Interviews

Interview with Natalie Kearns

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
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 →

Interviews

Interview with Monique Walker

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

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 →

Interviews

Interview with Jay Duckworth

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The following is one of several interviews conducted by students of Ron DeMarco’s properties class at Emerson College.

The Proptologist: Jay Duckworth

by Sabrina Rosenfield

Jay Duckworth
Jay Duckworth

When I called Jay Duckworth and explained that I was the student from Emerson who would be interviewing him, I was greeted with an “Oh my God! Hi!”, and I knew the conversation was off to a good start. I heard him call to one of his colleagues, Sara Swanberg, asking what he should tell me: her prompt response was “I suck!”.

Pleasantries aside, we got down to business. I spoke with Jay as he sat in his office in the Public Theater in New York, where he has been the Props Master since 2008. When I asked him to tell me how he got his roots in theatre, he acknowledged how lucky he was to be working in such a great theatre, and how far he had come. Continue reading Interview with Jay Duckworth →

Interviews

Interview with Alice Maguire

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The following is one of several interviews conducted by students of Ron DeMarco’s properties class at Emerson College.

Alice Maguire

By Emily White

Alice Maguire
Alice Maguire

Alice Maguire is currently the Properties Supervisor at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, but she hasn’t always been. In 1972 she enrolled in SUNY Oswego as a psychology major and ended up taking a Children’s Theatre class where everyone had to participate in the show somehow. Alice ended up with the glamorous job of running the hand-pump, wintergreen scented, oil based fog machine while squatting behind Scrooge’s bedroom door for Marley’s entrance in A Christmas Carol. When talking about the experience she said “theatre is a bug that bites you and I was bitten”. Continue reading Interview with Alice Maguire →

Interviews

Interview with Cynthia Lee-Sullivan

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Over the next few days, I will be sharing some interviews conducted by students of Ron DeMarco’s properties class at Emerson College.

Cynthia Lee-Sullivan, a Master of Her Craft

An article by Charlie Trombadore

Cynthia proudly presents the “Egg Cart” used in A.R.T’s production of “Witness Uganda”
Cynthia proudly presents the “Egg Cart” used in A.R.T’s production of “Witness Uganda”

Cynthia Lee-Sullivan has been the Props Master of the American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T. for short) for over 30 years. Her career as a Props Master has taken her all over the world and given her the chance to work with some of theatre’s most prominent directors and craftsmen. She was gracious enough to find time in her busy schedule to sit down with me and answer a few of my questions. Continue reading Interview with Cynthia Lee-Sullivan →

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