Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2023 - 26

with this great collection of skills. I'm so
excited to inherit this staff at this time.
The USITT staff members all have different
skills they bring to this work, and
I want to make sure we can continue to
move forward as one. But everybody has
their own perspective about how we're
moving the organization forward, because
that's how we row the boat in the
same direction. But also in terms of that
leadership, I need to really keep everybody's
feet to the fire about future vision.
" The first part of our organization's
name is the United States. Let's focus on
who's here in this country because nobody
else is representing us. I want to talk
about what defines theatre. As a leader,
I look at the big picture. That's my job.
I'm supposed to be looking at this from
50,000 feet. Some tricky things are happening
in the world of traditional nonprofit
theatre, theatre-in-a-proscenium space
theatre. But I went to a football game on
Sunday that was super fun. Shout out
to the St. Louis Battlehawks. They were
awesome in their debut home game. It
was the largest XFL crowd to date. The
number of microphones and people running
with flags and costumes and props
and sound and lights was no small thing.
It's theatre. The people who are working
there came through the same training as
all of us who went and got bitten by that
theatre bug in the summer camp version
of The Mouse Trap or whatever it was.
I want to connect with those people in
those parts of the world because that is
theatre and they are looking for folks to
work there as much as the rest of us are
in the nonprofit theatre world or at Disney
or at Carnival Cruises or Cirque du Soleil.
The other piece is the technology. Theatre
has always been one of the places that
has embraced technology and used it in
ways people may not have considered.
" As a leader, I'm looking at those aspects
and listening as much as possible
so I can sit down in front of the staff,
board, and volunteers, and ask, " What
looks like success for us as an organization?
How do we use what we've learned
to move the Institute forward and continue
to be on the cutting edge, be the more
equitable and inclusive organization that
we aspire to be, and have all these voices
get heard in this space when we bring
them all together, either live and in person
at conference or in globally presented
webinars. We want people to say, 'Wow,
that's what they're doing in the U.S.' So,
this is sort of both mission and leadership
style. I'm always open to conversation. I
love to hear from everybody. I'm going to
be transparent and honest and tell you if
I agree or don't agree. It does not mean
that my mind is set. If you've got good statistics,
data, and other things, I'm happy
to talk through it because things change.
What do you think USITT does right?
" I'm continually impressed with the way
this conference comes together and allows
for, in particular, people who are
emerging into the industry. It has nothing
to do with age. It has to do with experience-coming
into the industry, coming
together, being able to find work, being
able to talk about what the opportunities
are, being able to show off and find good
ways to show off the new technology, the
new advances, and more.
" I think one of the things that USITT
does incredibly well is the education and
the training. I think there's even more of
it that I want to make people aware of.
Professional development's a tricky thing
once you're done with school and out there
working and getting into your groove. But
if you want to move up or you want to
make more money in the role that you're
in, or you want to explore other parts of
whatever industry it is that you're in, sometimes
it's really hard to go and find a place
to get the training you need to do that.
" USITT is a great conduit for nextlevel
training, whether it's a rigging seminar
or it's the work that we are doing with
the BACKstage exam, which I think is so
huge and enticing people to come into the
industry and have some level of accreditation.
The professional development aspects,
like the Gateway program founded
in memory of Tayneshia Jefferson, are so
important. She said that we need to be
doing this. We need to have an opportunity
for those who are unrepresented and
underrepresented in our industry to connect
to someone who looks like, is abled,
and is in the same vein of the industry that
they are in. Because if they can see it, then
they can become it.
" I want to find ways for us to build
on that and do more to enhance alumni
26 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | SPRING 2023
http://ScenicSolutions.com
Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2023
