Small World

It is often said that Theatre is a small world and everyone working in Theatre knows everyone else working in Theatre.

Although it is not true there are time when it does seems that way.

Just the other day I was returning two mic stands that I had borrowed for a concert.

When I was talking with the worker in the Classroom Technology Office he asked me if I have ever done any work on movies.

When I said that I had he revealed to me that he had been my assistant on a PBS documentary about the poet Emily Dickinson that we worked on over twenty years ago.

Details about the film will be in a future post.

George had been a student at RIT and worked a few weeks on the film shoot.

This began me thinking about other times that I had run into people I had worked with in the past years later.

As mentioned in an earlier post , I recently ran into Lighting Designer Alan Adelman

after 34 years at the USITT conference in Cincinnati.

It is nice to run into someone I have not scene in a while, but most of the time it may be only five to ten years rather then 30 plus years.

On the last night of the conference I had dinner one night with one of my students from my first year teaching who has been working at Ohio State University for 19 years.

After dinner we ran into one of my classmates from Michigan, who I had not seen in about twenty years, who had just had dinner with one of his first students.

I have known my friend’s first student for about fifteen years, he also teaches and just had one of my more recent students in his Theatre program at the University of Georgia.

The two “first” students did not know each other but as they talked they found out that they knew many people in common and shared some good laughs.

These kind of meetings happen all the time at the USITT conferences.

I have also had these kind of meetings at the American College Theatre Festivals.

Just this past January I ran into some old friends and classmates at the Festival in Philadelphia.

While I was in Grad School I worked several dance tours to the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Northern Michigan.

Ten years later, now working at my present job, I served on a search committee for the Dance Department and it turns out that one of the final applicants we interviewed had been the Technical Director Interlochen when I worked there.

After Grad School I worked for a year in NYC and it seemed that every two weeks or so I would run into someone I knew.

One day I went to see the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center.

After checking out the tree I was cutting through a building when I ran into someone from UB.

We talked briefly about what we were doing and then went on our separate ways.

As I came out of the other side of the building minutes later I ran into someone from Grad school.

Again I had another brief chat about what we were both doing.

The photo studio that I worked in was just a few blocks North of Union Square and while walking to work one day I ran into another classmate from Michigan who was working in a costume studio several blocks away.

Sometime later in about the same spot on the street that I literally ran into Andy Warhol.

Warhol was not a classmate.

One day while walking to Penn Station I cut through Madison Square Park near the Flatiron Building and ran into a guy I knew, but could not remember his name.

I knew that we had recently worked together in some theatre, but I could not remember where or when.

What I did remember was the fact that I really did not like him, but I still smiled and made small talk before going on my way.

It was only later while riding the LIRR train home that I remembered his name and where we had worked together.

Last year while trying to research some information on Theatre stage equipment I called a major supply company.

Forwarded to someone who could help me with my questions and it turns out to be another of my former students from twenty-five year ago.

I had seen him a few times over the years but had not spoken recently.

We ran into each other at the USITT conference in Cincinnati.

Several times I have had former students call me to ask about another student, that they do not know, who are applying for a job with their company.

These are just a few examples of Theatre being a small world, there are many more.

If I remember any other fun or interesting examples I will post them.