Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2005 - 74

Larkin, Douglas Schmidt, and on and on. We can do anything!
middle of a shop, in the middle of a
We draw, paint, sculpt, apply, drape, judge, calculate, edit, dedrop, bamboo stick in hand, and
cide, guess, mind-read, revamp, renew, touch up, repair, redo,
hasn't felt caught, if briefly, in a
and repaint. And we get it done on time. Usually.
time warp? Certainly this one has
He had another drink.
found himself in the wings of the
Those not in the scenic business cannot lose themselves
Metropolitan Opera in New York
in the pages of Scenic Art for the Theatre, in a second edition
during a final dress rehearsal, starby Susan Crabtree and Peter Beudert, without being taken by
ing at the back of an ancient
the breadth of the scenic artist's universe. And to those who
framed and linen-covered setting,
stand at a sink at the end of each day scrubbing away at their
surrounded by a huge painted
knuckles with soap and water (warm, one hopes), this fine
back-cloth, all deeply silhouetted
book will bring to mind any number of war stories and reby a blaze of light pouring in from
membrance of characters with or for whom they have toiled.
the house, and wondered if he were
Although it is oriented towards the eastern U.S., the book casts
adrift in a fog of time somewhere
a broad net, covering Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional and
between 2005 and 1805.
academic theatre. There is barely mention of film here, but
For this wonderfully eccentric
where is the magic in that? No, Crabtree and Beudert have put
profession, ever threatening to beall of their eggs in the theatre basket, the one that counts.
come irrelevant and obsolete, Scenic
Theirs is the underpaid, messy, intuitive, exhausting, and fiArt of the Theatre is an inestimable
nally satisfying province of scenic art.
and delightful companion.
The authors present a rich palette. The book is a practical
and very useful guide to the banalities and mysteries of everyday
William Sohmer is assistant charge scenic artist for
practice: stretching goods, laying out, mixing colors, painting,
the Metropolitan Opera and has painted scenery for,
texturing, technique, tools, it's all there, and prodigiously enamong others, David Mitchell, Tony Walton, Boris
compassing. Here too is a section dedicated to faux finishes
Aronson, Robin Wagner, Kurt Lundell, Peter Larkin, and
and wall-papering, useful for when one is laid off from the
Douglas Schmidt.
shop and must hustle in the real world. It is all prefaced with a
thorough discussion of training and job-finding. And the often precarious consanguinity beSTATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION
tween scenic artist and designer is earnestly
1. Publication Title: TD&T (Theatre Design & Technology) 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of
explored in detail.
2. Publication Number: 005-781
Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: United States
3. Filing Date: 9/30/05
Institute for Theatre Technology, Inc., 6443 Ridings
For the faint of heart who fear the burden
4. Issue Frequency: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, Special
Road Syracuse, NY 13206-1111 (David Rodger)
of a tome, a mere manual, there is naught for
Issue - October
10. Owner: United States Institute for Theatre Technology,
concern. Interspersed among the excellent line
5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 5
Inc., 6443 Ridings Road, Syracuse, NY 13206-1111
drawings and rich and colorful photographs
6. Annual Subscription Price: $14.00
11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security
7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of
Holders, Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total
that enhance a clearly written text are a series
Publication: United States Institute for Theatre Technology,
Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: None
of delightful interviews with teachers (Rachel
Inc., 6443 Ridings Road, Syracuse, NY 13206-1111
12. Tax Status: Has Not Changed During Preceding 12
Keelber), shop owners (Joe Forbes), charge
8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General
Months
Business Office of Publisher: United States Institute for
13. Title: TD&T (Theatre Design & Technology)
scenics (Jane Snow), and downright heavyTheatre Technology, Inc., 6443 Ridings Road Syracuse, NY 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: Summer 2005
weights (Douglas Lebrecht), all sustaining 439
13206-1111
pages with life and humanity.
15. Extent and Nature of Circulation
Average No. Copies Each
No. Copies of Single Issue
Issue During Preceding
Published Nearest
But there is more! Unlike Lynn Pecktal's
12 Months
to Filing Date
seminal Designing and Painting for the Thea. Total Number of Copies (Net Press Run)
4214
4213
atre (1975), a classic that ushered an entire
b. Paid and/or (1) Paid/Requested Outside-County Mail
3622
3763
generation of artists from graduation to their
Requested Subscriptions Stated on Form3541
Circulation (2) Paid In-County Subscriptions
O
0
first pension check, Crabtree and Beudert's ef(3) Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors,
289
304
fort is capped-no, crowned-with a jewel of
Counter Sales, and Other Non-USPS Paid Distribution
a history of the art of scenic painting. Burrow(4) Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS
140
0
c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation
4051
4067
ing deeply back to ancient Greece and working
d. Free
(l) Outside-County as Stated on Form 3541
0
0
carefully through medieval times and the EuroDistribution (2) In County as Stated on Form 3541
0
0
pean Renaissance and Baroque periods, their
by Mail
(3) Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS
0
0
e. Free Distribution Outside the Mail (Carriers or other means)
0
0
survey gets better and better as it approaches
f.
Total
Free
Distribution
0
0
the present. The period from the seventeenth
g. Total Distribution
4051
4067
century until now is richly detailed and excites
h. Copies not Distributed
163
146
special interest because much of it survives in
i. Total
4214
4213
j. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation
100%
100%
practice. What scenic artist hasn't stood in the
I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete: Carol B. Carrigan, Finance Manager, 9/30/05
TD & T

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2005