Top Five Non-Theatre Jobs for Theatrical Technicians and Designers

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Each spring I get stressed college seniors, as well as stressed parents of perspective freshmen in my office asking about job prospects for someone majoring in technical theatre. The good news is that there are many transferable skills learned with a technical theatre degree that can keep you employed even when you are not opening a new theatre production every month. Here are my top five non-theatrical industries where you can be paid to use your creative technical theatre skills:

1) Movies Liz Freese
Although there are some differences in theatre and film production, these industries are such close cousins that the majority of technical workers for the screen have a theatre education. Just pay attention to the long list of credits at the end of a movie to see the village of prop artisans, painters, designers, lighting directors, sound engineers, etc. it takes to get a story on the big screen. And movies studios are no longer just in L.A.  Atlanta, New Orleans and Austin (to name a few) now host major studios and independent companies can be in every major city in the US.

2) Worship Centers Liz Freese
This one often surprises my students. With the growth of mega churches came the need for full-time audio, lighting and projection technicians and designers. Backdrops and elaborate stages are often built for major religious holidays. One large church north of Houston even had elephants on stage for Easter two years ago!  Maybe we should teach a class on animal wrangling at Lamar.

3) Amusement Parks Liz Freese
A friend of mine worked for an amusement park design firm for years. As thrilling as it is designing musicals, I think designing a themed roller coaster would be pretty spectacular. It takes an army of designers, technicians and stage managers to design, upkeep and run various shows and themed rides at Six Flags, Sea World, not to mention Disney. Can you imagine your job being the stage manager of the dolphin show at Sea World? What fun!

4) Special Event Companies Liz Freese
Weddings, galas and large-scale product releases are all ultimately theatre productions. Special event companies employ theatre technicians, designers and stage managers to get these events installed quickly, looking beautiful and running smoothly. Next time you see a picture of a celebrity wedding or watch the live release of Apple’s next new gadget, realize that theatre designers and technicians are most likely responsible for the event. 

5) Unions  Liz Freese
Each city has a union of dressers, lighting technicians, sound technicians and carpenters who are hired by union production houses and event centers to load in and run the event. Music concerts, Monster Truck rallies, Rodeos and even the Houston Rockets special half-time show is presented through the hard work of union technical theatre labor.

 

There are also opportunities in opera, dance, sporting events, ice capades, fashion runways, interior design, architectural lighting, restaurant design, parades, photography backdrops and museum displays. You only need to look around and realize that most events and public spaces are designed and run by creative individuals with technical skills.