Thursday, September 16, 2021

STRONG SUPER TROUPER

7 comments:

Chic Silber said...


These 2 images relate to a note

under "Aerialist #4) from Monday

Roger Smith said...

In my stagehand daze at Lancaster CA Performing Arts Centre, I was sometimes assigned to run one of these. We had four in our booth. To get there, we had to climb through the rafters and beams of the ceiling, where all the theatre ghosts lived. Even in Educational Theatre, I had not been a lighting tech, but this job came as a baptism by fire.

Chic Silber said...


"Frontlight" as the operators

of followspots are known even

to this day was how I started

in this business both Broadway

& Circus much the same job

Supers were dream lamps to run

BOBBY'S LITL BRO. said...

ALWAYS A GOOD CALL TO GET. YOU HAD BETTER BE READY TO CARBON UP FAST WHEN THE SHOW WOULD HAVE ENCORES! WAYNE NEWTON WOULD ALWAYS DO IT AND THE PROMOTER OR HOTEL WOULD BITCH ABOUT THE OT.

Chic Silber said...


Harry Strong who I met in my youth

was left handed hence his Troupers

& Super Troupers favored lefties

During my Coast Guard time while

stationed in Baltimore the BA of

the Stagehands Local 340 where

I was serving my apprenticeship

contacted John Tivvis the Local

19 BA reqesting he offer me any

calls during my liberal liberty

highly commending my exceptional

frontlight dexterity & accuracy

Even at 1964 rates those calls

easily outweighed my $87 monthly

Coast Guard pay

BOBBY'S LITL BRO. said...

WELL NOW I KNOW WHY !!

Chic Silber said...


My paternal step grandfather

Mike Vogel a charter member

of NY Projectionists Local

306 of the IATSE would take

me up to projection booths

as an 8 to 12 year old kid

where I learned to operate

35 millimeter projectors

& more importantly to me

how to change carbons both

safely & very quickly

This gave me a head start

when learning followspots