Purdue News
Purdue News
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Theatre graduates create successful real-life dramas behind the scenes, in unexpected arenas
In 1988, having just earned a bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue, Matt Booty could write his own ticket. There was no question that the South Bend, Ind., native would get lucrative job offers. The only question would be which one to take. But to the surprise of his family and a few of his friends, Booty opted out of the job market and signed up to get a master of fine arts degree in theater sound design from the Purdue Department of visual and performing Arts. "Everybody thought I'd lost my mind," Booty, 35, says by phone from his Chicago office. But then he quickly contradicts himself. "No, really, a lot of my friends who knew me knew what was up. I had been involved in the engineering stuff, but a lot of creative things, too. "I was pretty focused on wanting to get into music and audio. Theater seemed to be a good inroad." Now a project leader for Midway Games, which develops and publishes video games, Booty manages a video game creation and production team that includes as many as 40 people. "I'd probably go crazy and implode if I had to do the same thing all day," he deadpans. "The cool thing that has happened here is that I've always had the chance to enjoy engineering, programming, audio, music, computer graphics, costuming and art." He credits the Purdue theater program with helping him learn how to manage creative work under the pressure of budgets and deadlines. He also says his work in theater at Purdue taught him "how to get to the core of an idea ... how to communicate with both artists and engineers, and be a manager who can bridge the gap between the two." Booty's success comes as no surprise to his major professor, Rick Thomas. Thomas, professor of visual and performing arts, says students like Booty exemplify what makes the Purdue theater program exceptional. "What makes our program special is these wonderful minds who find their way to us," Thomas says. "And some of the best liberal artists are engineers." Thomas, whose teaching encompasses the multifaceted field of theatrical sound, has former students who are working in film sound for Sony Pictures, as repertory theater sound designers, concert sound engineers, broadcast sound technicians, and amusement park attraction sound technicians, among other positions. After nurturing the Theatre Design and Technology Program for 25 years, Thomas says, "I've never encountered a determined student who hasn't risen to the top of his field. "The United States entertainment industry is a $100 billion annual industry; they're hiring somebody." Specifically, "they" are hiring Purdue graduates with theater degrees. Thomas points out that few graduates who have emphasized design and technology in their courses of study are wanting for work - and perhaps are doing the hiring themselves. Among the diverse theater alumni: * 1972 graduate Peter Schneider, chairman of Walt Disney Studios. * 1965 graduate Tom Moore, a director of television, film and Broadway productions. * 1987 master's graduate Julie Mack, an assistant professor of lighting at the University of Arizona. * 1975 graduate Dan Niccum, a lead stage technician for Harrah's Hotels and Casinos. * 1996 M.F.A. graduate Ryan Shively, an equity actor on Broadway and in regional theater. * 1996 M.F.A. graduate Fred Stahley, a dialogue and foley editor for a Hollywood firm. * 1999 master's graduate Erin Powell, who now is an assistant lighting designer at Los Angeles International Airport. Despite these diverse professional successes, a persistent misconception assumes that all "theater people" are actors, and that an education in theater is only about learning to act. After all, behind-the-scenes work done strictly in a theater is exactly that -- behind the scenes. "In the end, it is all about the play and the acting," says Russ Jones, associate professor of visual and performing arts and chair of the Theatre Division. "So many people's measure of success is if people are actors or movie stars. "But we cover a lot of territory and people just aren't aware of that." Jones, too, is able to rattle off a long list of names of theater graduates who are content in their careers, most of which involve off-stage roles. He also is quick to note that many current theater undergraduates are pursuing summer internships in scenic art, costume design, acting, wardrobe, sound engineering, stage management, lighting technology and scenery technology. Jones understands the push-me, pull-you struggle some students may face with parents who view a theatrical education as less practical than other pursuits "My mother wanted me to major in business,' Jones recalls. "If the theater bug bites, though, it bites hard. For me, there isn't anything that I'd rather do than make plays." Jones, a scenic designer, is to a theatrical production what an architect is to a building. He creates blueprints for stage productions that can be set in everything from one simple room to multiple settings at once, or need many scene changes that take characters to various geographic locations during different seasons of the year. The variables also can include designing a stage to portray specific eras in history, a wide range of moods, or to allow for magical effects, such as disappearing actors. Playing general contractor to Jones' architect is Jim Lile, assistant professor of visual and performing arts. The Yale-educated Lile specializes in technical direction. His mission is to bring Jones' blueprints into three dimensions, making them functional, efficient and safe. Lile teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in technical direction, the art of engineering and building sets, lights and sound systems to look and function as the architect, director and actors and the story require. Technical direction, like scenic design, requires a "big picture" perspective and an ability to make all the dimensions of a production work together efficiently and seamlessly. Lile says technical directors, whose starting annual salaries range from $25,000 to $50,000, are in great demand. Despite that fact, Lile says he hears plenty of skepticism from prospective students who are considering majoring in theater. "Students say, 'my parents really don't want me to do theater,'" Lile says. "The students know it's fun, but they don't think they can make a living at it." Not all parents are naysayers, however. Ted Ozimek's parents are a case in point. Backstage construction work in high school near Chicago led him, after hesitation, to major in theatre at the University of Iowa. His parents "understood that I enjoyed it a great deal in high school and encourage me to continue." He spent a couple of years working as a scene shop supervisor at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., and then chose Purdue to earn an M.F.A. in technical direction. He began working for ETC, Electronic Theatre Controls, in Middleton, Wis., just a couple of months ago. All of it has justified his parents' supportive attitude. "As for grad school, it was a no-brainer for them," he says. "I had been working professionally in the field for a couple of years and had been very successful. When I went back to school, they knew I could support myself and find work that I enjoyed doing. With full tuition waivers and an assistantship, they were amazed at the package that Purdue was offering me." And deciding to come to Purdue was a no-brainer for Ozimek, too. Aside from the financial incentives, he says he liked the feel of campus and -- most importantly -- the flexibility of the master's program. "That was key," he says. "The other schools I contacted had highly prescribed plans of studies and almost no flexibility. "At Purdue I was able to take accounting, business law, personal finance and organizational leadership as part of my coursework for my master's." As a project manager for ETC, Ozimek oversees lighting design and construction projects. ETC has designed and installed lighting systems in venues as large and well known as Radio City Music Hall as well as in schools, churches and private residences. While he says he may do some free-lance technical directing for local theatres on his evenings and weekends, he says the regular business hours of his full-time job are very rewarding -- and the pay is, too. "It's a comfortable living wage. I'm not living paycheck to paycheck," he says. "I'm thrilled to be where I am right now." Story by Amy Raley for Purdue Perspective PHOTO CAPTION: Related link: Theater program offers well-rounded education
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