in 1: the podcast

The most magical guy on Broadway is finally on the podcast, it’s Illusion Designer Skylar Fox! Skylar is here to tell us what a magic designer does, how magic becomes a part of the show, and how his specific role can vary quite a bit from show to show. Cory and Skylar chat about his…

We are thrilled to welcome to the show this week Lighting Designer Aja Jackson! This season Aja is the Associate on John Proctor is the Villain as well as keeping a busy design schedule herself. Cory and Aja talk about her Off-Broadway debut, A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, which occurred while still coming out…

The podcast is back with all new episodes! This week we are joined by Lighting Designer and current Helen Hayes nominee Mextly Couzin who made her Broadway debut this season with Job. Cory and Mextly chat about that show’s journey from a tiny room downtown to the Main sStem, what it means to be an…

This week we've got another band of awesome designers for Happy Hour #9 as we discuss the one-year anniversary of the pandemic. We are joined by Scenic Designer Rachel Hauck, Lighting Designer Amith Chandrashaker, Scenic & Costume Designer Jacob Climer, and Scenic Designer Amy Rubin. The gang talks about how they are feeling emotionally and physically and the toll the past 12 months has had on their lives as well as their take on streaming/filmed theatre, the newly energized union membership, whether audiences will want escapism or not after this time, and how designers may return to projects that were designed pre-Covid with their new post-Covid personalities and world views. Before that, Cory sits down with podcast host Ethan Steimel to talk about his podcast, Artistic Finance, and why artists talking about money is such an important topic. It may feel like a depressing week, but there's a lot of laughs and fun in this episode so blow off some steam and know everyone is feeling the same way you are!

Today’s very special guest is technically not a designer, but she brings together ALL the design elements which makes her the perfect person to talk to. For Episode 103 we are hanging with Production Stage Manager, Anna Robb! Anna’s most recent job before Covid was wearing multiple hats on the 250 million dollar extravaganza The House of Dancing Water in Macau where she served as Production Artistic Coordinator, Technical Manager, And PSM, which involved calling 500 cues and managing 83 backstage crew member and 91 onstage performers, not to mention copious amounts of flying, diving, scuba, fountains, and motorbikes. Working with Franco Dragone from its inception, she’s sharing stories of how the project came together, what a 3-month tech process looks like, and the specifics of how a show of this size is run night after night. But there’s more! Anna also tells us about her time as Stage Manager on Cirque du Soleil’s LOVE, how Covid has affected the arts both where she’s from (Australia) and where she lives (Hong Kong), how she manages it all as a working mother, and the genesis of the website she created, TheatreArtLife. Anna has so much fascinating info to share and such a unique perspective and we’re thrilled to have her!

This year will be one for the history books for all of us, but it will be of particular significance for our guest today, Scenic & Lighting Designer Edward Pierce. He is joining Cory and Jen in this brand new episode to break down his roller coaster of a year. It began with his design and involvement in the one-night-only presentation of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ at Madison Square Garden for 20k NYC public school students, but quickly took a turn in March when Eddie contracted a serious case of Covid19 which left him in a medically induced coma for five weeks and the recipient of an experimental treatment that may have saved his life. Thankfully, fully recovered and healthy again, he was elected the new President of United Scenic Artists, now tasked with leading the approximately 5k union members through this unprecedented time and into the uncertainty of 2021. Eddie is breaking down all of it from what he hopes to bring to the industry in his new leadership role, how his brush with death has affected his outlook on life and the necessity of art, and other wonderful stories and anecdotes from ‘Wicked’, ‘Angels in America’ and how he essentially created the role of Scenic Supervisor. Eddie has a great outlook on life, on theatre, and what’s in store for all of us beaten down by this year and we are thrilled to bring you this Christmas gift!

Barriers to entry are everywhere, from grade school, to college, and beyond. How can we change that? What we’ve been told is that hard work and elbow grease are all you need, but the actual fact is that it takes much more than that to reach “success”. With this in mind, it was a privilege this past summer to have a candid conversation with 3-time Tony Nominated Costume Designer Toni-Leslie James. With credits ranging from Footloose to Come From Away, Jelly's Last Jam to Bernhardt/Hamlet, and The Wild Party to The Scottsboro Boys, hear about her decades-long journey from young, bright-eyed student at Ohio State in the late seventies, to multi-award nominated costume designer. Get your notebooks ready… class is in session.

The COVID-19 crisis has forced so many designers into an unpredictable and scary situation, but it’s especially difficult for artists living in the states who are not US citizens. Today on episode 100, we are sitting down with 4 immigrant designers to discuss how they have been affected by the shutdown and about the formation of the See Lighting Foundation to help artists in need. Cory and ‘Changing the Landscape’ producer Alan Edwards chat with Cha See, Rodrigo Muñoz, Yee Eun Nam, and Ntokozo Fuzunina Kunene about the difficulties non-citizens are facing including the inability to collect unemployment, the rules surrounding work visas that prevent them from seeking out other work which could lead to possible deportation, and how this administration’s callous and hostile behavior towards immigrants has affected their lives. The group also reexamines the idea of the American dream and the notion that this is a country built by (and made great by) immigrants, whether that America still exists, why they persevere in the face of such adversity, and why, ultimately, calling America their home is important in their journey as an artist. The contribution of artists from all over the world is critical to the theatre community to ensure we keep telling stories that reflect our diverse makeup and give voices to other cultures. Please enjoy this important conversation and then visit seelightingfoundation.com to learn more and help in any way you can.

Changing the Landscape returns this week with part two of our interview with Steve Jones, former Director of Production at the Apollo Theatre in New York City. Steve tells us how he went from a young lighting programmer at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, to a well-seasoned Director of Production at the Apollo Theatre… with a whirlwind eighteen-year stint working with music legend and icon Harry Belafonte in between. He's sharing stories from the filming of 'We Are the World', to how he reshaped the culture and expectations of a predominately Black crew when the Apollo became a Local 1 IATSE House and what happened when Rev. Al Sharpton called him with an extraordinary request. And Steve and Alan discuss why Black artists are continually forced to fight preconceived notions about their skill level and talent and how to fight those misconceptions.

The podcast is about to hit 100 episodes, but before that milestone, we are pleased to present a brand new mini-series entitled ‘Changing the Landscape: Examining Race in Theatrical Design.’ Guest hosted by Lighting Designer Alan Edwards, this multi-part series will ask the questions where are the theatrical designers of color in history? Why has the roster appeared to grow only recently? What are the challenges of going from grade school to professional? And is there anything that can be done? In this first episode, ‘It’s Not That We Don’t Exist’, Alan sits down with Cory to discuss the impetus of the mini-series and then talks with Lighting Designer Kathy Perkins who tells us about her path from Mobile, Alabama to the world of professional design, why she decided to document and write about Black theatre-makers, how she thinks schools can do better at recruiting and seeking out young Black students, and whether she believes there is a shortage of Black designers or just a perception problem. She is a great and knowledgable voice to kick off the series and we hope you’ll join us over the coming weeks as Alan speaks with educators and designers such as Toni-Leslie James, Steve Jones, Luqman Brown and more.

The pandemic has raised a host of questions regarding current and future contracts, pay schedules, working conditions, health insurance, union dues and many other topics and Carl Mulert is back with us to help wade through it all. Carl is the Business Rep for Live Performance for United Scenic Artists, and he joins us, along with Jen Schriever and Bradley King, to break down what we know about how theatre will come back (very little) and what questions will need to be answered before that happens (quite a lot.) Carl also shares with us conversations being had regarding streaming rights, a very important distinction in how the different USA contracts are legally binding, and how the lack of leadership from the federal government is making it difficult to establish guidelines for how venues will be able to reopen. Knowledge is power so tune in and power up with this important episode!

The world remains shut down but our Happy Hour rages on here at the podcast with episode 96. This week we've got Scenic Designers Adam Koch and Paul dePoo, Projection Designer Alex Koch, Costume Designer Andrea Hood, and Lighting Designers Amanda Zieve and Jen Schriever. The group shares their feelings on what changed this week as everyone started thinking bigger picture about the theatre industry as a whole and what our jobs might look like when they come back. Everyone shares their shutdown stories, where they are getting their news, whether audiences will want to come see a show, how we can help graduating young designers, and of course a check-in on everyone's unemployment status. Pour whatever you've got lying around and come join the party!

In what is fast becoming a tradition, the podcast is back with an all new episode and an all new Quarantine Happy Hour. This week, Cory sits down with Anna Louizos, Wilson Chin, Alejo Vietti, Isabella Byrd, Clint Ramos, Tyler Micoleau and in1 all star Jen Schriever! The gang checks in on each other and everyone discusses routine vs not routine, watching the news vs turning it off, how everyone is eating, cooking, working out and passing time and what they miss the most being stuck at home. There's a report back from the large United Scenic Artist Wingspace Salon this week, some good news about union dues and healthcare payments, and the group discusses when we might get back to work, what the world of regional theatre might look like post Covid-19, what kind of shows writers will be creating, how art has typically responded to mass world events in history, and whether we've seen the end of shaking hands and (gasp!) the double cheek kiss. You've got nothing better to do so grab a glass and join the happy hour!