Name: Danielle Wilson
Title: Assistant technical director for lighting and sound
Department: Theatre and Dance
Education: BA, theatre, UNC Asheville; MFA, lighting design, USC

When did you decide you wanted a life in the theatre? I've always been interested in it. I started as an actor in high school productions. When I went to UNC Asheville, the theatre department was small so you had to do a little bit of everything. When it was my turn to work with lighting and sound, I found that I liked it better than acting. I wasn't a great actor, anyway.

What does an ATD do? I'm responsible for training students in how to operate all our lighting and sound equipment, so that they can run the shows. I'm also responsible for the day-to-day maintenance and operations--like making sure we have enough light bulbs and that the headset system is working. Basically, I make sure that anything that lights up or makes noise in a production does what the designer wants it to do. I make sure all the lights get hung, pointed in the right direction, and programmed. I make sure all speakers are in the right places.

What do you like about the job? The organizational aspect. And working with the students. If I've done my job right, then I don't do a lot of the physical work. If I've explained myself well, the students will understand and learn through doing it themselves.

What is challenging about it? The difficulty for lighting and sound is that almost everything else has to be done before we can start--all the designs are done, the set and costumes are almost built, the actors have been in the rehearsal hall for a few weeks--so our time is compressed.

How long does it take you to get ready for a production? About one week to hang all the lights, then about another week to make sure the lights are pointing the right way and are programmed. Then the actors take the stage to rehearse and we are constantly making adjustments to lights and sound until opening night. Then we go into maintenance mode, making sure the lighting and sound is operational throughout the length of the production.

How did you learn about theatrical sound and lighting? After UNC Asheville, I wanted to take at least a year off from school, so I went to work with the Virginia Stage Company in Norfolk and learned a lot there. When I was ready, I found that I liked the USC MFA theatre program, and I visited and liked the faculty. I was familiar with Columbia already: my grandfather lived here when I was young and I attended summer soccer camps here. I finished the MFA in 2003, and then went to work for the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte as production manager. I was involved in a little bit of everything there: church plays, Charlotte Children's Theatre, which is a professional company, dance theatre, and a lot of musical productions. I came back to USC in January 2006 for this job because it is hands-on and involves teaching students, which is what I want to do eventually. This semester, I'm taking a sound design course with new theatre faculty member Walter Clissen. He is teaching us how to use a particular sound software package--one that I don't know. So I'm still learning and trying to stay current.

What production do you work on next? Crumbs from the Table of Joy is the next main stage production. It runs Feb. 22-March 2 at Longstreet Theatre.

11/07