Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2023 - 29

and what it does, its programming, and
its focus in moving forward?
" It is incumbent upon us to start to examine,
A, the word theatre in our title.
Because there's more; it's not just inside
the proscenium space box. Everything
that is live art or entertainment is theatre.
Talk to these people at the booths out on
the Expo floor. How did they get where
they are, where they're selling rigging
equipment or they're developing the next
piece of new technology for XR or VR, or
whatever the reality is we're in now. It's
moving that fast. I can't keep up with it,
and I'm relatively fast. What does that theatre
world encompass, and how do we engage
with all those people? Because what
you're doing, what we are all doing, and
what we're training folks to do, applies to
going into all those places. But, not everybody
sees what that path is.
" Secondly, we need to talk about
technology because that has also radically
changed post-Covid. How many of
you, pre-Covid, really used Zoom? Now
it is literally a part of our everyday lives.
It's a part of our vocabulary, so is Google-
words that we never thought were going
to mean what they mean. And those are
things that are starting to change how we
do what we do in theatre. We don't know
what's next. We've got to make sure that
we are leaving space to get what's next in
here, and figure out where in our world of
theatre training-because it's all theatre-
we go next to help facilitate that.
Where would you like to see USITT in a
year? In five years?
" We are coming out of the pandemic,
and we are starting to see some changes
in how we build and do what we do with
membership. Where I'd like to see us in
a year is employing some of that transparency
that folks have talked about, that
makes it easy for any one of you to be able
to say, 'Oh, you should join USITT. This
is why. Here's what I get out of it, and
here's what's important about what they
are doing in terms of education, in terms of
changing the way things look in the technical
theatre industry.
" In five years, I would like to see us
getting to a place where, organizationally,
we are the known go-to for those on the
cutting edge of technology in industries
that might not look like theatre but have
learned that the people who are coming to
work for them are coming with this training.
There are people in the medical industry
who have learned that there's value
in working with theatrical technicians in
making spaces for healing and treatment
feel better and yet can still be sterile and
meet safety and health standards.
" In five years, I'd like us to have a good
chunky endowment that allows us to fund
even more of those trainings that we talked
about earlier, like succession planning. In
10 years, I want us to be able to have it
make sense to have a conference in some
major metropolitan area, that we take over
the whole city, and that we can actually
bring people who have started to consume
our programming internationally, that we
get to send people to those international
conferences, and that they're all here. I'd
like us to have 10,000 people coming to
convene and talk, not just to see the Expo
floor, not just to network about getting jobs,
but to enjoy the chance to come together
and talk about what's next, what's happening,
and that the industry's thriving. "
What are a few words that will sum up
your tenure at USITT?
" Visionary. I would love for that to be the
word. Inclusive. Collaborative. "
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Laura Lee Everett
for sharing her time. The TECHnically
Speaking podcast is produced and hosted
by Jenn Shuron. The " Ask Me Anything "
conversation between Mark Blackmon
and Laura Lee Everett at Stage Expo 23
was made possible by several organizations
and people including our Stage Expo
23 sponsor, Disney Live Entertainment.
Thank you to Erich Bolton, Sam Juhnke,
and Matt Gilbertson, our tech volunteer
crew who are extraordinary. Thanks to
David Armelino from the USITT staff,
who made everything work together for
our livestream, and thank you to our Stage
Management Mentor Program stage manager,
Liv Tighe, who kept everyone on
track and on time.
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