By Bendik Sorensen
A&E Editor
Going to a play or a concert is a vivid experience. There are so many details incorporated in the performance, in addition to the performers that are often overlooked and taken for granted. However, Greg Brown, a senior technical theatre student, notices these details because of his soon-to-be profession. He is one of the people who help make the shows happen.
Photo: Bendik Sorensen
“I’m the tech guy. I set up for sound, lights and prepare the stage,” he said. Brown’s last project was a jazz concert, where he designed the lights to the best of his efforts. “It ended up being a bit dim and sexy and jazzy,” he described.
Brown is a busy guy to anyone’s standard. He works at the Tilles Center as a stagehand helping with lights and sound, he is a stage manager at Chaminade High School where he helps students with the light and sound designs, and does the same at Adelphi University. In addition, he is a volunteer firefighter.
Throughout the semester, his classmates are involved with just about every theatre production that comes through. “I touch on just about everything. Next weekend, we’re doing “Corpse Bride,” but the major production this semester is Bernarda Alba, a musical,” Brown said. “We work very closely with the actors and the director. We work together to present something together. We all love performance.”
The technical theatre majors have to have a wide variety of knowledge for this profession. They take electric engineering classes, sound production classes, light production classes, acting classes, costume design, the list just goes on and on. “It’s a [widespread] field,” Brown said. “And it’s heavily related to art.”
They also need to keep a wide variety of skills intact to have a job. “Paid theatre work doesn’t just jump at you without a huge resume,” Brown said. They work on a lot of different productions. “My job at the Tilles Center helps me for my other jobs as well. I get to see the best of the best,” he said, both in terms of performances and equipment. “I get to try it there before we get it at Chaminade, so I’m already familiar with it when we get it there.”
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