Student Profiles
Meet our theatre students.
Lillian Faulkner
1. Why Did You Pursue Theatre at SUNY Plattsburgh?
Theatre has always been a part of my life and my higher education wouldn’t be complete
without continuing to be involved in something I am so passionate about!
2. How Did You Balance Your Assistant Director Work and the Technical Opportunities
on Bunnicula?
Most of my assistant director work happens within the rehearsals themselves, with
the exception of extra time I’ve taken to help others with things like actors needing
extra help practicing or helping our choreographer create the dances in our show.
My work as “Head of Wardrobe” happens outside of rehearsals with Erika. Erika and
I communicate each week to figure out what times I can work with her in the costume
shop sewing costumes, or in the basement dyeing fabrics, or meeting with actors for
fittings or adjustments. Great communication between Erika, Shawna, production stage
manager Bear, stage manager Maddy and I keeps balance and everything gets done efficiently!
3. What Do You Find Most Rewarding About Working with Technical Theatre?
I have truly loved learning and developing new skills. I’ve really enjoyed being able
to learn from Erika about all of the details that go into every aspect of making costumes.
Erika is extremely kind and amazing when it comes to helping me learn, and I feel
like I’ve developed so many new skills and a deeper understanding of the costume design
and development process.
4. What Would You Consider Your Favorite Tech Class So Far?
So far I’ve only taken two classes, and I am loving both of them! I think my favorite
would have to be stagecraft skills with Erika Guay. I’ve developed so many new skills
and new perspectives on the process of theatre production! I also love Margaret Swick’s
class too! Theatre health and safety is extremely informative!
Lydya Felix
1. Why pursue theatre at SUNY Plattsburgh?
My absolute favorite part about being a part of SUNY Plattsburgh’s theatre department
is the community that you build here. I can confidently say that I will have lifelong
friends after I graduate, and there are excellent theatre professors who are great
mentors and have helped me already jump start my career in the professional theatre
industry with their connections. Some of the coursework may be a bit tough, but the
professors are more than understanding about your academic needs and will help you
succeed. When I first became a theatre major, I was nervous that I wasn’t going to
have as many job opportunities as other fields, but after being here as long as I
have been, there are many ways that you can be successful in the theatre world, and
the skills that I have learned here not only apply to theatre, but also the entertainment
industry as well.
2. What Do You Find Most Rewarding About Working with Theatre Tech?
The best part about doing tech is getting to see your brilliant work on stage. I have
already worked on a few national Broadway tours, and getting to say that you have
helped build the sets on stage for those performances is a really cool thing. I also
have been part of the designing process for a couple of shows, and seeing your original
work come to life on the stage is extremely rewarding. The amount of creativity that
goes into theatre is so massive, but with the right team and creative vision, you
can really make something magical.
3. How Do You Balance Performance Work With Your Technical Opportunities?
Balancing performance with tech is no joke. You really have to find where your limits
are and figure out how much you can put into each aspect. For example, in Spamalot,
being the assistant lighting designer and playing one of the principal roles, I had
to find time during the day to design and also practice my part for the show. It’s
not as hard of a task as you would think, you just really have to know how you operate
as a creator and find the time to work on both things.
4. What’s Favorite Technical Job So Far?
So far it is between stage managing and designing a show. Making sure that every aspect
of the show runs as smoothly as possible is a very stressful job, but I absolutely
love it. As a stage manager, outside people are not entirely sure what you do, but
as long as they didn’t notice that anything was out of place, you know you’ve done
a good job. Designing a show is also just really rewarding. Being a lighting designer
for Spamalot is awesome because after you program the lights and you get to see how
it works in the show, it is such a cool thing to see.
Adele Daniels
1. Why Pursue Theatre at SUNY Plattsburgh?
I chose SUNY Plattsburgh because of its Theatrical Production & Technology Certificate.
I found that it was the closest and most affordable avenue to take to go into tech
theatre as a profession! It was actually the only school I looked at or applied to
because of that.
2. What Do You Find Most Rewarding?
I think seeing the end results of my, and the rest of the crew’s, hard work is very
rewarding! Working with everyone else in the department is also very motivating for
me.
3. What’s Favorite Technical Job So Far?
I really enjoy doing lighting! But I can’t say that it’s my favorite, I really love
doing anything tech related! I’m always willing to try new stuff and help out with
anything whenever needed.
4. What would you consider your favorite tech class so far?
I really enjoyed Theatre Health and Safety because of the projects and topics we covered,
in addition to getting Genie Lift certified! However I am taking Theatre Lights and
Sound at the moment and I believe that will end up being my favorite!
5. Would you recommend the tech certificate to others?
ABSOLUTELY! It’s a wonderful program that doesn’t require a ton of classes and also
covers really important stuff! I think many people could really benefit from taking
it, even if it’s an add-on to their other coursework! I’ve really enjoyed working
with the professors and meeting other tech people!