JAMES M. ALDERSON JR.

(920) 836-3031
e-mail: mick.alderson@gmail.com, alderson@uwosh.edu



CAREER SUMMARY

Experienced in all major areas of technical theatre as designer, supervisor and technician. Demonstrated ability to work in multiple capacities in a wide variety of facilities. Skillful at one-on-one instruction, and specialized in working in limited budget situations without compromising artistic intent.

EDUCATION

1971-1975 B.A. in Speech-Theatre, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
1977-1982M.F.A. in Stage Lighting, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1975-1978Master Carpenter,The Peninsula Players, Fish Creek, WI
Trained and supervised apprentice/interns for an Equity summer-stock theatre, which produced five plays per season on a two week schedule. Created construction drawings as needed to augment set designer's drawings.
Productions: My Daughter, Your Son, Absurd Person Singular, Scapino, Something's Afoot, Twigs, God's Favorite, Solitaire/Double Solitaire, California Suite, Table Manners, The Runner Stumbles, Equus, Same Time Next Year, The Shadow Box, Dracula, Sly Fox, Almost Perfect Person
1980-1981Electrics Supervisor -- Dept. of Theatre Arts, University of Iowa
Served as Master Electrician for theatre, opera and dance productions, as part of a production unit of working professionals. Supervised and trained theatre students to augment classroom instruction.
Teaching Experience: Theatre Sound
Productions: The House Across the Street, The Merry Widow, The Buried Child, Bingo, As You Like It
1981-1987Electrics and Properties Supervisor -- Opera and Dance;
School of Music, University of Iowa
Served as Master Electrician and Properties Master for two major operas and a major dance concert each year in a large proscenium theatre. Concurrent duties as supervisor of electrics and props departments called for careful time management. Frequently constructed furniture, including 24 matching French provincial chairs for Manon. Served as lighting designer for several operas.
Teaching Experience: Opera Production
Productions:
ELECTRICS and PROPS SUPERVISOR
The Cunning Little Vixen, Lysistrata, Tales of Hoffman, The Ballad of Baby Doe, Nightengale/The Enchanted Child, Manon, Boris Gudunov, Don Giovanni
LIGHTING DESIGNER:
The Barber of Seville, Faust, La Boheme, Agrippina, Madame Butterfly, La Traviata
1988-1996Technical Director; Riverside Players, Neenah, WI
Responsible for design and construction of scenery and lighting for a play and/or musical in a large picnic pavilion converted into an extreme thrust-style performance space. Handled procurement and/or rental and installation of necessary technical equipment and staging. Provided specifications for purchase of lighting equipment as a basic system for future productions.
Productions: Blithe Spirit, Cabaret, Company, Arsenic and Old Lace, Desk Set, Anastasia, Man of La Mancha
1988-1996Technical Director; UWC- Fox Valley, Menasha, WI
Responsible for technical requirements for all events in the Fine Arts Theatre, including design, construction, and performance for Drama program productions. Also responsible for box office operations and training of box office staff.
Teaching Experience: Theatre Participation.
Productions: Smoke on the Mountain, Three Penny Opera, Playboy of the Western World, The Foreigner, Sugar Babies, Nunsense, Mass Appeal, Love Letters, City of Angels, Kiss Me Kate, Our Town, The Wizard of Oz, The Cemetery Club, Damn Yankees, Taking Steps, The Rivals, Big River, Steel Magnolias, Perfectly Frank, Driving Miss Daisy, The Music Man, Educating Rita, Fiorello, The Sound of Music, The Mikado, I'm Not Rappaport, Ain't Misbehavin', Stepping Out, Pajama Game, Man of La Mancha
1997-PresentTechnical Director; University of Wis.- Oshkosh
Responsible for supervising technical requirements for Theatre department productions in the Fredric March Theatre and scene shop, overseeing students and student staff. Responsible for managing budgets for scenery, lighting and props departments. Also responsible for regular scenic and lighting designs and teaching duties, as well as supervising and mentoring student designers.
Teaching Experience: Stagecrafts, Lighting and Sound for the Theatre, Props for the Stage, Theatre Participation, team teaching of Design Studio, Design Skills 1 & 2.
Productions: Lysistrata, Blithe Spirit, Fiddler on the Roof, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Godspell, The Birds, Dancing at Lughnasa, Nunsense
Technical Director and Scene Designer
Productions: Lost in Yonkers, Einstein's Dream's, Crimes of the Heart.
Technical Director and Lighting Designer
Productions: All in the Timing, Beast on the Moon, A Streetcar Named Desire, Man of La Mancha, Prank, Electra, Trifles/ Formaldehyde, The Mikado, Rumors, Macbeth, Stop Kiss, Tintypes, Marvin's Room, Fuddy Meers, How I Learned to Drive, The Foreigner, The Cherry Orchard, A Piece of My Heart, Romeo and Juliet, Proof, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Oleanna, Lend Me A Tenor, The Visit, Desdemona, Zombies From the Beyond, The Heidi Chronicles, Picnic, A Crooked Man, School for Scandal. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Dogs of the Blue Gods/ The Sugar Plum Fairy, Wit, The Glass Menagerie

AFFILIATIONS:

  • IATSE Local 470, N.E. Wisconsin 1973-Present
    Past President (seven years)
  • United States Institute for Theatre Technology 1979-82; 1996-Present
  • U.S.I.T.T. Midwest Section 1992-94, 1997-Present
    Current Vice President for Membership
    Founders' Award 2008
  • The Company for Wisconsin Arts, Inc. 1976-94
  • Indiana Theatre Association 1977-78
  • Wisconsin Theatre Association 1974-76


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