The Week in Review

In Memoriam: Cyril Harris: The acoustical consulting profession lost one of its big names with the passing last week of Cyril Harris at the age of 93. A specialist in concert halls, Harris worked on many high-profile projects, including the Metropolitan Opera; Avery Fisher Hall; Powell Symphony Hall in St. Louis; the Great Hall at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, Illinois; Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, Symphony Hall in Salt Lake City; the renovation of New York State Theatre at Lincoln Center, and Benarova Hall in Seattle. His final project was the Contrad Prebys Concert Hall at University of California, San Diego. He was probably most known for his work on Avery Fisher Hall, revising the acoustics of a space that many musicians had given up for lost. According to The New York Times, Harris once told Newsweek, "I think that my greatest pleasure comes from hearing the musicians say that they don't have to bow or blow so hard - that I've added ten or 20 years to their careers."

Bountiful Broadway: The Broadway League reported robust holiday grosses and a strong start to 2011, with grosses of $60 million for the last two weeks of the year. The week ending January 2 was, the League reports, probably the highest grossing week in recorded history, earning $34, 997.571. For that same week, 27 shows averaged more than 80% of their seats occupied; over 32 shows averaged 70% of occupied seats and 21 shows averaged 90% of capacity. Season-to-date yielded a 3.8% increase in attendance and 3.6% in grosses year over year. At the same time, January has been tougher than usual, more than a dozen shows closing rather than face reduced winter-weather attendance, but the League reports that 20 shows are set to open in the late winter and spring. Recent shows to announce that they have recouped their costs include Rain, The Merchant of Venice, and A Little Night Music.

InfoComm/LSA 2011 Staged Events Awards Submissions Now Being Accepted: Submissions are now being accepted for InfoComm's annual Staged Events Awards, sponsored by Lighting&Sound America at www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/infocomm/; please note the April 28 submissions deadline. This is seventh year that LSA and PLASA are InfoComm's media partners for the Lighting & Staging Pavilion at the InfoComm trade show June 15-17 in Orlando, Florida. Categories in

• Best overall staging for a corporate or association event - Technology budget over $200,000
• Best overall staging for a corporate or association event - Technology budget $50,000 - $199,999
• Best overall staging for a Corporate/Industrial entertainment event
• Best use of A/V technology for a trade show booth for a corporate client
• Most innovative use of A/V technology for an outdoor event