USITT's Lessons Learned Part 2: Roles and Expectations in Online Performance


In part 2 of this series, hear Jenn Schwartz and Jason Wells discuss how each of their companies adapted and morphed traditional roles to the unique challenges and requirements of online production, when Designer, Stage Manager, and Technician all mean different things when you take your show online.



Go Live Information
Go Live Date:
June 22, 2020
Speaker Information

Jenn Schwartz

Production Manager

School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies

University of Maryland

College Park, MD
 

Jennifer Schwartz is the Production Manager and Instructor of Stage Management for the School for Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to joining TDPS, Jenn was the General & Production Manager for Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD, where she was provided the opportunity to spearhead many unique projects. Those projects include the successful planning and execution of an expansion into DC that began with a partnership with The National Theater in 2014, as well as producing and stage managing a tour of Inside Out as part of the 25th ASSITEJ International Summer Festival in South Korea in 2017. Imagination Stage was the first American company to present at the festival, and Jenn was thrilled to be able to represent American Theatre for the Very Young. Previously, Jenn filled the role of production manager at Round House Theatre, also in Bethesda, MD. She started her career as a stage manager, having worked on over 50 productions, and is a proud AEA member. 

 

Jason Wells
Director of Production

Fisher Center at Bard 

 

Jason Wells became the Director of Production of the Fisher Center at Bard in January 2020. Prior to that, he was the Director of Production of American Dance Institute/LUMBERYARD. At ADI/LYD he was instrumental in developing an ambitious technical residency program for contemporary performing artists. During his seven years there, he worked directly with some of the most respected American contemporary choreographers, directors, designers and performers as they created new works for the stage including Yvonne Rainer, David Gordon, Raja Feather Kelly, S? Percussion, Elevator Repair Service, The Team, Bill T Jones, Urban Bush Women, Susan Marshall, Suzanne Bocanegra, David Neumann and Jodi Melnick. Jason was Head Electrician at the Yale School of Drama/Yale Repertory Theater from 2005-2012 and Master Electrician for the Sarah Lawrence College Theater Department, Barrington Stage, Westport Country Playhouse and Weston Playhouse. A 2001 graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Jason is also a playwright, performer, and lighting designer. He lives in Catskill, NY with his wife Jacy Barber and their three cats.

 

 

 

Jared Mezzocchi - Jared Mezzocchi is a multimedia director and designer for theater and received his Masters of Fine Arts through Brooklyn College's Performance and Interactive Media Arts. He was awarded a Princess Grace Award in 2013 as the first projections designer to receive the honor. He has designed productions in New York City with 3-Legged Dog (Downtown Loop, SpyGarbo), Baryshnikov Arts Center (Robert Wilson’s On The Beach), HereArts (You Are Dead. You Are Here.), Builders Association (Jet Lag 2011), Rob Roth (Screen Test), and has toured nationally and internationally with Big Art Group (SOS, The Sleep, The People). Regionally, he has designed for Center Stage (Stones in his Pockets), Cleveland Playhouse (Breath and Imagination), Milwaukee Rep (History of Invulnerability, The Mountaintop), and CompanyONE (Astroboy and The God Of Comics). Locally in DC, he's designed for Woolly Mammoth (Totalitarians, Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety), Synetic Theater (A Trip to the Moon), Theater J (Race, Yellowface), and Studio (Astroboy and The God Of Comics). As a director, he has spent the last 6 summers directing original work at Andy's Summer Playhouse, located in Wilton NH (Donkey Xote, Dick Tracy, The Lost World, The BFG, The Little Prince, The Block). In 2011, he won Best Original Play at the New Hampshire Theater Awards for his writing and direction in The Lost World. Outside of theater, Jared co-designed with Guilio Cappellini for Design Week in Milan Italy, for Connect4Climate and Alcantara. and this year will design the entrance and immersive experience for a Surf Museum in Montauk, NY. Jared has also taught multimedia design courses at NYU's Playwrights Horizons and Brooklyn College's MFA program in Performance and Interactive Media Arts.

Individual topic purchase: Selected
United States Institute for Theatre Technology
Learning Units: 1.00
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USITT's Lessons Learned Part 2: Roles and Expectations in Online Performance
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