Tag Archives: youtube

Showcases

Who was Thurston James?

If you work in props, you’ve probably run across the name of Thurston James. He has written both The Theatre Props Handbook and The Prop Builder’s Molding & Casting Handbook, two books which, despite being over twenty years old, remain necessary texts on any prop person’s bookshelf. He has also written The Theater Props What, Where, When: An Illustrated Chronology from Arrowheads to Video Games and The Prop Builder’s Mask-Making Handbook, making him one of the most prolific authors in the realm of props.

Thurston James was born in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1933. He was a descendant of Jesse James, the infamous outlaw of the West. According to his obituary:

Thurston James passed away Friday, August 27, 2005, near his home in Sherman Oaks, California. He was in the process of mailing the latest issue of The James-Younger Gang Journal which he published. The cause of death presently is unknown. Thurston will be interred at Rose Hills Cemetery, Whittier, California.

This obituary also points to an album of Thurston James’ “rap” songs. I’ve posted the Christmas Rap so you can hear Mr. James’ rapping prowess:

In addition to his books, Mr. James has published an article on Chemicals in the Spring 1995 issue of Theatre Design and Technology, as well as a Layman’s Guide to the Chemistry of Theatre Crafts in  the first issue of the now defunct Proptology magazine.

He was also working on a book about lighting effects which he never finished. You can see a whole wealth of photographs from that book at Danny Truxaw’s website.

Showcases

USITT Tech Olympics 2011

I’ve just returned from this year’s USITT in Charlotte, NC. I have a lot going through my head at the moment, so I’ll show off some of the video I shot at the Tech Olympics. Each year, undergraduates at USITT can compete in these Olympics in a variety of events, such as knot-tying, hanging and focusing lights, and folding a drop. Many technical theatre departments have their own event. For props, the challenge is to strike a table setting to a prop table, and set up a different table setting. Randy Lutz and Tracy Armagost from the Santa Fe Opera were the judges. Contestants are ranked by the speed they complete the task in, but they are penalized for things such as missing their spike marks, making too much noise, or dragging a tablecloth on the ground. I filmed DH from Elon University doing the challenge so you would not miss out on all the fun:

Useful Sites

A Link to the Past

It’s January 7th, you know what that means? I just had an epiphany! Get it? Sorry, with Under the Radar in full swing all over the building, Compulsion now in rehearsals, Timon of Athens starting rehearsals next week, plus writing magazine articles and my book on prop-making, I only have a list of links today. But they are very interesting ones that should keep you busy for a long time.

Showcases

Behind the scenes at Dexter

Over at the LA Times, Maria Elena Fernandez recently met with prop master Josh Meltzer and assistant in the prop department Dave Maguire. They show a lot of the props, body parts and blood used on Showtime’s Dexter.

We learn what a “gold room” is in television parlance, how they stab somebody, and many other nifty little tidbits. One surprise is that they use retractable knives for the stabbings; these have almost universally fallen out of favor with theatrical prop masters. Perhaps the repetition of performance in theatre makes it more likely for an accident to happen, as opposed to television, where it is used only once under the eye of the experienced prop master.

Also: thirty more days until Halloween!