Center for the Arts

Behind the Scenes: Joel Thompson

By Jeffrey Levine

It may not have been an after school paper route, but Joel Thompson certainly had his fair share of jobs when he was in school.

While he was studying communications at the University at Buffalo, Thompson got his first exposure to sales by working for the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bisons ticket offices. After graduating, Joel moved farther into the box office by taking a position at Ticketmaster where he gained valuable experience – not to mention countless memories – by working on such high-profile events as Woodstock ’99 and the 2001 Presidential Inauguration of George W. Bush. Two years after starting at Ticketmaster, however, the lure of his alma mater proved too strong and Joel returned to UB in 2001.

“When I was at Ticketmaster, the Center for the Arts was one of my clients and I admired the facility and working with the staff,” Thompson explained. So when the opportunity arose I jumped at the chance. I’m a UB grad, and there’s always a sense of attachment to the campus as a whole.”

Starting his current position as Director of Ticket Operations at the Center for the Arts with a very impressive background, Joel knows firsthand that his role is more than just distributing tickets.

“We are literally the first people you see when you enter the Center, so the customer’s experience starts in our hands,” Thompson said. “As the saying goes, ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression,’ and I take that very seriously. My goal, even if the customer is purchasing online or by phone, is to make sure our patrons have easy access to not only tickets, but also any other information they might be looking for at the time of purchase.”

While Joel’s dedication to customer service is not limited by medium, he has noticed that more and more people are changing the way they buy tickets. Having watched the industry evolve over the last decade, Joel and his staff have had to adapt to better support and protect their customers.

“The ticket industry has changed dramatically in the last 10 years,” Thompson explained. “Part of my job is to make sure that the Center stays on the cutting edge of new technology that comes available, and we’ve done a good job in that area. The Center was one of the first venues in WNY to employ ticket bar coding to combat counterfeiting. As we shift further into the digital age, even more changes are coming. I expect that very soon our customers will be coming to the venue with tickets downloaded to their cell phones. When I was working at Ticketmaster we were surprised when we saw 50 percent of tickets sold online. Now, it’s not abnormal to see 80 percent sold online.”

While accounting for the 100,000+ tickets sold every season is a large task in and of itself, Joel also serves on the Center’s programming committee with Assistant Director Rob Falgiano and Director of Marketing Dave Wedekindt. Although Joel admits that he would love to bring Chris Isaak to the Center, he was very candid about the importance of putting the season’s schedule ahead of his own preferences. Still, it is good to have someone who can appreciate the arts greeting us at the door.

“Personally, I’ve always been a music lover across a range of genres from rock,” – adding parenthetically “Springsteen is my all-time favorite” – “country, pop and I think that makes a position in a venue like the Center all the more fun and interesting to me. Like my own tastes, we do such a wide array of events, and no two events are ever really the same. It keeps the day-to-day operations exciting and keeps you fresh even when you’ve been putting in the long hours necessary to be successful.”

Behind the Scenes: John Rickus

By Jeffrey Levine

Some children dream about becoming astronauts or musicians or teachers or doctors, but John Rickus didn’t happen to be one of those kinds of kids.

“Probably the earliest memory I have of an interest in stage was back in third of fourth grade,” Rickus reflected. “I was in the auditorium watching a musical concert being put on by the school and the chorus was singing a song about rainbows. Then as they were singing, the stage lights began to turn different colors. It’s a relatively simple effect but as a young child I was enthralled to see the different combinations of lighting. It was so interesting that they could match what they were singing about with what was onstage. Lucky for me, the person doing the lighting was a neighbor of mine in high school and I was able to speak with him and get a tour of the booth.”

Call it love at first sight, but that performance was a seminal moment in young John’s life. The son of a Lutheran Minister, John’s family moved to Buffalo from Missouri in 1976 and once here, John had a chance to work on his high school’s stage crew as well as join the AV club. When it came time for college, it was no surprise that the boy who took apart all of the electronics in the house - even though he admitted he never got that good at putting them back together – chose to pursue a degree at Valparaiso in communications with a major in Television Theatre Arts. It was a choice, however, that would soon get overshadowed by live performance.

“To me, television and film always felt fractured,” Rickus explained. “You never really have a feeling of continuity in television and as a worker you never felt like you were part of the whole production so to speak. If you’re going to work in that industry you have to be okay with not knowing what the final product will be. You just do your job that day, which is probably fine for a lot of people. But over the course of a college career I definitely developed a real affinity for the liveness of theatre. Having things happen in real time is something I value. It’s all about being involved in events that actually happen in front of a real audience and the collaborative aspect that comes from the experience.”

Taking his show on the road, both literally and metaphorically, John came back to Buffalo after graduation to hone his craft with Indigo Productions full time. Working upwards of 50 to 80 and sometimes even 90 hours a week, the years of loading, unloading, setup and breakdown began to wear on John, prompting his transition to one established venue.

“I’m not saying that as I got older I wussed out but I got tired of working outside in the cold,” Rickus explained. “Coming to the Center was a big change but it was appealing to come to the same venue and not have to build it from scratch everyday. The people there at the time were also a big draw. It seemed like a really good collaborative team that I could fit into and it still feels that way.”

Having earned his stripes at Indigo, John translated his first opportunity at the Center, a temporary position filling in for someone on leave, into a full time gig. Working his way up through the ranks with hard work, unflagging dedication, and creative troubleshooting, John was promoted to head carpenter and now manages the collaborative team that he had always wanted to be a part of.

“The title of head carpenter is a bit of a misnomer because there’s not a lot of carpentry involved in what I do,” Rickus said. Basically, it’s a title that’s been around for a long time and it refers to the person on crew who is the chief for the show going on. What I’m really in charge of is coordinating logistics between departments. In other words, I help figure out when’s the best time for everyone to do what they need to do.”

While there is a very practical side to what John does - keeping everyone on schedule, coordinating setup and breakdown, building his own custom contraptions – philosophically he chooses not to divide the disparate production teams into their own separate entities. Instead, John instills in his crew, about 80 percent of which is comprised of students, to think of all the different elements existing together in what he titles with air quotes as, ‘the show.’ It is this dedication to the whole that brings all of the unnoticed and intangibles of backstage to the audience and the performers.

“As I look back at it, the hours that you work in this business can get really, really long but it’s something that everyone puts up with,” Rickus explained. “We all realize that what we’re doing isn’t necessarily brain surgery which is not to downgrade what we do as artists and designers. If we can help audiences enjoy a performance and if we can make an enjoyable live event for them, then there’s value in that alone.”

UB dance alum to perform with Zodiaque

The Department of Theater & Dance proudly welcomes home UB alumna Gina Pero as a guest performer and choreographer for the university’s Zodiaque Dance Company. Invited by company director, Associate Professor Tom Ralabate, Gina’s piece “The Highest Journey” will be featured in the upcoming spring Zodiaque Dance Company concert, in the Drama Theatre at UB’s Center for the Arts from February 18 to 22. She will also perform the solo work “Dust and Water,” choreographed for her by renowned New York choreographer Jason Parsons.

After earning her BFA in Dance in 2002, Gina has been a company member of the Solstice Dance Company and has performed as a dancer internationally in Japan, China, Italy and Mexico. In America, she has appeared as a principle dancer in the film The Great Observer and in several Las Vegas shows, including Charo and The Latin Music Awards. She has done commercial work for Dockers, The Bellagio Hotel and MTV, as well as choreographed for the Cirque de Soleil Fashion Shows and The Las Vegas Hilton. Most recently, Gina appeared as a Radio City Rockette in the 2008 Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

This year, the Zodiaque Dance Company celebrates its 35th season as resident dance company of the University at Buffalo. The Zodiaque Dance Company welcomes its graduates back to its studios and stage as guest performers, choreographers, master class teachers, and lecturers on a continuing basis, as part of the department’s commitment to developing a network of UB alumni artists. Celebration 35! opens February 18th in Center for the Arts Drama Theater and runs through February 22nd. Tickets are available through the Center for the Arts: http://ubcfa.org/webmodules/pages/dtl_Pages.aspx?pageID=30

Finding beauty in heartache: Fado is the Portuguese blues

When the Center for the Arts scheduled world-renowned Fado singer Mariza for this spring, I admit, I had no idea what Fado music was.  I enjoy world and folk music. I don't mind if I don't understand all the words of popular groups like Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Deep Forest, or the Putomayo collections because, beat, tempo, and emotion are universal human experiences that extend beyond language.  But Fado - that was not a familiar word or style.  It did not take much searching to find abundant information on this genre which is extremely popular throughout Europe, as well as in Portugal's hottest tourist destinations.  

Fado has endured since the style developed in the nineteenth century among the urban and working poor of Portugal, including sailors. Similar to the American blues and soul music, Fado emerged as a soulful lament of working conditions, loss of love, and an expression of grief, heartache and disappointment.  Many believe the emerging Fado music was influenced by North African and Brazilian cultures colonized by imperial Portugal, and, like Tango, imported by immigrants into Portugal.  Even the traditional Fado instrument, a tear-drop shaped guitar, evolved from an African and Afro-Brazilian lute.³  

Fado became tied to politics, when under the dictatorship that lasted from 1934 to 1974, lyrics were controlled by the government and the genre was generally used to promote nationalism.²  Since fall of the regime, the music of such stars as Mariza has become a source of Portuguese pride, promoting Portuguese traditional culture to the world.

In Fado, directly translated as "fate", lyrics and tone consistently reference a sense of loss and longing or nostalgia.  In Portuguese the word for this longing is "saudade", a word which is frequently heard in the lyrics.  

The song in the video below, sung by Mariza, is titled "Chuva" or "Rain".  The words describe a tremendous loss of love, crying out when it rained, and being reminded of the longing whenever it rains.

Modern Fado gave rise to stars like Amalia Rodrigues (1920-1999), who became such a national heroine of Portugal, that the country declared three days of mourning upon her death.  Amalia performed in the traditional black dress associated with the genre, and was accompanied by the traditional guitar.  Mariza continues the tradition, but usually adds contemporary design and accessories, and often enhances well-known ballads with percussion and cello.

Mariza releases highly-anticipated Terra, her fifth full-length album on January 29, in time for the February 25 concert at the Center for the Arts. English translations will be available in the performance programs.  I have been won-over by Mariza's passion and the tear-jerking sense of longing in her voice in just the recordings.  I expect this to be one moving concert.

Sources for more information:

1. Mariza Official Website
http://www.mariza.com/

2. Fado, the Portuguese Soul Music - International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/20/news/fado.php

3. National Geographic - Fado
Click here for link

4. Fado.com
http://www.fado.com/

5. World Music Central
http://worldmusiccentral.org/staticpages/index.php/fado

Soundcheck: Mark Shotwell

  By Jeffrey Levine

Fate has a funny way of playing itself out sometimes, and for Mark Shotwell, no other word outside of destiny can describe his eventual arrival as the Sound Technician at the Center for the Arts.

Having attended to the University at Buffalo as an undergraduate history major, Shotwell graduated from UB in 1995, the end of the Center’s first season. It was as a student on campus that Shotwell first began to work on production as a member of the University Undergrad Activities Board (UUAB), helping to set up and run the various events and festivals throughout the university. Although in retrospect all the writing was on the wall for Mark to one day move into production at his alma mater, it was not apparent to the fledgling sound technician, then in his early 20s, that the stage would be the path his career, and life, would eventually take.

“I can’t pinpoint a conscious decision [to do sound] necessarily,” Shotwell explained. “Originally I was interested in becoming a high school history teacher but things didn’t work out that way. I guess at best you could describe it as a happy accident. I needed a college job and I just kind of happened onto the field. I haven’t seen the whole world yet but I went this route and had a lot of fun doing it.”

Mark’s entrance into the Center’s production team was just as happily accidental as his arrival in the industry at large.

“I came home from some summer work with Over the Rhine, and I had known Brian Sidorowicz (Director of Production),” Shotwell said. I had come in looking for some work and I just never left [the Center].

Before Shotwell came to UB, he worked all around Western New York during his free time, which primarily turned out to be vacations from school and after graduation. Turning a summer job working at Melody Fair into a full time gig with Indigo Productions, Shotwell worked with Joe Romanowski and his crew for several years before quite literally taking his show on the road. Touring with bands such as 10,000 Maniacs and even filling in for a week with Gallagher, an event that he glibly described as ‘messy,’ Shotwell may have enjoyed the touring life, but working at the Center has provided great memories and challenges of its own.

“On the road I worked primarily with rock bands so it was the same show, same thing every night,” Shotwell explained. “It was a lot of fun of course, but the biggest difference between that and working at the Center is that I sleep in my own bed every night and there’s a much larger schedule of events. I’m involved in everything from dance recitals to rock concerts to political speakers and everything in-between. There’s always something different.”

One thing that the touring world did not have, however, is the mentoring process. Amidst the bluegrass bands and dance companies, working with students has been something that Shotwell has embraced as one of the most important aspects of his job.

“We really try to include students on our crew calls over at our Mainstage Theatre and outside. We could instruct until we’re blue in the face but being out there and getting their hands dirty, so to speak, is better,” Shotwell explained. “As much as we enjoy our jobs in terms of the shows, if we can impart some of our knowledge [to the students] and bring them success in their career I think it’s great. Not to sound full of myself, but it’s almost like having a little legacy. You’ve passed it on and people are doing something with it. Hopefully they’ll get to the point where they could run just about any show that you might have come in.”

“Then again, maybe I should hold back a little for job security,” Shotwell added with a short laugh.

It might have been a circuitous path, but after several years in the industry Mark Shotwell is now exactly where he belongs.

Bright Lights, Big Production

By Jeffrey Levine

For a man whose family once described what he did as ‘the one who flipped on the switch,’ Master Electrician Harry Mandris has seen a lot of things change over his 30+ years within the lighting field.

Mandris, who grew up in suburban Maryland, was first exposed to lighting in high school before going on to graduate from the North Carolina School for the Arts in Technical Theatre. Working with visiting lighting designers for eight years at Studio Arena and another eight years at Unistage as the head of the staging and lighting shops, Mandris arrived at the Center for the Arts in the summer of 1994, a good three months before the doors were even opened.

A group of us started in July [of 1994] and our first shows were in October,” Mandris explained over the phone. “In that period of time I spent my time learning about the building and the new technology that was being involved. Basically, my contribution was a lot of man-hours and a lot of hard work just to get things up and running. We started with a big splash though. At some point in the first two weeks we did 23 performances of 16 different productions.”

A veteran of the stage, Mandris has seen a lot of different shows come through the Center - jazz bands, dance companies, full scale theatre productions – but the tight production schedules and demanding touring companies have not phased the master electrician. Working with equipment that he says is ‘at the forefront of digital technology,’ Mandris has a lot of resources to draw on, the most important of which may be all of the other members of the production team around him.

“I do believe that people don’t necessarily understand how much time and effort and money it takes [to put on a production],” Mandris stated. “When you’re mounting a show, especially the ones in the Mainstage with an artist coming in for a day or two or a musician coming in at eight in the morning and leaving at nine, it’s a massive equipment crunch. Randy Travis, for example had a huge set…it was like an adobe village on stage. We all have to get together so we know where the sound guy is placing his speakers, the carpenter his set and so on. There’s usually not enough time for each person to do their job one after another. We have to coordinate so we can coexist on stage at the same time.”

Included in that team alongside professional technicians and seasoned crews are University at Buffalo students. Learning about their craft by being immersed within it, Mandris enjoys the opportunities he has to interact with the aspiring young technicians.

“For almost every show we need more hands and the first place we look are the students so they can get some firsthand experience,” Mandris said. “My office is right there where the students are and I have an open door policy. I look forward to mentoring the up and coming master electricians. I want to make sure that they know me well enough to come and ask me questions or that I know them well enough to go into their space and help them” Adding, with a bit of a laugh, “I make them work hard.”

A hard worker himself, Mandris has a crystal clear conception of where his talents are and what he needs to do to make all of the productions run smoothly.

“I think that the performers out on stage are doing something that most people can’t do; pouring their heart and soul out into something they truly enjoy doing,” Mandris explained. “My job as lighting tech is to recreate the environment that they’re doing it in. I work in conjunction with the companies that come in. I coordinate with their lighting director so the artists on stage can concentrate solely on the art where I concentrate on the nuts and bolts. If I do my job, I’m unnoticed and I like it that way. If the audience sees me there’s something wrong.”

When asked about the chance of ever intentionally getting him onstage, however, Mandris annunciated a very clear, “No way.” Adding, “I do my best dancing at weddings during the reception.”

Bringing the Arts Back to Buffalo

BY JEFFREY S. LEVINE 

It’s hard to imagine the University at Buffalo’s suburban campus without the Center for the Arts, but it has only been 14 years since the Center first opened its doors to the public. In that time, world famous artists ranging from k.d. lang to Mikhail Baryshnikov have graced the same stage as internationally recognized authors, dance companies, musicians, Broadway productions, acrobats and countless others too vast to enumerate. With the best that the literary, dance, theatre and music world has to offer so close at hand, scheduling each season at the Center has become not so much a question of how to bring shows in, but rather, what groups would best compliment one another and comprise a diverse and dynamic offering for the entire community. 

Part of this balance is finding works that appeal to both the public and students while also programming for the diffuse facets of society. Even though there are specific groups that will always come out to a show, part of the Center’s mission is to expose audiences to new programs and experiences. 

“We seek to provide a broad range of artistically excellent presentations that expand and diversify audiences while enhancing the understanding, appreciation and support for the arts,” Executive Director Thomas Burrows explained. “We make a concerted effort to present contrasting influences and traditions in programming. Each series includes multicultural and “popular” genres as well as the traditional classics. At the same time we are operating in a fiscally responsible manner -- seeking artists whose touring schedule makes them available at an affordable fee based on the number of seats available in our theater and still maintaining the lowest possible ticket prices for our patrons. Certain underrepresented art forms must be subsidized through sponsorships and other means because the cost of the presentation cannot be recovered through ticket sales. But, rather than present only commercially viable programming, it is the mission of the Center to include more innovative as well as culturally specialized art forms.” Using the more mainstream shows to help subsidize the more cutting edge and esoteric performances, the Center has emerged not only as a viable but a vibrant performing venue. 

Often billed as a secondary market because of its population size, there is no way that Buffalo can compete with New York, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles, but then again, it doesn’t need to. With careful planning and an ever-growing reputation, the Center has managed to attract performers from all across the artistic spectrum while managing to keep ticket prices down because of the smaller market size. 

“Often the primary markets are their first priority and we have to try to get our feet in with the booking agents to get them to consider Buffalo as part of the tour,” Assistant Director Rob Falgiano said. “We have to keep upwith whatever new or established acts are going out on tour and be timely and smart about when to pursue them. Sometimes it takes years to get to an artist you really want to bring to Buffalo. Bonnie Raitt is a great example. Feist was another artist we chased. The Center was the first Buffalo venue to present her.” 

Having carved out a distinctive niche in the entertainment market, the Center has been able to expand its offerings from about a dozen programs in 1997 to over 40 this past season. Additionally, the Center’s continued growth has put them in a better position to embrace their role as a leader in the community, hosting dance residencies, offering arts exploration classes and technical theatre training, and partnering with Women and Children’s Hospital and Roswell Park Cancer Institute on the new Arts in Healthcare initiative. 

“One of the hallmarks of the Center for the Arts is its community outreach,” Burrows said. “For more than a decade the Center has been involved in public service arts and educational enrichment programs that improve the quality of life in Western New York.” 

While the Center will continue to be an integral part of the community and provide affordable, engaging and top-quality performances, one of their long-term goals is to be able to commission and showcase new works of art. Baryshnikov rehearsed and premiered several of his pieces at the Center, but so far this has been the exception to what could increasingly become the rule as UB undertakes its visionary 2020 plan. 

In the end, however, it is just as important to focus on what the CFA might accomplish in the future as it is to appreciate what they are doing in the present. “For the size of the city, Buffalo is extremely arts-centered, and it’s why I love living here,” Falgiano emphasized. “We have more here than we sometimes realize

Preview: The Song Remains the Same

By Jeffrey Levine

Although the 2007-2008 season at the Center for the Arts is quickly coming to a close, there is no need to be sad with an event-filled 2008-2009 season quickly approaching. As they say in the theatre, ‘The show must go on,’ but since we’re going to be talking about music, perhaps, ‘Play it again Sam’ would be more appropriate.

Having brought such world-class performances to Buffalo such as: Fosse, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and The Producers, the Center for the Arts is pleased to complement its ever-growing Broadway repertoire with the best part of Broadway; the songs.

Three Broadway Divas (Feb. 14, 2009) prove that if one of something is good, three must be quite a bit better. Audience members can expect to hear a tour de force blend of all their favorite Broadway standards.

A little more “Rhapsody In Blue” than “Oklahoma,” Michael Feinstein (Oct. 3, 2008) began playing piano by ear at the age of five. Moving on to weddings and local piano lounges, Feinstein worked as Ira Gershwin’s assistant for six years beginning in 1977 and recorded several then unpublished works. The four-time Grammy Award Nominee is regarded as one of the premiere interpreters of American popular song.

Citing influences ranging from Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand to classical/jazz soprano Eileen Farrell, Linda Eder (Nov. 14, 2008) has the very rare talent of taking classics and truly making them her own. Drawing from a diverse musical background that includes everything from an unprecedented run on Star Search to performing on Broadway, Eder captures the true nature of each song with great clarity and beauty. This fall will mark Eder’s fourth appearance at the Center for the Arts.

Although Buffalo certainly has an affinity for Beethoven, Brahms and Barber, the classic music heard at the Center for the Arts next season will be more of the rock variety.

Elvis may have left the building, but Scot Bruce and Mike Albert bring the 1950s and 1970s Elvis back to life respectively as part of Blue Suede Shoes: The Ultimate Elvis Bash (Feb. 21, 2009). Hailed by the media as well as old musicians who played with the King as impressionists of the highest caliber, the two have quite a catalogue to choose from as well as a few choice dance moves.

In the same tribute spirit, Classics Albums Live will present Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 release “Rumours.” Reproducing the entire 19-time platinum album note for note, and cut for cut, if you close your eyes you’ll think that Stevie Nicks is singing such hits as “Dreams” and “Gold Dust Woman.”

Named after Bartok, the famed Hungarian composer, Béla Fleck has always had large musical shoes to fill. Bringing together the flaming fingers of Jeff Coffin (sax), passionate pyrotechnics of Victor Wooten (bass) and the visionary stylings of Victor’s brother “Future Man” (percussion & Drumitar), Béla Fleck and the Flecktones (Dec. 10, 2008) are an eclectic mix of bluegrass, jazz and classical. Those who have seen the quartet at the Center know that this is one performance to put on the calendar well in advance.

Although the Center for the Arts will not pit Béla against Noam Pikelny in dueling banjos, they are proud to welcome the Punch Brothers (Nov. 17, 2008) to their 2008-2009 schedule. Founded by former Nickel Creek member and Béla Fleck collaborator Chris Thile, the Brothers have a straight-ahead bluegrass sound with hints of classical and folk music blended in like the harmonies of a finely tuned chord.

For those in search of even more fiddling, Natalie MacMaster’s (Mar. 11, 2009) fierce yet refined bow strokes mesmerize audiences while her rhythmic step dancing quickens quite a few pulses. The niece of famed fiddler Buddy MacMaster, Natalie has forged her own reputation for subtly pushing the boundaries of Celtic music into passionate sonorities of great intensity and expression.

Self-described as “A family. A musical group of brothers and sisters, a sound, a style of music, a way of life, a volcanic explosion of talent and energy, intense emotion, and feral passion,” Leahy (Dec. 11, 2008) are one of the great family bands of all time. The Canadian octet features guitar, bass, percussion, vocals, dancing and an armory of fiddlers performing Celtic music.

No winter would be complete without milk, cookies and the The Irish Tenors (Dec. 12, 2008). With a blend of classical training and romantic singing, the Tenors are able to seamlessly sing contemporary songs alongside traditional Irish melodies without missing a beat.

Ticket on sale dates for these and even more 2008-09 events will be announced soon. To keep up with the latest events, patrons are encouraged to join the Center’s email list at www.ubcfa.org.

Backstage Broadway

By Jeffrey Levine

The lights go on, the curtain comes up and the actors take the stage. But how was it all created?

The hallmark of any good production is the audiences’ lack of recognition that they have just seen a show. Rendering the audience unaware of all the mechanisms that went into staging the illusion, the production team simultaneously exists as both craftsmen and conjurers. It is the people behind the scenes, on the scaffolding, and up in the booth that are forced to solve technical problems while creating magic.

Far away from the glitz and glimmer of Broadway, however, are the realities of tech work. Starting before the actors take the stage and working after they are finished, it is the production team that is responsible for setting up all of the sound, lighting, and scenery that will be used in the show. But before the tech runs can even begin, all of the equipment has to be unloaded from the tractortrailers, about three to six trucks worth.

“On the first day, a crew of about 60 stage hands will unload the majority of the equipment,” said Bryan Sidorowicz, Director of Production for the Center for the Arts. “After load-in, the next few days up until ‘show day’ are very repetitive. Some tech [runs] last two days, others ten, but each day there’s a morning crew call to do technical notes, scenery fixes, lighting fixes, and sound fixes. Then there’s the afternoon and evening rehearsals. Sometimes it’s rehearsing scenes over and over again. Sometimes it’s doing run-throughs of the entire show. And sometimes it’s jumping from cue to cue to work out programming.”

Although hard work and long days are not unusual in the Broadway business, on or off the stage, what is incredible about the shows being put on at Backstage Broadway University of Buffalo is that they often have student volunteers working on the productions. Learning firsthand what it means to be in the business, UB students are able to supplement their academic classes by working side by side with their professional counterparts. “I think students from every discipline come to college with a pre-conceived idea of what they will be doing ‘in their field.’Working at the Center for the Arts provides the real world experience they don’t get in class,” Sidorowicz explained.

“I think it’s vital to show students who desire to work in this field what it really means to be in Technical Theater. I think it really opens an undergrad’s eyes, both positively and sometimes negatively, to what the business is all about. Working these techs also exposes students to current technologies in lighting, sound and automation that aren’t taught at UB. Techs, by their nature, expose the students to real problems that need real solutions. Solutions that then go on the road all over the country.”

Gaining real world experience, the knowledge UB students receive from their work at the Center for the Arts translates into new creative aspirations, and in some cases, a new gig.

“I was on tour with The Full Monty after Fosse, for about six months. Fosse was kind of a test run for me and the touring company, like a two-week interview,” UB alumni Rebecca Wolf said. “I am in Graduate School in Maryland right now getting an MFA in Lighting Design and I still keep in touch with some of the people I met on Fosse today. The facilities at UB are amazing and allow a really unique experience for undergrads there to interact with touring technicians, designers and performers. It’s quite rare, I’m discovering lately, and I hope the students there know how much they actually have at their fingertips.”

Working with local theatres such as Studio Arena and Shea’s in addition to Broadway, the techs who set up shop in the CFA seem to get as much out of the runs as their young protégés do.

“Everyone loves it. Everyone has been the “novice” at some point in their careers,” Sidorowicz said. “It’s amazing to see how much they embrace the students and work with them in every way they can. I can’t think of a better way to expose students to this field.”

Making Music the Militello Way

By Jeffrey Levine

Still able to name all of the big Buffalo jazz clubs of his youth like they were members of his family, saxophonist and Buffalo native Bobby Militello hasn’t missed a beat over the four decades of his career.

A recent conversation with Bobby recalled names of Buffalo mainstays like Gabriel’s Gate, Mulligans and Statler, interspersed with jazz icons like Maynard Ferguson and Dave Brubeck, along with remembrances of European tours, old LPs, and notes still left to blow. With a series of sideman stints that reads like a veritable “who’s who” in the jazz world, and more side projects than there are notes in a burning jazz solo, what is perhaps more surprising than the scope of Militello’s career, however, is the impetus that started it all for young Bobby.

“I actually started playing clarinet because I saw the Benny Goodman Story and just wanted to be him,” Militello explained. “I switched in grammar school [to saxophone] and just kind of fell in love with it.”

Casually adding that, “my clarinet chops suck now,” Militello has maintained his sense of humor in an industry that has a tendency to wear people out as they criss-cross the country touring and spending entire nights trying to perfect their craft. Militello still feels the same drive despite - or perhaps because of - all his many accomplishments in the field.

“I’ve lived the life of ten people, but I take it in stride and try not to let things affect me,” Militello said. “If you keep your career in perspective you realize that you never make it. A player’s ego is a very strong thing but it only belongs on the stage. When you’re done, you’re a regular person like anyone else. You just always try to be better than you were yesterday. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll never reach perfection. I’ll just be on that road all the time, trying to do it better every day.”

For Militello, that road has taken him a long way from the strip shows and university rehearsal halls of Buffalo to a ten-year stint in Los Angeles, tours all over the world and back to his hometown once again. A self-proclaimed ‘road rat,’Militello still uses Buffalo as his base of operations while maintaining an active touring schedule. Jokingly stating that “When you’re on the road, you get paid to travel,” Militello finished his thought with more passion than humor: “You play for free.” Gigging might be how Bobby pays the bills, but music is Militello’s life and it’s what drives him night after night.

Looking to legendary pianist and long-time collaborator Dave Brubeck for inspiration, the chances of Bobby melting down his alto sax into a set of golf clubs looks about as slim as Bill Clinton picking up his horn and touring the country.

“Music is my voice and my soul,” Militello said. “It expresses what I am the best. I will never hang that up, and couldn’t conceive of doing that.”