I'm starting a functional Stagecraft Wiki for theatre technicians. You will find it at wiki.scenic-shop.com

For those of you in the know, the past few years I have been wrestling with creating a community based resource for theatre technicians. Now the same software that runs Wikipedia is being used to manage a wiki by theatremakers, for theatremakers.

For those of you who worry about such things, the wiki's content is (and will remain) free to all.

Now all we need is a community of technicians to create and evolve the wiki's content. I invite you to share your cool materials, solutions, and unique perspectives. I invite you to create a valuable resource for theatre technicians everywhere. I invite you to participate.

signed,

Matthew D. Jordan

My new online portfolio is live. You can check it out here, or from the sidebar.

I love coffee. I also love levels. What would be better than a coffee-mug level? The LevelMug® is the perfect mutli-tool intended for spot checking scenery & frustrating your carpenters between production meetings. Once filled with coffee or tea LevelMug®’s proprietary precision ground MugMarks® allow you to quickly estimate level to within 2.5 degrees.

Note: Only use the LevelMug® in the vertical and horizontal planes. Especially when it’s filled with hot coffee. You know, like that time you dropped by the MacDonalds drive thru for a quick cup of joe. You won’t put that in your lap again, will you?

I’m sending in the patent application this very moment.

Go go West Virginia. I’m back at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in Shepherdstown, WV for the summer. Its amazing how much life is put on hold during summer stock. Unfortunately there are not any outlandish scenic requirements. Though the schedule is outlandish in its own right. That’s the summer stock life for ya’. The shows are fairly straightforward, though we are using a ridiculous amount of blood this summer, which should make changeovers bundles o’ fun. I’ll post some pictures later on.

You may remember the Theatre Mysteries Project. Oh, that site died a slow death of neglect. The coup de grâce came when I decided not to renew the domain registration. So I packed up, moved across town, and set up shop somewhere else. I feel liberated from the constant self-nagging to keep the old site updated with new bits. The TMP was for other people, this one is for me. I have decided to narrow my focus and write articles documenting projects that I am currently or have previously worked on. This will also serve as a place for me to house files pertinent to my work. Perhaps I'll throw down a blog or two every once and a while.