Are you a new freshman about to take on your first production at Pace and are unsure of what to expect? You are not alone! I sat down with Mak Kemper, a freshman Production and Design major who just finished working on their first college production: Small Mouth Sounds to get the scoop on what it’s really like working on your first show as a PDSM student. They are here to tell you that it is not as terrifying as it may sound.

Mak’s passion for stage design sprouted when they were eight years old, but it first came to life when they joined their high school’s tech crew, working with stage tech. When they first entered stage crew, they spent their time sorting through parts and doing the “crappy jobs that nobody really wants to do,” proving that everyone, even future Pace PDSM stars, must start somewhere. Before long, they were helping design and construct sets, painting, and prop building for multiple different shows, such as Chicago, White Christmas, and Guys and Dolls. After transferring into the program in their second semester, they began working on lightboard operation and had a role in Pace’s production of Small Mouth Sounds.

Within the PDSM umbrella, there are many different concentrations for a student to choose from based on their interests. When it comes to a specific show, some are purely performance driven pieces with a “very minimal set,” making the production and design majors take on a minimal role. However, for non-performance driven shows, there will be a large scenic team who has a plethora of different concentrations to choose from. The three main areas of knowledge are set/props, lighting, and sound. The props and set designers help “construct the props prior to the show,” all while keeping things organized. The lighting team includes a lighting designer, a programmer and a lightboard operator; this division makes sure the audience can be dazzled. The sound group consists of a sound designer and an A1 (operator of the sound board) who ensures the audio is crisp and clear. 

For those who didn’t get to catch the show, Mak has described Small Mouth Sounds as a production that “follows a group of people on a silent retreat showing the journey with them coming to terms with themselves throughout the time of reflection in their lives”. As a part of the lighting team, Mak helped with the preparation for light install, which included piping and cabling. They also hung, positioned, and focused all the individual lights once the theater had been prepped. This particular show features a silent retreat, so as you could imagine, there is minimal dialogue, changing the ways the stage crew takes cues. Mak had to take lots of visual cues to make up for the lack of dialogue, such as the turning of the head, making Small Mouth Sounds a particularly unique experience. Mak found that their experience with Small Mouth Sounds was “much more hands-on,” compared to their high school productions. They had never felt such involvement before.

When Mak first started working on the show, they felt “terrified” and like they didn’t have any idea what they were walking into. They were extremely worried that “everyone was going to know everything and [they] were going to know nothing”. But rest assured, that was just the first-college show jitters talking, not the actual reality. Mak says that working with older PDSM students was a “joy,” and that “they want you to learn, and they want to help you,” creating a very supportive environment for newcomers. Working on your first show is “a great experience because you get a lot of hands-on learning.” As Mak started to “get into the groove” of the show, their emotions changed from initially nervous, to relaxed yet excited, leading to an extremely rewarding experience. For Mak, watching the last show was emotional, and it gave them that moment of “this is why I do this,” an experience that every performer and artist relishes.

One of the best things about the PDSM program at Pace is that you don’t even have to pick your interests/concentrations until the end of Sophomore year. This makes it easy to have many kinds of experiences that help you find true passion. As for Mak, their dream is to work on “a big theater, whether that be somewhere on Broadway or the Met Opera, or even some of the ballet theaters”. They also claim that Pace makes this dream “very attainable,” because of its resources, such as mentors and professors already in the field. This creates “one big connection hub” of passionate artists passing down important knowledge.

Well, what should you make of all this? Mak’s biggest advice that they could give to people about to go through their first Pace production is “don’t feel like, if you’re coming in with little to no knowledge, that anyone is going to shame you. You are going to be fine, and you are going to learn so much. You’re going to feel so accomplished at the end of it. It really is a rewarding experience”. Shake those jazz hands and happy production!