The Addams Family

The Adams Family was the first show I worked on whilst attending Southern Connecticut State University. Being the first show I worked on whilst studying in America, it was a real eye opener in terms of the sheer scale. The musical was a massive project involving a huge number of departments. I worked with the lighting team rigging and then operating the lighting system during the run of the show using an ETC programming system and an Ion console. I was also responsible with testing the lighting and practical fixtures so they were operational before each night of the show. This colossal scale project was on a level I had never really experienced before. Everything was a well-oiled machine and all departments worked in near perfect symbiosis with one another. Coming from a small scale, student based form of theatre; I had a bit of trouble getting to grips with the specificity of my role in the process. Beforehand, I was used to doing a bit of everything, here it was crucial I was laser focused on my single role to ensure its success. During the run of the play, I was the only lighting technician available in case something went wrong and, as things tend to do when you are all alone, it did. We had a circuit trip which removed any kind of control to the lights. Luckily, this was in the interval, and my attentiveness during rigging was a huge help. I managed to contact the stage manager to stall the start of the second act so I could sprint backstage to reset all the dimmer switches. Luckily it managed to reset the system and the lighting control board was once again operational. Because of this I now feel more confident approaching problems. Just breath, think it through, and remember what Douglas Adams always says, “don’t panic”.