LES EPESSES, FRANCE – “We are all voyeurs to some extent when we see an intimate film,” said director Martin Scorsese. The stage production “Le Mime et l’Etoile” at Puy du Fou takes matters to another level, as the audience is not only drawn into an intimate story, but also gets to view it through […]

FORT LAUDERDALE – The deepest purpose of art is “not to convey, but to evoke,” the great novelist Jerzy Kosinski once observed. Clifford Michael Spulock demonstrated the power of this principle when lighting the Slow Burn Theatre Company’s production of Newsies earlier this summer at the Broward Center. The story told in this Tony-winning musical, […]

HEMPFIELD, PA – All the world may be a stage, as the great Bard wrote, but when it comes to theatrical productions, it’s often the characters on the stage who determine how that world spins. In the case of the Lynn Ahrens-Stephen Flaherty musical comedy, “Seussical,” that spin definitely revolves around fun. Even by the […]

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN – Physicists tell us that light makes no sound. That may be technically true, but when a lighting design wraps itself around ferocious metal music and a theatrical stage show to the point where they all merge into one experience, it’s easy to see how fans (and even music critics) can feel that […]

ST. LOUIS  – Adrian Silverstein and Joe Beck both relish talking about history, and it’s easy to understand why! As the assistant general manager and master entertainment electrician respectively of the venerable Stifel Theatre, they work in a building where the past seems to echo off every inch of beautiful Art Deco walls. Once the […]

BLACKPOOL, UK – It doesn’t matter how experienced you are, sooner or later, you’re going to be in a situation where you find yourself doing something for the first time. Ollie Wilkinson can vouch for that. A lighting designer for over 15 years, Wilkinson has been involved in shows, large and small, in all kinds […]

MILWAUKEE – Some venues just lend themselves to creating evocative looks on stage, believes Glenn Ottenbachker. That’s one reason why the lighting designer from A.G. Entertainment USA was only too happy to take on the project of lighting a shared headline show at The Pabst Theatre recently. Opened in 1895, the Renaissance Revival style theatre […]

MONTREAL – At their best, creative works do more than captivate us through the power of their originality, they also inspire us to take our own journey of imagination. Such is the case with Hironobu Sakaguchi’s “Final Fantasy” series, which has been hailed as “the gateway to the enchanting world of role playing games.” Today, […]

LOS ANGELES – When Allen Branton and the rest of the production team saw their design concept for the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction in place at the Microsoft Theater, their first reaction was something along the lines of “wow, this feels really modern!” This might have come as a surprise to […]

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 […]