The Week in Review

Death in San Antonio: Another terrible death: Dean Williams, a stagehand working at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, died after a fall of nearly 100'. According to the Houston Chronicle, Williams "had been wearing a harness connected to a safety line, Berry said, but he disconnected it to step around a beam, where he intended to reconnect to another safety line on the other side." For the full story, go to http://plasa.me/b949x. A fund has been set up for his family at http://plasa.me/hu4b4.

Reversal of Fortune in Chicago: In another long-running case involving safety at a nightclub, the Illinois Supreme Court has reinstated guilty verdicts and sentences against the owners of E2, a Chicago nightclub where, in 2003, 21 people were stampeded to death. According to the Chicago Defender, "The unanimous ruling by the six-justice panel could pave the way for the two co-owners of the E2 to eventually go to prison -- more than ten years after the tragedy at the South Side club, which also injured around 50 people." For more, go to http://plasa.me/12ul7.

Lucille Lortel Nominations Announced: The spring awards season in New York has been kicked off by the announcement of nominations for the Lucille Lortel Awards, which honor achievement Off Broadway. Leading the pack are The Flick, Annie Baker's melancholic comedy about the staff of a failing cinema, which was produced by Playwrights Horizons; Murder Ballad, Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash's musical melodrama, seen at Manhattan Theatre Club, and Detroit, Lisa D'Amour's comedy about life in a recession economy, also produced by Playwrights Horizons. The awards will be given out on May 5. For the full list of nominees, go to http://plasa.me/lb95e.

USITT Succeeds in Milwaukee: USITT reports that its recently concluded Conference and Stage Expo is one of the organization's best ever, with 35,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space and more than 5,000 attendees. For a quick look back at the show, go to http://plasa.me/eqsba. A longer report will be available later in the week at http://plasa.me/kjsut.

Rebecca and the SEC: In the never-ending story of Rebecca, the Broadway musical that never gets produced but sure does set off litigation, more drama is in store from the Securities and Exchange Commissions. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the SEC is investigating "whether [Ben Sprecher, the show's producer] made misrepresentation to Larry Runsdorf [a potential investor], either by commission or omission." You may recall that Runsdorf was scared off by an anonymous email that was eventually revealed to be the work of the show's press agent, Marc Thibodeau. Sprecher is suing Thibodeau for breach of contract. For the latest, go to: http://plasa.me/b336w.

More on That Met Opera Ring Cycle Set: Has ever a set design gotten less love? Carl Fillion's set for the Metropolitan Opera's Ring Cycle has been profiled, picked apart, and blamed for the failure of the entire production. One charge that has stuck is that the set, a contraption made up of dozens of articulating wooden planks, breaks down much too often. It happened again on Saturday: During a production of Das Rheingold, the set froze and had to be manipulated into place by stagehands. It would appear that opera fans are getting fed up. For an eyewitness report, go to http://plasa.me/136xl. For New York Times coverage, in which reviewer Zachary Woolf calls for the production to be scrapped, go to http://plasa.me/qxtxe.