Tuesday, September 27, 2011

OSF Monday: Cole Pierce

Last night we met Michael Magg, the lighting and projection manager of the OSF festival. He started talking about the education he went through to get to this point in his life. His story started out just like mine... a sophmore in high school who knew exactly that theatre lighting was exactly what he wanted to do. He went to a smaller school in northern Colorado and eventually got a job in Florida. He gave me some insight to what I need to do to become a lighting designer and manager for a similar festival.
Gwen is currently the stage manager for Julius Caesar. She told us all the jobs the stage manager has in this festival. One thing I thought was very interesting is that the stage manager is the hub of communication. Every week, they have a 20 minute meeting about all seven shows. In this 20 minute time frame, they have to go through all the technical aspects of each show and what their expectations are. Another thing I thought was interesting was how the directors leave at the beginning of the season, then it is up to the stage manager to keep the same vision going through the whole season just how the designer wanted it. If something changes in the technical aspects of the show, like when the sun starts setting at different times in the outdoor stage and they need to change a light, they need to contact the lighting designer before they can do that.
Overall, this is a very exciting trip and I am looking forward to seeing our first play "Measure for Measure" in the Bowmer theatre in just a few hours!

1 comment:

Laramy Applekamp said...

Personally, I can't believe the dedication and time commitment theatre professionals put into their job, and how much passion it takes to pursue theatre. I know in high school we require a lot of time, effort, and application from our students, but Michael and Gwen--six day weeks, 18 hour days...their passion for theatre is contagious, and reminds me how truly special this pursuit is.