Download a PDF - Stage Directions Magazine

“I went down there, and I remember basically deciding on the spot that
it was the perfect place, because it was so close to the city, the facilities
were amazing, and everyone whom I met was great.” — Mike Zaleski
The Work’s the Thing
In addition to classwork, students can work on Purchase
Repertory Theatre productions in the Performing Arts
Center, which are acted, designed, stage managed and
technical directed by students,
“Freshmen act as general crew members, and they
go through a rotation,” explains Grill. “They spend
half a semester in the lighting shop, half in the carpentry
shop, half in paint and half in costumes. As
they advance into the sophomore year, they generally
become crew heads. In your junior year, you become
the assistant-level person, and senior year is basically
the design position.”
Although this hierarchy is followed, everyone shares
the grunt work of load-ins, load-outs, hanging and focusing
lights, and the like.
“Folks like Jason Lyons, Brian and me continually come
back and circulate through the college to keep the education
at its high level, as well as to afford the people who
are in school the opportunity to solicit comments from
that level of professional, plus potential internships and
jobs after they get out of college,” Grill says. Students
learn practical, situational knowledge from current working
professionals — not just from textbook examples.
“Narda Alcorn, my stage management teacher, was on The
Lion King and A Raisin in the Sun on Broadway, Zaleski recalls.
“So she was telling us stories from the night before that were
immediately relevant to what we were discussing in class.”
Working’s the Thing
If a school can be judged by its graduates, the Purchase
results speak for themselves: Over 85% of design/technology
David Grill, cochair of the design/technology program,
is an Emmy Award-winning LD. Marjan Neshat John Yuille and Ariel Kubbie work on a set model.
The Performing Arts Center comprises four theatres, providing
students with state-of-the-art “laboratories” in which
to experiment and perfect their crafts.
“We try to expose students to every situation they
would get into via regional theatre or commercial theatre,”
Grill says. The 500-seat black-box Repertory Theatre
provides great flexibility in configuration with portable
platform units, movable catwalks and a hydraulic lift. The
600-seat Recital Hall, engineered for chamber music and
dance, has a sprung floor, rear-screen projection bay, portable
acoustic orchestra shell and a downstage hydraulic
lift. The PepsiCo Theatre, designed by Ming Cho Lee, holds
over 700 and has a rear-screen projection bay, hanamichi
platforms along the sides and two downstage hydraulic
lifts. The three-tiered Concert Hall, which has a capacity of
over 1,300, has two downstage hydraulic lifts and a portable
acoustic orchestra shell.
Also invaluable is the professional experience brought to
the classroom by award-winning graduates of Purchase who
now teach there, including Brian MacDevitt, 2007 Tony Award
winner for lighting The Coast of Utopia (with Kenneth Posner,
another Purchase alum), and Grill himself, a 1986 alumnus.
grads are working in their field, many are members of the
major theatrical unions, and alumni include Tony, Emmy,
Obie and Drama Desk award winners. Acting graduates
include Stanley Tucci, Edie Falco and Parker Posey.
Although the standards are extremely high and the
programs can be grueling, “It was a wonderful school
for me, and it really was a perfect fit,” Zaleski says.
“What was great was the faculty and the one-on-one
learning experience, plus a group of alumni who keep
in touch.”
At the time of this interview, Zaleski was stage managing
the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation gala. “I
showed up at this gig, and the lighting designer graduated
from Purchase, this other stage manager is from
Purchase. Almost every gig I do, there’s somebody
from Purchase.”
Grill agrees. “The best student is the student who feels
at home. If you can identify those people and get those
people in so that in their four years of college they form
a bond, you’re going to see those people until the day
you die. I still work with people I graduated with. It’s the
Sopranos of theatre.”
www.stage-directions.com • January 2008 21