Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1975 - 32

of the country and the theatre, one can ill
afford the luxury of creating or using something that does not give increased value.
HOW
Simple mathematics tells us that if we have a
MANY?
development and administrative cost of
$200,000 and sell one, you have to charge
$200,000 for it. If you sell 200,000, however,
you only have to charge $1 for the item. This
should provide one clue as to why the household light bulb is considerably less expensive
than the 500 watt ellipsoidal spotlight lamp.
Many potential products that could add real
value are't getting proper attention because
one can't see enough volume to justify the
cost of development. Many products don't
reach development because the potential
is not measurable or properly communicated.
This brings us right back to the starting point of better
communication with the business community. Tell industry what the theatre's needs are; organize these needs in
measurable terms.
Within industry you will find many creative people
with a desire to make something new and better. They
need to know what is really wanted.
Lighting is exciting because it is visual, it reinforces
and evokes mood, and it is expressive. Working with the
entertainment industry is most fascinating for the people
within it are extremely creative and can achieve almost
impossible effects with tools that are almost primitive.
The techniques of theatre lighting are now being applied
to architectural purposes. Architects are becoming famous
applying the principles theatre considers almost mundane
and routine.

This should provide some idea of the needs of the
industrial community. The better theatre understands
and appeals to these needs, the more receptive industry
will be to answering them. Remember, the industrial
community has to make something and sell it at a profit
in order to exist. It might just as well be something
the theatre needs. From that profit, industry pays its
employees and they might just spend some of it to see a
theatre performance.
James L. Davis

GTE Sylvania Inc.

NOTES
1Theaterstatistik; Deutscher Buhnenverein. Ko/n.
2THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY. Journal of the U.S.
Institute for Theatre Technology. 1501 Broadway. Suite 1408
New York, NY 10036.
3THEATRE CRAFTS, Suite 815, 250 West 57th Street, New
York, NY 10019.
4THE NATIONAL DIRECTORY FOR THE PERFORMING
ARTS AND CIVIC CENTERS, J. Spencer and N. Turner, ed.;
1973, Handel & Co., Inc., 2800 Routh, Suite 231, Dallas, TX
75201.
5DIRECTORY OF OPERA COMPANIES AND WORKSHOPS IN
THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, Bulletin of the Central
Opera Service, Lincoln Center Plaza, Metropolitan Opera, New
York, NY 10023.
THE AMERICAN MUSIC HANDBOOK, Christopher Pavlakis,
1974, The Free Press, 866 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10022.
6"AND THAT IS HOW THE MONEY GOES", Frank L. Whaley,
Jr., Southern Theatre, Vol XV II, No.3, Spring 1974, pg. 17, STC,
1209 W. Market St., UNCG, Greensboro, NC 27412.
7DIRECTORY OF AMERICAN COLLEGE THEATRE, Richard
G. Ayers, ed., 2nd Edition, 1967, American Theatre Association,
Inc., pub.
*

'* *

Glebratio~
~
'76
'*

united states institute for theatre technology, inc.
USITT National Conference * March 10 ·13, 1976
new orleans, louisiana * hosted by the delta section
32

WINTER,1975

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

USITT

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