Czerton Lim, displaying the table of contents page showing the chapter where his information appears.
A new theatre design resource, “Raising the Curtain: Technology Success Stories from Performing Arts Leaders and Artists,” features information and insight by Scenic Design Associate Professor Czerton Lim.
Empowering artists and performing arts organizations in theatre, dance and music to expand audiences and to increase their own impact through smart and strategic uses of technology is the focus of the book, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mr. Lim was interviewed by one of the book’s authors while working as a freelance designer on the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s co-production, with Syracuse Stage, of “Clue” in 2023. Lim and one other freelance designer are the prime sources in the set design portion of “Making Magic: Enhancing Artistic Productions,” one of the book’s seven chapters.
For their specific example, how use of technology helps in communicating ideas and how that information is used to ensure that the design for “Clue” both worked and fit into the theatres of both Syracuse and Indiana productions is the focus of the chapter. Their spaces are different, while the set is the same.
“A lot of it was about initial conversations with the director, and using Zoom and software to be able to send quick drawings/renderings right down to finalizing the design and elements and being able to look at those elements virtually as part of the planning process,” Lim explained.
Donald (Donnie) Woodard, who earned a B.F.A. in Theatrical Production and Design in 2022 and is a former student of Lim, contributed two computer generated renderings of a 3D set from “Clue” to the “Making Magic: Enhancing Artistic Productions” chapter. One is of a transparent area showing how pieces fit together; the second is an overview revealing how the set fit together backstage in both theatres where the play was presented.
“For me, the most important contribution of current technology (Zoom, Vectorworks, Photoshop, etc.) is the ability to quickly communicate ideas and be able to send that out virtually and then be able to make quick adjustments and also be able to send that out,” he added.
An associate scene designer for “Clue,” Mr. Woodard is very much an in demand scenic designer, according to Lim. He consistently works in Buffalo, NY, with Kavinoky Theatre and Theater of Youth, where he is currently designing “Go, Dog. Go!” He’ll also work alongside Lim in the upcoming production of “Murder on the Orient Express” at Syracuse Stage and “Little Shop of Horrors” at Indiana Repertory Theatre.
Lim anticipates “Raising the Curtain” becoming a valuable resource for production managers and artistic directors starting a new theatre company or trying to update the policies of existing ones, as well as to students, graduates and individual artists trying to market themselves and who want to learn how current technologies and access to information have affected the way the theatre and entertainment industry now operate.
The book will be added to Lim’s “recommended” list of resources in courses that he teaches.
