I moved to Bennington in the summer of 1983, to begin teaching theatre at Bennington College. I began helping Oldcastle Theatre Company with its productions while it was still in residence at Southern Vermont College. I enjoyed the small, intimate space at SVC, but it did have its limitations. Next came the building of the Bennington Center for the Arts. I was consulted on the design for the new space and helped equip it; a fun, but time-consuming project. Oldcastle enjoyed many years at the arts center, where we did two of my favorite productions, “Dancing at Lughnasa” and “Terra Nova.” Reviews of “Terra Nova” said that my lighting design became a character in the play.
In the fall of 1995, I moved to New York City to teach at Marymount Manhattan College. I continued to work at Oldcastle during the summer, and on several occasions was able to bring some of my students up to Vermont to help with productions. While in NYC, I was able to reconnect with my now-wife, Mary Elizabeth Lampron, a Bennington native and violist.
When Oldcastle moved to its present location at 331 Main Street, I worked on the renovations to the new space while commuting from southern Maryland, where I was by then teaching at St. Mary’s College (the public honors college for the State of Maryland). It has been tremendously exciting to work on our new home; a small, intimate space, which is wholly dedicated to the theatre and its special needs. “Cabaret” and “Brighton Beach Memoirs” are among my favorite shows performed here.
With the reimagining of our space to the Bennington Performing Arts Center has come the opportunity to work with more groups of people and get the greater Bennington community involved in theatre. It has been exciting to again work with a community theatre, as I had in southern Maryland as a board member of the Newtowne Players. I designed and helped build that group’s turntable stage, and worked on numerous productions as technical director, as well as lighting and set designer.
I have run theatre trips to London while at all three colleges I’ve taught at, as well as with Oldcastle. I look forward to another successful Oldcastle trip, after the pandemic has subsided enough to once again allow safe travel to England.
Before Oldcastle, I worked for the City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh. I also worked for a union scene shop in Ohio that built sets for a range of productions, from regional theater to opera to Broadway shows.
Fun facts about me: I am a hot air balloon pilot and a glass blower, both of which I have had to put aside for a while but would love to get back into.