A Career In Technical Theatre

I hurried to get dressed with a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up past my cast. I also wore a red tie and black skinny jeans. I could only sing so we had to use the track guitar. Last thing I had to do was my vocal warmups. I finished and went to the side of the stage. My mind was swirled with thoughts as the video ran and our cue was said to go on stage. My microphone was on me and I was as ready as I was ever going to be. We all ran on stage and started to play. We started with undisclosed desires. Since I didn’t have my guitar to play it gave me a chance to rest and just

The past four years, I have breathed, slept, eaten, thought and immersed myself in all thing pertaining to theatre. This is where I discovered to truly work in a team, where I could be without fear of being something I am not, and where I have found peace in the maddening swirl of day to day life, ironic in the fact that theatre is a hectic world. This world is where I have made my best friends and found people I know I can count on and that I insist can depend on me. If I have learned one thing from my experiences in theatre, it is to strive and achieve

"I’m so nervous,” I complained to my mom as we walked into the Waukesha Civic Theatre. “What if I’m not good enough. I haven’t even prepared that much!” It was a crisp September day and some leaves had already started changing color. On the way home from school my mom told me about a play that the theater puts on near us every year and thought I would be good for it. Since I had only heard about the audition that day, it gave me a few hours to pick my song and be prepared for whatever part they wanted me to read. The next song that came on the radio was the song “Edge of Glory” by Lady GaGa and because it was in my vocal range I thought it would be good for me. Little did I know that this audition would change my view of theater.

The wind tousled my hair around as I closed my eyes and took deep, shaky breaths. The faint sound of the crowd cheering upstage didn't help with my nerves, so, instead, I turned my ears to the delicate waves rolling up the beach. I opened my eyes and gazed out at the lake; now an open canvas for the golden sun which had began setting. Quietly, I plucked each string of my guitar- though I’d already tuned them several times. On the outside, I may have seemed ready, content, and excited; however, on the inside, no matter how tranquilizing the back stage scenery was, I was terrified to the core.

Returning to college has been a prodigious challenge. One in which I determined I would meet head on with resolution. As a fine arts student I was fortunate to find a mentor in the Paradise Valley Community College Theater Director, Andrea Robertson. Andrea perceived potential in me and encouraged pursuit my goals as a writer/director. I took the initiative to approach Andrea with the idea to write and direct my own play in the Advanced Directing course. This past fall that idea came into fruition. As a director I oversaw numerous different areas in the production of my play. These were roles filled by fellow students, allowing the opportunity to provide guidance and leadership to peers. I worked with actors, stage management, set design, prop

Growing up, my family has moved around frequently. With each place I’ve lived have come new opportunities and challenges. After my parents divorced, I moved to Savannah with hopes of attending Savannah Arts Academy, one of the only performing arts schools in the state. After a rigorous audition process, I was

Since starting in the field of technical theatre, it seems like it’s been show after show. A grand total of fourteen shows in two years, being involved in almost every technical aspect of each show, has solidified my career decision. No matter how stressful the shows have become, whether it was being the head costume designer for over 30 students in my second ever show, or creating fully functional weaponized props out of foam for an entirely improved performance, nothing in life could be

In the fine arts community there are many options of occupation from drawing and painting to singing and instruments and even the Theatre. In theatre there are many options past acting. You have lights, sounds, makeup and costume, set, stage manager, assistant stage manager, house manager, ushers, and director. As a theatre technician I would want to do it all but mostly costume, set, and sound.

The first art piece that I’m going to be discussing is a theatrical production that has a special place in my heart, and it is the Jakarta Performing Arts Community’s rendition of the hit Broadway play, ‘Fame.’ The reason why this piece is so important to me is because it was the first ‘real deal’ production that I’ve meddled in, and was the first production that I was appointed stage manager of. The play itself has a great message and great tunes, to be honest. I really like this play because it’s so naturally high school, the problems are so realistic that it almost didn’t feel like it was some sort of a make believe, and it also addressed things that are so simple yet are so scarcely discussed.

My anxiety curled into my stomach, as I broke into a sweat and my hands began to feel clammy. When it was my turn to audition, I sat on the hard wooden stool and began to play my piece. The mesmerizing tune rang through the room and my swift fingers glided smoothly along the the keys. I could feel my apprehension of the competition disappearing, and but was still concentrated in performing the piece to the best of my abilities. As the end of the song neared, my heart nearly skipped a beat as I accidentally played a noted for longer duration than intended. The entirety of my audition had been ruined. This mistake had probably cost the entire

"Besides the part where I have to wear a rubber mouse head for 6 minutes, yeah" I responded laughing. We continued to stretch, going through our splits, and adding some relevés to get our ankles warmed up. We stretched our arms and legs, did a few push-ups and jumping jacks. All you could smell was the hairspray, and the make-up, and weirdly cookies, but that's because we all teamed up and brought snacks. We all made our way onto the stage, pitch black, to hear mumbling out by the sound booth and up in the light box. All of a sudden the lights come on, and we sit ourselves in a semi circle around the three teachers, Lauren, Gretchen, and Vanessa. I zone out as they begin speaking and focus

We planned our production time around both productions this semesters, due to three of our four members working in at least one of them and we planned our time around a week in advance so we could be sure it would fit into everyone’s calendars. One of my greatest strengths on the team was finding sound effects that we could use and helping to direct the actors. My greatest weakness was helping with writing music. Jacob Gust was amazing at mixing and writing music,one weakness was having confidence in his music skills. Charles Southward was amazing at directing our actors in what we were going for in performance, one weakness was having faith in his choices for sound effects. Jamie Bennett was great at helping with sound effects and keeping

1. On the night of the performance, I was feeling a bit disappointed, irritated, and severely exhausted. Running on a meager 2 hours of sleep the night before, and working from 6 am to 3 in the afternoon, I was under the impression that its normal for my heartbeat to be nonexistent. To my dismay, upon returning home, I came to find that I would no longer be able to attend an exuberant social gathering with a few old acquaintances after the show, which left me rather…. perturbed, to say the least. I attended the Saturday night showing of the musical, and rather than wallowing in self-pity and disappointment, I decided to make the most of it. And what better way to make the most of a night, than to over compensate? So, after an hour of debating

The closing of the Choate Fringe Festival of my junior year took place on an otherwise inconsequential, cold winter day. We had decided not to strike immediately after the final show, but to wait until the next day so that the chaos of performance would subside. Everyone -- actors, directors, stage managers -- packed up the props, folded away the costumes, and deconstructed the sets. I remember quite vividly I was collecting all the props for my play when I was hit with this feeling of immense pride. I was so proud of my show, that I was able to put a concrete vision on a stage. I was so proud of my actors and their glorious ability to take my direction and make it their own. But above all, I was proud to have been a part of a

As I waited for my turn in the program I tried to focus on listening to the words of the songs and tuning into the sentiment of the music in attempt to forget my own anxieties. When my turn came to play, my older sister sat beside me on the bench for moral support and, I might add, to turn the pages. I surprised myself as I calmly performed the pieces remarkably well. I was ecstatic when it was over, I couldn't stop smiling. Best of all was the feeling that I had overcome my incredible fears of failure and performing that night. Now when I perform, I remember that night. I'm glad that although I was on the verge of giving up that there was someone wise enough not to allow me to give up, but forced me to plow through them head on.