The StageLync Podcast

Ep.16: Courtney Nichols: Head of Rigging Installations and Show Support - “This feels like home to me” (Audio)

Courtney joined EPS in 2022 and serves as Head of Installations and Show Support. With more than 20 years’ experience in the entertainment industry, she has a rigging background in installation, inspection, project management, and show operations in a variety of entertainment venues. Courtney has been working in contemporary circus since 2009 when she joined creation and then operations at House of Dancing Water for Dragone, and in 2014 she joined the Cirque du Soleil’s touring show division where she worked on many shows both arena and big top.
 
 
“ATTENTION SPOTIFY LISTENERS: IF you want to WATCH this with VIDEO, you can also subscribe to our video version:
https://open.spotify.com/show/5e9KnBRZdjUTXTvCe6Nrqm?si=6639537c61044396”
@stagelync
Thank you to our sponsor @clear-com
The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com
 

Ep.16: Courtney Nichols: Head of Rigging Installations and Show Support - “This feels like home to me” (Video)

Courtney joined EPS in 2022 and serves as Head of Installations and Show Support. With more than 20 years’ experience in the entertainment industry, she has a rigging background in installation, inspection, project management, and show operations in a variety of entertainment venues. Courtney has been working in contemporary circus since 2009 when she joined creation and then operations at House of Dancing Water for Dragone, and in 2014 she joined the Cirque du Soleil’s touring show division where she worked on many shows both arena and big top.
 
@stagelync
Thank you to our sponsor @clear-com
The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com
 

Ep.15: Ulrike Storch: Business Coach for Performers - “You are not marketing to your friends” (Audio)

Ulrike, a former circus artist with a 15-year international career, captivated audiences worldwide with her signature act, "Tribute to Marlene." Trained across Europe, she transitioned from the spotlight to entrepreneurship, founding Selling Circus, a unique marketing and sales training platform for circus professionals. As a thought leader, Ulrike combines her artistic talent with business acumen, making a significant impact in both the entertainment and entrepreneurial worlds. 
 
“ATTENTION SPOTIFY LISTENERS: IF you want to WATCH this with VIDEO, you can also subscribe to our video version:
https://open.spotify.com/show/5e9KnBRZdjUTXTvCe6Nrqm?si=6639537c61044396”
@stagelync
Thank you to our sponsor @clear-com
The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com

Ep.15: Ulrike Storch: Business Coach for Performers - “You are not marketing to your friends” (Video)

Ulrike, a former circus artist with a 15-year international career, captivated audiences worldwide with her signature act, "Tribute to Marlene." Trained across Europe, she transitioned from the spotlight to entrepreneurship, founding Selling Circus, a unique marketing and sales training platform for circus professionals. As a thought leader, Ulrike combines her artistic talent with business acumen, making a significant impact in both the entertainment and entrepreneurial worlds. 
 
@stagelync
Thank you to our sponsor @clear-com
The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com

Ep.14: Andrew Harmon: Writer & Creative Director - “Stories reveal who we are” (Audio)

Andrew is a New York based writer/director and the long-time creative director for The Thorn. Now a nationally touring production, The Thorn takes traditional theater, circus performance, concert-style sound and lighting design and blends them with a direct story of faith and redemption. 
While starting as a small, resident show in Colorado over 25 years ago, this performance has continued to evolve across the decades—at one point including live tigers and at another pioneering a touring model that featured a brand new cast every week.  After a filmed version of The Thorn was released in movie theaters in 2023, the show took on its current evolution, touring to over 50 cities in just under 2 years—all the while selling out some of the largest performing arts centers in the US.
As a storyteller Andrew is particularly concerned with how the stories we tell each other both reflect and shape how we feel about our own existence. His own writing, such as his debut short film Cardboard Dreams, reflexively seems to hover around this idea. 
To this end, also hosts the podcast The Meaning of Movie alongside fellow director and friend, Rob Stennett.
 
“ATTENTION SPOTIFY LISTENERS: IF you want to WATCH this with VIDEO, you can also subscribe to our video version:
https://open.spotify.com/show/5e9KnBRZdjUTXTvCe6Nrqm?si=6639537c61044396”
@stagelync
Thank you to our sponsor @clear-com
The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com

Ep.14: Andrew Harmon: Writer & Creative Director - “Stories reveal who we are” (Video)

Andrew is a New York based writer/director and the long-time creative director for The Thorn. Now a nationally touring production, The Thorn takes traditional theater, circus performance, concert-style sound and lighting design and blends them with a direct story of faith and redemption. 
While starting as a small, resident show in Colorado over 25 years ago, this performance has continued to evolve across the decades—at one point including live tigers and at another pioneering a touring model that featured a brand new cast every week.  After a filmed version of The Thorn was released in movie theaters in 2023, the show took on its current evolution, touring to over 50 cities in just under 2 years—all the while selling out some of the largest performing arts centers in the US.
As a storyteller Andrew is particularly concerned with how the stories we tell each other both reflect and shape how we feel about our own existence. His own writing, such as his debut short film Cardboard Dreams, reflexively seems to hover around this idea. 
To this end, also hosts the podcast The Meaning of Movie alongside fellow director and friend, Rob Stennett.
 
@stagelync
Thank you to our sponsor @clear-com
The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com

Ep.13: William Gorlin: Vice President of Entertainment Engineering - “Using Math and Science to Bring Entertainment to Life” (Audio)

William Gorlin serves as McLaren Engineering Group’s Vice President - Entertainment Division, is a graduate of Cornell University, and is registered as a Professional Engineer in 26 States. His 38 years of experience include engineering of scenic, entertainment and amusement structures, staging, rigging, theatrical infrastructure, buildings, show action equipment, scenic elements, theme park attractions, architectural theming, sculptures, and other frameworks, worldwide. Mr. Gorlin is a member of the ESTA Rigging Working Group, ASTM Committee F24 for Amusement Rides and Devices, and Structural Engineers Association of New York. 
Bill received the 2024 Backstage Legend and Master Award from the Broadway Technical Theatre History Project and was named “Engineer of the Year” in 2018 by the New York State Society of Professional Engineers. Bill is the author of the “Structural Behavior” chapter in Entertainment Rigging for the 21st Century, Ed. Bill Sapsis, Focal Press, 2015.
 
“ATTENTION SPOTIFY LISTENERS: IF you want to WATCH this with VIDEO, you can also subscribe to our video version:
https://open.spotify.com/show/5e9KnBRZdjUTXTvCe6Nrqm?si=6639537c61044396”
@stagelync
Thank you to our sponsor @clear-com
The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com

Ep.13: William Gorlin: Vice President of Entertainment Engineering - “Using Math and Science to Bring Entertainment to Life” (Video)

William Gorlin serves as McLaren Engineering Group’s Vice President - Entertainment Division, is a graduate of Cornell University, and is registered as a Professional Engineer in 26 States. His 38 years of experience include engineering of scenic, entertainment and amusement structures, staging, rigging, theatrical infrastructure, buildings, show action equipment, scenic elements, theme park attractions, architectural theming, sculptures, and other frameworks, worldwide. Mr. Gorlin is a member of the ESTA Rigging Working Group, ASTM Committee F24 for Amusement Rides and Devices, and Structural Engineers Association of New York. 
Bill received the 2024 Backstage Legend and Master Award from the Broadway Technical Theatre History Project and was named “Engineer of the Year” in 2018 by the New York State Society of Professional Engineers. Bill is the author of the “Structural Behavior” chapter in Entertainment Rigging for the 21st Century, Ed. Bill Sapsis, Focal Press, 2015.
 
@stagelync
Thank you to our sponsor @clear-com
The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com

Ep.12: Shana Carroll: Artistic Director - “I just have to find my true north and be true to it” (Audio)

Shana is Co-Founding Artistic Director of the Montreal based circus company The 7 Fingers. Since its founding in 2002, Carroll has written, directed and choreographed 12 of their touring and/or resident shows, 3 of which (Passengers, Duel Reality, Dear San Francisco) are currently running, and which also includes Sequence 8 at NY City Center and Traces off- Broadway run at Union Square Theatre. Carroll received a Drama Desk Nomination for Choreography and Best Theatrical Experience for their show Traces. Outside The 7 Fingers, Carroll directed Cirque du Soleil’s first- ever ice show Crystal, in addition to their performance at the Academy Awards in 2012. Also, for Cirque du Soleil, Carroll was circus choreographer and designer for their shows Iris (Los Angeles) and Paramour (Broadway). Other credits include: Queen of the Night (Drama Desk Recipient); Soul of the Ocean (Moment Factory); Cité Mémoire (Lemieux-Pilon); and the Sochi Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies (medieval segment). Prior to directing and choreography, Carroll was herself a trapeze artist, performing for over 20 years in the air with circuses and dance companies around the world, most notably as the original solo trapeze artist for Cirque du Soleil’s Saltimbanco. She also appeared in Cirque du Soleil produced television and film. Now based in Montreal, where she relocated in 1991 to attend l’École Nationale de Cirque, Carroll is originally from Berkeley, California. In 2023, Carroll was inducted into the Ordre of Arts and Letters of Quebec, a distinction honoring those who have contributed to artistic and cultural development in the province of Quebec.
Most recently, Carroll was Circus Designer and Co-choreographer of the musical Water For Elephants, first at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and now in its Broadway run at the Imperial Theatre, for which she received a Suzi Bass Award and the Chita Rivera Award for Best Choreography, as well as Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics' Circle nominations in the same category.
 
“ATTENTION SPOTIFY LISTENERS: IF you want to WATCH this with VIDEO, you can also subscribe to our video version:
https://open.spotify.com/show/5e9KnBRZdjUTXTvCe6Nrqm?si=6639537c61044396”
@stagelync
Thank you to our sponsor @clear-com
The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com

Ep.12: Shana Carroll: Artistic Director - “I just have to find my true north and be true to it” (Video)

Shana is Co-Founding Artistic Director of the Montreal based circus company The 7 Fingers. Since its founding in 2002, Carroll has written, directed and choreographed 12 of their touring and/or resident shows, 3 of which (Passengers, Duel Reality, Dear San Francisco) are currently running, and which also includes Sequence 8 at NY City Center and Traces off- Broadway run at Union Square Theatre. Carroll received a Drama Desk Nomination for Choreography and Best Theatrical Experience for their show Traces. Outside The 7 Fingers, Carroll directed Cirque du Soleil’s first- ever ice show Crystal, in addition to their performance at the Academy Awards in 2012. Also, for Cirque du Soleil, Carroll was circus choreographer and designer for their shows Iris (Los Angeles) and Paramour (Broadway). Other credits include: Queen of the Night (Drama Desk Recipient); Soul of the Ocean (Moment Factory); Cité Mémoire (Lemieux-Pilon); and the Sochi Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies (medieval segment). Prior to directing and choreography, Carroll was herself a trapeze artist, performing for over 20 years in the air with circuses and dance companies around the world, most notably as the original solo trapeze artist for Cirque du Soleil’s Saltimbanco. She also appeared in Cirque du Soleil produced television and film. Now based in Montreal, where she relocated in 1991 to attend l’École Nationale de Cirque, Carroll is originally from Berkeley, California. In 2023, Carroll was inducted into the Ordre of Arts and Letters of Quebec, a distinction honoring those who have contributed to artistic and cultural development in the province of Quebec.
Most recently, Carroll was Circus Designer and Co-choreographer of the musical Water For Elephants, first at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and now in its Broadway run at the Imperial Theatre, for which she received a Suzi Bass Award and the Chita Rivera Award for Best Choreography, as well as Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics' Circle nominations in the same category.
 
@stagelync
Thank you to our sponsor @clear-com
The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com