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Professor Jay Duckworth from Pace Performing Arts is props master on Hamilton and more at The Public Theater in NYC featured in "Broadway World"
Broadway World: "Guns From HAMILTON and More Theater, Movie, and Television Props on Display in MA"
From "Broadway World:"
In film, television and theatre, a hero prop is any item intended to be held or used by one of the main actors. Examples of hero props might include Shylock's money box, as used by Al Pacino in The Merchant of Veniceat New York's Public Theater; the Red Apple Tobacco tin used in Quentin Tarantino's film Hateful Eight; or the Mendl's chocolate box from the film The Grand Budapest Hotel.
All of these objects, plus watercolors from La La Land, sketches from Moonrise Kingdom and other beautiful works of art, appear in Props and Fine Art from Movies, Television and Theater and Working Objects: Props by Ross MacDonald, opening in the Beard & Weil Galleries at Wheaton College in Norton MA, March 1 through April 13, 2018.
On March 1 from 5:00 to 6:00 pm, Haas Visiting Artist Ross MacDonald will give a talk about his work, followed by an opening for both exhibitions from 6:00 to 8:00. The public is invited to attend.
Curator Elizabeth Keithline commented that "prop makers are required to make objects that integrate perfectly into the action, both historically and aesthetically. Prop makers often have deep background knowledge on their subject, yet to create something that would take audience attention away from the action would be the worst kind of mistake. Hidden in plain sight, the props and artwork in this show often remained unnoticed by the audience, yet they drove plot completely."
In the Beard Gallery, Props and Fine Art from Movies, Television and Theater
Annie Atkins specializes in graphics for filmmaking, which means that she makes any graphic pieces outlined by a period film script-like postage stamps and banknotes to help create Wes Anderson's fictional State of Zubrowka in The Grand Budapest Hotel; or shopfront signs and fake passports for Steven Spielberg's New York as depicted in Bridge of Spies. Other films she has worked on include Box Trolls, Wonderstruck, and Isle of Dogs. For the Mendl's chocolate box exhibited at Wheaton, Atkins also credits the artists Wes Anderson, Liliana Lambriev, Jan Jericho, and prop master Robin Miller.
Buist Bickley - According to Crains New York Business, "Bickley is one of the most in-demand prop supervisors on Broadway." Current productions include Spongebob Squarepants, Frozen, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dear Evan Hansen, and Fun Home. In the February 4 Playbill, Bickley was quoted as saying "Picture frames, rugs, chandeliers, sconces, any picture on the wall-those are all props. ... I always say that the ceiling, the floor, and the walls are sets. Everything that makes it what it is, is a prop."
Jay Duckworth - Jay Duckworth is props master at The Public Theater in NYC. In over three decades in theatre he has worked from an old Mule Barn up to Prop Master on Hamilton. He's founded the Prop Summit for all properties people to meet, network, and learn; given keynote speeches for KCACTF and USITT. He is currently curating the first Props Lab at USITT's National conference, he is a contributor to Stage Directions Magazine and is a Professor at Pace University. Duckworth's website, the Proptologist, can be explored here: https://www.proptologist.com/.
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