Department of Theatre and Dance students fared well at a recent national competition designed to highlight theatre production skills.
Members of the Fredonia Student Chapter of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology competed in the “Tech Olympics” at the USITT national conference, which was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, in March.
The “Tech Olympics” brings together teams of students and their coaches from colleges and universities around the country to compete in a series of timed events designed to test their skills at the various disciplines involved in theatre production.
Featured events included solo competitions in costume change, knot tying and props events and team competitions for in lighting, sound and stage management events.
The Fredonia USITT Team 1 placed third in the overall team category.
In the individual competitions, Jeremy Reimer placed first in top technician/prop table and third in knot tying. Eddie Massari placed second in knot tying and Justin Petito placed third in lighting hang/focus.
The USITT national conference is held annually and offers an opportunity for professionals, educators and students to participate in workshops, see new and old products on the show floor and build and develop their professional network of colleagues. More than 5,700 people attended the event.
The Fredonia Student Chapter for the USITT is comprised of 38 students. The advisors are theatre professors Todd Proffitt and David Stellhorn.
The students will be conducting behind-the-scenes tours of the Department of Theatre and Dance production of “Hair – The Tribal Love-Rock Musical,” which runs from April 10 to 18 in Marvel Theatre on the Fredonia campus. The tours give audience members the opportunity to go backstage and see the inner workings of a theater production. There is a suggested contribution of $5 per person for the tours, with proceeds going to fund the cost of the annual trip to the USITT national conference.
