Gilly Moon ’09

Jon Gottlieb, who directs the Sound Design Program at California Institute of the Arts only accepts three students into the program a year. This fall, his first choice was Design/Technical Theatre major Gillian Moon ’09.

Gilly knows where she wants to go, and how to get there. After graduation, she worked as a sound intern for the Trinity Repertory Company. After that, she continued to work in audio, “Taking whatever gigs I could,” she said. “Besides theater, I have also done a lot of corporate and themed production work. Taking time off and actually working in my field I think helped me get accepted. I developed not only good technical skills, but I gained a lot of interpersonal skills and developed a clear vision of how I want to approach my goals artistically. I was also able to meet ‘sound guys’ who were up to date in the industry, and who also wanted to be my friends and mentors.

“The theatre profs at KSC taught me how to work and talk with people in a very creative, collaborative, and challenging environment. Which is what you often find yourself in in theatre!” Sounds like that’s a lesson she learned well. If you know Gilly, drop her a comment.

Anthony Bishop ’94 on the field at Superbowl LXVI

Wasn’t it just a month ago that we told you about Anthony Bishop ’94, the art director for the new NBC game show Who’s Still Standing? By the time that story ran, Anthony was already moving onto  bigger things. He was also the art director for Madonna’s stunning halftime show at Superbowl LXVI, as well as for the Pregame and Tailgate Party featuring Lenny Kravitz and the Fray.

“Just what does the art director do?” you might ask (like I did).

“It is my responsibility to carry out the production designer’s vision by way of renderings and technical drafting that communicate the design to the artist, the client, the team, and the vendors who fabricate all the pieces of the puzzle,” Anthony explained. “I also have to manage the vendors, often via phone, as they build the design because changes from the client continue to trickle in until we get on camera. Next there is the onsite scope, the ‘load in,” where I oversee all the pieces of the puzzle and coordinate communication between each vendor as we all work together in what is typically a 10-day process from delivery to show day. However, the Superbowl was a four-week process, since a football stadium is not our typical venue. Ultimately, I oversee the production’s overall artistic look on camera and am responsible for problem solving when something we designed doesn’t work.”
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Alexandra Vendt, awarded for excellence in design-technology

Four KSC Theatre and Dance Design students recently presented their work at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival and received great feedback from a panel of professional experts, who praised their designs. Alexandra Vendt, lighting designer for Agnes of God; Gary Beisaw, props designer for The Rocky Horror Show; and Michael Portrie, sound designer for The Rocky Horror Show, were nominated as finalist.

Gary Beisaw won the S.P.A.M. Award for excellence in stage properties for his design for The Rocky Horror Show.

Alexandra Vendt won the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas Award for excellence in design-technology for her lighting design for Agnes of God.

Riley Ahern is one of 36 semifinalists (out of 240 students) at the KCACTF.

Continuing its 30th anniversary season, the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College (KSC) will present a hilarious solo show in which algorithms and sexism collide. Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through MIT’s Male Math Maze will be performed on Thursday, February 2, at 7:30 p.m. Inspired by the actual experiences of actress-playwright and recovering mathematician Gioia De Cari, this comical one-woman play follows De Cari’s misadventures as a female PhD candidate in the elite boys club of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s math department in the 1980s.

Tickets range from $10 to $25 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office, 603-358-2168 or ordering online.

More information. …