So in working on a couple of rock shows in Ann Arbor, several freelance jobs in NYC and my month in working in New Hampshire I took home less than $500.
It seems that I was not going to get rich working in Theatre.
There were not too many places hiring in January when I got back to New York.
I read the trade newspapers and sent out more resumes and waited to see what would come up.
In the middle of February 1981 I was hired to design the lights for a production of the Threepenny Opera.
I do not remember how I found out about the job as I had been looking for theatre working in NYC and this was on Long Island close to where I lived.
My former employer supplied the lighting equipment to the Theatre and may have told about the job, but I am not sure.
Theatre Three is in Port Jefferson on the north shore of Long Island about 20 miles from my family’s house in Sayville.
I both excited and a bit worried about designing the lights as it had been almost a year and a half since I had last deigned the lighting for a play.
I had designed several sets and had done mostly set construction work during that time.
The building was long and narrow and had been a Movie Theatre at one time and there was also a Cabaret Theatre in the lower level.
It seemed that the bar in the Cabaret was a popular place for off-duty cops and nurses to hang out and drink.
One day when walking through the bar one of the cops thought I was carrying a gun, but it was just my new Buck knife on my belt.
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| The Threepenny Opera, 1981 |
It turned out that I worked with director before on several productions by the Sayville Musical Workshop
and one of the actors in the play, Brent Erlanson, had played Bobby in the SMW production of Company and I was saddened to learn that he passed away recently.
They must have liked me as I was hired to design both the set and lights for the next production of Table Manners, one of the three plays in Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests trilogy.
Unfortunately I do not have any photos of the play, but it is the only play that I have worked on that was reviewed by the New York Times.
The review was so-so:
http://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/03/nyregion/theater-in-review-table-manners-offrs-meal-in-itself.html
Of course my name is not in the review, it never mentions the set or that they were even are on a stage.
There is nothing in the review for me to say: “Hay, I Did That!”
Oh well, maybe next time.
The construction staff were not trained “Theatre” people but local carpenters who used 2 x 4’s and sheetrock to build the walls on the set.
I guess it made sense for them to build it that way as they were able to use the skills of the people who they had available and saved money doing it.
The finished set looked fine and cost less than if they had used 1 x 3’s and muslin, the common building materials used in theatre at that time.
It would not have worked if there had been multiple sets or were trying to fly scenery in and out.
While at Theatre Three I also did the lighting for some kind of fashion show/benefit to help some good cause or another.
One of my recently graduated students currently works at Theatre Three.
I am happy to know that they are still there and doing well.
I was disappointed to learn that The Airport Playhouse, another Long Island Theatre that I once worked in, closed this past December.
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