Below is a sampling of the theater work that I've done. Through the years, the theater has been a central place for my many technical interests. Shows that I've worked on have allowed me to build and use tools in various programming languages for the greater good of the production.
The Empty Theater: Broadcast Technology for Productions in the Age of COVID-19
Shortly after State of the School (below), I gave a presentation to faculty, staff, and other interested schools about how the systems that I designed for that and for All in the Timing (also below) worked. The presentation was a huge success, is viewable at left, and even prompted a blog post from our Head of School, Mark Davis, about the excellence of student empowerment linked below.
"I had the pleasure of watching Brian present a portion of his Independent Study project: The Empty Theater: Broadcast Technology for Productions in the Age of COVID-19. To echo Nancy, it was not a strong “student” presentation, it was one of the best presentations I’ve experienced, period."
-Head of School Mark Davis
In the second semester, I gave another presentation on my work but this time with the primary goal of educating the faculty on using the equipment we had installed, and were planning to install in an upcoming major theater renovation. This presentation was accompanied by a user guide available here.
St. Luke's State of the School
With the decision to move online for an event traditionally held as a gala-style evening, my school's Marketing and Communications office appointed me as Broadcast Director for the 2020 St. Luke's State of the School. Overseeing camera, audio, teleprompter, and set design departments, the studio I had designed and installed came to life for the first time. We had a viewership that far exceeded the space capacity of the theater normally used for this production, thus proving the benefits of live streaming.
"Brian was my partner on this show. I found myself repeatedly forgetting he was a student because he was such a consummate professional. He is not an impressive ‘student’ director, he is among the best directors I have ever worked with, period."
-Nancy Troeger; Executive Producer and St. Luke’s Director of Marketing & Communication
All in the Timing
November brought my school's production of All in the Timing back into the world of Zoom, after being planned as a broadcasted in-person play. Having only a week from the time we switched to completely online until opening night, I designed, coded, and implemented a completely custom streaming solution to give individual control over each actor's performance as well as use changing backgrounds and sound effects. My system consolidated a number of previously separate softwares into one cueing platform for everything. While our rights to the show prohibit the sharing of any recordings and/or pictures, I can assure you that it was a show to remember. The show received the following feedback from various theater professional who were in the audience:
"Wow! Watching All In The Timing, I forgot I was at home— it felt so present, so professional. What a delightfully crazy kaleidoscope of moments, insights, images, and characters. I laughed and laughed."
"Wow!! It felt as though it was written for zoom. The kids were wonderful and the flow worked! Thanks for a magical evening!!"
"Congratulations on a terrific show! I had a blast watching it from my couch last night and can't get over how professional and fluid it all looked..."
"The cast and crew all worked so hard, and found a way to pivot to create a fantastic experience for the audience."
"I loved the way the show was presented."
2019-20 Theater Independent Study Presentation
26 Pebbles
Originally conceived as a theater-in-the-round play, the COVID-19 pandemic forced us live up the adage that the show must go on(line.) Originally serving as the play's projection and animation designer, I switched to serve as its chief editor and co-producer. Below is a selection of my work from the play.
Introductory Title Sequence
Map Animation
Custom Lower Thirds for Character Names
Credits Sequence
Please see time 37:41 of the above presentation video for a detailed explanation of the meaning behind this sequence.
Pippin
During the 2019-20 school year, I was given the opportunity to work on my school's production of Pippin as lead projection designer. Below is much of my realized work from the show. Please see time 15:00 of the above presentation video for more and an explanation of the projection configuration in the set.
She Kills Monsters
My involvement in this production marked my first at St. Luke's School. As the middle school play for the fall season, some of my projectionswere animated versions of licensed material serving as animated backdrops with others were completely original and served as focal points of the scene . While my work on this production is not discussed in the above presentation as it was not apart of my independent study, it's still a great project which I was privileged to be a part of.