As a new comer to the design world for theatre, I feel that I’ve learned as much as I could have throughout this semester of design seminar. When I arrived to the first class of the semester all I could think was, ‘What have I got myself into?’. It wasn’t until a few nights ago when I realized that not only have I learned how to paint a hell of a lot better, but I’ve also learned how to reupholster furniture, how to make plenty of props, how to alter images in photo shop, along with a number of other things. I found much of the process for working on Urinetown to be negative in the beginning, but by the end I realized how much I truly enjoyed working with the designers and other members of the Urinetown team. ‘No pain, no gain’ is what I should have gone into the process with, but it wasn’t. As a person who does most of pushing himself, I have trouble having others push me further. Without Dyan and Max I don’t think I would have had as positive of an experience. I can’t believe how much work really goes into these shows.

I guess my main message is thank you to everyone I had a chance to work with, and congratulations on a successful semester!

In class we had a conversation about portfolios with Cathy. I don’t come from a design background and I’m used to just adding onto my resume from my acting experience. Normally a headshot and resume are enough. But after this, especially with me trying to move myself into the shoes of a director, I’ve realized I need to take a more photo friendly approach to projects I’m working on. I’ve directed two short one act pieces here at UB and the only thing I have to offer up as proof of that is my actors word that these pieces really happened (haha at my life), and maybe a saved program and poster from the first one act I wrote and directed in Directing 1 class with Professor Kaz. As we move forward in design sem, I’m becoming more aware that I need to be saving just about everything that I create or that I share with the design team for Urinetown–so I have something to present as my final portfolio at the end of the semester. I will definitely be portfolio ready be the end of this class, especially after seeing how amazing some of our classmates’ portfolios turned out.