The Week in Review

The End of Epic?: The industry has been talking about it for a couple of weeks, but now there is at last some public information: Epic Production Technologies, the lighting gear supplier for many a concert tour, is in a very bad way. Rumors have been rampant that the company has shut down; according to a story in The Winnipeg Free Press, the company, which has offices in Winnipeg, Vancouver, and Los Angeles, has drastically cut back its operations and staff. Using former CEO Marc Raymond as a source, the story says, "The current financial crisis came about after a major loan Epic had with Wells Fargo matured recently, and the bank demanded full payment. That left Epic scrambling to find alternate financing so it can pay off the loan." Raymond also said, "The company needs to refinance, and the private equity firm out of New York [majority shareholder Praesidian Capital] is working with the bank to try to find a solution." Interestingly, Raymond and colleagues executive vice presidents Ted Fowler and Brian Konechny are no longer with the company. The word is that current touring contracts will be honored; however, a representative from IATSE told the newspaper that Epic owes "$25,000 in unpaid wages for work its members had done for the company in recent months." In another indication that there were troubles with the business end, in June, a proposed merger between Epic and Bradmer Pharmaceuticals was called off. It's hard to imagine which synergies were envisioned between these two companies, but clearly there is more to come on this story. For details: http://plasa.me/wldsd.

Pollstar Award Winners Announced: The Pollstar Awards, given out by Pollstar, the touring-industry bible, have been announced, and congratulations are in order. Upstaging, the Sycamore, Illinois-based lighting supplier (and a frequent presence in the pages of LSA), has been named lighting company of the year. Clair, which often turns up in our pages, was named Sound Company of the Year. Other familiar names, All Access Staging & Productions and Moo TV were named Staging/Equipment of the Year and Video Company of the Year, respectively. Rock-It Cargo took the award for Transportation Company of the Year. Other interesting results: Roger Waters took the awards for Major Tour of the Year and Most Creative Stage Production. For the full list of winners, go to http://www.pollstar.com/news_article.aspx?ID=804127.

Getting Sochi Ready: It seems to happen every two years: Whatever country is hosting the next Olympics goes into building overdrive, spending money like water to offer the best possible face to the world. In the case of the 2014 Winter Olympics, held in the heretofore obscure Russian resort of Sochi, record amounts are being spent. According to The New York Times, Russian President Vladimir Putin says the plan even outstrips the spending by the Chinese in Beijing. Noting that Sochi has nothing in the way of viable sights, the Times adds: "Parts of Sochi look less like a postwar reconstruction zone and more like the target of a sustained assault by rampaging aliens. In some places, cavernous pits open deep into the ground. In others, unfinished elevated train tracks halt in midair. Scaffolding abounds. Some neighborhoods are filled with so much latticed steelwork they make the city of 350,000 look like a child's outsized Erector Set." http://plasa.me/5quhd.

Meanwhile, the Russian political newspaper of the Communist party, Pravda, reports that the opening ceremony will cost $52 million, adding "the bulk of the money will be spent on technical facilities and foreign designers. If you're wondering what it will be like," Pravda adds, "it is planned that characters of Russian fairy tales, the Russian troika of Gogol's Dead Souls, and Peter the Great leading the fleet of five ships will appear on three stages. From the Imperial Russia, viewers will be taken to the 20th century. Fifteen buildings will appear on the stadium, as well as six locomotives, six bridges, and sculptures. The opening ceremony will end with the advent of the Olympic flame." http://plasa.me/n1s6q.

Pump Boys and Dinettes Out of Gas: In a Broadway season marked by more than the usual instability, the revival of Pump Boys and Dinettes, scheduled for the Circle in the Square Theatre this spring, has been called off. First produced in 1982, Pump Boys and Dinettes was nominated for Best Musical and helped launch the career of Debra Monk. Longtime Broadway watchers may have wondered if the show, a kind of glorified cabaret act built around a country-western theme, would prove viable in 2013. The new production was to feature a cast led by American Idol contestant Bo Bice and direction by John Doyle. The announcement from producers said, "With the crowded landscape on Broadway this spring, we all agreed that the wise choice was to proceed with a new opening date. We are in the process of determining the updated production schedule and look forward to sharing this wonderful musical with Broadway audiences in the near future." This sounds like the money wasn't in place, as nobody ever decides not to produce a show because the season is crowded; in fact, this leaves the Circle in the Square empty until sometime in the fall, at the earliest. It also means that designers David Gallo, Ann Hould-Ward, Mike Baldassari, and Dan Moses Schreier (scenery, costumes, lighting, and sound, respectively) all have holes in their schedules.

Connie Wexler, R.I.P.: LSA has learned the sad news of the death of Connie Wexler, a costume designer in theatre and film. She was 85 and battling Alzheimer's. Her credits include the daytime drama Search for Tomorrow and stints as an assistant costume designer on Funny Girl, Fiddler on the Roof, and Promises, Promises. Under her birth name, Constance Ross, she designed the Broadway production of In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1969; the set designer of that production was Peter Wexler, her husband, who survives her. For more: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118065026/

Accident at Lyric Opera of Chicago: A freak accident at Chicago Lyric Opera had a happy ending, but not without a few frightening moments. According to the Chicago Tribune, actor Wesley Daniel "was performing in a dress rehearsal of the opera Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg [last] Monday afternoon when ... he picked up a torch and a little jar of fluid and blew two fire balls, according to his father, Clifton Daniel, who was in the audience. Then suddenly, his son's mask appeared to be on fire, and he started patting his neck and chest before walking across the stage toward stagehands who were carrying fire extinguishers, Daniel's father said." The actor was rushed to the hospital, and by the next day he was emailing photos of his bandaged face to friends and relatives. OSHA is investigating to see if any safety rules were violated. Interestingly, Daniel is the great-grandson of the late President Harry S. Truman. For more: http://plasa.me/qdwwh.