Tag Archives: props master

Interviews

Interview with Adriane “Binky” Donley

The following is one of several interviews conducted by students of Ron DeMarco’s properties class at Emerson College.

Adriane “Binky” Donley

by Sarah Patterson

Binky Donley
Binky Donley

Adriane “Binky” Donley began her career at the University of South Florida. She received a Bachelor’s in Arts degree in design, but realized quickly during her education that she liked to do a little bit of everything. She started working in props, taking any classes she could within the small department she was in, and working in summer stock theatre and regional theatre for extra experience. Because of the limited amount of props classes she was able to take, she found that she had to immerse herself in the field to receive an education in props. She worked in the field for three years and later decided to get a higher education. She decided to get her Masters of Fine Arts in Properties Design and Management at the North Carolina School of the Arts. At the time, NCSA was one of three schools in the country that had a props program and Binky was lucky enough to be a part of it. Continue reading Interview with Adriane “Binky” Donley →

Interviews

Interview with Natalie Kearns

The following is one of several interviews conducted by students of Ron DeMarco’s properties class at Emerson College.

Behind the Scenes with Natalie Kearns

by Jamie Carty

“I had more fun than I can begin to say. It was clearly what I was meant to do,” says Natalie after describing her experience working on a Theatre for Young Audiences show at Emerson College.

Natalie Kearns
Natalie Kearns

Meet Natalie Kearns, master of all things props, and only twenty-seven years old! Her favorite food to eat is roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, her mom’s Scottish heritage specialty, while her favorite fake prop food she’s made is a giant turkey leg. Hailing from Mississauga, Ontario, Natalie is a 2008 graduate of Emerson College with a Bachelor of the Fine Arts degree in Design/Technology. She moved to Framingham, Massachusetts at age five. Natalie has recently moved back to London, Ontario, in Canada and is employed full time at the Grand Theatre as the Head of Props. For anyone wondering about the differences between Canadian and American props, Natalie says that there aren’t that many. She says that Canadian theatre “uses imperial measurements because of all the cross-over with US theatre.” At her current theatre, they do not use Phillips head screws, but instead use Canadian-bred Robertson screws, a minor adjustment. Continue reading Interview with Natalie Kearns →

Interviews

Interview with Jay Duckworth

1 Comment

The following is one of several interviews conducted by students of Ron DeMarco’s properties class at Emerson College.

The Proptologist: Jay Duckworth

by Sabrina Rosenfield

Jay Duckworth
Jay Duckworth

When I called Jay Duckworth and explained that I was the student from Emerson who would be interviewing him, I was greeted with an “Oh my God! Hi!”, and I knew the conversation was off to a good start. I heard him call to one of his colleagues, Sara Swanberg, asking what he should tell me: her prompt response was “I suck!”.

Pleasantries aside, we got down to business. I spoke with Jay as he sat in his office in the Public Theater in New York, where he has been the Props Master since 2008. When I asked him to tell me how he got his roots in theatre, he acknowledged how lucky he was to be working in such a great theatre, and how far he had come. Continue reading Interview with Jay Duckworth →

Useful Sites

Another Friday of Links

Jesse Gaffney, who runs the Theatre Projects blog, is interviewed on the Oak Park Festival Theatre blog. She shares how she got started as a props master and what some of her favorite parts of the job are.

Conan’s prop master Bill Tull is back with some tips on having summer fun on a budget.

Andrea Cantrell, prop master for Dallas (the new version currently on TNT, not the original), shares some behind-the-scenes stories from the show.

WM Armory shares a pretty easy and full-proof method for inscribing detail lines into EVA foam. Thanks to Propnomicon for the link!

Useful Sites

Links to Bring you Luck

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Today is opening night for the final show of our 13th season here at Triad Stage (the “Lucky Season”, someone decided to call it). So while I am resting up, check out these links below:

John Barton has been a props master for over 50 years, on films such as Cool Hand Luke (he cooked all those eggs).  Coeur d’Alene Press has a nice article about his life and career.

The Standard Examiner has a great article about Michelle Jensen, the props master at Hale Centre Theatre. Right now, they are working on Mary Poppins, which has more than its share of trick props and unique items.

The Museum of Every Object you can Probably Think Of looks fantastic. Its real name is the Ettore Guatelli Museum, and it houses over 60,000 objects of everyday use. Check out the pictures in this article.

Jurassic Park turned 21 this week, and Wired has a look back on how it revolutionized special effects. The film famously used a mix of CGI and large-scale puppets for the dinosaurs. For a look at what-might-have-been, check out this pre-visualization test of stop-motion puppets, which is what they were originally going to use. I remember seeing the film on opening day with my dad and brother; hard to believe that was 21 years ago.