Showing posts with label Sets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sets. Show all posts
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Introducing Flux's Newest Member, Will Lowry

Thursday, September 15, 2011 0 comments

Perhaps you remember this set from Ajax in Iraq:
there was a lot of sand, too. and a giant map.
 Or this set, from The Lesser Seductions of History:
circles!
Or this set and costumes from A Midsummer Night's Dream:
how young we all were!
What do all these things have in common? Their designer, Will Lowry, who despite his modest protestations to the contrary is also an excellent performer, as proven by his frequent work at Flux Sundays and our most recent retreat:
pictured: rocking it out
Why are we bringing all this up now? Because Will Lowry is Flux's newest member! So if you see him at a Flux Sunday, or just gallivanting about town, you should say hi. Perhaps buy him a beer.

We could tell you all about him, but rather than do that, we'll let Will tell you all about himself:
I'm absolutely excited to be welcomed into the fold as a Flux member. There are many great people to work with in the theatre community, but it's rare to find such a group where the members are dedicated to such high artistic integrity. Flux chooses challenging material, they have a network of active and supportive volunteers, and they are a pleasure to work with. You may heatedly debate the specific shade of a chair or cut of a dress for an hour, but you know it's because they truly care about each and every artistic choice. Their passion for theatre is inspiring, and I feel truly honored to join as an official member. 

I grew up in South Carolina with parents who were both educators and very supportive when I discovered theatre in high school and wanted to pursue it in college. A few years later, I graduated with a BA from Furman University with a double major in Theatre Arts and Computer Science. While I had started college intending on becoming an actor, after about halfway through I had fallen completely in love with the design side of theatre. I couldn't seem to choose a favorite between the different facets of design, so instead I embraced that indecision: I selected a graduate program focused on scenography where I could study set, costume, and lighting design. And, in 2006 I graduated from the University of North Carolina Greensboro with an MFA in Design. I spent a year as a resident designer for a children's theater near San Jose, CA before moving to New York, where I've now lived for just a couple weeks shy of four years. 

I work full-time in the city as a studio assistant for a Broadway costume designer. I also do freelance graphic work for costume designers in NYC and travel for my own designs in regional theaters. My recent projects include scene designs for Flux's very own Ajax in Iraq here in NYC, Birmingham Children Theater's Tuxedo Junction in Alabama, Celebration Music Theater's Superstarz! Live and The Palace Theater's Blithe Spirit-both in South Carolina; in addition to a lighting design for Playhouse on Park's Around the World in 80 Days in Connecticut (in previews now!), a costume design for Le Grand Cirque: Adrenaline for the Sydney Opera House in Australia, and graphic work for Broadway's Addams Family, Baby It's You, and Catch Me If You Can.

Kelly also suggested I write what I do for fun, so in my free moments away from theatre, I enjoy drinking with friends and talking about theatre anyway, playing board games that most people would consider incredibly geeky, reading about television shows, and dinosaurs.
-Will Lowry
Welcome aboard, Will! We are as thrilled to have you on board as we could possibly be, and hope you will protect us if and when the dinosaurs rise again. Here's to many more years of rubber sand, giant circles, PVC trees, and brilliantly executed hip-hop!

photos: Tyler G. Hicks-Wright (Lesser Seductions), Isaiah Tanenbaum (all others)
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The Quest For The Cart

Saturday, December 11, 2010 0 comments

In our upcoming production of Liz Duffy Adams' Dog Act, the most important set piece is on wheels. Zetta and Dog are "vauders", performers traveling through a post-apocalyptic wild to reach (a mythical?) China, where their act will finally reach an audience of more than scavengers.

Essential to that act is The Cart, a mobile archive of every prop, costume, razzle, and dazzle of past vaudevillian ages. Around 200 years old, The Cart has been passed down from generation to generation, and Zetta guards it now. It is essential to her, to the act, to the world; and so therefore to our production.

So we have a a cart to make! And we're hoping you can help. If you have a farm style cart or wagon of enough size that it could house such a hoard, email me at gus (at) fluxtheatre (dot) org if you're open to parting with it free (or close to it). Vauders of this and many generations to come will thank you.

And now, pictures to inspire:




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