Green Research

I'm studying up on how to make theater more ecologically sustainable.  And you know what?  I'm actually starting to find good sources of information on-line.  Ones that didn't exist a few years ago:

#1  The Broadway Green Alliance's website (and their Off-Broadway offshoot's HERE)

and

#2  The on-line guide, The NRDC Theatre Greening Advisor, by the Natural Resources Defense Coalition with the Broadway Green Alliance.

The other best source so far (not on-line) is the book, A Practical Guide to Greener Theatre, by Ellen E. Jones

It's about time! is all I can say.

Ackermann's Repository 1816 - public domain

I'm working on a little greener theater guide of my own, a companion to Alice Through the Proscenium, my how-to theater scenic design book.  (Which I'm happy to report is selling steadily.   I've seen mentioned from Utah to Kuala Lumpur to Arkansas... pretty cool!)  My  green tome will have a bit of a different spin on it...

Back In Town... And There's a Sale!

While you've been impatiently wondering where the next post was (you were weren't you?), I was in California vacationing.

But today I'm back and there's notice of a book sale in my inbox:

The last hours remain of a Flash Sale on my how-to set design book Alice Through the Proscenium at its publisher, Lulu.  

More about Alice?  

Read about it at its Lulu site HERE or on its Squidoo book site HERE.

More catch-up posts coming soon... and more theater sets in the works: this week a meeting to discuss one theater's new season (and presumably a show for me to design for it), the first production meeting on the next show at Circle Theatre, some help-out painting on another designer's set, and...

Book Sale! Book Sale!

My printer hasn't been having as many sales lately as they used to, but today is a biggie -
Waffle Day Sale!

Waffle Day?  Really?
Really.

Alice 'n Waffles!

Shooped from public domain images

Find out more about my how-to-set-design book Alice Through the Proscenium HERE at Lulu.com.  When you order, be sure to quote the secret code:

Post-Holidays...

While that Christmas-present cash is burning that hole in your pocket...

This might be a good time to remind you about my how-to theater set design book that you've been wanting to treat yourself to.

(Of course you have!)

You can find out more about Alice Through the Proscenium HERE on her Squidoo page... or pop directly to the publisher's page HERE.

As one Amazon reader kindly says:

 "Taking away the clouds that often surround the process of what we do, this book offers to-the-point insight and equal amounts of wit. Whether you are an old pro or just starting out, this is a must read."

Alice on Sale

A summertime sale on books at my printers!  Here's your chance to stock up on my theater set design how-to Alice Through the Proscenium.

I'm happy to say that I recently got more fan mail on Alice.  This time it's from this area.  (In the past one thrilling email actually came from Kuala Lumpur.  No kiddin'.)  I've redacted the "where" from the comment until I get permission to identify the writer:

"It's a really fantastic guide to scenic design, simple, thought-out and funny. As the Assistant Technical Director at [hum, hum hum], I am going to suggest our set design professor read and think about including it as a text book in the Spring Semester when she teaches design. I remember the books I read in undergrad were full of information but often confusing, focusing on the minutia of carrying out the technical aspects and wasn't really written for someone looking to design. I hope everyone is reading your book." 

There you have it - a satisfied customer!

Anyway, HERE's that sale.  Use the secret code Socius to save at checkout.

Kindle Editions

At long last, my how-to set design book Alice Through the Proscenium is e-available on Kindle!

Cover for Alice Through the Proscenium - copyrighted

You can find it (and its paperback version too) at Amazon HERE.

For the other about 27% of you e-readers, it's still available in ePub format for NOOK and other gizmos.  And, of course, for all us dead-tree fetishists, it comes in paper from the printer Lulu HERE.  I still tend to recommend the paper version because the pictures are bigger and the glossary works better, but the e-versions are much improved lately.  (I finally downloaded it myself.)

In other publishing news...  I recently did some little illustrations for favorite John Donne love poems.  (Couldn't find a cheap/free e-version I liked, so made my own.  Isn't e-publishing cool?)  Anyway, this is now available at both Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble NOOK.  There are wonderful things inside, including Donne's Greatest Hit, "Go and catch a falling star..."  

Cover for John Donne: selected love poems - illustrations copyrighted

Also Finally... A Book Sale

Well, Faithful Readers, it's been a while since my publisher had a sale, but here it is!

Your chance to get my how-to book, Alice Through the Proscenium: more scenic set design, at a discount.  Woohoo! huh?

You can learn more about Alice at its (her?) website HERE or on Lulu's page for her HERE.  Or, if you need the e-version, she's available for NOOK  HERE.  (Though I recommend the dead-tree version, where the glossary works better.)

Pulp-o-mizer!

Try out this fabo-licious pulp book cover creater at Pulp-o-mizer!

Abso-terrific!

Here's my own theater set design how-to book Alice Through the Proscenium: more scenic set design as a retro-classic pulp sci-fi paperback:

The cool-o creation of Pulp-o-mizer

Or, of course, you could always get the original cover for Alice Through the Proscenium - with its original book attached - from the printer Lulu.com, from Amazon, or, as an ebook from Barnes and Noble.

Original Alice Through the Proscenium cover by that noted cover-artist C F DeVries

You can read more about Alice on its Squidoo page HERE.

Woohoo! Arts Funding

Terrific news! Kitchen Dog Theater has been awarded a sizable NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) grant to support its new play festival this coming spring.

One of only four theater grants in Texas.

This is a huge boost.  Thank you NEA!  We'll put your funding money to good use.

Now for something completely different...

My printer, Lulu.com, is having a buy-it-in-time-for-Christmas sale on my how-to theater design book Alice Through the Proscenium.  You can find out more about Alice  HERE at Squidoo or see the Lulu.com page HERE.  Don't forget the secret-santa-saving code word!

And, if you like, you can think of this purchase too as Funding for the Arts... because I'm in the throes of starting a sequel to Alice Through the Proscenium, which is about scenery design, with a new volume about scenery building.  

I've gotten such a great response to my Squidoo page "Theater Set Questions Answered" that it's become obvious to me that there is a throng of desperate readers just waiting for such a book to be written.  Take heart! Gentle Readers, it will (eventualllllly) come.  Meanwhile, there's a lot on set construction and painting in Alice... available in soft covers at Lulu.com or as an epub book for NOOK etc. at Barnes and Noble HERE. 

Film Fest and Catch-Up

It's been busy here at Set Design Central...

But I took this weekend OFF.  (For the first time in six? eight? weeks.)

So - Film Fest!

I watched Argo and Cloud Atlas.  I can recommend both:

Argo is a very satisfying edge-of-your-seat will-they-make-it? flick.  Good characters, good acting, great based-on-truth story (though I understand our friends the Canadians deserve even more credit).  I have to admit that, at the time, I was head-down in architecture school and not following news as much as I should have been, but I do remember the dread and horrified sympathy I felt for the hostages.  A terrifying ordeal.  This story, of the six who escaped captivity, I missed entirely.  Worthwhile film version!

Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell, was a book that completely caught my imagination... one of those books you ponder long afterwards.  When I heard about this film version, I had to see it, though I didn't understand how anyone could possibly make a movie from it.  But it works!  My companion had not read the book, but was still able to follow the complicated, inter-locking, multiple plots.  In fact, I think the changes in sequence, using the same actors for multiple roles, and the cinematic/visual links of the film may actually tie the stories together even more.

Really good performances by a sterling cast that includes Tom Hanks.  Excellent... everything.

The story?  Hard to explain.  Impossible.  Go see the film and read the book please.

The only point I'd make first is that, this is not a time-travel story, but a series of stories set at different times - with different characters - which interlock.  Themes twist and continue throughout, also a few characters, objects, or visuals repeat in new ways in the different periods.  I was fascinated by the book.  Its subtle, often inexplicable, linkages create a satisfying whole.

Cloud Atlas is one of those rare books that you finish, close, and just hold for a minute as it settles into you.

Other than movie-going, I've been reading a lot of history.  (These movies are history too, aren't they?)



Oh!  And there's an historic sale on at my printer's if you'd like to stock up on Alice Through the Proscenium (my how-to on set design)... Stocking Stuffers!

Find Lulu.com on Alice HERE or just more on Alice in general HERE.  As always, Alice is also available as an epub virtual all-digital electro-book HERE at Barnes and Noble.

And in stage news: I've read the first review (I've seen) for The Beauty Queen of Leenane - terrific!  Rightly pointing out the excellent acting, particularly in the lead role of the daughter.  

(But ignoring the set - typical.)

Alice on Sale!

My printer is having a sale - a good chance to stock up on my how-to theater set design book Alice Through the Proscenium.  (What else would you give Trick-or-Treaters?)

Read more about Alice HERE on its Squidoo site or HERE at Lulu.com (you'll need that Lulu main page to get the, shhhhhh! SECRET CODE).  As always, you can also get Alice as an epub book at Barnes and Noble HERE.  

(The ebook is handy, but the pictures and glossary get kinda squished.  I like the dead tree version best.)

Book Sale! and Status Update

My printer Lulu.com is having a site-wide sale... Your chance to stock up on my theater set design how-to book Alice Through the Proscenium!  (And a lot of other good books too.)

Got to Lulu.com's main page HERE for the deal and HERE to see more about Alice.

Status?  The Mystery of Irma Vep opened successfully last night - always a relief.  From the set designer's point of view, the last minute addition of a leopard skin rug (beautifully painted on) worked just fine.   Lighting was lovely.  The set looked almost like the model and nothing fell off on an actor or anything, so I was happy.  This was a fiddly carpentry and painterly set and the carpenters and painters worked like fiends to get it finished - thank you!

The only upset was the sudden illness of one of WaterTower Theater's board members.  He was doing better almost immediately and was taken for further care - all good wishes to Buddy today.  After about a fifteen minute break, the actors jumped back into the show very smoothly, very professionally... which is tough to do, actually, since they build up a head of steam in performance and need that momentum.

Funny show!

Today - a meeting with the builder on The Beauty Queen of Leenane.  My own personal theater train just keeps on steaming along...

Book Sale!

Wahoo!

My printer, Lulu.com is having a sale on my how-to theater set design book Alice Through the Proscenium.

You can learn more about Alice HERE on Lulu or on this  Squidoo  page.  And, as always, it's also available at Barnes and Noble.com as an eBook.

Book Sale

My printer Lulu.com is having another sale... good news for Readers who want to buy my how-to-set-design book Alice Through the Proscenium!

More on Alice HERE.  (Psssst!  the secret word is ASTOUND)  And, as always, Alice is also available as an ebook from Barnes and Noble.com HERE. (The illustrations and glossary work better on paper though, I think.)

Sale on Set Design Book

My printer is having a sale on my set design book Alice Through the Proscenium!  ( I love that this salesman is the Mad Hatter - perfect for Alice!)

Shhh...  The secret savings word is SILVER.  Catch your savings HERE at Lulu.com.

Alice is also available as an epub format e-book HERE at Barnes and Noble.  (No sale there, but it's just naturally cheaper as no trees were flattened...  then again, the pictures turn out better printed on trees.  Take yore pick.)

Summer Book Sale

I love these guys at Lulu.com - they have lots of sales!

Here's another chance to save 20% on my theater set design how-to book Alice Through the Proscenium:

Just hop over to Lulu.com and find the Secret Code, then to Alice's page HERE for a bargain on its already reasonable price.  (I believe in value-packed books, don't you?)

For a sneak peak at the set design methods chapter look here at Snippet Central.

(Sidenote: for eReaders, there's a NOOK version available at Barnes and Noble HERE, not on sale, but cheaper anyway.)

Book Time!

My printer Lulu.com is having a sale - a great time to stock up on copies of Alice Through the Proscenium: more scenic set design, my how-to book on... well, you guessed it.

Alice Through the Proscenium, set design how-to Central! 

Here's the Secret Code you need to save:

Alice's page is HERE.  Go! Hie thee off to spend to save!

 (For those of you who don't read dead trees any more, Alice is also available at Barnes and Noble for the NOOK HERE.  Slightly cheaper, but with an uglier glossary - I prefer the dead tree version myself.)

Book Sale

A new sale from Lulu.com on Alice Through the Proscenium (and a few other books).  More on Alice HERE:

Book Sales

Here at Author Headquarters we are feeling all thrilled by a little flurry of paperback sales for that how-to set design guide, Alice Through the Proscenium.  Wahoo!

Maybe it's time to remind y'all that Alice is also available through Barnes and Noble as a light-weight epub-edition for your NOOK.

A Sale on Alice

Here's a chance to buy my how-to set design book, Alice Through the Proscenium, at a discount.  Read more about it HERE: