Technicians bring theater center stage

The lights go down, the curtain goes up, and for the next few
hours you are transported out of your ordinary life. The theater
can be a magical, even life-changing experience. While actors and
directors may receive the majority of applause, the unsung heroes
are often the people behind the scenes.

Fourth-year theater student Adeena Bell is a stage manager,
which means she calls the cues, supervises the crew, and makes sure
the actors get to their places on time.

“Nothing really gets done efficiently without the stage
manager,” she said, calling her position “the
glue” that holds a show together.

Bell began working in community theater in her hometown of
Modesto eight years ago. When it came time to choose a college,
UCLA seemed a natural choice, having one of the nation’s top
theater schools. Bell said she was hooked after her first
production, “The American Clock,” and has gone on to
work on dozens of shows.

Lighting designer Kristie Roldan also got an early start in
theater, at age 13 on a middle school production of
“Annie.” Although she has dabbled in many of
theater’s technical aspects, she says her first love is
lighting design.

“(I can) manipulate not only a space, but also the
emotions of the people viewing (it,)” said Roldan, who
graduated from UCLA with a Master of Fine Arts in June.

Lighting and scenic designer Kurt Beech, who most recently
worked on the upcoming film “Criminal” starring John C.
Reilly, agrees.

“I like the attention to detail,” Beech said.

Beech first fell in love with the theater as an 11-year-old at
summer camp. Although he minored in theater at Wakeforest
University in North Carolina, he chose to become a teacher at
Horace Mann School, an elite prep school in the Bronx. Beech says
seeing his students go off to the Ivy League year after year to
pursue their dreams convinced him, after six years, to quit
teaching and head to UCLA. He completed an MFA in June.

Although Beech began his theater career as an actor, Bell and
Roldan help disprove the old stereotype that all stage technicians
are failed or wannabe actors

“I don’t like people looking at me, I’m not
very good standing in front of people,” explains Roldan.

All three stress that they love their jobs and couldn’t
imagine doing anything else. They may not be the ones taking the
bows, but according to Bell, the process of helping to get a
theater production off the ground is far more rewarding than
applause.

Roldan agrees. “If I do my job right, (the lighting)
becomes part of the piece but doesn’t overshadow it,”
she said.

If she’s happy with what she’s done, Roldan adds,
that’s reward enough.

“(The audience is) excited about the experience they had
… they’re clapping for everyone who worked on
it.”