Between them, Colin Braeger, Jacob Brinkman, Bobby DiCandia and Justin Petito worked – often alongside one another – on dozens of shows presented in Rockefeller Arts Center venues before earning B.F.A. degrees in Technical Production and Design.
“We were all great friends in Fredonia and always dreamt of working together again once we graduated,” Mr. Brinkman recalled.
That seemingly distant dream arrived a lot sooner than anyone expected.
Braeger, DiCandia and Petito – all 2015 graduates – and Brinkman, who received his degree in 2014, are together again and traveling across the United States on the national tour of “Once,” winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in 2012.
On Saturday, Dec. 10, the “Fredonia Four” – as they’re known on the tour – will return to Western New York when “Once” – an enchanting tale of a Dublin street musician who's about to give up on his dream when a beautiful young woman takes a sudden interest in his haunting love songs – is presented at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, N.Y.
“It’s a really great feeling working with them and producing great theatre that we are all proud of nationally,” Brickman said.
Petito, DiCandia and Brinkman belong to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Associated Crafts and Technicians (ACT); Braeger is a member of IATSE 266 (Jamestown, N.Y.).
“Once,” which features a cast of 13 performers who play their own instruments on stage, officially opened Sept. 27 in Tulsa, Okla. This leg of the tour calls for 173 performances in 88 cities in a mere 25 weeks before wrapping up in mid-April 2017. That’s an average eight shows per week!
The Buffalo performance, as well as those in Erie, Pa., Rochester and Albany, N.Y., is being presented by NAC Entertainment, Ltd., and is part of individual Broadway subscription seasons offered by NAC in eight cities in New York and Pennsylvania.
Of course, being part of a touring show is filled with ups and downs, and touring with “Once” and other fast-moving production is far from glamorous. Work hours are long and demanding. Load-ins – when equipment, sets and other assets are brought into the theatre and assembled by the touring company’s tech crew and local workers in each city – start at 8 a.m. Load-outs can end as late as 2 a.m.
“We get a few hours of sleep and do it all over again the next day,” Braeger said. “It calls for a lot of time management and efficiency. If we can shave seconds or a minute off how long a task requires, we will. Organization is also very important. Almost every item on tour has a label describing what its specific job is, and a specific place for it to be stored. But even the toughest of days lead to an incredible amount of pride in what we do.
“I love my job,” Braeger added.
“On good days, load-ins are like a well-orchestrated ballet,” Brinkman observed.
Presenting a Broadway show in smaller venues can be a challenge, especially during load-ins. “To me, troubleshooting those problems is what makes touring so much fun. It’s easy to put shows in large theatres, but having the challenge to bring the same show that won eight Tony Awards to a smaller venue is exhilarating,” Brinkman said.
“Justin, Bobby, Colin and I all know each other’s strengths and weaknesses so when we get to challenging theatres we can all adapt and problem solve together just like we would working on a production or class project at Fredonia,” Brinkman added.
Opportunities to see the country and visit landmarks, such as Yosemite Park and Mount Rushmore, and visit other countries, including Japan – which Brinkman saw with the “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” international tour – are bonuses.
The four Fredonians agree that networking is essential to working in professional theatre, and each has hooked up with a wide variety of productions since graduation.
DiCandia, assistant carpenter for “Once,” was a staff carpenter at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, a summer stock theatre, in 2014 and 2015. From there, he served on the national tour of “Beauty and the Beast” before joining “Once.” He also does freelance work in New York City between tours.
Petito, head electrician for “Once,” also worked for “Beauty and the Beast” and at Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, N.Y.
“Getting a job on tour for me was part being in the right place at the right time and part having the right contacts on my resume,” Petito explained. He met two production managers with NETworks, a leading producer and manager of touring musical theatre productions, at a United States Institute for Technical Theatre job fair, and later learned that one of them was doing a workshop with Fredonia’s Performing Arts Company a few weeks later.
Petito stayed in contact with him, and on opening night of “Hair,” his big senior design, Petito was offered a position with “Beauty and the Beast.” That tour reunited him with DiCandia, so they both learned the nuances of national tours together.
Petito also worked with DiCandia and Brinkman at Bay Street Theatre, and he and Braeger have done work for Department of Theatre and Dance Professor Todd Proffitt at the Theatre of Youth in Buffalo. “These guys are always my first call when I need help; my second call is pretty much anyone else that has been through the Fredonia technical theatre program,” Petito said. “This is because you know they got a great education and they can work in a similar fashion.”
Braeger was hired as assistant audio for “Once” during his senior year. Just four days separated finals week and the beginning of equipment preparations for the tour. “It was a whirlwind first leg which included 125 performances between January and May,” he said. That summer, Braeger was head flyman and carpenter with the Chautauqua Opera Company.
After graduation, Brinkman, assistant electrician for “Once,” designed the lights for five shows at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, Kalamazoo, Mich. He also spent four summers at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, beginning in 2011 as an intern, and was a master electrician last summer.
DiCandia learned his craft as a carpenter or master carpenter on seven Fredonia productions, and was also technical director of the 2013 Fredonia Dance Ensemble, “The School for Scandal” and “Balm in Gilead.”When considering what college to attend, DiCandia was impressed by the quality and versatility of Rockefeller, citing its large scene shop, black box theatre and proscenium main stage, studio spaces and lighting equipment.
Petito did lighting or sound design in five notable productions: “Hair,” “Balm in Gilead,” Fredonia Dance Ensemble’s “Collecting Gravity,” “The Shape of Things” and “Big Band Christmas Spectacular.” He was also an assistant technical director on the Rockefeller Arts Center crew.
“I was attracted to Fredonia in many ways after I visited for my B.F.A. interview,” he recalled. “No. 1 for me was the faculty. The way they interacted with the students made me feel very comfortable, it made me really excited about the work we would be doing because they were so invested in it as well.”
Braeger studied music and digital audio production at Jamestown Community College before transferring to Fredonia as a Theatre major.
In just two years, Braeger wore multiple hats – master carpenter, sound designer, carpenter/rigger, properties assistant, assistant technical director and technical director – in nine Fredonia productions. In addition to shows cited by his colleagues, Braeger worked on “Stop The World, I Want to Get Off,” “The Shape of Things,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Six Characters in Search of an Author” and “Cabaret.”
At Fredonia, Braeger gained carpentry experience, designed and implemented sound systems that reflected the director’s creative vision for the production and ran audio equipment during shows.
For Brinkman, interest in technical theatre began in middle school. “And when I found out I could actually major in theatre, not just on stage, Fredonia was my top choice,” he said.
Brinkman did lighting for “Rent,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” Fredonia Dance Ensembles in 2013 and 2014, “Almost Elton John and the Rocket Band,” “The Hit Men Christmas Spectacular,” the Pops Commencement Eve concert and multiple Orchesis dance recitals. Brinkman also did sound design in “The School for Scandal” and “I Love You Because” and was master electrician in “Moon Over Buffalo,” “Chicago” and “The Sound of Music.”
All four alumni identify several faculty members as exemplary mentors.
Associate Professor David Stellhorn, DiCandia’s advisor, guided and sometimes pushed DiCandia to accomplish projects that he thought were not possible. “A major part of the program is creating realized productions and in that process, we come across unique problems whose answers are not always found in a classroom, but rather from experience,” DiCandia explained.
Rockefeller Operations Manager and Technical Director Eric Hadley and Mr. Proffitt were strong influences on Petito. “Eric gave me a ton of opportunities to work on productions and gain experience in a different way than working on department shows. He would push me and challenge me to go above and beyond what just the class work had in store for me,” Petito said.
Braeger praised Mr. Stellhorn for portraying real-life issues and solvable problems that are encountered in all levels of theatre, as well as his extensive knowledge of materials and working components that are the basis of all work done in production.
Brinkman said Proffitt made designing lights both fun and challenging. “Fun because you are creating art, something that you have been working on for a few months prior to opening night, and a challenge because there was always something you could improve, whether it would be a slight timing cue, or changing the color of one light,” he said.
Mr. Hadley enabled Brinkman to grow as a technician and designer by allowing him to design lights for several shows. “Working with Hadley made me realize that I really could go out and work in this profession. He gave me the right amount of confidence and criticism that helped shape my work ethic that it is today.”
Braeger aspired to work in technical theatre and feel rewarded for his work at the end of the day. “This job certainly accomplishes that,” he said.
