Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2017 - Public - 62

Ken Page: When I was approached about being the keynote speaker, the first thing I thought was,
"What will I talk about?" As an actor, I wondered what
was my connection to this kind of event. That was before I gave it more thought. As a director, I realize that
the connection was indeed there, and it was there early.
Today, I can only give you my humble but appreciative
point of view and perspective.
Okay, let's go back to 1964. Wouldn't it be nice if
we could go back to that? Yeah, yeah, it's before most
of you were born, I realize, but that's okay. The lights
went down, the orchestra played the overture, and slowly the huge, sliding booms taking the place of a house
curtain opened. It was a production of Oklahoma! It
was right here in St. Louis, at the St. Louis Municipal
Opera, now simply called The Muny. An 11-year-old
boy looked down from the free seats, all the way at the
top of the 11,000-seat outdoor theatre and witnessed
magic-not just the magic of the music being played
by the wonderful musicians, or the glorious voice of the
actors singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning." (Being
an actor, I had to get that in.) But there, in front of his
11-year-old eyes, was what looked like an entire cornfield, with a blue sky stretching behind it. On the stage
floor was the dappled light of a sunlit morning.
Even before that revelatory moment, a seven-year-

old boy was awakened, for the first time, not only to his
own imagination, but to the imaginations of the creative
minds behind the moment before him in Cinderella. The
leading lady's shimmering ball gown was set on cool fire
by the deepest blue and purple lights my eyes had ever
seen, and it was just that: light, color, a costume, and my
imagination. Unbeknownst to myself at the time, it was
where my appreciation and love of what we here would
call the technical creative arts began, at seven, and again
at 11 years old.
So, after those nights at The Muny, I would go home
and raid my mother's collection of shoeboxes or any other
cardboard I could get my hands on. I would recreate the
sets of whatever show I had seen, to the best of my ability-which wasn't too bad come to think of it-and as
accurately as my crayon and water paints would allow.
On a stage, fashioned out of two orange crates
nailed together, I recreated the veranda of The Student
Prince, the Rocky Mountain log cabin of The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and the Harmonia Garden staircase
of Pearl Bailey's production of Hello, Dolly!-all in miniature, made of cardboard, right there in my bedroom
and basement.
But what about lights? Where to find lights? "Ah
ha! Christmas lights." They included the primary colors that I needed-red, yellow, blue. Out of the seasonal

Marley Type Flooring
For Stage and Studio
Rollout Flooring For Dance and Theater

Rave
Many Color Options
Lightweight

Super Bravo

Reversible ( Black/Grey)

Super Timestep

Plus a full line of installation
and maintenance products!

Super Non-Slip and Heavy Duty
Available in Black and Grey

LEARN MORE AT STAGESTEP.COM
Call Toll Free in U.S. (800) 523-0960 | Call Toll Free in Canada (866) 491-9019
Call Worldwide Sales (215) 636-9000 | Email info@stagestep.com

theatre design

& technology

2 0 1 7

http://www.STAGESTEP.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2017 - Public