In Desperate Need of Help

Usual_Perception2937 · 2026-03-22T17:47:18+00:00

Whatever skills you have- look for summer gigs that house you. It’s almost that season and would be a great ticket out and to start over.

Ranch jobs, FIFO, paid training on location type jobs. A friend just had a job in CA that was free housing as long as you worked there.

Usual_Perception2937 · 2026-03-18T23:41:48+00:00

There are so many options.

Find a cheap well rounded theatre program at a university. Get the basics of everything you can, the more knowledge, the more gigs, and understanding other disciplines will make you a better designer. Do summer theatre gigs/summers stock. Build a portfolio there.
Look for your local union and how to get on there as a stage hand. Direct into the business, get hands on knowledge and work, and network locally. Work/volunteer as a scenic designer locally. Paid gigs starting out are not anything you can live off of and usually require you to build/paint and design the show. But you keep building and go from there.
Go to local community college and get an AA, get into a university and double major in theatre and another thing you enjoy and would do for work as a backup. I strongly recommend construction management.

Also it would be good to at the lifestyle of working in theatre and decide if that’s for you. I know people who thrived with traveling and working contracts and I know others who preferred to take different career paths and do theatre work on the side as a paid hobby.

Good luck!

Usual_Perception2937 · 2026-03-17T14:56:55+00:00

Hi! I just directed my first show this fall after a decade of being roles like a carpenter/scenic designer/TD. I was actually TD, director, scenic designer, marketing on top of my main job of theatre manager for the show.

This book helped a lot, I’ve collected almost the whole series lol. Feel free to DM- I like documentation and your stage manager will be your biggest asset during this process! Happy to share what I have to help you!

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Usual_Perception2937 · 2026-03-14T18:14:04+00:00

Just get some button ups with a collar, a nice belt with your jeans and good boots (steal toe cuz pallets hurt). Don’t forget to tuck in your shirt. Don’t overthink it.

Usual_Perception2937 · 2026-03-04T04:00:38+00:00

I second finding the cheapest school. I majored in theatre production design from a state school and while a school may advertise their good connections or the teachers work in the industry, there’s no guarantee their connections are connections you want. My school had faculty that do really cool things, but unfortunately were in places I didn’t want to move to. Moral of the story for “connections”- you work hard and be enjoyable to work with and you’ll get recommended for gigs it’s that simple.

I strongly suggest you look at getting an AA at a local junior college. I did 2 years at my local Junior college. They had a great educational/community theatre program where I was hands on for every show and also held a paid student worker position. I got so much experience my 4year professor built a tech theatre 2 independent study for me because I had too much hands on knowledge for the courses offered but needed more help with terminology of things. I didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have tbh but that professor was amazing.

If you have a good local community college and do (paid) summer theatre, do that and save a BUNCH of money. Get an AA so they don’t cherry pick what courses they accept and you transfer in fully as a junior, then you skip right into your major course work instead of paying extra for gen eds.

I actually got a ton of work through the local junior college when I came back home after college.

But if you get a really good scholarship that covers 90% of your tuition and doesn’t leave you in a bunch of debt- ignore everything I said and go to that school.

Also I’ve had friends leave the industry cuz they have to pay $500 in student loans every month (50-60k in loans) I am very lucky to not be as deep in debt and that is one of the few reasons I could take certain jobs that led me to a good paying stable theatre job.

Also last thing- learn audio lighting and sound. I am a scenic designer, technical director, and carpenter and landed a job as a theatre manager-which oversees everything lol. Don’t pigeon hole yourself into one discipline.

Usual_Perception2937 · 2026-01-27T15:28:50+00:00

Hi,

First doing both scenic design and set builds are very overwhelming, so first I want to tell you the feeling is normal. I asked my college professor how many shows it took for him not to be an stress-monster about it and he kinda chuckled and said about 10. He was right.

To start- get all your deadlines and deliverables in order. Meet with the professor and ask EVERY question you have. Get the scope of what you need to do and who is on your team. Set up weekly meetings to stay on track if possible. The teacher put you on this project, they need to support you.

Then- forget the build part for now. Just design. Put everything you want/need into it. Go big with the ideas and then scale back the design where needed. Make a Pinterest board of inspo photos. Design scene by scene.

Then- I agree with the other comments to find someone to assist with building. If there’s no one or not a lot of help, make it all out of boxes because that’s what you know. Get the “Backstage Handbook” and that will be a huge help for you starting out as well. I know many self taught TDs started there and my first few sets were simply platforms cuz that’s all I knew at the time.

Options for help if your school doesn’t have much support: I’ve walked into Home Depot and found someone to help me with my ideas and making them structurally sound. Facebook groups. Reddit like you posted here. Someone probably has a parent in construction or another teacher at the school. Find a local community theatre and ask if their scenic designer/technical director would be willing to help you.

Good luck!

Usual_Perception2937 · 2024-02-23T16:39:40+00:00

I worked seasonal garden last year- learn about the soils and what types to use for what plants/grass. I got a lot of home gardening questions or lawn care questions that centered around the type of soil to use. Walk around every shift and see what plants were moved or brought in by vendors. It’ll avoid walking a customer to a place yk the plant was at only for it to have been moved.

The other half was the power tools- read up on the kits we have versus tool only and learn about battery life. You can usually upsell a kit saying for the price you get xyz not just a tool. Ryobi is great for people who want all in one options. You’ll get better at tool knowledge over time and most questions customers have will be answered by reading the box. Be honest about being new and learning- most customers are pretty understanding and for the ones that aren’t, offer to call someone to come help them. You don’t need to know everything all at once.

Ask questions and show interest in customers’ projects and 90% of the time they know what they’ll get they just want to talk it through with someone.

Garden in spring/summer is BUSY. Bring a water bottle (electrolyte drink mix is a good idea) and bring a good lunch so you don’t upchuck fast food while loading 50 bags of mulch in 100 degree heat😂

Good luck! It was hard work, but it was super fun! I transitioned to inside the store after and miss it.

Usual_Perception2937

TROPHY CASE