If All the World's a Stage . . . The Techs Keep It Turning

Working with professional technicians gives UCSC undergrads the valuable hands-on experience they need to gain entry into the world of film and theater production after graduation.

Making the scene: (l-r) Paul House, Naomi Arnst, Nick Farwell, Joe Weiss, and Don Williams are five of the theater arts production staff who help students learn the ropes of technical theater.
(Photo: Mickey Pfleger)

 

 


Like Hamlet, who declared "the play's the thing," most theatergoers focus on the plot and the actors who deliver it. And yet, it is the handiwork of the stage techni- cians--an alchemy of sets, lights, sounds, and costumes--that makes the world of the play come alive.

At UCSC, students learn the secrets of this theatrical magic in the Theater Arts Department's production program. Like those in the major who focus on performance, production students must complete a rigorous academic curriculum and a minimum of 150 hours of hands-on experience.

Among their teachers are the seven members of the theater arts production staff, headed by technical director Joe Weiss and assistant technical director Paul House. Through their guidance, graduates in recent years have had notable success in the film and theater industry--landing jobs on and off Broadway, in film and commercial production in Los Angeles, and in theater companies across the country.

The hands-on emphasis is one of the program's many strengths, and the opportunities for production students to gain firsthand experience are numerous. Working in the production shops, some 60 students each quarter design and build sets, costumes, and props; record and mix sound; design and rig lights; and hammer out budgets and production schedules for shows.

"In the four years I've worked here there have been roughly 200 shows--all but one of which were student designed," says UCSC costume shop manager Naomi Arnst. "As students, experiencing that level of responsibility is invaluable. That's how they really learn the ropes, and it's what makes them stand out when they start looking for jobs."

UCSC's program, which focuses solely on undergraduate studies, offers another advantage: "Our students here don't have to compete with graduate students for opportunities," Weiss explains. "Here, undergraduates are able to assume a level of responsibility practically unheard of in most other programs."

 

Graduates have had notable success in the film and theater industry--landing jobs on and off Broadway, in film and commercial production in Los Angeles, and in theater companies across the country.

 

"If I'd gone to a university with a large graduate program, I would have spent my entire four years as an assistant to a graduate student--if I was lucky," confirms Jennifer Boggs, who graduated in 1992. Instead, during her years at UCSC, Boggs was able to try her hand at such high-level positions as designer and stage manager. Since graduating, she has worked in film and commercial production, and she tours Europe each summer with a performing arts troupe.

Rik Converse, who received a degree in literature here in 1984, is head of Media Slugs, an organization for UCSC alumni working in the entertainment industry. His roster holds the names of nearly 160 people in the Los Angeles area, the majority of whom, he says, are flourishing in the highly competitive field of technical production.

A recent addition to Converse's list is Stacie London, who graduated in 1994. London was working on a video shoot for rap singer Queen Latifah last summer when she learned she'd received her stage technician's union card--an accomplishment practically unheard of for someone so recently out of school.

"If it weren't for Joe and Paul and that program, I just can't imagine what my life would be like," she says. "They have this incredible gift for teaching." Among recent projects, London has worked as assistant stage manager for the touring company of the Broadway show Kiss of the Spiderwoman, as a dresser on the Broadway production of Damn Yankees, and as production designer in Los Angeles for the film Ill-Gotten Gains.

Another distinction of the production program is its affiliation with a professional theater company. Shakespeare Santa Cruz (SSC), a campus-based summer festival, and the Theater Arts Department share facilities, equipment, and people. Several theater arts faculty and staff are also longstanding leaders of the festival. "This is educational theater at its best," says assistant technical director House. "We can continue to work in the professional arena each summer and bring that back to the students each fall."

SSC and the Theater Arts Department also collaborate on the Summer Internship Program, through which UCSC students may participate in the festival, and with Shakespeare To Go, an academic-year course in which UCSC students perform a condensed version of a Shakespeare play in local schools.

The unique structure that makes the production program so successful is a reflection of those who have created it. While they are working the alchemy of illusion onstage, they manage the rigors of teaching offstage. Los Angeles film producer Danny Kaufman, who has worked with a number of UCSC students recently, is a believer. "I can tell you that I'm impressed by all of the Santa Cruz graduates I've worked with. Whatever it is you're doing up there, you're doing it right."

--Barbara McKenna


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