{"id":11,"date":"2021-07-13T21:36:39","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T01:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/layers\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2021-11-11T04:25:47","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T09:25:47","slug":"look-listen","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/schultzeric\/look-listen\/","title":{"rendered":"Pivotal Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

When \u201cA Chorus Line\u201d moved to Broadway, Tharon Musser, the lighting designer, had convinced the producers to specify the LS-8 computerized lighting desk and Scrimmer dimmer packs\u00a0 <\/span>from Electronics Diversified.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 1975 I was working at Theatresound, the smallest of the three Broadway sound rental shops.\u00a0 <\/span>As part of Feller Scenery Studio\u2019s move from the Bronx to Newburgh, NY, Theatresound had recently moved from a space in Feller to one in the Four Star Stage Lighting shop, just south of Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n

Four Star supplied the lighting equipment for almost every Broadway show.\u00a0 <\/span>At that time, the technology for lighting control on Broadway was the \u2018piano board\u2019, 12 to 14 resistance dimmers in a wooden case about the size of 1-1\/2 upright pianos.\u00a0 <\/span>The cables to the lights were 2-wire, ungrounded, and some of the older stock was even insulated with varnished cotton.\u00a0 <\/span>It was not unusual to get shocked while focusing a show.<\/p>\n

By contrast, at Theatresound, we were experienced in configuring electronic audio equipment for the rigors of Broadway and touring shows,\u00a0 <\/span>we built the complex cabling to connect all the various pieces, and we had the only shop space in Four Star that was air-conditioned.\u00a0 <\/span>For these reasons the \u2018Chorus Line\u2019 dimmers and computer were delivered to our care. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The LS-8 console was set up in our air-conditioned space where Gordon Pearlman, the creator, could finish programming it.\u00a0 <\/span>The dimmer packs arrived \u201craw\u201d – they were not ready for trucking to the Shubert theater, let alone ready for use on a show.\u00a0 <\/span>Fortunately they were designed to be installed in standard 19\u201d audio racks.\u00a0 <\/span>We had enough heavy-duty touring audio racks to fit all the dimmer packs and we had the tools and training to prep the control and power cables for the system.<\/p>\n

Within 6 months our biggest sound rental, \u201cCandide\u201d, had closed and we had designed and built our first set of custom dimmer racks for \u201cRockabye Hamlet\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>We had quickly changed from a sound shop to the electronic lighting control department of Four Star and I was transformed from a sound man into a lighting programmer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When \u201cA Chorus Line\u201d moved to Broadway, Tharon Musser, the lighting designer, had convinced the producers to specify the LS-8 computerized lighting desk and Scrimmer dimmer packs\u00a0 from Electronics Diversified. In the summer of 1975 I was working at Theatresound, the smallest of the three Broadway sound rental shops.\u00a0 As part of Feller Scenery Studio\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-full.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"metadata":{"_edit_last":["270"],"_edit_lock":["1636622766:270"],"_wp_page_template":["page-full.php"],"_wpac_members_redirect_to":[""],"_wpac_show_in_search":["0"],"_wpac_show_excerpt_in_search":["0"],"_wpac_nonmembers_redirect_to":[""],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"],"ase_mapbox_style":["openstreet"]},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/schultzeric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/schultzeric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/schultzeric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/schultzeric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/schultzeric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/schultzeric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/schultzeric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}