USITT to Offer Jay Glerum Stage Rigging Master Classes

USITT is launching a new project in memory of master rigger and USITT Fellow Jay O. Glerum, who passed away last year. The Jay Glerum Rigging Master Classes will offer annual training sessions in a different location around the nation starting in summer 2016.

Glerum, author of the definitive Stage Rigging Handbook, was an annual presenter at USITT's Conference & Stage Expo and held many USITT offices and awards. He spent part of his last months revising his famous book. Many certified stage riggers and backstage professionals owe their knowledge of rigging standards and their obsession with safety to Glerum's teaching and sharing over the past 40 years.

After Glerum's death last June, USITT friends suggested that a series of rigging master classes would be the best way to remember him as a teacher and ambassador for rigging safety.

USITT Executive Director David Grindle said the classes will serve USITT's mission to instill best safety practices starting in secondary school and continuing through life-long training opportunities.

"The Glerum Master Classes will be offered at multiple levels each year - advanced and beginner," Grindle said. "We'll pursue offering ETCP credit for the advanced classes and CTEs for educators at the entry level."

Industry sponsors already on board include JR Clancy, Sapsis Rigging, H&H Specialties, iWeiss, Texas Scenic, ETC, Barbizon, PDO Partners, and Chicago Fly House, and USITT welcomes other contributors to help keep costs low for what will be very intensive two- and three-day workshops.

Early career classes will cover rigging basics and cost $60 to $150, Grindle said. Advanced classes in skills such as high-speed and motor control will also be offered at affordable rates for three days of training.

USITT unveiled the project at an emotional memorial for Glerum at USITT 2015 in Cincinnati last month. Glerum's wife, Sallie, and their four children, Matt, Phil, Pete, and Andrea, all attended the session where Glerum's colleagues and students shared their memories of Jay.

Many recalled Glerum's gentleness in welcoming newcomers, graciously answering what others might term "stupid" questions, treating even entry level stage hands as equals, and generously sharing his time and knowhow. Said his friend Dennis Dorn, "I don't think anyone ever walked away from Jay feeling he wasn't their friend."

The announcement of Glerum Master Classes is timed to coincide with Arbor Day 2015 on Friday, April 24, which USITT is celebrating as Rigging Safety Day. USITT and the theatre tech community are raising awareness of rigging safety by posting and tweeting with the hashtag #RigSafe all day Friday.

USITT's five-year-old Rigging Safety Initiative offers free stage rigging inspections to schools across the country. Nearly 100 schools have been approved for inspections so far, and 30 more are awaiting funding.

"The only thing stopping us from doing more inspections is money," Grindle said. For more information or to donate to the RSI, please visit www.usitt.org.rigsafe.

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