“We don’t do microphones,” joked Star Dresser Meredith Scott as she took the mic to kick off the KIMBERLY AKIMBO Technical Theater Q&A with students in O-pa’s Nebraska Theater Academy. Six crew members from the touring Broadway show took a break from their work keeping the show running at the Orpheum to share about their careers and how they found their place in theater. They put the spotlight where it doesn’t normally shine — on the important roles that support the cast, the logistics, and the other nuts and bolts of moving a production from city to city.
Meredith went on to explain how she helps leading lady Carolee Carmello (who plays Kim Levaco) with costume changes. Students also heard from Company Manager Justin Scholl, Stage Manager Geoff Maus, Assistant Stage Manager Maya Bhatnagar, Deck Carpenter Chad Fenimore, and Head Electrician Kat Cole. They described their careers in stage management, production management, set design, lighting design, and more — giving students a glimpse into the plethora of ways to work behind the scenes of a production.
When asked how they got started in theater, the answers were all over the map. Many of the panelists noted that they didn’t think theater was a career and didn’t know you could make a living doing it. Meeting the right people and jumping at opportunities took them on an unexpected journey to the work that feeds their passion. Justin summed it up well when he said: “No one has a traditional route to how we got here. If anyone says you have to do it a certain way, they’re wrong.”
