The following is one of several interviews conducted by students of Ron DeMarco’s properties class at Emerson College.
Props in the Desert: Randy Lutz and the Santa Fe Opera
by Sam Weisberg
Randy Lutz
In the middle of the desert, The Santa Fe Opera puts on world-renowned productions of new operas and standards from the traditional repertoire, and at the center of their props division is Randy Lutz, the company’s Properties Director, keeping singers supplied with top-of-the-line stage properties to be used in rehearsal and performance. Continue reading Interview with Randy Lutz→
The following is one of several interviews conducted by students of Ron DeMarco’s properties class at Emerson College.
Kelly Mangan: Prop Master/Scenic Designer & Artist
by Corey Umlauf
Kelly Mangan
Kelly Wiegant Mangan has had a wide range of experience as a prop master and scenic designer. She has worked as a resident scenic designer and prop master for Stage One, The Louisville Children’s Theatre (where she worked on over 120 productions), two national videos, and one Broadway residency with The Great Gilly Hopkins. She has served as the Prop Master for various groups including Shakespeare Santa Cruz and The Utah Shakespearean Festival in the Randall Theatre. She has also served as Scenic Designer for the Mount Holyoke Summer Theatre Festival in Massachusetts and The Western Stage in Salinas, California. She was a scenic artist for The Chicago Historical Society, Chicago Scenic, Scenic View, Tamara Backdrops, and Funkouser Backdrops in Chicago. Kelly has also worked as a scenic artist on the film “The Insider.” She took time out of her very busy schedule to answer a few questions for me about her career in props. Continue reading Interview with Kelly Mangan→
The following is one of several interviews conducted by students of Ron DeMarco’s properties class at Emerson College.
Adriane “Binky†Donley
by Sarah Patterson
Binky Donley
Adriane “Binky” Donley began her career at the University of South Florida. She received a Bachelor’s in Arts degree in design, but realized quickly during her education that she liked to do a little bit of everything. She started working in props, taking any classes she could within the small department she was in, and working in summer stock theatre and regional theatre for extra experience. Because of the limited amount of props classes she was able to take, she found that she had to immerse herself in the field to receive an education in props. She worked in the field for three years and later decided to get a higher education. She decided to get her Masters of Fine Arts in Properties Design and Management at the North Carolina School of the Arts. At the time, NCSA was one of three schools in the country that had a props program and Binky was lucky enough to be a part of it. Continue reading Interview with Adriane “Binky†Donley→
The following is one of several interviews conducted by students of Ron DeMarco’s properties class at Emerson College.
Behind the Scenes with Natalie Kearns
by Jamie Carty
“I had more fun than I can begin to say. It was clearly what I was meant to do,” says Natalie after describing her experience working on a Theatre for Young Audiences show at Emerson College.
Natalie Kearns
Meet Natalie Kearns, master of all things props, and only twenty-seven years old! Her favorite food to eat is roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, her mom’s Scottish heritage specialty, while her favorite fake prop food she’s made is a giant turkey leg. Hailing from Mississauga, Ontario, Natalie is a 2008 graduate of Emerson College with a Bachelor of the Fine Arts degree in Design/Technology. She moved to Framingham, Massachusetts at age five. Natalie has recently moved back to London, Ontario, in Canada and is employed full time at the Grand Theatre as the Head of Props. For anyone wondering about the differences between Canadian and American props, Natalie says that there aren’t that many. She says that Canadian theatre “uses imperial measurements because of all the cross-over with US theatre.” At her current theatre, they do not use Phillips head screws, but instead use Canadian-bred Robertson screws, a minor adjustment. Continue reading Interview with Natalie Kearns→
The following is one of several interviews conducted by students of Ron DeMarco’s properties class at Emerson College.
Interview with Monique Walker: Prop Master of Village Theatre
by Coco Nakase
Monique Walker
Monique Walker, the current props master for the Village Theatre in Washington, answered the phone one February afternoon with encouraging enthusiasm, eager to speak about her rich history of work and the art of props. Monique began in theatre as a high school student, primarily acting in plays and working on the sets in her small town Iowan high school. She had always had an interest in drawing and painting, so when she went to college at University of Northern Iowa, she first majored in Interior Design. “It was in the Home Ec department. And I was like, really? This is awful! It was just decoration, it had nothing to do with architecture or anything like that.†Continue reading Interview with Monique Walker→
Making and finding props for theatre, film, and hobbies
