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hold hold hold hold hold up. check it out.

2008-06-14T19:09:00.002-05:00

I can breathe now.

I got to Montana and opened Smokey Joe's Cafe nine days later. Seussical followed three weeks later, having opened yesterday.

We closed Smokey six days ago, Sunday the 1st.

Then followed five days of tech in which I wrote 390 cues.

Three Hundred And Ninety.

I didn't sleep more than ten hours total in somewhere between three and four days.

Mixed in there was a lot of worry and anxiety about this splitter box that I had to build to get power to our rental dimmers, as we didn't have money to rent a distro.

Yeah, that one's a long story.

But anyway, my dear friend and master electrician for life, Katwhy (K-?), guided me in the process of buying the proper cable and materials and then building a safe three-way splitter box for 4/0 feeder cable...and then also guided me in the process of tying in, a task that I understood completely but had never done and was a bit frightened for my life and the lives of the rental dimmers.

So this week has been really crazy, but this is probably one of the best designs I've ever done, and I'm so excited for my day off on Monday. A chance to breathe and prepare for Once Upon a Mattress and later Jesus Christ Superstar which I'm really looking forward to.

Oh, and Smokey looked pretty good, too. That one was a challenge because of fixture/dimmer limitations. Seussical was a challenge because of the time crunch. Mattress should be basically a breather for me, and then Superstar will probably be a huge artistic challenge for me, though I think I have a pretty clear idea of what I want to do.

The word I think we're all looking for is "rockstar?"

Yeah. That's it.

By the way, have you seen that iPod commerical with the song "Shut Up and Let Me Go?" It's by a group called The Ting Tings, and their full album is on iTunes now and it's really good.

One more thing: the associate artistic director here was reading one of Scott Miller's books for research on Superstar. I felt so cool being like "oh, hey, I just designed for him."

That's all. I've got to go push a button 390 times during a two hour period.

smoore

PS: I made this for you:

montana, my special dream

2008-04-23T13:30:00.002-05:00

Christ on a bike, someone fast forward two weeks for me.

KISS has been fun. KISS hasn't been fun.

It's an interesting process, working on this show. It's hard to motivate a cast and crew whose consistent thought about the show is "oh, well it's just a Monkey show." (No, not everyone.)

So there's been some non-concentration, some non-focusing, some non-work, some dis-organization. And probably a lot of the latter has to be my fault, so I won't blame or complain too much, but this has been an intensely frustrating tech.

And a lot of THAT in particular has to do with having only had one full-staff production meeting, and having rather dubious communication skills between the production team members. And also working at the RAC is frustrating on all levels.

Though I should mention that Rob Levy, our RAC contact, is incredibly helpful and excited about having shows there. In fact, management isn't the problem at all (as opposed to previous production). It's just that, you know...it's an art studio. It's a tiny space. Lighting inventory is reliclike (that's the adjectival form of relic. I'm not a fan, but I had already committed to the word "relic" there) and 50% nonfunctional (without the means to fix them). And it's really unhelpful when you're working on a show with twenty-some locations and have only a two-scene preset and sixteen dimmers to work with.

I mean fourteen. One's always on, one's dead.

Welcome to repatch world.

So. Rather unprofessional and trivial complaining aside (steam fully blown off), please come see the show!

Good things: hilarious, as always with Monkey shows; KISS costumes/makeup; spinning upstage flats

Great things: Jim Ousley's Starchild face; Aaron Orion Baker touches Rory Flynn and Roger Erb inappropriately; costume contest at 10:30p shows

Fucking Awesome things: MOTHERFUCKER KISS BATTLES EVIL ROBOT KISS JESUS CHRIST

...

...

...

Anyway. Come see this one. April 25/26, May 2/3, 8p and 10:30p all days. RAC in the Delmar Loop.

And then I get to leave for Montana, which promises to be the best summer job I've ever had. Specifically because I finally get to work with my girlfriend, my best friend, and a few other very cool kids. Specifically, I get to share the light/sound office with one of the coolest kids I know. Rock.

smoore

gotta move, come on, step up, jump around, step in, get up.

2008-03-18T15:27:00.003-05:00

So many posters!

Ok, so I've been to see Assassins thrice. I just want to say that although, as with any artistic creation that the artist returns to after it's complete, I've found things to be not-totally-happy with in my design, I still think it looks good. Front light issues are my primary concern. I kept straight front light out of the picture for the most part, because that particular position renders a much flatter angle than I'd prefer, which means that in order to get facelight on the downstage edge, I have to deal with an exorbitant amount of bleed upstage. So I kind of only used it when I needed straight frontlight EVERYWHERE.

Yeah, maybe I regret that. Not horribly so, but maybe I should have sacrificed 'the look' at times for facelight? Sometimes a cue is just a cue. Whatever, it's not bad.

Oh, and I probably could have chosen better colors for a couple of my systems. There are some minor cases of jaundice that seem to have popped up in a few of the cast members. Hrm...

Anyway. Just a couple little things I need to keep in mind for next time. This has actually been the first musical I've ever designed. After this summer, I'm sure I'll have had many other issues pop up on top of finding solutions for the problems I've found with this design.

And now after a three week interlude between productions (wow), I start rehearsals for Magic Smoking Monkey's KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, the last commitment I have in St. Louis before spending the first second week of May back up at school to help out on a student project and then leaving for Montana through the end of August.

It's going to be altogether different, this design, from anything I've done before. Well, except this:

Actually, considering the size of the space, the scenic set-up, and the inventory I'll have, I might have a hell of a time making it NOT look just like that.

Or maybe not. I mean, this IS a show based on four GODS OF ROCK, rather than musical theater slash the indie music scene.

Anyway, news to come on that one. Like I said, we start on Monday. Performances come pretty quickly, opening in a month on April 25th.

Come friggin' rock out.

dftba,
smoore

magic picture box

2008-03-07T12:21:00.002-06:00

Allright.

I got my favorite shots uploaded to my wobsite.

I also finally put up shots from the show I did in November, Veil of Silence.

Go HERE!

Woot.

dftba,
smoore

spread the word

2008-03-06T12:00:00.003-06:00

My brother took some great portfolio shots for me last night during Final Dress.

Visit his wobsite! (davemoorephotography.com)

And his photo blag! (Picture-a-Day)

Why I say wobsite and blag! (It's XKCD's fault)

Anyway, I was having issues uploading some of them, so instead I just made a video with all the good shots. Here it is:

So. Preview performance tonight. Sweet.

I'm taking the evening off and will be back on Friday. Last night the show was pretty much spot on, and I'd like to congratulate everyone and I mean absolutely everyone on a really great production.

It's amazing how I still laugh at lines like "He didn't come here to get shot" and still get chills at moments like...well, you know the one.

And now...well, I guess I'll turn my thoughts to KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.

I've got a couple more things I intend to post that are Assassins related, though.

Oh, and remember that commenting is cool. You can do it without any sort of account by commenting "anonymously" and then just signing your name. Also remember that subscribing to my YouTube channel is cool.

Rock. That's it.

smoore

it took a little finger no time to

2008-03-04T14:29:00.002-06:00

Found the rest.

Re: previous post, & care of Dan Connors:

Salad of Czolgosz

The Ones Who Can't Get into the Ballpark Hot Dogs

Mayor Anton Cermack of Chicago-Style Pizza

Because My Belly Was on-a Fire-Grilled Chicken

for dessert, how about a Bubbalo Bill?

when people enter, you can tell them to find a lap and go sit on it.
of course, the kids' meals won't contain prizes. they'll have to ask.
that's all i got so far

Done now.

smoore

i'll remember it forever

2008-03-03T19:13:00.002-06:00

I wrote this in my personal blog my freshmen year at Millikin.

January 6, 2004

...

mom said something about me needing to open up a broadway themed restaraunt, and then i mentioned something about the assassins section of the restaraunt. the following joke is credited to dave:

"good evening, sir, would you like a table or a john wilkes booth?"

HA! come on, it's funny! we could also serve the following exquisite dishes: (if you're familiar with the show...umm...dan...be prepared to roll your eyes and groan)

Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo-Wings
'Fucking Hot' Hamburgers
Chicken A-Long-as-its-King
The "Ambassador to France" Soup du jour
Submarina-Nikolavna Sandwiches

and let's see...anytime anyone ordered a beer, all the waiters would come over to that table and yell "this bud's for you, babe! bravo! yay! etc etc." all food would be served with a speech similar to "you know, it took a lot of men to make this food...hundreds." and, of course, all meals are all-you-can-eat for $8. only eight bucks--cheap, for 'anything you want.'

My best-friend-and-also-obsessive-Assassins-fan came up with a lot more. I need to see if he remembers them.

That's all. Thought I'd share.

smoore

pretty much hot sex

2008-03-02T01:03:00.000-06:00

in which i discuss q2q, band names, hot sex, not having to run a show, and discover the available ilife sound effects in imovie08 and USE THEM EXORBITANTLY.

dftba,
smoore

every last drop little bit

2008-02-24T14:04:00.002-06:00

We got some press, y'all.

BroadwayWorld.com put up an announcement for our show. For anyone a bit confused if they follow the link attached to my name--no, I, in fact, was not performing in London when I was (respectively) negative two years and one year old.

As it turns out.

Going by tonight to try and finish focus. My totally unbiased opinion--it's looking good. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

smoore

stupid day.

2008-02-19T22:16:00.001-06:00

Posted this on my other youtube account for some reason. So...there you go.

dftba,
smoore

nemetschek wins.

2008-02-18T12:51:00.002-06:00

Dear Vectorworks,

The duplicate and mirror tool and I have begun a relationship. It is taboo, I know, but I hope you will give your blessing.

Thank you,
Steve

My light plots are nothing if not symmetrical, my lighting professor once said. The apple does not fall far from the proverbial, professorial tree.

smoore

this one's kind of just for me

2008-02-17T23:52:00.001-06:00

smoore

you could be a _______

2008-02-13T00:42:00.003-06:00

I was at rehearsal this evening.

And I made a vlog. How fun.

Doot doot doot. Nothing else to say, 's'all in the video.

Crunch time is coming up--wish us all luck.

smoore

And so he forgot he forgot maybe not

2008-01-28T00:52:00.000-06:00

I need to figure out this footlight business.

It looks like I'm able to borrow a hazer from The Rep (DF-50, which requires no warm-up time [literally] and is a beautiful thing for the in-and-out-of-haze sort of design). Perhaps I'll also beg-borrow-steal a couple two or three zip strips?

Zip strips would be my conventional lighting units of choice. I don't particularly feel the need to set up a bunch of the period, giant bulbs along the stage...but perhaps it will come to that? We'll see. I do, after all, have a budget.

I haven't posted in a bit because, well...there's not much to talk about at this stage of a lighting design. I mean, shall I regale you with my back-and-forth of "Oh, man, do I use L716 or G850 for my deep blue backlighting?"

Or perhaps you'd like to hear about my list of needed lighting systems and specials? I mean, it is kind of amusing that I've got one system labeled for my own purposes as "Chorus Line." But only kind of.

And I've already given you the hazer story. Once upon a time, I needed a hazer. I asked the master electrician at The Rep and I got a hazer. Thus it was and thus it shall be. The End.

Anyway, I am, indeed, working on my plot, but as I don't even see Act One blocked out until next week, I've run out of interesting things for here.

So, obvs, I don't have much of interest for you, small web community. But below you can find a wonderful Blue Man Group video concerning our climate crisis, which is much more important than anything I have to say ever. And you can read Korinko's blog--he's started posting.

Right, so that's it. Do check back in a week! I'll have seen Act One and will have brilliance for you.

dftba,
smoore

Production Meeting

2008-01-10T11:25:00.000-06:00

First production meeting.

And, for me, the first time seeing the new Ivory Theatre.

Short of wishing I had another AP position (ante-proscenium, as in "in the house") directly above the downstage edge of the stage, this is one venue around the area that can be added to the list of theatres that is beautifully versatile (at least seemingly at this point) for lighting. The positions are great, the cable troughs that connect all of them are clean and simple, and even the old looking lighting inventory doesn't look like ass. This really is a great space for lighting, and I think I can easily achieve just about everything I have in my head.

As for the meeting itself, that went swimmingly as well. I think 'perspective' might become the buzz word for this production, in terms of the perspective we take as citizens of this country when watching these assassins as citizens, or the perspective we want the audience take, or the skewed perspective we're looking to achieve in our designs, or the brand new perspective that we hope the production will leave us and the audiences with every night.

So...here we go. I'm ready to roll.

dftba,
smoore

you keep on shouting you keep on shouting

2008-01-09T10:15:00.000-06:00

Not talking about Assassins this time.

I'm going to use this space to write about all the shows I'm working on--at least, all the shows that I have an artistic role in. So for now, I'll be switching back and forth between Assassins with New Line and KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park with Magic Smoking Monkey. Hence the blog's title change.

I'll try not to let it get too crazy, I promise.

Monday night we had our first design meeting for KISS. For those unfamiliar with Magic Smoking Monkey productions, each one is a staging of an awful, awful B-movie...or a classic. Star Wars, and The Ten Commandments fit the latter bill while Plan 9 from Outer Space, and Glen or Glenda are two of the former kind.

So it's interesting at these first meetings...first of all, there's a precedent that's been set by the film and an expectation from the audiences to fulfill that precedent. So right from the word 'go' there are elements we know we need and challenges we know we need to meet. And not just in the manner of, say, you would know you need the chair in Sweeney Todd or the glass figurine collection in The Glass Menagerie, two instances in which the required elements can be created myriad different ways to fit whatever direction the production goes in. For Monkey we're talking about elements that NEED to exist and NEED to exist in certain ways.

Of course...those 'certain ways' are often 'as campy as possible,' but it's still a very different way in which one needs to approach these initial meetings and discussions.

And what with the theater's limited space and resources, the challenges are just that much greater.

But it's looking like it's going to be a lot of fun. Jim Ousley, who is playing Starchild and adapted the script, said something to the effect of we need to make this different from other Monkey shows. We should have people leave feeling like they've never seen a Monkey show like that before, and we should really try to blow them away with it.

Don't quote him on that, but that's the gist of it. And having seen and talked about the possible scenic designs from Dave Froeckmann and the coming KISS and other monster costumes from costume designer Lisa Beke and my own goal to make the concert bits as absolutely rockstar as possible...well, I think we're going to hit Jim's goal. Donna always makes the Monkey shows experiences to be remembered--I have always left quite hilarioused--and this one will be no exception.

If you want to look at an apparently truncated version of the original movie, check out user "acking" on youtube. He's uploaded eleven videos that will at least give you the gist of it all.

Assassins production meeting tonight. I'm stoked to see the Ivory for the first time.

dftba,
smoore

gocurtain

2008-01-02T12:30:00.000-06:00

Right, so, Happy '08 small web community.

I just wanted to point out that, thanks to the Neofuturists in Chicago and their oh-so-brilliant, ever-&-always-so-perfect New Year's Eve production of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, I am now a solid 2-0 in strip rock-paper-scissors.

I'm. Un. Stoppable.

On a more related note, I'm picking up my girlfriend's rarely used video camera next week and will be borrowing it for...well, until she needs it again. I think it's time I venture into the vlog world, yeah?

We'll see. Links to vlogs to come when they come.

dftba,
smoore

lots of madmen have had their say, but only for a day

2007-12-28T13:25:00.000-06:00

Ugh.

A list of political figures who have been assassinated in my lifetime (thanks to Sarah Holt for compiling this via Wikipedia):

the President and former Prime Minister of Algeria, the Head of State of Burkina Faso, the President of Burundi, the President of Comoros, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the former President of Cote d'Ivoire, the President of Liberia, the President of Madagascar, the President of Niger, the Prime Minister of Rwanda, the Vice President of Paraguay, the former President, Vice President and former Prime Minister of Afghanistan, the The former Prime Minister of India, the Prime Minister of Israel, the Prime Minister, President and former Prime Minister of Lebanon, the King of Nepal, the President and another former Prime Minister of Pakistan, the President of Sri Lanka, the President of Palau, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria, former Prime Minister of Iran, the Prime Minister of Sweden, the Prime Minister of Serbia, the Prime Minister of Armenia, the President of the Chechen Republic, three Presidents of separatist Chechnya, and possibly the Prime Minister of Georgia, the President of Rwanda, the President of Burundi, and the President of Mozambique

And now Benazir Bhutto, twice former Prime Minister of Pakistan, first woman ever elected to lead a Muslim state, and leader of opposition party Pakistan People's Party.

I'm 22 years old, born August 6, 1985, and I wasn't alive when any of the characters in Assassins fired on their respective targets. During my lifetime, however, there have been so many assassinations (and so many more assassination attempts) that I've not even been aware of.

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto is, for some reason, one which strikes a chord with me. I'm not going to pretend to be even a hair less than 98% ignorant of the intracacies of the political struggle in Pakistan, but, from the moment I started paying attention, Bhutto's presence and her re-emergence from exile seemed ominous. Something big was going to happen, it seemed, and my ears started tuning in, perking up at the sound of news from Pakistan.

And when I heard yesterday...well, it was sort of an indescribable feeling, you know? I mean I've quite literally never felt that way about something in the news. Much less something so completely, totally elsewhere.

So, it's interesting. I wonder if this is going to impact in any positive or negative way how I see this show? Granted, Assassins is truly about assassins in America. And I don't mean to lessen the impact of assassinations elsewhere by saying that, I just mean that Assassins is more about why these men and women in the Land of the Free have felt it necessary to assassinate the president. And the two underlying messages behind their dreams and the dreams of, say, the suicide attacker who killed Benezir Bhutto and more than twenty other innocent people are night and day.

Anyway, it's just so sad. She was a brave and beautiful woman, and I think the World Suck Index just jumped a notch or two.

dftba,

smoore

you know why i did it?

2007-12-14T14:55:00.000-06:00

So here's the thing.

Here's the statement of purpose. My Assassins Manifesto. My credo.

You know. The thing.

This friggin' show. It holds a spot in my favorites list, an accomplishment for any musical. Surrounded by the likes of Beckett, O'Neill, Williams, & other brilliance, Assassins has been for a long time a must-work-on for me.

What is it about this show? Everything, I s'pose. The characters are incredibly well shaped. The dialogue is gorgeous and witty ("LHO: I didn't come here to shoot the president!" "JWB: He didn't come here to get shot."). And the music is...oh, man, the music.

The music is so strikingly powerful as a piece of musical theatre that I can hardly stand it. Seriously. Everytime the "Connect! bum-bum-bum Connect! bum-bum-bum Connect!" comes around during the Everybody's Got the Right reprise, it's so blisteringly forceful and dramatic and damn scary I'm not sure what to do with myself. The rhythm of the music, the power, the drive that it has alongside some legitimately catchy tunes (at least for me), is it not without a doubt one of the greatest musical theatre achievements ever?

Ok. So I'm not exactly The Internet's Foremost Expert on Musical Theatre, but that is, as I said, the thing. I'm stoked to be working on this production because it's brilliant. And I've been waiting for this opportunity. Hellz yeah. With a 'z.'

Friggin' Assassinz.

And I've been listening and listening and rereading and come the new year hopefully I can talk about real design things on this bee-el-oh-gee and you, small web community, won't have to suffer through much more gushing.

I'd like to take the time to point out, also, that commenting is open to all on this blog for good reason. I understand that lighting design for most audience members (and even for many who work in the theatre) is something that might sound a bit like Greek. Or even a bit like Balinese. Or, at the very worst, Southern Missouri (all my love, really). So PLEASE feel free to drop a comment or two asking your questions or looking for clarity on jargon or something a bit overly-technical.

I intend to keep things in relative layman's terms around here, but I'd be happy to explain anything and everything. Even "What the hell do you do? Get paid to turn on the lights?"

Scott, this is a great idea. I'm already having fun.

dftba,
smoore

not the sun but maybe one of its beams

2007-12-13T14:25:00.000-06:00

Blogger, I've returned. You're welcome.

I see you've gained some new features, most notably of which is the drop-down menu to select different fonts. One of them is Webdings. I can only assume it, as the least helpful font ever created, was included as part of a bet.

Anyhow: hello, small web community of New Line Theatre goers! I'm the Lighting Designer, a position which I capitalize for no good reason!

Here's what I am:

My name is Stephen Moore. You can call me smoore. I graduated this past May from Millikin University in Decatur, IL, with a BFA in Directing and a love of lighting. I recently had a chapbook of some short plays that I've written published through Bronzeman Books. It's called commas & ampersands, and will soon be available for purchase on Amazon.

Since I've been back in St. Louis I've worked for St. Louis Shakespeare, Muddy Waters Theatre Company, and Veterans for Peace (Veil of Silence at The Black Cat Theatre) in various positions. Following Assassins I will be doing the lighting design for Magic Smoking Monkey's KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.

For a portfolio of my directing, design, and performance work, please visit my website, stephenjmoore.com.

I am a nerdfighter. I am a sportsracer. I am a facebook nerd. I am a writer of short plays. I am an ecogeek. I am a vegetarian. I am a geocacher (smoorecrux, anyone?). I am a Harry Potter afficionado.

I wish I were a real boy.

Look here for updates on the progress of Assassins and my lighting design.

dftba,
smoore