Sunday, June 30, 2013

Willy Wonka Jr. reflection

Working on Willy Wonka Jr. has been a great experience, and one I hadn't counted on having at the beginning of 2013.  What began as signing up for Jim's lighting class (partly after the recommendation of a friend who had taken the class in the past) became my first full experience as a designer for a show.

My primary focus in ISU Theatre has been (and in large part still remains) as an actor.  Being asked to try my hand at lighting design wasn't something I was expecting, even with my taking the lighting class.  And at first, I felt daunted by the prospect.  Am I confident enough in myself to handle this?  Learning that it was at Jim's suggestion that I was asked told me something important, though:  regardless of my confidence, someone else DOES have confidence in me.

Even then, this was something I had never really tried before.  Sitting in on the production meetings really helped me get excited for the project.  Everyone kept bringing such wonderful ideas to the table, it was really fantastic.  Having that source of energy and having Jim as someone I could ask questions to really helped me along.

My board tech, Kaine, showed himself to be quite capable of running the board.  While it's true that virtually all the cues were set to run at the press of a button, he kept focus well and felt comfortable leaving the second weekend of performances in his hands.


Now that it's finished, I'm really pleased with what I accomplished.  I've done something that I hadn't expected to do six months ago, and did it well.  And while I still want to focus on acting, I think I'd like to continue to learn and do more with lighting.

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