we got to nyc on friday night and spent all of saturday hanging, focusing and teching on stage one at new world stages . on sunday morning, i had my tech for diventare and then a performance, to which some of my new york friends came-- YAY! in fact, over 350 people came to see my show in NYC...which is amazing! on monday we set up the exhibit
in the lobby and in the afternoon/evening the faculty, students, alumni and friends all had a big to-do. first let me say that the honorees this year were totally stellar: lara crowe, abe jacobs, chuck giles, wynn thomas, and franco colavecchia. that list right there is ASTOUNDING: those people together are responsible for some of the best theatre of the last 35 years. just being able to talk to them, ask them questions and listen to what they had to say was totally amazing. AND, as if that weren't enough, mark had invited many prominent lighting designers (think tony award winners here!) to come to incite.
as i stood next to my exhibit, all of these amazing designers approached me and wanted to talk about my plot, my drafting, my show and my plans. i got so much wonderful feedback--and all from these amazing lighting designers who are literally living legends. it was one of the most amazing experiences i have ever had. to be able to talk to kevin adams, ken billington, ml gieger, frances aronson, mitch dana, steve shelley...the list goes on and on---just wow. it was a truly transformative experience, and there is no way to describe the incredible amount of wisdom and advice that they all gave to me during those few hours that we were at the exhibit/reception. AND: if that weren't enough, this MORNING a group of us went to the lincoln center (at chuck giles' invitation) and got to see the new york city opera in action. while we were just sitting there in the house, looking at everything, who should show up but robert wierzel, who decided to come over, introduce himself and talk to us about being the lighting designer for the season. more stars!! plus, the lincoln center is HUGE and GORGEOUS! i would have totally taken pictures if i had felt that it would have been ok :)
i think the most amazing thing that i took away from this whole experience was the fact that these wonderful professionals were interested in helping me succeed. they were eager to talk about work and give out advice. they wanted to know what questions i had and they wanted to share how they worked out all the kinks in their own careers. everyone was so supportive and so honest in their critique--it was truly wonderful to get such intelligent and frank feedback on my work and answers to my questions. i am so so so grateful to mark for bringing all of his colleagues to the festival to meet with his students--it was a once in a lifetime experience and chance to really present myself as a designer to the giants in my field.
No comments:
Post a Comment