Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2020 - 36

Ohio Northern
University
Brian Phillips

When Ohio Northern University moved
to remote delivery for classes, Brian
Phillips was fortunate that his course
load lent itself to a virtual format. "As
I looked at the prospects for my colleagues, creating remote learning content for more hands-on classes, I had
many questions: What would I need if
I was a one-person-band running a theatre program? What support would help
me provide my students with valuable
and informative classes? What could I
offer the people that find themselves trying to teach High Impact & Experiential
Learning through a 13-inch laptop
screen?" said Phillips
"I had an idea, and that idea became
the 2020 Virtual Guest Lecturer and
Artist Register:
What if, as a theatre community, we
offered to be virtual guest lecturers and
artists?" he said. "The idea was this: If
an instructor needs a day of content, they
can connect with another theatre practitioner, and that person can then video
conference in for a class. The connection
could provide very topical content for a
specific course or simply an opportunity
to allow a new person to interact with
your students and share their industry
experience. If you can't teach scenic art,
why not hook up with a scenic artist and
learn about their career? If nothing else,
it offers the students an outside perspective and a new network connection."
He posted this idea on social media,
specifically in groups focused on technical theatre education. The response was
almost instant and overwhelming, so
Phillips created a Google Form and requested they fill it out if they were willing
to help. Within 24 hours, more than 125
people volunteered their time by signing
up and by sharing the form everywhere
imaginable. The next hurdle was getting
the information to the people who could
use it. "I was able to share the information with the functionality within Google
Sheets but was hoping for a better solution," said Phillips. "That is when I approached my student Harrison Heinig,
a junior international theatre production
and computer science dual major here
at Ohio Northern University. I asked him
if he could create a searchable website

that would allow people to access the
information and make it easier to find a
speaker. He jumped at the chance and
even offered to host the site within his
existing domain. The main objective of
the website was to make it easier for others to get the information they were looking for quickly. The website is powered
by an online database that pulls data like
what the user enters in the search field.
We decided to take this route instead of
limiting the search to keywords so that
everyone can find help that is more tailored to what they need."
The greatest challenge in creating
the website has been maintaining the
growing list of theatre practitioners.
Currently, more than 300 individuals
have offered to lecture on the site (https://
tinyurl.com/TechTheatreGuestSpeaker),
with more signing up every day. Heinig
has now automated the process, so the
next step is finding ways to improve the
user experience for those accessing the
website.
The list generated is remarkable
in both the quantity of people who offered to help but also in the level of expertise that they possess. "Please share
the 2020 Virtual Guest Lecturer and
Artist Register with those who it might
help. While I started this project to help
others, it has in fact helped me," said
Phillips. "It not only provides me a way
to assist those who could benefit from
the amazing pool of talent, it also reaffirmed to me that, though we may be socially distant, theatre is and will always
be a collaboration."

Open Jar Studios'
Broadway Relief
Project
Jeff Whiting

"I don't think I will ever forget it. It was
March 21. The shelter in place order had
just been announced. I was in the process of shutting down the studios, normally filled with rehearsals for Broadway
shows, workshops, classes, and costume
fittings, when I got the call from a friend
who works in New York State Senator
Brian A. Benjamin's office," said Jeff
Whiting, CEO of Open Jar Studios.
Sen. Benjamin explained that his office had been hearing from many professionals in the Broadway community who
wanted to help. "He asked if I would be

36 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | SPRING 2020

willing to centralize the movement and
get key members from the community
on a call with the Governor's office to discuss how to help. Of course, I said yes!
"As I reached out to coordinate that
phone call, a truly phenomenal thing occurred. Every organization who supports
Broadway offered their assistance," he
said. "What followed was a whirlwind
of phone calls, meetings, and emails between all those who wanted to help. That
whirlwind somehow eventually landed
me in a meeting with the NYCEDC
(New York City Economic Development
Corporation) who already knew how
they could use us: To coordinate our giant army of stitchers that normally work
to create the most beautiful and sturdy
costumes on Broadway to create PPE
for the medical community as they fight
on the front lines of this pandemic."
It became clear that Open Jar Studios
would quickly need to transform from a
rehearsal facility into a gown factory and
would have to shuttle fabric and materials
across four boroughs to more than 300
talented stitchers to create over 35,000
medical gowns and 50,000 masks.
In less than three weeks, the talented Open Jar staff has transformed
the studio into an incredibly distant assembly line, now assembling materials
for 300 stitchers sewing from home, being shuttled by Broadway's Dry Cleaner
Winzer Cleaners, and finally returning
to the studio/factory for inspection and
shipping.
At every turn along this journey, Open
Jar has found support. Stitchers from
every Broadway show, famous costume
designers, and fabric and trim suppliers
for Broadway shows have all stepped up
to help. "It's been truly overwhelming, but
not surprising, to see the amount of care
and support this Broadway community
has offered," said Whiting.
The challenges have been immense:
locating appropriate fabrics, communicating with more than 300 stitchers, and
mobilizing an elaborate drop-off system
across the entire city so the stitchers can
get materials safely. "But even though
the challenges have been immense, the
drive to provide these materials keeps
everyone united in a way that I've never
seen before," added Whiting. "I never
could have predicted that when I picked
up the phone in a darkened rehearsal
studio on March 21st, that in less than

https://tinyurl.com/TechTheatreGuestSpeaker https://tinyurl.com/TechTheatreGuestSpeaker

Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2020

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