For me, it is several separate stories intertwined.
STORY 1
My dad was one of the two men who could "run" the sound board at my church. I would sit in the booth with him often, watching. When I was in middle school, I started doing sound for Vacation Bible School, since I was the only one there who knew anything about it. From there, I started occasionally doing sound on
Sunday nights. Even then, I knew where everything was in the church, so I was called on to set up lights for special events. These lights included floodlight holders on blocks of wood, 2 pinspots, and a wooden box with 4 wall
dimmer switches and 4 duplex outlets. To make a long story short, I enjoyed "playing" with this stuff and feeling important, but never really thought anything more of it. I also started designing the sets for Vacation Bible School around this time.
STORY 2
My senior year of high school, I was in statistics class, sitting next to a friend from band who was also in
theatre - Elizabeth. She mentioned that they needed extras for the musical - Way Out West In A Dress (ugh). I thought that that might be fun, and I knew a few people who were in it, and marching band was done for the year, so I said OK. I went to the
theatre after school and talked to the director. Everybody seemed nice enough, so I stuck around. My "extra" part turned into a minor part as people dropped out, and I had 3 lines. I sucked at acting, but I really liked everyone and liked being involved in it. That show came and went, and there was one more show that year - the competitive one-act
play Defying Gravity by Jane Anderson (Texas UIL). I wanted to spend more time with my new
Theatre friends, so I auditioned. Luckily, I didn't get a part.
INTERTWINING
The director was friends with several people at my church, and they had talked about what I had done and was doing there. My most recent project (during the musical) was designing set and lighting for the church Christmas cantata.
STORY 2 CONTINUED
The cast list was posted for Defying Gravity. I was in
shock when I saw, at the bottom of the
page, "Lights - Marshall Pope." I loved designing the show (closely overseen by the director) and, as it was a competitive show, adapting my design to 3 other theatres, in addition to our own. I even got an "Honorable Mention for Technical Achievement" at the district competition. Thus, my high school
theatre career was over, except for the several shows that I have helped out with since graduation.
STORY 3
College. I signed up for the
theatre practicum my first semester, but I had to
drop it because of conflicts with marching band. Over Christmas break, though, I got an all-students email from the
PAC TD, saying that he needed crew members for the spring semester. Heck Yes, I said. We met after break and he hired me, making an exception, because he normally doesn't hire people who are in in band because of conflicts, but I had experience and he was in a bind. I quickly fell in love with it, and still am the only person on the crew who is there for the sake of
theatre and not simply for a job, and I have gained respect because of that, leading up to recently being "substitute TD" because there was a rental (a graduation) in the
PAC and he was going to be out of town. It's nice to have keys.
So, that is my entirely-too-long story. All thanks to Elizabeth.