Barbara E.R. Lucas
Sightlines Editor

A special feature of the 2010 USITT Annual Conference & Stage Expo will be the opportunity, before the conference starts, to participate in three special Broadway Seminars presented by USITT and Sonny Sonnenfeld.

The Broadway Seminars will let participants enjoy in-depth discussions from Tony Walton, William Ivey Long, Natasha Katz, Ken Billington, Howard Werner, and Michael Clark. In addition to talking about their early careers, these Tony-award winning designers will discuss their collaborations with other designers, directors, and production companies.

These six designers bring a breadth of experience compressed into one- and two-day seminars. Be on hand as each of these outstanding artists works through the design process for productions on and off Broadway.

Each day will conclude with an hour-long question and answer period, and all participants are invited to a Monday cocktail party for informal exchange of ideas.

Choose from Lighting Design with Ken Billington and Natasha Katz moderated by Vickie Scott or Costume Design with William Ivey Long and Tony Walton, moderated by Gweneth West on Monday, March 29 and Tuesday, March 30. Projection Design with Michael Clark and Howard Werner is a special one-day event on Tuesday, March 30.

USITT members receive discounts to attend, and there is special student pricing. Register online at www.usitt.org/2010. Participants are encouraged to sign up early, and make hotel reservations using USITT’s secure online booking process here.

For information about schedule and cost, visit www.usitt.org/2010 or contact the USITT National Office at 1-800-938-7488.

Because of the nature of their very busy schedules and the calls upon their time, presenters are subject to change.

About the designers

• William Ivy Long by Stephen Chernin

  William Ivey Long
  Costume Designer William Ivey Long’s New York credits include: Nine To Five; Pal Joey; Young Frankenstein; Grey Gardens; The Boy From Oz; Hairspray; The Producers; The Music Man; Contact; Swing; Cabaret; The Mystery Of Irma Vep; Chicago; Smokey Joe’s Café; Guys And Dolls; Crazy For You; Nine; Madison Square Garden’s A Christmas Carol; Assassins; Mick Jagger for the Rolling Stones’ Steel Wheels tour; Siegfried and Roy at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas; and The Pointer Sisters at Caesar’s Palace.
  
  Mr. Long has been nominated for 11 Tony Awards, winning five times. He was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in January 2006.
  
  He has collaborated with Ken Billington, most notably on the current revival of Chicago and Tony Walton on, most notably, Guys and Dolls, Lend me a Tenor, and Steel Pier.
  
  

• Tony Walton by Maike Schulz

  Tony Walton
  Director and designer Tony Walton is a designer of sets and costumes who has been honored with 16 Tony Award Nominations for his Broadway sets and/or costumes. Pippin, House of Blue Leaves, and Guys and Dolls won him Tonys. Among his 20 films, Mary Poppins, The Boy Friend, The Wiz and Murder on the Orient Express earned him five Academy Award nominations. All That Jazz won him the Oscar, and Death of a Salesman the Emmy. During the last 12 years he has directed productions of Wilde, Shaw, Coward, and others for New York’s Irish Rep, San Diego’s Old Globe, Sarasota’s Asolo Rep, and Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor.
  
  His most recent Broadway set designs were for last season’s musical of Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities. He is currently preparing to direct and design the Sherman Brothers’ musical Busker Alley, starring Jim Dale, for Broadway. In 1991 he was elected to the Theatre Hall of Fame.
  
  

• Howard Werner

  Howard Werner
  Media Designer Howard Werner has, since 1982, created lighting and media designs for theater, architectural installations, trade shows, special events and corporate shows through out the world. On Broadway Mr. Werner has designed the current production of Bye Bye Birdie, The Big Love, Dream, Lestat, and Say Goodnight Gracie. He is designing the upcoming Spiderman: Turn off the Dark, and has designed the current national tour of Dreamgirls. He is a member of the Atlantic Theater Company.
  
  Mr. Werner is a Principal in Lightswitch, a design consortium with five offices across the country. Current projects include the Sci Fanta theme park in Seoul, South Korea as well as many corporate and architectural projects all over the world. Lightswitch was founded in 1993, and more about its work can be found at www.Lightswitch.net.
  
  

• Ken Billington

  Ken Billington
  Lighting Designer Ken Billington is on Broadway this season with Bye Bye Birdie, Finian’s Rainbow, White Christmas, and Minsky’s as well as the long running Chicago. His work can also be seen in the current touring productions of Dreamgirls, Fiddler on the Roof , Chicago, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Annie, as well as Riverdance for which he was the lighting supervisor.
  
  Mr. Billington has designed 88 Broadway and 70 Off-Broadway shows including The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe starring Lily Tomlin, Footloose, Candide (1997), Annie (1997), Annie Warbucks, Inherit the Wind, Moon Over Buffalo, The Red Shoes, Fiddler on the Roof (1990, 1981, 1976), Lettice and Lovage, Tru, Meet Me in St. Louis, On the 20th Century, Side by Side by Sondheim, and Fame among others. Mr. Billington has been honored with seven Tony award nominations and received the 1997 Tony Award for his work on Chicago. His Tony nominations include: Sunday in the Park with George (2008), The Drowsy Chaperone (2006), End of the World (1984), Foxfire (1982), Sweeney Todd (1979), Working (1978), and The Visit (1973).
  
  In addition millions of audience members have seen Ken’s work at New York's Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular from 1979 to 2004, Disneyland's nighttime extravaganza Fantasmic!, the long running Las Vegas spectacular Jubilee!, The Waterfront Village at Sea World of Florida and Shamu Rocks! for Seaworld Orlando and San Diego. He has designed many touring shows including the successful tours of High School Musical Live Onstage and High School Musical 2 Live Onstage.

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