signature Center is a theatrical jewel. Comprised of three performance spaces, it affords every advantage to directors, performers, and other creatives… including lighting designers. […]

BLACKPOOL, UK – Ollie Wilkinson could have been forgiven if, at times, he felt as if he were being pulled in as many directions as “Doc,” leader of the Seven Dwarfs when he was putting together the lighting rig for the Panto performance of this Brothers Grimm fairytale turned Disney classic at the iconic Grand […]

NOVI SAD, SERBIA – “Migration” comes from the Latin word Migrare, which means to move to a new place. Many are hoping that, despite all the obstacles put in its way, the world today is indeed moving to a new and better place through the migration of different cultures, ideas, and forms of artistic expression. […]

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – A scan of the uniformly positive social media comments on the Slow Burn Theatre Company’s production of Kinky Boots at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts reveals that more than a few people in the audience had seen the Cindy Lauper-Harvey Fierstein musical before… sometimes quite a few times before. […]

ANTWERP, BELGIUM – Everyone has the ambition to become a jester at some point in life. Famed Belgian TV star Ingeborg Sergeant, called forth this quote from Ben Johnson when announcing online that she would be hosting Winterrevue Made in Belgium at the Theater Elckerlyc. The good doctor’s British ancestry notwithstanding, his words capture the […]

CHICAGO- The 380-seat McLaughlin Theatre at St. Ignatius Prep is long on charm and character. With an interior modeled after the legendary Chicago theatres of the late 19th century, it provides an evocative setting for audiences. All that being said, however, its iconic “Bob Newhart Stage” isn’t the most capacious in the city, measuring only […]

ST. LOUIS– Optimism is always a sign of courage, never more so than when expressed during challenging times. Such was the case on October 21, 2020, when, in the depths of the pandemic, a group of backers unveiled their plans for a new state-of-the-art live entertainment center. “It’s time to put a positive spin out […]

MOLD, FLINTSHIRE, WALES – The joys of lighting panto are many. High on that list is the opportunity it affords a designer to unfurl a rainbow of colors and transform the stage into a playland that delights actors and audiences alike. Johanna Town, award-winning designer and Chair for ALPD, will readily attest to that. “Panto […]

NAGANO, JAPAN – With its flowing, curving, abstract form, the Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre presents a fitting architectural testimony to the poetic beauty of the Japanese theatrical tradition. Widely regarded as the masterpieces of internationally renowned architect, Toyo Ito, the inherent beauty of the 18-year old structure, is characterized by a speckled pattern of 20,000 […]